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Invasions of Poland by USSR and Germany, beginning World War II. Most of Poland is taken in days
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British armored forces attack Italian forces in North Africa. This campaign escalates and continues for nearly three years.
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Battle of Britain. Germany suffers its first defeat in the skies over England, and abandons invasion plans.
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June, Germany invades the USSR, opening what becomes known as the Eastern Front.
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December 7, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacks the US Pacific Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. US enters the war, opening the Pacific Theatre.
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June 4-7, Battle of Midway. The US Navy sinks four Japanese aircraft carriers in the fight that proves to be the turning point in the Pacific war.
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Battle of Stalingrad. Germany's entire Sixth Army is lost, and the war begins turning in favor of the Allies.
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Before the Main invasion the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions parachute behind German lines in France.
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June 6, the Allied Expeditionary Force under Dwight Eisenhower lands on the coast of northern France on what will later be called "D-Day". The "Second Front" that Stalin has been demanding for three years is now open
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April 30, Hitler commits suicide, shortly before the fall of Berlin and surrender of German forces in Europe.
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USA develops the atomic bomb, and successfully uses it in August to force the surrender of Japan.
