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Battle of France/Miracle of Dunkirk
Interesting Facts
1) it took 6 weeks for Germany to invade and occupy France
2) The miracle of Dunkirk far exceeded previous expectations of only 45k to almost 340k people evacuated
3) Italy joined the war towards the end of the battle and made no real difference to the outcome
4) The end outcome of this battle significantly changed how the rest of Europe viewed Germany
5) The battle ended with an arm stance between Germany and France, taking the French out of the war, having been taken over. -
Battle of Britain
Interesting Facts
1) It got its name before it started
2) Hitler tried to get Churchill to surrender without fighting
3) The battle was mostly fought in the air without any ground forces being sent out
4) Long after the end of the battle, German bombing continued to break British fighting spirit
5) The German air force was named the Luftwaffe and the British was RAF (royal air force) -
Battle of Leningrad
Interesting Facts
1) The siege lasted for almost 2.5 years, ending finally when the city managed to break through the German encirclment
2) Their was no real reason for the siege, except symbolism for the Germans
3) Also known as the 900 day siege
4) Germans never successfully took the city over
5) The citizens of the city had to survive through being cut off from supplies from the rest of Russia because of German forces, for about a year -
Battle of Stalingrad
Interesting facts
1) a Red Army conscript had a life expectancy of just 24 hours
2) Hitler is believed to only have tried to take over the city just because he hated its namesake so much
3) During the battle, parts of the city were taken over by both sides repetitively
4) Both sides were reasonably equal in terms of battle powers throughout
5) Stalin became depressed after the battle for Stalingrad -
Operation Torch
Interesting Facts
1) it was the first time the British and US had worked together on an invasion plan
2) only lasted two days
3) first major operation taken out by US troops
4) the British and US did not believe they would receive much resistance in the beginning contrary to what actually happened.
5) The soviet union supported doing this to force the Germans into another war, as to decrease their resources. -
D-Day
Interesting Facts
1) it was the first day of the battle of Normandy
2) the day for the invasion was actually delayed a day because of bad weather
3) The main goal of the battle was to take France back from German control then move onto Germany itself.
4) it was the largest amphibious invasion in history
5) the d from d day stands for day, essentially meaning the time when the invasion was to start. -
Battle of the Bulge
Interesting Facts
1) also known as the Ardennes Offensive
2) It was the last major offensive launched by Germany in WW2
3) it was the first time America allowed both African american and Caucasians to fight together because of the desperateness of the situation
4)The end result, eventually led to Germany's surrender of the war
5) was the largest battle ever fought by the US -
Battle of Berlin
Interesting Facts
1) was mainly between the German and Soviet Armies
2) two rival soviet field marshals raced to take over Berlin first
3) on Hitler's 56th birthday soviet forces continuously shelled Berlin until they surrendered
4) After taking over the city soviet troops went on a rampage and killed many of the already surrendered German army
5) Hitler committed suicide/died 2 days before the city could be taken over
