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Period: to
WW2
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Germany attacks
Germany began to attack poland using the blitzkrieg method. Which means lighting war, it is a sudden attack using lots of firepower to damage as much as possible as quickley as possible. France and the UK declare war on Germany. By the end of September poland had fallen to Germany. Nobody fought for 8 months and then Germany continued the attack on Denmark and Norway. They also fell within a month. Then Germany attacked Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg. After that they took France. -
Germany invades the Soviet Union
In June of 1941 Germany attacked the USSR. Hitler sent in 3 large armies; one to Leningrad, one toward Moscow, and south to Stalingrad. At first the Germans killed or wounded 150,000 in the first week. Germans penetrated very deep. They killed millions of Russians but could not defeat them. The Germans could have defeated the USSR but when winter hit the Germans were very unprepared. The temperature was usually below freezing,mass outbreaks of frostbite and hypothermia were common within ranks. -
Internment in America
Roosevelt gave order to put japanese americans into internment camps. Executive Order 9066 seemed like a good idea at the time for keeping spies or unloyal japanese americans confined. But there were more civilians in the camps than spies. More than 100,000 japanese americans were forced into internment. Out of that 100,000 about 62% was a american citizen. Life inside an internment camp is not a walk in the park. The government gave little food to the camp so people died of starvation. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war. Midway was a naval base that was vital to the defense of Hawaii. If the americans were defeated then they would have to hold their defences on mainland US. Admiral Chester Nimitz knew that the Japanese would attack there so he focused all of his forces at Midway. The US dealt a decisive defeat over Japan. They sank 4 aircraft carriers and 250 planes which held some of Japans best pilots. After Midway the US went on the offensive. -
Germans defeated at Stalingrad
Hitler focused his troops on Stalingrad because of oil. After going through harsh conditions that the Nazi's were not prepared for, they surrendered. Hitler refused to let his troops surrender. 91,000 surrendered and Stalin put them in POW camps. Only 5,000 made it back to Germany. Stalingrad was the turning point in Europe. It ended any realisic plans of Germany conquering Europe. After the battle the Soviets went on the offensive. The Nazi's were forced to retreat thier armies toward Germany. -
Allied Forces Invade Italy
General George S. Patton,leader of the US forces, and Field Mashal Bernard L. Montgomery, leader of British forces, assaulted SIcily and then went across the peninsula. The Italian forces were easily defeated and the Facist Grand Council forced Mussolini to resign. The new government that was put into place went into secret negotiations even though the Germans still had troops there. German troops saved him from a prison. Mussolini was eventually found and hung by his own Italian people. -
Invasion of Normandy
D day is the day that the Allied forces attacked 5 beaches; Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, and Utah. Eisenhower also set up a deception plan that involved Patton setting up a fake army in England. The attack was the largest fleet ever assembled with 4,400 ships and landing crafts. 11,000 planes cleared the way trying to destroy communication towers adn transportation networks. Omaha was the worst, Americans had the toughest beach with Nazi's dug into the cliffs and had concrete structures. -
People from Aushwitz released
During the Holocaust Nazi's were killing millions of people. The biggest concentration camp was Aushwitz located in Poland. The people that were not killed by gas chambers were killed by starvation, diesease, or used as medical experiments. The Nazi's put jews and amy other group of people they did not like into these death camps to carry out the "Final Solution". The survivors ended up looking like skeletons becasue of starvation. The guards would be able to torture them without restraints. -
World War 2 is over
Hitler had killed himself in his bunker when he realized that there was no hope of winning war. He and his mistress and close friends all commited suicide, fearing that he would end up like Mussolini he ordered his body cremated. German forces all over Europe surrender which ended the war in Europe. The war with Japan was ended when the Americans dropped 2 atomic bombs on Japan islands. Little boy was dropped on Hiroshima and Fat man was dropped on Nagasaki. On top of that the USSR declared war. -
Nuremberg war crimes trials
The Nuremberg war crimes trials were trials that convicted Nazi leadership militarily, economicaly and politcaly. Most of the big leaders commited suicide, some of the other leaders were sentenced to death. Charged people with crimes against humanity. Nazi's were not the only people who violated the Geneva Convention. Japanese trials were also held, and several leaders were also sentenced to death on how they treated prisoners. This inclued Hideki Tojo who was responsible for Bataan Death March.
