-
Battle of the Atlantic
The U.S. and the Allies depended largely on the seas. The U.S. could only deliver soldiers and supplies to the hard-pressed oppnents of Hitler by sea. If the Atlantic was not kept safe for shipping, the Axis would soon win the war. Germany featured several new surface ship including the Bismarck. Great Britain managed to sink the Bismarck in 1941, and Germany began to rely on a familiar weapon-- the U-boat. In WW1 the Allies had learned to protect ships against U-boats by forming convoys. -
Battle of the Atlantic
Early WW2 the British didn't have enough vessles to form effective convoys, making it easy to attack supply ships bound for Britain. Germans created a so-called wolf pack, in which U-boats hunted in group and often attacked at night. In 1941 U-boats sent hundreds of ships and tons of supplies to the bottom of the sea, while German navy only lost a few dozen U-boats. Germany decalred war on the U.S. and U-boats attacks on American shipping increased. 360 American ships were sunk. 8 German U-boats -
Battle of the Atlantic
American shipyards began producing new ships at amazing speeds; used to form larger, better equipped convoys. New allied aircrafts protected convoys from the air; they used radar to find and destory ships. Allies broke the Germans code system, Enigima. German sailors referred to their ships as "iron coffins". By the end of the war, 70% of Germans on submarines were dead. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces,[13] and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date. The German objective was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF), especially Fighter Command. From July 1940, coastal shipping convoys and shipping centres, such as Portsmouth, were the main targets; one month later, the Luftwaffe shifted its attacks to RAF airfields and infrastructure. -
Battle of Britain
As the battle progressed, the Luftwaffe also targeted aircraft factories and ground infrastructure. Eventually the Luftwaffe resorted to attacking areas of political significance and using terror bombing strategy. By preventing Germany from gaining air superiority, the British forced Hitler to postpone and eventually cancel Operation Sea Lion, a planned amphibious and airborne invasion of Britain. However, Germany continued bombing operations on Britain, known as The Blitz. -
Battle of Stalingrad
One major target of the Germany was the city of Stalingrad, a major industrial center on the Volga River. This was one of the bloodiest fighting in the history of warfare, the Soviets refused to let Stalingrad fall. Germany failed to take the city and exposed themselves to Soviet counterattack. The following fight 250,000 Axis soldiers were trapped by Soviet forces. Hitler was defeated. Stalingrad marked the beginning of Germany's collasped in the Soviet Union. Hitlers forces suffered 2 million -
Battle of Stalingrad
and the Soviets lost 12 million. In Lenengrad alone, as many as 800,000 civilians perished. The soviet Union survived. Now it was fighting toward the final defeat of the Axis. -
Battle of El Alamein, Egypt
At this battle the british handed the Germans a major defeat. This took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. turned the tide in the North African Campaign and ended the Axis threat to Egypt, the Suez Canal, and of gaining access to the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields in North Africa. From a psychological perspective,it revived the morale of the Allies, being the first major offensive against the Axis since the start of the European war in 1939 in which the Western Allies won -
Operation Torch
The commander of what came to be called Operation torch was a US lieutenant general named Dwight Eisenhower. The plan called for American forces to invade the North African countries of Morocco and Algeria in Nov. 1942. France had controlled this territory before 1940. After the fall of France, Vichy leaders were installed there. Still the Allies hoped that the French in North America would side with them in battle. Indeed, the Allies met little resistace upon landing, French forces soon joined. -
Operation Torch
Allied forces turned east to fight the Germans. Battles in places such as Kasserine Pass, Americans gained valuable combat experience. Some 20,000 Americans were killed or wounded in the six months of North American fighting. In May 1943 they had helped defeat the Rommel's forces. Stalin continued to push for a European invasion, and in the planning stages was a massive invasion of France. For now they prepared to cross the Mediterranean and knock the Italians out of the war. -
Invasion of Sicily/Italy
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major Ww2 campain, which Allies took Sicily from the Axis Powers (Italy and Nazi Germany). It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.
Husky began on the night of 9 July 1943, and ended 7 August. Strategically, Husky eached goals set out for it by Allied planners; the Allies drove Axis air, land and naval forces from the island. -
Operation Overlord
Planned invasion of France. The Allies wanted to launch a large invasion of mainland Europe. They worked for months to select a location. Finally settling on the beaches of Normandy, in North France. Eisenhower commanded the mission and chose Omar Bradley to lead the American troops. Top Brtish Commander- Bernard Montgomery. Planning and speed were vital. Introduction of new German weapons-V1 flyng bomb and the V2 rocket. Allies were able to destroy a few but fear of these weapons forced them on -
Battle of the Bulge
Germany launched a suprise offensive of their own. Name refered to the bulge in the Allied battle lines created by the German advance. Hitler's forces threatened to win back vital ground from the Allies. Belgain city of Bastogne was an important crossroad and Germans and Amerin defenders were determined to take it. Troop led by George Patton arived to provide relief for the American force. The victory here helped blunt the German offensive and became a symbol of American strength. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
er and electrical supply. He married his long-time mistress Eva Braun just two days before his suicide.Hitler and Braun’s bodies were hastily cremated in the chancellery garden, as Soviet forces closed in on the building. When the Soviets reached the chancellery, they removed Hitler’s ashes, continually changing their location so as to prevent Hitler devotees from creating a memorial at his final resting place. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
Holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler’s dreams of a “1,000-year” Reich.In January 1945, facing a siege of Berlin by the Soviets, Hitler withdrew to his bunker to live out his final days. Located 55 feet under the chancellery, the shelter contained 18 rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own wat -
VE Day
The administration headed by Dönitz was known as the Flensburg Government. The act of military surrender was signed on 7 May in Reims, France and on 8 May in Berlin, Germany. -
VE Day
Victory in Europe Day, generally known as V-E Day, VE Day or simply V Day was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 (7 May in Commonwealth realms) to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces.[1] It thus marked the end of World War II in Europe.On 30 April, Adolf Hitler, committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin. Germany's surrender, therefore, was authorised by his successor, Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz.
