# data[].attributes.body
on September 1,1939 Germany invaded Poland, making the official beginning of world war II

this act led Britain and France to declare war on Germany two days later

https://www.britannica.com/event/Invasion-of-Poland

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the turning point of the western on the beach

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the turning point of the western on the beach

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Allied forces launched the largest amphibious invasion in history.

the success of operation overland led to the liberation of western Europe from nazi control.

it was a critical turning point in the war against Germany.

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day

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The Atomic Age Begins: Hiroshima Bombing

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The Atomic Age Begins: Hiroshima Bombing

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-On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

-By the end of that year, more than 140,000 people died because of the bomb and its effects.

-This was a big reason why Japan gave up and the war ended.

https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/hiroshima-and-nagasaki

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The Atomic Age Begins: Hiroshima Bombing

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Injustice on the Homefront: Japanese American Internment  

# data[].attributes.subject
Injustice on the Homefront: Japanese American Internment  

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After the attack on Pearl Harbor, more than 110,000 Japanese-Americans were forced to move.

- Manzanar was one of ten camps where they were held, often in very tough conditions.

- This was a serious violation of people's rights during the war.

https://www.nps.gov/manz/learn/historyculture/index.htm

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History & Culture - Manzanar National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)

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Manzanar National Historic Site was established to preserve the stories of the internment of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II and to serve as a reminder to this and future generations of the fragility of American civil liberties.

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Operation Barbarossa brought German troops close to Moscow in 1941.

- The Soviet counter-attack in December was the first big defeat for the Nazis on the Eastern Front.

- The harsh winter and stretched supply lines slowed down the German advance.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Moscow

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Table of Contents

Battle of Moscow, battle fought between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union from September 30, 1941 to January 7, 1942, during World War II. It was the climax of Nazi Germany's Operation Barbarossa, and it ended the Germans' intention to capture Moscow, which ultimately doomed the Third Reich.

The German advance on Moscow in September 1941 was soon in trouble because of atrocious weather conditions. The Germans were also shocked by the Soviet Union's ability to keep bringing forward more reserves. Although some Nazi officers thought Moscow was unattainable, they had no choice but to press forward, because they had to end the war before the fierce winter set in.

German troops managed to encircle large Soviet forces at Viazma in October, but the Soviets still fought on, delaying the Nazi advance. German soldiers pierced the improvised defense lines on the approaches to Moscow and reached within 15 miles (24 km) of the city-they could see the cupolas of St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square in the distance. However, resistance kept stiffening. Joseph Stalin chose to stay in Moscow and appeared at the annual celebrations in Red Square, offering a morale boost to his people.

By early November, the German army suffered its first cases of frostbite, and soon Nazi soldiers had difficulty firing frozen guns. Then, on December 5, Siberian troops-transferred from the Chinese frontier-attacked, many wearing the snow camouflage that the Germans would learn to fear. The Red Army had high hopes of this offensive, intending to encircle and destroy their attackers. They did not manage this, but they did drive back the Germans up to 155 miles (250 km) at some points. Nazi Germany had lost its chance for a quick victory. German losses during the Battle of Moscow totaled 250,000-400,000 dead or wounded, and the Red Army suffered 600,000-1,300,000 dead, wounded, or captured.

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Battle of Moscow, battle fought between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union from September 30, 1941 to January 7, 1942, during World War II. It was the climax of Nazi Germany's Operation Barbarossa, and it ended the Germans' intention to capture Moscow, which ultimately doomed the Third Reich.

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Monte Cassino, Cassino, Province of Frosinone, Italy

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- In 1944, there were a number of battles where Allied troops fought their way up the Italian peninsula.

- The abbey at Monte Cassino was destroyed during the intense fighting.

- Winning this battle helped lead to the freeing of Rome.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-battle-of-monte-cassino

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French partisans were very important in disrupting German operations.

- In places like Annecy and the Alps, resistance groups helped the Allies and fought for freedom.

- What they did supported D-Day and slowed down German reinforcements.

https://www.britannica.com/

# data[].attributes.location_name
Bletchley Park, Sherwood Dr, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, UK

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- The British managed to decode Nazi Germany’s secret military messages here.

- Alan Turing and his team’s work saved many lives.

- Their success was very important for winning the Battle of the Atlantic.

https://bletchleypark.org.uk

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Bletchley Park, once the top-secret home of the World War Two Codebreakers, is now a vibrant heritage attraction in Milton Keynes, open daily to visitors.

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- In June 1944, a German SS unit killed 642 villagers as revenge for resistance actions.

- The site was kept in ruins as a memorial.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Oradour-sur-Glane

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica | View Edit History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Oradour-sur-Glane | Massacre, History, & Points of Interest

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History and geography of the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, France.

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- In 1943, Churchill and Roosevelt got together to plan the next steps in the war.

- They decided on wanting the Axis powers to surrender without conditions and got ready for the invasion of Italy.

https://www.history.com/

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Bremen was an important place for industry and navy production for the Nazis. It was heavily bombed, showing the Allies' efforts to destroy Germany's war resources.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/home-page

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One of the toughest city battles of the Pacific War happened in 1945.

- U.S. and Filipino troops freed the city from Japanese control.

- Thousands of civilians lost their lives in the violent fighting.

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On December 7, 1941, Japan surprised the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor with an attack.

More than 2,400 Americans were killed, and many battleships were damaged or sunk.

This event led directly to the U.S. joining World War II.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/auschwitz

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In late 1942, British troops led by Montgomery beat Rommel's Afrika Korps.

The Second Battle of El Alamein was an important turning point in the North African campaign.

It was one of the first big Allied victories against Germany.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-El-Alamein

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Explore the fact-checked online encyclopedia from Encyclopaedia Britannica with hundreds of thousands of objective articles, biographies, videos, and images from experts.

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Cargo Pier, Midway, Atoll, United States Minor Outlying Islands

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The Battle of Midway in June 1942 was a major win for the U.S. against Japan.

American codebreakers had figured out Japanese messages, which helped them set up a successful surprise attack.

Four Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk, seriously weakening Japan's naval strength.

https://www.history.com/articles/battle-of-midway

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Battle of Midway - Location, Outcome & Significance

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The Battle of Midway was an epic WWII clash between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy that played out six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The U.S. Navy’s decisive victory in the air-sea battle (June 3-6, 1942) dashed Japan’s hopes of neutralizing the United States as a naval power and effectively turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific.

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In 1937, Japanese soldiers took over Nanjing and carried out terrible acts.

Hundreds of thousands of innocent people were killed or harmed.

This is still considered one of the worst war crimes of the conflict.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Nanjing-Massacre

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Nanjing Massacre | History, Summary & Facts

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Nanjing Massacre, mass killing and ravaging of Chinese citizens and capitulated soldiers by soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army after its seizure of Nanjing, China, in December 1937 during the Sino-Japanese War that preceded World War II. Casualty estimates for the massacre range from 100,000 to…

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Auschwitz was the biggest Nazi camp for holding and killing people.

More than 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed there.

It represents the terrible events of the Holocaust and Nazi beliefs.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/auschwitz

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Auschwitz is the German name for the Polish city Oświęcim. Oświęcim is located in Poland, approximately 40 miles (about 64 km) west of Kraków. Germany annexed this area of Poland in 1939.

The Auschwitz concentration camp was located on the outskirts of Oświęcim in German-occupied Poland. It was originally established in 1940 and later referred to as "Auschwitz I" or "Main Camp."

The Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center, also referred to as "Auschwitz II," was located near the Polish village Brzezinka (German: Birkenau). This is about 2 miles (just over 3 km) from the Main Camp. The Germans started construction on Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1941.

Auschwitz III or Monowitz was located near the Polish village of Monowice (German: Monowitz). This is about 4 miles (approximately 6.5 kilometers) from the Main Camp. The Germans initially established the Buna subcamp there in 1942. In 1943, it became a concentration camp.

The Auschwitz camp complex also included numerous subcamps. The majority of these subcamps were located in the region around Auschwitz.

Number of Victims

It is estimated that the SS and police deported at least 1.3 million people to the Auschwitz camp complex between 1940 and 1945. Of these deportees, approximately 1.1 million people were murdered.

The best estimates of the number of victims at the Auschwitz camp complex, including the killing center at Auschwitz-Birkenau, between 1940 and 1945 are:

Jews (1,095,000 deported to Auschwitz, 960,000 died)

Non-Jewish Poles (140,000- 150,000 deported, 74,000 died)

Roma (Gypsies) (23,000 deported, 21,000 died)

Soviet prisoners of war (15,000 deported and died)

Other nationalities (25,000 deported, 10,000- 15,000 died)

During the Holocaust, concentration camp prisoners received tattoos only at one location, Auschwitz. Incoming prisoners were assigned a camp serial number which was sewn to their prison uniforms. Only those prisoners selected for work were issued serial numbers; those prisoners sent directly to the gas chambers were not registered and received no tattoos.

Auschwitz I

Auschwitz I, the main camp, was the first camp established near Oswiecim. Construction began in April 1940 in an abandoned Polish army barracks in a suburb of the city.

SS authorities continuously used prisoners for forced labor to expand the camp. During the first year of the camp's existence, the SS and police cleared a zone of approximately 40 square kilometers (15.44 square miles) as a "development zone" reserved for the exclusive use of the camp.

On May 20, 1940, the first prisoners arrived at Auschwitz. The transport consisted of some 30 German inmates, categorized as "professional criminals." The SS had selected them from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp outside of Berlin. Less than a month later, on June 14, German authorities in occupied Poland deported 728 Polish prisoners from a prison in Tarnow to Auschwitz. This was the first of many transports of Poles to the Auschwitz camp.

Like most German concentration camps, Auschwitz I was constructed for three purposes:

To incarcerate real and perceived enemies of the Nazi regime and the German occupation authorities in Poland for an indefinite period of time

To provide a supply of forced laborers for deployment in SS-owned construction-related enterprises (and, later, armaments and other war-related production)

To serve as a site to kill small, targeted groups of the population whose death was determined by the SS and police authorities to be essential to the security of Nazi Germany.

Like some concentration camps, Auschwitz I had a gas chamber and crematorium. Initially, SS engineers constructed an improvised gas chamber in the basement of the prison block, Block 11. Later a larger, permanent gas chamber was constructed as part of the original crematorium in a separate building outside the prisoner compound.

At Auschwitz I, SS physicians carried out in the hospital, Barrack (Block) 10. They conducted pseudoscientific research on infants, twins, and dwarfs, and performed forced sterilizations and castrations of adults. The best-known of these physicians was SS Captain Dr. medical experiments Josef Mengele .

When we think of the crimes of Nazi doctors, what comes to mind are their cruel and sometimes fatal experiments... Yet when we turn to the Nazi doctors' role in Auschwitz, it was not the experiments that were most significant. Rather, it was his participation in the killing process-indeed his supervision of Auschwitz mass murder from beginning to end. ¹

Between the medical-experiments barrack and the prison block (Block 11) stood the "Black Wall," where SS guards executed thousands of prisoners.

Auschwitz II (Auschwitz-Birkenau)

Construction of Auschwitz II, or Auschwitz-Birkenau, began at Brzezinka in October 1941.

Of the three camps established near Oswiecim, the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp had the largest total prisoner population. It was divided into ten sections separated by electrified barbed-wire fences. Like Auschwitz I, it was patrolled by SS guards, including-after 1942-SS dog handlers.

The camp included sections for women; men; a family camp for Roma (Gypsies) deported from Germany, Austria, and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; and a family camp for Jewish families deported from the Theresienstadt ghetto.

Auschwitz-Birkenau was also a killing center and played a central role in the German effort to kill the Jews of Europe. Around the beginning of September, 1941, the SS at Auschwitz I conducted the first tests of Zyklon B as a mass murder agent, using Soviet POWs and debilitated Polish prisoners as victims. The "success" of these experiments led to the construction of a chamber in the crematorium of Auschwitz I that, like the subsequent gas chambers at Auschwitz, used Zyklon B to murder victims. The first transports of Jewish men, women, and children sent to Auschwitz as part of the "final solution" were murdered in this gas chamber (Crematorium I) in February and March 1942.

During the first half of 1942, the Auschwitz SS moved the gassing operations to Auschwitz-Birkenau by converting two farmhouses just outside the camp's fence into gas chambers. Bunker I began operating in spring 1942, the larger Bunker II in mid-summer 1942.

These gassing facilities soon proved inadequate for the task of murdering the large numbers of Jewish deportees being sent to Auschwitz. Between March and June 1943, four large crematoria were built within Auschwitz-Birkenau, each with a gas chamber, a disrobing area, and crematory ovens. Gassings ceased at Bunkers I and II when Crematoria II through V began operating, although Bunker II was put back into operation during the deportation of Hungary's Jews in 1944. Gassing of newly arrived transports ceased at Auschwitz by early November 1944.

Jewish deportees arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau immediately underwent selection. The SS staff chose some of the able-bodied for forced labor and sent the rest directly to the gas chambers, which were disguised as shower installations to mislead the victims. The belongings of all deportees were confiscated and sorted in the "Kanada" (Canada) warehouse for shipment back to Germany. Canada symbolized wealth to the prisoners.

Deportations to Auschwitz

Trains arrived at Auschwitz frequently with transports of Jews from virtually every country in Europe occupied by or allied to Germany. These transports arrived from early 1942 to early November 1944. The approximate breakdown of deportations from individual countries:

Hungary: 426,000

Poland: 300,000

France: 69,000

Netherlands: 60,000

Greece: 55,000

Bohemia and Moravia: 46,000

Slovakia: 27,000

Belgium: 25,000

Yugoslavia: 10,000

Italy: 7,500

Norway: 690

Other (including concentration camps): 34,000

With the deportations from Hungary , the role of Auschwitz-Birkenau in the German plan to murder the Jews of Europe achieved its highest effectiveness. Between late April and early July 1944, approximately 440,000 Jews were deported from Hungary. Of the nearly 426,000 Hungarian Jews deported to Auschwitz, approximately 320,000 of them were sent directly to the gas chambers in Auschwitz-Birkenau. They deployed approximately 110,000 at forced labor in the Auschwitz camp complex. The SS authorities transferred many of these Hungarian Jewish forced laborers within weeks of their arrival in Auschwitz to other concentration camps in Germany and Austria.

The Prisoner Revolt at Auschwitz

On October 7, 1944, several hundred prisoners assigned to Crematorium IV at Auschwitz-Birkenau rebelled after learning that they were going to be killed. During the uprising, the prisoners killed three guards and blew up the crematorium and adjacent gas chamber. The prisoners used explosives smuggled into the camp by Jewish women who had been assigned to forced labor in a nearby armaments factory.

The Germans crushed the revolt and killed almost all of the prisoners involved in the rebellion. The Jewish women who had smuggled the explosives into the camp were publicly hanged in early January 1945.

The Auschwitz SS stopped gassing newly arrived prisoners by early November 1944. On orders from Himmler, camp officials began dismantling the crematoria. The SS destroyed the remaining gassing installations as Soviet forces approached in January 1945.

Auschwitz III

Auschwitz III, also called Buna or Monowitz, was established in October 1942. It housed prisoners assigned to work at the Buna synthetic rubber works, located on the outskirts of the small village of Monowice.

In the spring of 1941, German conglomerate I.G. Farben established a factory in which its executives intended to exploit concentration camp labor to manufacture synthetic rubber and fuels. I.G. Farben invested more than 700 million Reichsmarks (about 2.8 million US dollars in 1941 terms) in Auschwitz III. From May 1941 until July 1942, the SS had transported prisoners from Auschwitz I to the "Buna Detachment," at first on foot and later by rail. (Between July and October 1942 there was a pause in transports, due to a typhus epidemic and quarantine.) With the construction of Auschwitz III in the autumn of 1942, prisoners deployed at Buna lived in Auschwitz III.

Auschwitz III also had a so-called Labor Education Camp for non-Jewish prisoners who were perceived to have violated German-imposed labor discipline.

Auschwitz Subcamps

Between 1942 and 1944, the SS authorities at Auschwitz established 44 subcamps. Some of them were established within the officially designated "development" zone, including Budy, Rajsko, Tschechowitz, Harmense, and Babitz. Others, such as Blechhammer, Gleiwitz, Althammer, Fürstengrube , Laurahuette, and Eintrachthuette were located in Upper Silesia north and west of the Vistula River. Some subcamps, such as Freudenthal and Bruenn (Brno), were located in Moravia.

In general, subcamps that produced or processed agricultural goods were administratively subordinate to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Subcamps whose prisoners were deployed at industrial and armaments production or in extractive industries (e.g., coal mining, quarry work) were administratively subordinate to Auschwitz-Monowitz. This division of administrative responsibility was formalized after November 1943.

Auschwitz inmates were employed on huge farms, including the experimental agricultural station at Rajsko. They were also forced to work in coal mines, in stone quarries, in fisheries, and especially in armaments industries such as the SS-owned German Equipment Works (established in 1941). Periodically, prisoners underwent selection. If the SS judged them too weak or sick to continue working, they were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and killed.

Prisoners selected for forced labor were registered and tattooed with identification numbers on their left arms in Auschwitz I. They were then assigned to forced labor at the main camp or elsewhere in the complex, including the subcamps.

Evacuation of Auschwitz and its Subcamps

In mid-January 1945, as Soviet forces approached the Auschwitz concentration camp complex, the SS began evacuating Auschwitz and its subcamps.

SS units forced nearly 60,000 prisoners to march west from the Auschwitz camp system. Thousands had been killed in the camps in the days before these death marches began.

Tens of thousands of prisoners, mostly Jews, were forced to march either northwest for 55 kilometers (approximately 30 miles) to Gliwice (Gleiwitz) or due west for 63 kilometers (approximately 35 miles) to Wodzislaw (Loslau) in the western part of Upper Silesia. Those forced to march northwest were joined by prisoners from subcamps in East Upper Silesia, such as Bismarckhuette, Althammer, and Hindenburg. Those forced to march due west were joined by inmates from the subcamps to the south of Auschwitz, such as Jawischowitz, Tschechowitz, and Golleschau.

SS guards shot anyone who fell behind or could not continue. Prisoners also suffered from the cold weather, starvation, and exposure on these marches. At least 3,000 prisoners died on route to Gliwice alone. Possibly as many as 15,000 prisoners died during the evacuation marches from Auschwitz and the subcamps.

Upon arrival in Gliwice and Wodzislaw, the prisoners were put on unheated freight trains and transported to concentration camps in Germany, particularly to Flossenbürg , Sachsenhausen , Gross-Rosen , Buchenwald , Dachau , and also to Mauthausen in Austria. The rail journey lasted for days. Without food, water, shelter, or blankets, many prisoners did not survive the transport.

In late January 1945, SS and police officials forced 4,000 prisoners to evacuate Blechhammer on foot. Blechhammer was a subcamp of Auschwitz-Monowitz. The SS murdered about 800 prisoners during the march to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. SS officials also killed as many as 200 prisoners left behind in Blechhammer as a result of illness or unsuccessful attempts to hide. After a brief delay, the SS transported around 3,000 Blechhammer prisoners from Gross-Rosen to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.

The Liberation of Auschwitz

On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Monowitz and liberated about seven thousand prisoners, most of whom were ill and dying.

Last Edited: Mar 16, 2015

Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

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The Auschwitz camp system, located in German-occupied Poland, was a complex of 3 camps, including a killing center. Learn about the history of Auschwitz.

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The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

They did an excellent job in Europe, fighting against racism both at home and overseas.

Their achievements helped lead to the end of segregation in the U.S. military.

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/tuskegee-airmen

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The Nuremberg Trials (1945–1946) made Nazi leaders responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

These trials helped shape international law and human rights.

More than 20 top officials were found guilty, including Hermann Goring

https://www.ushmm.org/

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Los Alamos, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

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This secret U.S. research site created the first atomic bombs.

Led by Robert Oppenheimer, it had thousands of scientists and workers.

Its success resulted in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

https://www.energy.gov/lm/manhattan-project-national-historical-park

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In May and June 1940, Allied troops were surrounded by German forces.

A huge effort by civilians and military helped rescue over 330,000 soldiers.

This operation raised British spirits and kept the Allied fighting power strong.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Dunkirk-evacuation

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In February 1945, the Big Three (U.S., U.K., USSR) got together to figure out how Europe would look after the war.

They agreed on dividing Germany and planning the United Nations.

But it also started to create tensions that would lead to the Cold War.

https://www.history.com/articles/yalta-conference

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Yalta Conference: Definition, Date & Outcome - HISTORY

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The Yalta Conference of 1945 was an historic meeting of three World War II allies: U.S. President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Churchill and Soviet Premier Stalin.

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In 1944, Polish resistance fighters started a big uprising against German control.

The Soviet army, which was nearby, did not help.

After 63 days, the Germans defeated the uprising and destroyed the city.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Warsaw-Uprising

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From September 1940 to May 1941, Nazi Germany carried out a big bombing campaign on London and other cities.

Civilians faced nightly air attacks, and more than 40,000 people lost their lives.

During this time, the British spirit of "Keep Calm and Carry On" became famous.

https://www.britannica.com/event/the-Blitz

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the Blitz, (September 7, 1940-May 11, 1941), intense bombing campaign undertaken by Nazi Germany against the United Kingdom during World War II. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. The attacks were authorized by Germany's chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg ("lightning war").

The Battle of Britain

With the surrender of France in June 1940, Germany's sole remaining enemy lay across the English Channel. On July 16, 1940, Hitler issued a directive ordering the preparation and, if necessary, execution of Operation Sea Lion, the amphibious invasion of Great Britain. With Britain's powerful Royal Navy controlling the surface approaches in the Channel and the North Sea, it fell to the Luftwaffe to establish dominance of the skies above the battle zone. On August 2, Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring issued his "Eagle Day" directive, laying down a plan of attack in which a few massive blows from the air were to destroy British air power and so open the way for the invasion.

A victory for the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain would indeed have exposed Great Britain to invasion and occupation. Victory for the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) Fighter Command blocked this possibility and, in fact, created the conditions for Britain's survival and the eventual destruction of the Third Reich. Fighter Command's efforts were greatly aided by the lack of any consistent plan of action on the part of the Germans. Sometimes they were trying establish a blockade by destroying shipping and port facilities, sometimes they were directly attacking Fighter Command ground installations, sometimes they were targeting aircraft factories, and sometimes they were attempting to engage Fighter Command in the skies.

The British, on the other hand, were supremely well prepared for the kind of battle in which they now found themselves. Their Chain Home early warning radar, the most advanced system in the world, gave Fighter Command adequate notice of where and when to direct their forces, and the Luftwaffe never made a concerted effort to neutralize it. The RAF's Spitfire was a superlative fighter, and it was not always easy for the Germans to distinguish it from the slightly less maneuverable but much more numerous Hurricanes. Both planes quickly proved their mettle against German bombers, and Germany's best fighter, the Bf 109, was of limited use as an escort due to its relatively short operating range. The British thus fought with the advantage of superior equipment and undivided aim against an enemy with inconsistent objectives.

Nevertheless, through sheer weight of numbers, the Germans were on the brink of victory in late August 1940. The Luftwaffe had lost more than 600 aircraft, and, although the RAF had lost fewer than half that many, the battle was claiming British fighters and experienced pilots at too great a rate. Instead of pressing his advantage, however, Hitler abruptly changed his strategy. In late August the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London. On August 25 the British retaliated by launching a bombing raid on Berlin. Göring had insisted that such an attack was an impossibility, because of the city's formidable air defense network. The raid so infuriated Hitler that he ordered the Luftwaffe to shift its attacks from RAF sites to London and other cities.

Preparation

The British government had anticipated air attacks on its population centres, and it had predicted catastrophic casualties. A Luftwaffe terror bombing attack on the Spanish city of Guernica (April 26, 1937) during the Spanish Civil War had killed hundreds of civilians and destroyed much of the town. On September 1, 1939, the day World War II began with Germany's invasion of Poland, the British government implemented a massive evacuation plan. Over the course of three days, some 1.5 million civilians-the overwhelming majority of them children-were transported from urban centres to rural areas that were believed to be safe. The mass relocation, called Operation Pied Piper, was the largest internal migration in British history.

Authorities quickly implemented plans to protect Londoners from bombs and to house those left homeless by the attacks. The national government also provided funds to local municipalities to construct public air-raid shelters. The Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.) department distributed more than two million Anderson shelters (named after Sir John Anderson, head of the A.R.P.) to households. These shelters, made of corrugated steel, were designed to be dug into a garden and then covered with dirt. While Anderson shelters offered good protection from bomb fragments and debris, they were cold and damp and generally ill-suited for prolonged occupancy. Because basements, a logical destination in the event of an air raid, were a relative rarity in Britain, the A.R.P. devised the Morrison shelter (named for Home Secretary Herbert Stanley Morrison) as an alternative to the Anderson shelter. This type of shelter-essentially a low steel cage large enough to contain two adults and two small children-was designed to be set up indoors and could serve as a refuge if the building began to collapse.

During the first year of the war, "behind-the-lines" conditions prevailed in London. In spite of blackouts, ubiquitous shelters and sandbags, the visible effects of mass evacuation, the presence of A.R.P. wardens, and members of the Home Guard drilling in the parks, life went on much as usual. The winter of 1939-40 was severe, but the summer was pleasant, and in their leisure hours Londoners thronged the parks or worked in their gardens. Several theatres and many cinemas were open, and there were even a few sporting events. Apart from one or two false alarms in the early days of the war, no sirens wailed in London until June 25. The sense of relative calm was abruptly shattered in the first week of September 1940, when the war came to London in earnest.

The raids

The Blitz began at about 4:00 in the afternoon on September 7, 1940, when German planes appeared over London. For two hours, 348 German bombers and 617 fighters targeted the city, dropping high-explosive bombs as well as incendiary devices. Later, guided by the raging fires caused by the first attack, a second group of planes began another assault that lasted until 4:30 the following morning. In just these few hours, 430 people were killed and 1,600 were badly injured. The first day of the Blitz is remembered as Black Saturday.

Beginning on Black Saturday, London was attacked on 57 straight nights. Between Black Saturday and December 2, there was no 24-hour period without at least one "alert"-as the alarms came to be called-and generally far more. Nine were registered on three separate occasions, and from the start of the Blitz until November 30 there were more than 350 alerts. The nights of November 3 and 28 were the only occasions during this period in which London's peace was unbroken by siren or bomb. After the first week of September, although night bombing on a large scale continued, the large mass attacks by day, which had proved so costly to the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, were replaced by smaller parties coming over in successive waves. On occasion, forces consisting of as many as 300 to 400 aircraft would cross the coast by day and split into small groups, and a few planes would succeed in penetrating London's outer defenses.

The A.R.P. sprang into action, and Londoners, while maintaining the work, business, and efficiency of their city, displayed remarkable fortitude. During the whole period, although the city's operation was disrupted in ways that were sometimes serious, no essential service was more than temporarily impaired. No significant cut was made in necessary social services, and public and private premises, except when irreparably damaged, were repaired as speedily as possible. In many cases the daily life of the city was able to resume with delays of only hours.

The raids on London primarily targeted the Docklands area of the East End. This hub of industry and trade represented a legitimate military target for the Germans, and some 25,000 bombs were dropped on the Port of London alone. However, the Docklands was also a densely populated and impoverished area where thousands of working-class Londoners lived in run-down housing. The raids hurt Britain's war production, but they also killed many civilians and left many others homeless. A charitable relief fund for the people of London was opened September 10. Contributions poured in from every part of the world in such profusion that on October 28 its scope was extended to cover the whole of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. By the middle of December it had reached nearly £1,700,000 (adjusted for inflation, this was the equivalent of roughly £100 million in 2020).

A modern bomb census has attempted to pinpoint the location of every bomb dropped on London during the Blitz, and the visualization of that data makes clear how thoroughly the Luftwaffe saturated the city. Air-raid damage was widespread; hospitals, clubs, churches, museums, residential and shopping streets, hotels, public houses, theatres, schools, monuments, newspaper offices, embassies, and the London Zoo were bombed. While some of the poorer and more crowded suburban areas suffered severely, the mansions of Mayfair, the luxury flats of Kensington, and Buckingham Palace itself-which was bombed four separate times-fared little better. Although casualties were heavy, at no time did they approach the estimates that had been made before the war, and only a fraction of the available hospital and ambulance capacity was ever utilized.

Author Lawrence H. Dawson detailed the damage to London's historic buildings for the 1941 Britannica Book of the Year:

The following curtailed list identifies some of the better known places in inner London that have been damaged by enemy action. Some are a total loss; others are already under repair with little outward sign of the damage sustained: Besides Buckingham palace, the chapel of which was wrecked, and Guildhall (the six-centuries old centre of London civic ceremonies and of great architectural beauty), which was destroyed by fire, Kensington palace (the London home of the earl of Athlone, governor general of Canada, and the birthplace of Queen Mary and Queen Victoria), the banqueting hall of Eltham palace (dating from King John's time and long a royal residence), Lambeth palace (the archbishop of Canterbury), and Holland house (famous for its 17th century domestic architecture, its political associations, and its art treasures), suffered, the latter severely. Of the churches, besides St. Paul's cathedral, where at one time were five unexploded bombs in the immediate vicinity and the roof of which was pierced by another that exploded and shattered the high altar to fragments, those damaged were Westminster abbey, St. Margaret's Westminster, Southwark cathedral; fifteen Wren churches (including St. Brides, Fleet St.; St. Lawrence Jewry; St. Magnus the Martyr; St. Mary-at-hill; St. Dunstan in the East; St. Clement [Eastcheap] and St. James's, Piccadilly). St. Giles, Cripplegate, and St. Mary Wolnooth, also in the city, were damaged, while the Dutch church in Austin Friars, dating from the 14th century and covering a larger area than any church in the city of London, St. Paul's alone excepted, was totally destroyed. Islington parish church, the rebuilt Our Lady of Victories (Kensington), the French church by Leicester square, St. Anne's, Soho (famous for its music), All Souls', Langham place, and Christ Church in Westminster Bridge road (whose tower-fortunately saved-commemorates President Lincoln's abolition of slavery), were among a large number of others. Over 20 hospitals were hit, among them the London (many times), St. Thomas's, St. Bartholomew's, and the children's hospital in Great Ormond st., as well as Chelsea hospital, the home for the aged and invalid soldiers, built by Wren. The famous places damaged include the palace of Westminster and Westminster hall, the County hall, the Public Record office, the Law Courts, the Temple and the Inner Temple library; Somerset house, Burlington house, the tower of London, Greenwich observatory, Hogarth's house; the Carlton, Reform, American, Savage, Arts and Orleans clubs; the Royal College of Surgeons, University college and its library, Stationers' hall, the Y.M.C.A. headquarters, Toynbee hall and St. Dunstan's; the American, Spanish, Japanese and Peruvian embassies and the buildings of the Times newspaper, the Associated Press of America, and the National City bank of New York; the centre court at Wimbledon, Wembley stadium, the Ring (Blackfriars); Drury Lane, the Queen's and the Saville theatres; Rotten row, Lambeth walk, the Burlington arcade and Madame Tussaud's.

The Germans expanded the Blitz to other cities in November 1940. The most heavily bombed cities outside London were Liverpool and Birmingham. Other targets included Sheffield, Manchester, Coventry, and Southampton. The attack on Coventry was particularly destructive. On November 14, 1940, a German force of more than 500 bombers destroyed much of the old city centre and killed more than 550 people. The devastation was so great that the Germans coined a new verb, "to coventrate," to describe it. In early 1941 the Germans launched another wave of attacks, this time focusing on ports. Raids between February and May pounded Plymouth, Portsmouth, Bristol, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Hull in England; Swansea in Wales; Belfast in Northern Ireland; and Clydeside in Scotland.

The night raids on London continued into 1941, and January 10-11 saw exceptionally heavy attacks; the Mansion House (residence of the lord mayor of London) and the Bank of England narrowly avoided destruction when a bomb fell directly between them, creating a gigantic crater. After a brief lull, the Luftwaffe returned in force on February 17. Hundreds of incendiary and many high-explosive bombs were dropped, doing little material damage but causing many casualties. Another large-scale attack followed on March 19, when hundreds of houses and shops, many churches, six hospitals, and other public buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged. A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. On April 16 an attack even fiercer and more indiscriminate than those of the previous autumn started at 9:00 pm and continued until 5:00 the following morning; 500 aircraft were believed to have flown over in continuous waves, raining an estimated 450 tons of bombs across the city. More than 1,000 people were killed, and the damage was more widespread than on any previous occasion. Three nights later (April 19-20) London was again subjected to a seven-hour raid, and the loss of life was considerable, especially among firefighters and the A.R.P. workers.

Londoners enjoyed three weeks of uneasy peace until May 10-11, the night of a full moon, when the Luftwaffe launched the most intense raid of the Blitz. London seemed ablaze from the docks to Westminster, much damage was done, and casualties were high. More than 500 German planes dropped more than 700 tons of bombs across the city, killing nearly 1,500 people and destroying 11,000 homes. The House of Commons, Westminster Abbey, and the British Museum were severely damaged, and The Temple was almost completely destroyed. Elsewhere in the skies over Britain, Nazi official Rudolph Hess chose that same evening to parachute into Scotland on a quixotic and wholly unauthorized peace mission. Although there were some comparatively slight raids later in 1941, the most notable one on July 27, the May 10-11 attack marked the conclusion of the Blitz.

Response

When the Blitz began, the government enforced a blackout in an attempt to make targeting more difficult for German night bombers. Streetlights, car headlights, and illuminated signs were kept off. People hung black curtains in their windows so that no lights showed outside their houses. When a bombing raid was imminent, air-raid sirens were set off to sound a warning. At the beginning of the Blitz, British "ack ack" gunners struggled to inflict meaningful damage on German bombers, but later developments in radar guidance greatly improved the effectiveness of both antiaircraft artillery and searchlights.

Another defensive measure employed by the British was barrage balloons-large oval-shaped unmanned balloons with stabilizing tail fins-installed in and around major target areas. These balloons, the largest of which were some 60 feet (18 metres) long, were essentially an airspace denial tool. They prevented low-flying aircraft from approaching their targets at optimal altitudes and angles of attack. The higher the German planes had to fly to avoid the balloons, the less accurate they were when dropping their bombs. While the balloons themselves were an obvious deterrent, they were anchored to the ground by steel tethers that were strong enough to damage or destroy any aircraft that flew into them. Over 100 German planes made contact with barrage balloon cables during the Blitz, and two-thirds of them crashed or made forced landings on British soil.

Seeking shelter

The initial human cost of the Blitz was lower than the government had expected, but the level of destruction exceeded the government's dire predictions. Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparations-however extensive they seemed to have been-were inadequate. Many of the surface shelters built by local authorities were flimsy and provided little protection from bombs, falling debris, and fire. In addition, there simply was not enough space for everyone who needed shelter in one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the world. In a survey of shelter use, it was found that, although the public shelters were fully occupied every night, just 9 percent of Londoners made use of them. Some 27 percent of Londoners utilized private shelters, such as Anderson shelters, while the remaining 64 percent spent their evenings on duty with some branch of the civil defense or remained in their own homes.

In the first days of the Blitz, a tragic incident in the East End stoked public anger over the government's shelter policy. After the bombing began on September 7, local authorities urged displaced people to take shelter at South Hallsville School. Those who sought refuge at the school were told that they would quickly be relocated to a safer area, but the evacuation was delayed. On September 10, 1940, the school was flattened by a German bomb, and people huddled in the basement were killed or trapped in the rubble. The government announced that 77 people had died, but for years local residents insisted the toll was much higher. Revised estimates made decades later indicated that close to 600 men, women, and children had been killed in the bombing. It is believed that the wartime government covered up the death toll because of concern over the effect it would have had on public morale.

The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. Days later a group of East Enders occupied the shelter at the upscale Savoy Hotel, and many others began to take refuge in the city's underground railway, or Tube, stations. This option had been forbidden by city officials, who feared that once people began sleeping in Underground stations, they would be reluctant to return to the surface and resume daily life. As more and more people began sleeping on the platforms, however, the government relented and provided bunk beds and bathrooms for the underground communities. The use of the Tube system as a shelter saved thousands of lives, and images of Londoners huddled in Underground stations would become an indelible image of British life during World War II.

Dissatisfaction with public shelters also led to another notable development in the East End-Mickey's Shelter. After his optician business was destroyed by a bomb, Mickey Davies led an effort to organize the Spitalfield Shelter. As many as 5,000 people had packed into this network of underground tunnels, which was dangerously overcrowded, dirty, and dark. Guided by Davies, the people of the shelter created an ad hoc government and established a set of rules. Davies also set up medical stations and persuaded off-duty medical personnel to treat the sick and wounded. The success of Mickey's Shelter was another factor that urged the government to improve existing "deep shelters" and to create new ones.

Impact and legacy

The Blitz was devastating for the people of London and other cities. In the eight months of attacks, some 43,000 civilians were killed. This amounted to nearly half of Britain's total civilian deaths for the whole war. One of every six Londoners was made homeless at some point during the Blitz, and at least 1.1 million houses and flats were damaged or destroyed. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. Hitler's intention had been to break the morale of the British people so they would pressure their government to surrender. Morale did suffer amid the death and devastation, but there were few calls for surrender. The phrase "Business as usual," written in chalk on boarded-up shop windows, exemplified the British determination to "keep calm and carry on" as best they could.

From a purely military perspective, the Blitz was entirely counterproductive to the main purpose of Germany's air offensive-to dominate the skies in advance of an invasion of England. By mid-September 1940 the RAF had won the Battle of Britain, and the invasion was postponed indefinitely. Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. On May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the Blitz as he shifted his forces eastward against the Soviet Union.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Michael Ray.

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The Blitz | World War II, History, & Facts

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The Blitz (September 7, 1940-May 11, 1941), bombing campaign undertaken by Nazi Germany against Britain during World War II. For eight months planes of the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word 'blitzkrieg,' meaning 'lightning war.'

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On September 2, 1945, Japan officially surrendered on the USS Missouri, which was anchored in Tokyo Bay.

This ceremony marked the official end of World War II.

Representatives from both the Allied and Axis powers were there.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/japan-surrenders

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Aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan formally surrenders to the Allies, bringing an end to World War II.

By the summer of 1945, the defeat of Japan was a foregone conclusion. The Japanese navy and air force were destroyed. The Allied naval blockade of Japan and intensive bombing of Japanese cities had left the country and its economy devastated. At the end of June, the Americans captured Okinawa, a Japanese island from which the Allies could launch an invasion of the main Japanese home islands. U.S. General Douglas MacArthur was put in charge of the invasion, which was code-named "Operation Olympic" and set for November 1945.

The invasion of Japan promised to be the bloodiest seaborne attack of all time, conceivably 10 times as costly as the Normandy invasion in terms of Allied casualties. On July 16, a new option became available when the United States secretly detonated the world's first atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert. Ten days later, the Allies issued the Potsdam Declaration, demanding the "unconditional surrender of all the Japanese armed forces." Failure to comply would mean "the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitable the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland." On July 28, Japanese Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki responded by telling the press that his government was "paying no attention" to the Allied ultimatum. U.S. President Harry S. Truman ordered the devastation to proceed, and on August 6, the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing an estimated 80,000 people and fatally wounding thousands more.

After the Hiroshima attack, a faction of Japan's supreme war council favored acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, but the majority resisted unconditional surrender. On August 8, Japan's desperate situation took another turn for the worse when the USSR declared war against Japan. The next day, Soviet forces attacked in Manchuria, rapidly overwhelming Japanese positions there, and a second U.S. atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese coastal city of Nagasaki.

Just before midnight on August 9, Japanese Emperor Hirohito convened the supreme war council. After a long, emotional debate, he backed a proposal by Prime Minister Suzuki in which Japan would accept the Potsdam Declaration "with the understanding that said Declaration does not compromise any demand that prejudices the prerogatives of His Majesty as the sovereign ruler." The council obeyed Hirohito's acceptance of peace, and on August 10 the message was relayed to the United States.

Early on August 12, the United States answered that "the authority of the emperor and the Japanese government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers." After two days of debate about what this statement implied, Emperor Hirohito brushed the nuances in the text aside and declared that peace was preferable to destruction. He ordered the Japanese government to prepare a text accepting surrender.

In the early hours of August 15, a military coup was attempted by a faction led by Major Kenji Hatanaka. The rebels seized control of the imperial palace and burned Prime Minister Suzuki's residence, but shortly after dawn the coup was crushed. At noon that day, Emperor Hirohito went on national radio for the first time to announce the Japanese surrender. In his unfamiliar court language, he told his subjects, "we have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unendurable and suffering what is insufferable." The United States immediately accepted Japan's surrender.

President Truman appointed MacArthur to head the Allied occupation of Japan as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. For the site of Japan's formal surrender, Truman chose the USS Missouri, a battleship that had seen considerable action in the Pacific and was named after Truman's native state. MacArthur, instructed to preside over the surrender, held off the ceremony until September 2 in order to allow time for representatives of all the major Allied powers to arrive.

On Sunday, September 2, more than 250 Allied warships lay at anchor in Tokyo Bay. The flags of the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and China fluttered above the deck of the Missouri. Just after 9 a.m. Tokyo time, Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed on behalf of the Japanese government. General Yoshijiro Umezu then signed for the Japanese armed forces, and his aides wept as he made his signature.

Supreme Commander MacArthur next signed, declaring, "It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past." Nine more signatures were made, by the United States, China, Britain, the USSR, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands and New Zealand, respectively. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz signed for the United States. As the 20-minute ceremony ended, the sun burst through low-hanging clouds. The most devastating war in human history was over.

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Japan surrenders, bringing an end to WWII | September 2, 1945 | HISTORY

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Japan formally surrenders to the Allies aboard the USS Missouri, bringing an end to World War II.