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Germany's invasion of Poland
This began with the non aggression pact that Hitler had started. On the day of the invasion there were thousands of tanks that where sent to attack Poland as well as planes that flew over. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. This caused Britain and France to become angry and started another attack. -
German Blitzkrieg
Also known as "lightning war" Is a military tactic that helps create disorganization among enemy forces. It's execution results in short military campaigns. These campaigns preserve human lives. This tactic was first used on the attack of the Poland. -
Operation Barbarossa
Name given to Nazi Germanys Invasion of Russia. This was led by Adolf Hitler On June 22, 1944. This was world ward 2's largest military attack. This was planned for over a year before it occurred. 3 army units had attacked Russian but Russia had 4 army units to be defended by. Soviets in the end survived even though they were unprepared. -
Pearl Harbor
At 8.a.m On December 7, the Japanese had sent their fighter planes to attack the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. It had only lasted two hours but it caused a lot of damage. More than 2,000 American soldiers had died that day and left many wounded. The effect of the attack caused FDR to request permission from congress to attack Japan. Congress quickly approved of FDR's request. -
Battle of Stalingrad
This battle was the successful Soviet Union defense of the city of Stalingrad. The Russians say that it is their greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War. This war caused the stopped the German advance to the Soviet Union. This battle was considered one of the bloodiest battles in history. -
D- Day
Also known as Operation Overload, Americans, British, and Canadian forces were involved in this war. These forces landed on beaches of France's Normandy region. This invasion was one of the largest Military assaults in History. Allies then conducted a deception campaign to mislead Germans about the intended invasion target. In August, the Germans had been defeated by the Allies. -
Battle of the Bulge
This battle occurred after D-Day which was thought to be end of the war. The German army had launched a counteroffensive Which was meant to cut through the Allied forces. This was supposed to turn the war into Hitlers favor. The response ended up being the victory of freedom over tyranny. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
The soviets were the ones who liberated Auschwitz In January. Auschwitz was the largest killing concentration camp. The Nazis had told the prisoners to march westwards and that is when the Soviet Union found some of the prisoners. The Germans had burned down most of the camps but they were able to find some people. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
This invasion was caused by the Americans. On February, 3 U.S marine divisions landed on the island. Iwo Jima was defended by thousands of Japanese and navy troops. The
Marines ended up defeating Them after months of fighting. -
VE Day
Victory in Europe is the day that Great Britain and the United States celebrate victory. To celebrate they put out flags to represent the defeat of the Nazi war machines. This was the day that the Germans surrendered to their soviets. They had the Germans sign their surrender documents. Their main concern was being taken prisoners. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
The United States had been the first to use atomic bombs. On August 6, U.S. Dropped an atomic bomb in Japan. This bomb destroyed about 90% of the city and killed around 80,000 people. Not including the people who would later die due to the exposure of the radiation. Three days later they dropped another Atomic Bomb in Nagasaki which killed around 40,000 people. This caused Japan to then surrender. -
V-J Day
Every since Japan surrendered, the 14 and 15th of August have been known as the Victory over Japan day. The U.S. uses this day to celebrate the fact that they defeated Japan. This term was also used for Japan's formal surrender day on September 2. On September 2nd Japan officially signed their surrender.
