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Germany Invades Poland
Adolf Hitler knew that in order to have an overall conquest of Europe, it relied on neturalizing Poland in the east. So in order to continue gaining his control and power he invaded Poland with his army and airforce. Because of this fight World War II officially began since the fight terminated the pact between Germany and Poland saying that there would be no aggression towards eachother. http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/invasion-of-poland.asp -
Germany's Blitzkrieg Tactic
The Blitzkrieg Tactic, German for lightning war, was first used on Hitlers invasion of Poland in 1939. This tactic allowed Hitler to not have to fight in one place for too long. Hitler did not want a long war, and this tactic was meant to take down oppentents with short raids and take them down in a short amount of time. This changed the war the war was fought because nobody was expecting it, and other countries caught on to it. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005437 -
Fall of Paris
On June 14, of 1940 Hitler marched his German troops into Paris. Winston Churhill told the French troops to just hang in there and keep fighting because he thought that the American troops would soon be there to help aid them. But by the time Americans could help over 2 million French men had already fled. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the attack planned to launch on the east side of the Soviet Union by the German army. Hitler was trying to take over the capital, Moscow, within eight weeks. The Soviet Union fought the German army and Hitler called off his army because he said he had greatly underestimated the Soviet Unions power. http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/operation-barbarossa-the-drive-on-smolensk.asp -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was Japan's attack on North American. Japan's navy worked hard to get equipment ready to be able to bomb Pearl Harbor. They sailed in and tons of civilains were even injured and this didn't settle well with the rest of America. Vengence of America was swift and terrible. This resulted in dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagisaki. http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/attack-on-pearl-harbor.asp -
Japanese Invasion of China
Japan was trying to make themselves a sphere of influence by taking over China. They wanted to do this because Germany was invading places like Poland and they didn't want to be thought of as week so they invaded China to make themselves known. Japan doing this only made the war worse, because now even more troops were having to be sent out to fight them. http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/expansion-japanese-conquest-of-the-pacific.asp -
Wannsee Conference
During this time, they came up with the "Final Solution," which was the code name for the plan to get rid of all the European Jews. During the Wannsee Confrenence Hitler and his partners put together all of the pieces to get the Jews gone. Because of this confrence the Holocaust began to start and it ended up killing millions and millions of people. -
Bataan Death March
After a victory of the Japanense, they had nearly 75,000 Filipino and American troops caputred. The made them walk a tretchours 65 mile march to death camps on the Bataan Peninsula. Before even getting to the camps thousands of them perished and this became known as the death march. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Battle of Midway
This is another battle between Japan and Amerrica. Each fight Japan begins to get weaker and weaker becuse America keeps coming out on top and each fight the Japanese are loosing thousands and thousands of men. Every bettle is weaking the Japanese Empire. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Battle of Stalingrad
To some people this battle was considered the turning point in the war. This was a bettle where the Germans actually lost and Europe actually came out on top.There was strenghs in both of the armies but just not enough for the Germans to win the war. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_stalingrad.htm -
Kasserine Pass
The French had been defeated which meant the Germans could move along to America' s armed forces. Allies ended up winning which put the German forces to shamed and forced them to retreat back. This battle was one of America's wins. http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/kasserine.asp -
Operation Gomorrah
On this day, British bombers raided Hamburg, Germany at night and Americans raided it throughtout the day. It was called Blitz Week. During this not a lot of Britian and America's people lost a lot of lives. Germany lost a lot though. This got Britain and America even with Germany which only made Hitler more angry and it made him want to fight even more. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
D-Day
About 6,000 naval vessels departed on there way to France to construct the invasion of Normandy. A lot of countries were involved in D-Day and this really peaked the war since there was so many different peopole fighting all at once and it just made everyone want to fight even more. http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/d-day-the-allied-invasion-of-france.asp -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
In the summer of 1944, the Soviets also overran the sites of the Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka killing centers. The Germans had dismantled these camps in 1943, after most of the Jews of Poland had already been killed. The Soviets liberated Auschwitz, the largest killing center and concentration camp, in January 1945. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131 -
Battle of the Bulge
This was Hitler's last attempt to win the war so he lauched forces agaisnt America. He asked his allies for help but some of the weather going on prevented them from being able to help fight at all. Because of Hitler's decesion to fight they lost about 82,000 men while the Americans only lost about 77,000. This was a tough loss for Germany. http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/battle-of-the-bulge.asp -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima defended roughly 23,000 Japanense army and navy troops. America did this to prove they were still a strong country, and it work because at the end of the battle there was a publication of a photograph showing the US flag being raised in victory. American losses included 5,900 dead. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Battle of Okinawa
This was another battle between the Japanese and the Americans. Japan didn't have an airforce of their own and was relying on their naval forces to get the job done. However the americans rose in victory again and this battle marked the end of the Japanese Empire. http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/battle-of-okinawa.asp -
VE Day
This was a very important day for the allies because it marked the day of their victory in the war. It was a very glorious day and made every very happy. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/veday1.html -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
This is the day that the first atomic bomb was dropped. It was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan in vengece of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This frightened the Japanese and it also caused over 40,000 deaths and thousands more people were injured by the bomb. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima -
VJ Day
This was the day that Americans had victory over Japan. Three days after dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan declared peace agaisnt the United States because they didn't want to be hurt anymore by us. And with this day, Americans celebrated. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
