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Battle of France
Importance: It's the fall of France and the first civilian evacuation
Facts:
- 198,000 British troops saved
-Ended after 6 weeks
-The Blitzkrieg tactic was developed in 1920's Britain
-About 8,000,000 civilians became refugees
-1,900,000 prisoners were takes -
Battle of Britain
Importance: Britain had defended against the German offence despite having low numbers
Facts:
-This battle was mostly fought in the air
-There were several phases
-The battle was named before it started
-Hitler had given a Britain a choice to surrender without a fight
-The battle had been the first to use Radar combat -
Battle of Leningrad
Summary: The Russians defended against the Germans for almost 900 days
Facts:
- Over 1,000,000 died
- Russia got their supplies from across an ice lake
- 200,000 citizens died of famine or cold
-Leaders that defended Russia had been punished for not contacting Moscow enough
-1.4 million citizens evacuated -
Battle of Stalingrad
Importance: The first major German loss to happen
Facts:
- Known for close combat situations
-Germans named this the "Rat War"
-2,000,000 civilian deaths
-Hitler wouldn't let his troops escape
-Germans used wire nets which protected against grenades, so the Russians put hooks on the grenades to catch onto the nets -
Operation Torch
Importance: The first time the French and the British worked together on an invasion.
Facts:
-First large scale American airborne drop
-107,000 on the allies side
-Only 60,000 on axis side
-Initially called Operation Gymnast
-First time Americans fought German troops -
D-Day
Importance: This would result in the freedom of France
Facts:
-Largest amphibious invasion in history
-The invasion code name was operation overlord
-The invasion was postponed because of bad weather
-The D in Departure-Day just means day. -
Battle of the Bulge
Importance: This would sign the stop of the Nazi offence and slow them down.
Facts:
- Nazi spies were so prominent, American soldiers would suspect and accuse anyone
-Americans cut off fuel and food for the Germans
-When the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Bastion was summoned by his German adversary to surrender, he simply responded, "Nuts!"
-The Americans were driven into a wedge and still came out victorious
- Largest battle fought on the western front -
Battle of Berlin
Importance: It was the last battle of WW2 and was the surrendering of the Germans
Facts:
-Germany was severely outnumbered
-Hitler had tried making a truce
- The Russians didn't treat Berlin very nicely
-The Russians had built the Berlin wall shortly after
-2.25 million troops marched into Berlin
