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Battle of France/Miracle of Dunkirk
Lasted from May 26 1940 to June 4 1940
-Dunkirk was a town on the coast of France, which was a place of numerous bloody battles
-It was called The Miracle of Dunkirk because the entire British army was evacuated by civilian boats
-The evacuation was called Operation Dynamo, which was the biggest evacuation in military history
-The number of vessels involved was 933
-During the evacuation there was on final battle to distract the Germans
The battle showed that people were behind the soldiers -
Battle of Britain
Lasted from July 10 1940 to October 31 1940. The importance of the battle was that the Allied forces won despite the odds. It was between the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force, almost 3000 planes were destroyed. The name for Hitler's invasion plan was Operation Sea Lion. The series of Bombings on Britain were called the Blitz, and at one point London was bombed for 57 nights in a row. The bombing stopped because Hitler needed to invade Russia. -
Battle of Leningrad
Lasted from September 8 1941 to January 27 1944.
-It was the siege of St. Petersburg by the Germans and the Finnish.
-The siege lasted 872 days.
-The German army encircled the City and blocked resources from getting in.
-About 1,500,000 people died
-There were three phases of evacuations with as many as 1.4 million people being evacuated.
The battle was significant because Germany was able to maintain the siege with a single army, and the soviets war effort was inspired afterwards. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Lasted from 1942 – February 2, 1943.
-Russians believe it was the greatest battle in their history
- Hitler’s goal was to eliminate Soviet forces in the south and secure their economic resources
-Hitler split up his army
- There were over 1.1 million Soviets and at least 40,000 civilians killed
-Stalingrad was proclaimed a Hero City of the Soviet Union after their success
It was important because it stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and turned war in favor of the Allies -
Operation Torch
Lasted from November 8, 1942 to November 10, 1942
-It was the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942
-General Eisenhower was the commander
-They invaded Algeria and Morocco
-It was originally called operation Gymnast
-It set the Allies up for an attack on Germany, and it gave free France the opportunity to take control of West Africa
It was important because it was the first time both the British and Americans had worked on an invasion plan together -
D-day
lasted from June 1944 to August 1944
-It was one of the biggest military assaults in history
-it was originally supposed to be June 5, but it was delayed one day for weather issues
-More than 4,000 troops lost their lives on D-day
-The allies had code names for each of the beaches, Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword
-The allied forces won on D-day
D-day was important because it was when Germany was removed from northeastern France. -
Battle of the Bulge
Lasted from Dec 16 1944 to Jan 25 1945
-The Germans wanted to divide the American and British armies in France
-The code name for the battle was 'Watch on the Rhine'
-It was the largest battle fought by the United States Army
-The advance was stopped, but the Germans created a 60 mile bulge in the Allied lines
-The Germans had stolen US uniforms to attack behind the Allied lines
The battle was important because it was the Germans last chance in turning the war to their favor, and they failed. -
Battle of Berlin
Lasted from April 16, 1945 to May 2, 1945
-It was a battle between the Soviets and the Germans
-It was the last major battle in Europe during the war
-Stalin completely surrounded Berlin before attacking,
-Hitler's Birthday was actually during the Battle of Berlin
-The battle led to Hitler's suicide, and that was the end of Hitler’s Third Reich
The importance of the battle was that it secured the Allied Power's victory over the axis, and caused Germany to surrender. It was the end of the war.
