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Hilter Bliztkriegs Poland
On September 1, 1945 Hitler opened fire on Poland. It was "lightening war", or blitkrieg. The goal was to damage as much as possible in as little time as possible. Poland fell to Germany in less than a month. -
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WWII
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"Phony" War
The "Phoney War" was a war that lacked major military opertions. While the blitzkrieg had just ended in Poland, many Germans refered to this battle as "sitzkrieg", or sitting war. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl ahrbor ws the United States main base. Japan sent 6 aircraft carriers, 360 plains, plus a combined 28 ships and submarines. Japan attacked in two waves; the first was to destroy as much as possible and use surprise to teir adavantage, the second to finish everything else off. This resulted in 2,402 killed, 1,282 injured, 4 battleships sunk, two destroyers sunk, eleven ships damaged, 188 aircrfts destroyed, 155 aircrafts damaged, and war officially declared on Japan on December 8th 1941. -
Doolittle Raid
The US originally planned an attack on Japan that would take place in the cover of dark at night time. Plains were detected early, however, so Colonel Doolittle led bomber in an early attack during the day and bombed Tokyo. Fifty Japanese civilians were killed and 100 buildings were damaged. This didn't gain much for the US other than a boosted morale. -
Battle of Coral Sea
This was a major naval battle that took place between the Japanese Navy and allied Naval and air forces of the US and Australia. This was the first battle in which aircraft carriers engaged eachother. This battle brok out because of a Japanese operation inteded to caprture Port Moresby, just southeast of New Guinea. The Battle of The Coral Sea wasn't a very long battle but still had over 1,500 casualties and plenty of ships and aircafts destroyed. -
Battle of Midway
The US had figured out that Japan was planning an attack on Midway Island. Admiral Nimits, from US, ambushed the Japanese. The US wasa able to sucesfully attack and sink four Japanese ships. This was a major turning pon in the war for the US. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest in WWII. The US wanted Iwo Jima so that it could be used as a staging area for attacks on mainland Japan. The Japanese were heavily fortified, with hidden tunnels under the island and hidden spots for artillary positions. This battle was the first American attack on Japanese homeland. The US had complete supremacy over Japan in the air from the beginning of the battle and came out on top placing an American flag in the ground. -
Invasion of Okinawa
The Allies wanted to capture the island of Okinawa to use it as another base for air operations for the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland. The Allies were able to defeat Japan and capture the island leaving Japan essentially defensless. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Atomic Bomb
This was probably the most crusial decision made throughout WWII. FDR had originally ordered the start of the building of the atomic bomb, but would not live to see it be dropped. Vice President Truman was the man who decided to drop the bomb on Japan to "save Americans" even though hours earlier he hadn't even known it existed. The Bomb not only caused deaths but also the radiation that came afterwards did too. 150,000-246,000 total were killed. Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. dropped the bomb. -
V-J Day
Emporor Hirohito, of Japan, made the decision to surrender on August 15, 1945. This day became known as V-J day or Victory over Japan Day. They did not offically surrnender until September 2, but this day marked the end of WWII for America. 21 million plus soldiers died throughout the war and 28 million plus civilians were killed.