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Germany's invasion of Poland
September 1st, 1939, Germany invades Poland and World War II begins.He would first invade Austria, but the world looked away while he did that and Austria would roll over and do nothing to protect their their own sovereignty. It took the invasion of Poland on September 1st, 1939, for Great Britain and France to tell Hitler, no, this must stop, and they declared war against the Natzi dictator. That was the beginning of what was the real "great war." -
German Blitzkrieg
This "lightening war" strategy used light armored tanks and other motorized vehicles with infantry support and air support and the intent was to be able to move quickly where needed when needed. As a result of these blitzkrieg campaigns, Germany was able to march through Europe in lightening fashion so much so, that France's 2 million man army fell in only six weeks. From september 1st until june 1940, when france fell, this blitzkrieg strategy fell all of western europe except for Great Britain -
Operation Barbarossa
In 1941, Hitler, Having so much success and having so much dominating success with his blitzkrieg strategy, he decided to take on the Soviet Union in an operation called "Operation Barbarossa." He commanded his generals to attack the Soviet Union believing that "those peasants" would be able to stand up against the might of the 8 million man German army. So,
1941 so the beginning of the eastern war front with Germany attacking the Soviet Union. -
Pearl Harbor
A day that will live in infamy. December 7th, 1941. Japan destroying several U.S. naval ships and dozens of Air Force planes on Air Forces basis on Honolulu, that sunny Sunday morning, the Japanese attack came as a complete surprise to the U.S. military. This attack drew the United States into the conflict by declaring war on Japan, who was an Axis ally with Germany. By wars end, over 30 nations were involved -
The Battle of Midway
It was considered the turning point for the USA against Japan in the Pacific.They had decimated much of the U.S. navy at Pearl Harbor on December 7th 194 and was having victory after victory in the Pacific thereafter and not until Midway did the U.S. navy finally have a major decisive victory. This was a gigantic clash with a total of over a hundred ships and submarines involved and over 500 aircraft involve. Over 1000 lives were lost and when the battle was over, the U.S. was victorious. -
Battle of Stalingrad
is often considered the bloodiest time in all of history with the Battle of Stalingrad. This Battle took place amongst many nations, primarily Germany against the Soviet Union at Stalingrad, once a city rich in history, but reduced to dust from the 7 month battle with long periods of inactivity do to brutal winter conditions. With the Soviet Union at their back in the east, and the United States soon coming to the west, the war machine could not continue on two fronts indefinitely. -
D-Day
It's to the day when the Allied forces, primarily the United States, invaded Europe on the Atlantic coast on the western beaches of France. The most famous of these beaches was called Normandy Beach which was pivotal in establishing a beachhead with which to commence military operations to dislodge the Germans from western France. Finally victory was realized in France and was liberated and the Germans were defeated. The war was not over, but Hitler was on the run and headed back to Germay. -
The Battle of Bulge
name given to a German offensive in December 16th 1944 that continued until January 25th 1945. This was a last ditch attempt on Hitler's part to try to divide the Allied forces in two two separate units in order to surround the United States forces, capture and kill an entire division which would allow him to negotiate a more favorable surrender. He, that is Hitler, pulled troops away from the eastern front in order to strengthen this campaign and in the end over 300 thousand German troops died -
The Battle of Okinawa
It was an 82 day battle that took place from April 1 to June 1945 and was given the code name "Iceberg. The United States was going to use this island as a base of operations for attacking mainland Japan which was only 340 miles away. In this battle, the Japanese forces lost over 77 thousand men, and over 42 thousand civilian lives were lost either from war related causes or because of suicide. Similarly, of the 77 thousand military lives lost of the Japanese it is unclear how many were kamikaze -
VE Day
Victory in Europe Day, also know as VE Day when the unconditional surrender by Germany was signed On May 7th, 1945, German signed an unconditional surrender, which some British territories recognize as the official VE Day, and France celebrates as Ve Day. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, celebrates VE Day on May 9th Hitler had committed suicide on April 30th, the Soviet Union recognized as the official signer and this put them delayed to May 9th.It was also Pres.Truman birthday -
Dropping of the atomic bombs "Little Boy" and Fat man"
On August 6th, the USA dropped a weapon a catastrophic proportion on a civilian city in Japan called Hiroshima. The atomic bomb instantaneously killed 35 thousand innocent men, women and children by incinerating them. Three days later, another atomic bomb, was dropped in Nagasaki. In total, over 225 thousand people lost their lives, from these two bombs either instantaneously or over time due to radiation poisoning. the atomic bomb help bring an end the war. -
Vj Day
On August 15th 1945, President Truman announced to the World that Japan had unconditionally surrendered, as a result of the two atomic bombs that had been dropped just a few days earlier, and because the Soviet Union was warring against them in Manchuria. It wasn't until September 2nd, though, that the official peace accord was signed on the USS Missouri, formally ending World War II. The world was forever changed, and the new super powers were the United States and the Soviet Union.
