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Battle of France/Dunkirk
The Battle of France was separated into two different operations called Case Yellow and Case Red. The Germans encircled large parts of the French army and pushed the remaining forces to the sea. A little over 120,000 soldiers were thought to be wounded, while a further 1.5 million were captured. The Germans captured Paris and the rest of France fell. The Germans encircled the British at Dunkirk were a mass evacuation was held. This left the British alone in the war in Europe. -
Battle of Britain
Despite the amount of British planes being severely outnumbered, the British only lost 1,000 planes while the Nazis lost about 1,800. The Germans believed the only way to defeat the British was to crush their morale so they bombed civilian targets such as London. At the Blitz's height, London was bombed for 57 nights in a row. The British government went underground into war rooms where the operated. Hitler stopped these mass bombings when he needed his bombers for the invasion of Russia. -
Battle/Siege of Leningrad
The siege lasted 872 days, which gave it the nickname the "900-day siege." The German's blockade of the city caused around 650,000 civilian lives, most dying from starvation. Leningrad is modern day St. Petersburg. The Soviets won the battle which caused a major tipping point on the Eastern Front. After the German loss, the Nazis were pushed back into out of the Soviet Union. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The battle is infamous for street level fighting in streets and buildings. The battle was so severe that almost every part of the city was bombed to rubble. Hitler was so keen on capturing the city because he believed that if he could capture Stalingrad, it would be humiliating for Stalin. The German sixth army was entirely destroyed during the Battle, and this was the major turning point in the war. It is believed to be the deadliest battle in history, with a little over 2 million causalities. -
Operation Torch
This was the first time the British and Americans worked together in a military campaign. The plan was to conquer Axis-held north Africa, then invade up into the Italian Peninsula. At the time, this was the largest amphibious invasion. Much of the fighting saw that the US was not well trained to fight against the Nazis. This was very significant as it was the first time the US and British worked together. -
D-Day
This was the Allied invasion of Normandy France. There were five separate invasion points, with the British and Americans taking two each, and the Canadians taking one. It was the largest amphibious invasion in history. The Allies used tactics to confuse the Germans and make them believe that they were going to attack elsewhere. Some of these tactics included leaking fake telegrams, and setting up fake armies. This started the Liberation of France. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle was the last major offensive the Nazis. The battle tactics were copied from that of the Battle of France, the idea was to encircle allied troops as they had done at Dunkirk. The encirclement was fought of and only resembled a bulge in the front line, hence its name. Some 75,000 US troops died while 100,000 Nazis were killed. Hitlers generals warned him about the attack, and it proved to weaken the Germans to a point of no return. -
Battle of Berlin
Near the end of the battle, Hitler killed himself, ending the war in Europe. German soldiers were not allowed to carry white handkerchiefs because the Nazis didn't believe in surrender. Some 150,000 Polish soldiers fought with the Soviet Union. The battle left more than a million Germans without clean water, food, or homes. The Soviet capture of Berlin was the major reason that Germany was split into two following the war.
