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German Blitzkrieg
The term Blitzkrieg is defined as lightening war. Germans tried blitzkrieg, first, against Poland in 1939 before using it against Netherlands and France in 1940. It's results helped Germany using mobility to improve the outcome of World War II unlike the first world war.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Germany's invasion on France
Germans announce a curfew for 8 p.m. on Paris to capture it. However, 2 million Parisians had fled from Paris because of the deeds that Hitler was planning for France. France did telegram President Roosevelt, but they were late, resulting in Germany's capture over Paris.
Source: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris -
Battle of Britain
Germany bombed London continuously for 11 months to invade Britain. Most of the fighting was done in the air by using spitfires. Because of lend-lease act, in which the US lend arms or other supplies for Britain and France, Germany stopped fighting against Britain.
Source: Class notes -
Lend Lease Act
The Act was issued after the Cash and Carry Program which was too little and too late for Britain and France because it required for Britain to go to America and pay cash for any equipments. In Lend Lease Act, however, US would lend arms or any other supplies themselves to the allies. Hitler did try to prevent the act by sending German U-boats to attack the ships with supplies, but failed.
Source: Class notes -
Bataan Death March
In building up the Asian empire, Japan invaded Manila, capital of the Philippines, after attacking Pearl Harbor leading for Americans and Filipino defenders to retreat the Bataan peninsula. Soon, Americans and Filipinos were surrendered by Japanese and forced to march 65 miles from Mariveles to San Fernando. Thousand of troops did not survive the march because of the brutal captors or too weak to walk. The US avenged its defeat by invading the island of Leyte.
Source: History.com -
Operation Barbarossa
Since Germany was unable to conquer Britain, Hitler decides to invade the Soviet Union even though he made a Pact with Stalin. Now that the United States was part of the allied powers, they extended their lend lease aid for Soviet Union. Germany completely underestimated Soviet Union, and resulted in losing the battle.
Source: Class notes -
Germany's invasion of Soviet Union
Germany invaded the Soviet Union as conquerors instead of liberators, which was a huge mistake that Germany made. The invasion covered about two thousand miles, starting form North Cape to the Black Sea. The Germans had three great army groups with over three million soldiers, but the Soviet Union got help from the US, having a negative affect on Germany.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor
Japan and the United States were not at good terms that led to Japan attacking Pearl Harbor. Japan was upset with the US because of the isolation of the island nation of Japan from the rest of the world. Japan, then, signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, joining the axies.
Source: https://www.history.com/news/why-did-japan-attack-pearl-harbor -
Aftermath of Japan bombing Pearl Harbor
Hitler was surprised with Japan attacking Pearl Harbor, but he was happy with Japan. He, then also decided to attack US along with Japan as they were both part of the axies power. To conclude, the United States declared war on Japan and Germany supporting the allied power.
Source: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-declares-war-on-the-united-states -
Victory of US in the Battle of Midway
The US won the Battle of Midway against Japan after 6 months from the attack on Pearl Harbor. The US tried to peace talk, but Japan wanted to create an empire in which the US stood as the turn point. Since Japan disagreed with peace talk, the US went on war and defeated Japan. This was beneficial for the allied and moving into an offensive position.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Himmler, one of the important member of the Nazi party, sent forces to the Warsaw ghetto with many tanks and heavy artillery. Several hundred fighters fought the Germans, but they outnumbered them significantly and killed or captured thousand of Jews. The Nazi Party blew up the Warsaw's Great Synagogue and killed about 7,000 Jews. 50,000 Jews survived that were sent to extermination or labor camps.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising -
D-day
An invasion on Germany, because they invaded France, that required lots of planning by the US, France, Britain, and Canada. Hitler was aware of the invasion and decided to put Erwin Rommel to be in charge of the region. The allied tricked them by designing a campaign to mislead the Germans to the intended target. By the end of the D-Day, around 156,000 allied troops had successfully stomed Normandy's beach.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Battle of the Bulge
The plan by Germans to push back the allies from northern France to northwest Belgium. First, the Germans were able to push 80 miles because of the hilly forest line and thick fog that prevented the American troops to notice the movement. Second, the Germans used American uniforms, trucks, and jeeps to mislead the Americans and created a chaos. The war did not end until better weather allowed the US to use aircraft bomb.
Source: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-bulge -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
Towards the end of 1944, Germany was defeated by the allied forces and the Germans started to hide the horror of concentration camps from the allied. As the Soviet army entered Krakow, the Germans begin to abandon Auschwitz by forcing people on a death march, which killed many prisoners. When the Soviet army reached Auschwitz, they found 7,600 sick, mounds of corpses and an estimate of 1.1 million to 1.5 million Jews died.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/auschwitz -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The battle was between the US and Japan starting with the US dropping bombs from the air. The US, however faced a challenge as they landed from the soft, gray volcanic ash that made the passage for transportation harder. With struggling to get a foothold at the beach, the US was, eventually, able to move in past the beach and seize one of three Iwo Jima's airfields.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
US defeats Japan (ends WWII)
The US secretly detonates world's first atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert and uses it against Japan. Japan's President told the press that he was not paying attention to the allies, which made President Truman to order to proceed the devastation. The US dropped the atomic bomb, resulting Japan to surrender because 80,000 Japanese were killed and thousands more were wounded.
Source: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/japan-surrenders
