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• Germany uses blitzkrieg to overpower Polish army
• Britain & France declare war on Germany
• Make it to Warsaw (capital of Poland) in less than a month
• Germany begins enforcing racial policies
• Jews had to wear white armbands with blue Stars of David
• Expelled 1000s of Poles and replace them with Germans
• Began WWII -
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• A last-minute rescue to save 300,000 allied soldiers
• The allied soldiers were trapped by the Nazis near the beaches of Dunkirk, France
• The battle lasted 6 weeks and France surrendered, giving the victory to Germany
• The British Royal Air Force intercepted German bombers above the beach
• Although thousands of soldiers were saved, an incredible number of supplies were left behind for the Germans to use
• Battle was between the Allies and Nazi Germany
• Ended June 4, 1940 -
• Code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union
• The invasion failed due to strategic failures and harsh winter weather
• More than 3 million German and Axis troops invaded the Soviet Union along a 1.800-mile-long front
• The Soviet Union was warned several times of the attack, but Stalin refused to believe/act on them
• Was a major role in Nazi genocide, as mobile killing units followed invading German troops.
• Germany faced massive amounts of casualties
• Ended December 5, 1941 -
• Axis forces invaded the Soviet Union
• Most of the Soviet Air Force was destroyed
• The Axis forces advanced using Blitzkrieg tactics
• Entire Soviet armies were destroyed. However, the Soviet Union won and ended Germany’s invasion
• The Axis’s powers plan to capture the Soviet was prevented
• Marked the beginning of the Soviet Union’s counter-offensive
• Ended Operation Barbarossa
• Lasted until April 20, 1942 -
• Surprise aerial attack on the US naval base by Japan at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, which was won by Japan.
• Became the US’s entry into WWII
• Japan destroyed more than 20 American ships and over 300 planes
• The US was attacked because they supplied Great Britain with resources in their fight against the Nazis -
• Naval battle fought almost entirely with aircrafts
• Took place in the Pacific Theater of WWII on the Midway Islands
• US won the battle
• Ended the hopes Japan had to neutralize the US during the war, and turned the tide for WWII
• Considered the most important naval battle of the war
• Was caused due to The Doolittle Raid that the US launched on Japan on April 18, 1942, causing Japan to want to push back the presence of the US in the Pacific Theater
• Ended June 7, 1942 -
• Island of Iwo Jima was invaded by the Americans
• One of the bloodiest battles of the war, resulted in the death of 18,884 of the 22,060 Japanese soldiers
• The Island became an emergency landing site for US B-29 bombers
• Set the path for the last battle of the Pacific Theater at Okinawa.
• The beach was made up of steep dunes of volcanic ash that made it hard for American forces to make their way along the island.
• Iwo Jima lost to the American forces
• Ended March 26, 1945