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Germany's invasion of Poland
On this day, German forces invaded Poland. It took only weeks for the Polish army to be defeated. German forces stormed Warsaw, the capital of Poland, and Polish leaders surrendered to the Germans on September 29, 1939. Britain and France had stuck to an appeasement policy concerning affairs with Germany, but after the aggressive German attack on Poland, they declared war on Germany on September 3rd, 1939. -
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German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg, or "lightning war", was a military tactic developed by the Germans during the beginning of World War II. Germany quickly captured a great amount of Europe victoriously for nearly two years using the Blitzkrieg method. Blitzkrieg tactics were to use offensive weapons, such as tanks and planes, along narrow battlefields. The force of the attack would cause a break in the enemy lines and then would cause shock among the enemy armies ensuring victory among the army using the tactic. -
Fall of Paris
On this day, the Germans entered and occupied Paris. Over 2 million French people fled Paris knowing the Germans would occupy the city. The German Gestapo would try, arrest and interrogate Parisians soon after occupying the city. This event prompted the U.S. to freeze the American assets of the Axis Powers, Germany and Italy. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Early in the morning on this day, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American base on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii near Honolulu. The attack was fatal, 20 U.S. Naval vessels were destroyed, 2,000 American soldiers lives were lost and 1,000 more were injured. The day after the attack, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan and Congress approved his declaration with only one opposing vote. -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting of 15 Nazi Officials to discuss the Endlösung, or Final Solution. The Final Solution was the Nazi's attempt to completely wipe out the European Jewish population. Around 11 million European Jews were killed in the Nazi's Final Solution. -
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Battle of Midway
This Naval engagement between Japan and the U.S. started because of Japan's desire to sink the American aircraft carriers that had escaped from the destruction at Pearl Harbor. An American intelligence breakthrough solved the Japanese fleet codes, giving them an advantage as foreseeing the exact Japanese plans for the attack. The Japanese lost four fleet carriers, with 322 aircraft and over 5 thousand men while the Americans lost 147 aircraft and 300 sailors. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
This was a battle between the Germans and it's allies and the Soviet Army for the Soviet city of Stalingrad. The Germans advanced into the Soviet territory but were quickly stopped and resisted by the Red Army. This battle was one of the bloodiest in history, with nearly 2 million civilian and military casualties. The Soviet victory of the Battle of Stalingrad was a terrible humiliation for Hitler, especially since he had stressed the importance of the battle's success in German opinion. -
DDay
This invasion on the beaches of Normandy, France was one of the largest amphibious military assaults and required massive planning. Around 156,000 American, French and Canadian troops stormed 5 beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the coast of France's Normandy region. The Battle of Normandy resulted in the Allied liberation of the Nazi's control over Western Europe. -
Liberation of concentration camps
In the final stages of the war, Soviet army men were the first to liberate concentration camp prisoners. The first concentration camp to be liberated was the Majdanek camp in Poland, and then overran many killing centers. Soviet troops later entered Aushwitz and found many emaciated prisoners. American troops liberated the Buchenwald and Dachau camps, British troops captured Bergen-Belsen and French and Canadian troops also freed prisoners from camps. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in WWII in which the U.S. Marines succeeded in capturing the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, which the U.S. needed for a base near the Japanese coast. After a month of fighting, the U.S. marines completely wiped out the Japanese defensive forces. The battle became famous after a photograph of victorious soldiers raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi became widely publicized. -
Battle of Okinawa
In this battle, Allied forces invaded the Ryukyu islands and launched the largest amphibious attack in the Pacific. The Battle of Okinawa has large casualties, with over 100,000 Japanese dead and 50,000 Allied soldiers dead. To the Japanese who believed that the war was still winnable, Okinawa was their last chance. The Allies overwhelmed the Japanese forces and had an official flag raising ceremony on June 22, 1945. -
Victory in Europe Day
This day is a public holiday that celebrates the formal acceptance by the Allies of WWII of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender. The act of military surrender was signed on May 7th in Reims, France and on May 8th in Berlin, Germany. -
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was a meeting of the Big Three heads of state, Joseph Stalin for the Soviet Union, Winston Churchill for Great Britain and Harry S. Truman for the United States. The Big Three discussed what would happen for post war Europe, specifically Germany for it's economy, reperations and war crimes, and an 'unconditional surrender' from Japan. Also, territory and country lines in Europe were a very big topic of conversation. -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
Despite warnings by his advisors, U.S. President Harry S. Truman ordered the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and later Nagasaki. The first atomic bomb devastated Hiroshima, initially 80,000 Japanese people died and in following weeks tens of thousands more people died due to burns and radiation from the bomb. Three days after, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki killing 40,000 more people. A few days later, Japan surrendered. -
Victory over Japan Day
