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Battle of Britain
The battle of Britan was an attack on the British by the Nazis in order to take out the British airforce and control Britain. This battle lasted from August - October 1940. Germany fought entirely in the air and bombed major cities. The majority of the fighting occured in the British Isles. Eventually, Great Britain won, raising the confidence of the Allied forces. -
Operation Barbarossa
On June 22, 1941, The German Nazis and its allies encircled the Soviet Union and began a massive attack to take them over. Hitler claimed the Nazis needed the "living space" and he was looking for the oil resources in Russia. 4,000 Soviet aricrafts were destroyed and 6000,000 were killed or captured. Because Hitler had not been able to take over the Soviet Union, The Nazis power was diminished and Russia joined the Allies. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese military bombed the USA's major militaty and naval base, Pearl Harbor. Japan did this because they were upset that the USA had stopped trade with Japan and had frozen their money assets un US banks. Pear Harbor is in Oahu, Hawaii, and many weapons and ships were destroyed. 2,400 Americans, died, 2 battleships and multiple planes and ships destroyed. After this terrible bombing, the USA declared war on Japan and joined World War II. -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March was the forced transfer of 60,000-80,000 Fillipino and American pisoners by the Imperial Japanese Army. General Douglas was the main facilitator of this. The Japanese wanted to imprison these people after the Battle of Bataan. 2,5000 Fillipino and 100-650 Americans were dead before they veen reached Camp O'Donell. Many prisoners died at the march and the Japanese now had many Fillipino and American prisoners of war. -
Operation Overlord (D-Day)
On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces attacked Nazi Germany in order to win back France. The main Allies that fought were Canada, the UK, the USA, and some French forces. The main leader of the Allies was General Dwight Eisenhower. This battle took place in Normandy, France and at leats 3 million troops were in France by the end of August. This battle was intended to end WWII and Nazi domination in Europe, and the Allies won, freeing France and gaining more power in Europe. -
Battle of the Bulge
Beginning on December 16, 1944, German forces begin to attempt at breaking the Allies line of defense. They attack mostly the US, but also Great Britain and France. This battle occurs in Belgium, Luremburg and Nazi Germany. 610,000 Allies are arrested, 89,000 are injured and 19,000 are killed. This was the last major attack by the Nazis and they did manage to create a "bulge" in the Allies line of defense. This battle ended on January 25, 1945. -
Yalta Conference
February 4-11, 1945, leaders from the USA, UK ans Soviet Union got together in the Yalta Conference. These leaders were Franklin D. Rosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. At this conference, war strategies and ways to re-establish the nations of war-torn Europe were discussed. This happened in a Livadia Palace, near Yalta. After this conference, the United Nations was established. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima beginning on Februrary 19, 1945, was the battle between the USA and Japan over the island Iwo Jima, Japan. US forces attacked and captured Iwo Jima. Only 216 of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner, the rest were either missing or dead. Although, there were for US soldiers dead than Japanese. The US attacked in ordder to create a staging area for attacks on Japan. On March 26, 1945, the US took over Iwo Jima and destroy most of Japan's military ships and planes -
V-E Day
V-E Day marks the day that Germany surrendered and the end of Hitler's reign. The German forces in Italy surrendered and there was a day of celebration in Europe because the war in Europe was now over. This happened in Berlin. -
Dropping the Atomic Bomb
On August 9, 1945, the USA dropped a "little boy" atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan in an attempt to end WWII. Within the first two months, 90,000-166,000 were dead. Then on August 9, 1945, the "fat man" atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city Nagasaki, and within two months 60,000-80,000 were dead. From those two cities, half of the deaths occured on the first day. After the bombings, Japan surrenders from WWII. -
V-J Day
on August 14, 1945, Japan surrendered from WWII. This was because they realized they could not win the war, so they "gave up." After Japan surrenders, the world celebrates. Japan does not sign an official surrender document until September 2, 1945. This bring Japan out of the war and gives the USA more military authority.
