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Rise of Hitler
With the fall of Germany after WWI, Veterans and Nationalists were humiliated and very wrongly believed that they could’ve won the war if politicians and protesters had not betrayed the army. This ideology became an obsession with Hitler, his paranoia and bigotry leading him to drop the blame on the Jews, his views powerful in a society mainly occupied by anti-Semitic people. (continue on google doc)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Cjm7D-j1xLvyTKfBbKDM0o6373sr1cYfvEk85nyY5DU/edit?usp=sharing -
German Blitzkrieg (1939-1940)
Also known as "Lightning War", a Blitzkrieg is a military tactic that is used to create mental shock and derangement in opposition forces through the employment of surprise, speed, and superior firepower. This immediate warfare is intended to pressure the enemy into a quick surrender. This was first used by the Germans against Poland from 1939-1940. -
Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945)
The Battle of the Atlantic was a competition between the Western Allies and the Axis powers for the control of Atlantic sea routes. For the Allied powers, the battle had three objectives; blockade of the Axis powers in Europe, security of Allied sea movements, and freedom to project military power across the seas. The Axis, in turn, hoped to hinder Allied use of the Atlantic to pursue war. -
Battle of Britain
This battle, referred to as “The Battle of Britain” by Winston Churchill (Britain's Prime Minister), was mainly air force against air force. Britain thought they had succeeded in withstanding Germany's attacks, which led Germans to bomb many populated areas of Britain. Although Britain remained superior in their battle, their cities and towns were still heavily afflicted by the bombings. -
Pearl Harbour
Japan attacked America at a Hawaii naval base in Pearl Harbour. Their goal was to limit America's strength and knock them out of the war. America lost over 20 ships and nearly 300 destroyed planes. There was a 2,400 American fatality, leading President Franklin Roosevelt to declare war on Japan the next day. -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting of senior government officials of Nazi Germany and Schutzstaffel leaders, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on January 20th, 1942. The "final solution" was the Nazis' code name for the deliberate, precisely planned genocide of all European Jews. The Nazis used the vague term to mask their policy of mass murder from the rest of the world. They discussed multiple methods of killing, liquidation, and extermination. -
Dieppe Raid
The allied forces were preparing for a full-scale invasion of western Europe. The plan was to make a forward advance on the town of Dieppe, beyond the English Channel on the coast of France. The raid on Dieppe would give the Allies an opportunity to test techniques and equipment for landing troops from the sea. The Battle of Dieppe was a disaster for the Canadians, a test that went horribly wrong. -
The Italian Campaign
The Italian Campaign was a major military effort for Canada during the war. More than 93,000 Canadians, along with their allies from Great Britain, France, and the United States, played an essential role. During a 20-month period, they pushed from the south to the north of Italy, Canadians facing complex battles against some of Germany's best troops. They fought through every type of weather you could think of day and night, under all kinds of circumstances. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
The invasion started on June 6th, 1944 and was referred to as “Operation Overlord”. Every country was given a codename for their targeted beaches to land on in hopes of pushing the Nazi’s defenses back in order to open up for heavy allied weaponry. Canada’s beach was Juno, experiencing resistance from German forces until the allied attacks succeeded, opening all beaches completely. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
As the Allied forces started to find concentration camps and set prisoners free, Nazis were forced to evacuate camps without destroying the buildings, pushing the Jews deep into Germany to conceal them from Russia's prying eyes. Many sub-camps became overcrowded, spreading diseases and death faster than ever before. In every single camp, Allied soldiers encountered appalling scenes, such as thousands of bodies. For the survivors of the Nazi camps, the road to recovery would be long and painful. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Allies swept through France to approach Germany for its final offensive push in the region. The battle was a German offensive attack into the Ardennes Forest region of France and Belgium, remembered as a time of great heroism by American Soldiers who had to withstand German attacks in cold and difficult terrain of the Ardennes Forest. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a conflict between the United States and Japan. It was the first significant battle of World War II to take place on Japanese homeland. The island of Iwo Jima was an imperative location because the US required a place for fighter planes and bombers to land and take off when striking Japan. -
VE (Victory in Europe) Day
On this day in 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both domains, as well as formerly invaded cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, celebrating the defeat of the Nazi war machine. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
On August 6th, 1945, America dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagaski, Japan, leaving nearly half the country destroyed. The two bombs were coded 'Fat Man' and 'Little Boy', the program where they were created masked by the name of 'The Manhattan Project'. The co-pilot of the Enola Gay, which was the bomber plane, even realized how terrifying the damage was, commenting; "My god, what have we done?" stating that even the destructors couldn't believe the mass destruction they caused. -
VJ (Victory over Japan) Day
On August 14th, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered thoroughly to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, both the 14th and 15th of August have been known as “Victory over Japan Day,” or simply “V-J Day.” The term has also been utilized for September 2nd, 1945, when Japan’s formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay.
