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Opening of Auschwitz
The largest death camp in the Holocaust was Auschwitz. It opened in May of 1941. Reinhard Heydrich said he had a plan to kill 11 million Jews, and although his plan didn't succeed, Auschwitz was the most streamlined of all the camps with the highest death poll. A total of five major camps were run by the Nazis with Auschwitz being the most infamous. The camp was liberated on January 27, 1945 by Soviet troops. -
Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point in the war. Nazi Germany made an attack on Russia. The battle began when the weather was tolerable in Russia. Hitler thought he could capture the Soviets rather quickly so he didn't contemplate the winter. However, the winter came and caused the German soldiers to freeze and starve to death. Hitler surrendered in January of 1943 and only had 5000 men return home. -
Battle of Midway
Before the Japanese could even attack, Admiral Chester Nimitz knew their plan. Nimitz focused his troops on Midway to foil the attack. Midway was an important American Naval base that allowed the US to opperate off the mainland United States in the Pacific arena of the war; therefore it was the most important Naval battle of WWII. This was the turning point of war in the Pacific warfront. -
Tehran Conference
The Tehran Conference was the first face-to-face meeting of the Big Three: Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt. Stalin and FDR wanted to send in more troops to fight in France but Churchill was hesitant. Churchill had memories of what had happened in WWI to the British and didn't want a repeat situation. Eventually, Churchill would side with Stalin and Roosevelt and a second front invaded France and marched onwards to Germany. -
D-Day
The Allies attacked the coast of France. Troops began landing at 6:30 AM from boats and had little opposition-- except at Omaha. Nazi soliders had dug pillboxes in cliffs along the beach to shoot down the Allied troops. By the end of the day, the Allies gained a foothold in France at the cost of thousands of lives. However, by the end of the month 1 million Allied troops had landed in Normandy, France and began the march towards Berlin, Germany. -
Valkyrie
Spirits were dwindling on the Nazi side after the troops disobeyed Hitler's order to destroy Paris. Plots to murder Hitler began to be put in place. Colonel von Stauffenberg attempted to assasinated Hitler by planting a bomb in Hitler's headquarters. The bomb went off but didn't kill Hitler. Rommel didn't want to be accused on account of attempted murder so he took poision and died. Hitler refused to surrender believing that fate was with him. -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler called for a counterattack against the Allied powers. The Germans caught the Allies by surprise so their plan almost worked. Since the Allies were caught off guard, the Nazis captured a few key towns and created a bulge in the Allied line. On December 23, the Allied bombers attacked and pushed the Germans from France. Despite the Germans strong attempt, the Allied forces stayed standing. -
Okinawa
Okinawa was the fiercest battle that took place in the island hopping campaign done by the Americans. A vital airbase to the Japanese was located on Okinawa so the Americans sought out control. After a deadly battle, the US Marines took the island. This meant that the Americans could bomb mainland Japan from close range causing intense damage. The Japanese were left defenseless. -
V-E Day
Germany surrendered to the Allied powers in a French schoolhouse that was used as Eisenhower's headquarters. Hitler's plan to have a reich last 1000 years was cut after a mere 12 years. The Americans celebrated the day as Victory in Europe day. The war was in a decline after this event since the Nazis were no longer. President Roosevelt had seen the United States through the meat of War World II and died a few weeks after the surrender. -
Atomic Bombs
President Truman made the tough decision to drop the atomic bomb on two Japanese cities. First, little boy was dropped on Hiroshima and within 2 minutes, 60,000 people were killed. Japan debated over the next few days about surrendering but the Soviets declared war on them and the United States dropped another atomic bomb, fat man, on Nagasaki killing another 65,000 people.
