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Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg also means lightning war. It was first used by the Germans in World War Two and was a tactic based on speed and surprise and needed a military force to be based around light tank units supported by planes and infantry. The tactic was developed in Germany by an army officer called Hans Guderian. As a tactic it was used to devastating effect in the first years of World War Two. It resulted in the British and French armies being pushed back in just a few weeks to the beaches of Dunkirk. -
Dunkirk
The British commander-in-chief, General Gort, had been forced to retreat to the coast at Dunkirk. The troops waited, under merciless fire, to be taken off the beaches. A call went out to all owners of sea-worthy vessels to travel to Dunkirk to take the troops off the beaches of Dunkirk. More than 338,000 men were rescued, among them some 140,000 French who would form the nucleus of the Free French army under a little known general, Charles de Gaulle. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date. During July, Hitler sent his Luftwaffe bombers to attack British ports. With the failure of daylight bombing raids Hitler began a series of nightly bombing raids on London and other important industrial cities. The RAF defended the skies and by October 31 the raids had ceased. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler sent 3 million soldiers and 3,500 tanks into Russia. The Russians were taken by surprise as they had signed a treaty with Germany in 1939. Stalin immediately signed a mutual assistance treaty with Britain and launched an Eastern front battle that would claim 20 million casualties. The USA, which had been supplying arms to Britain under a 'Lend-Lease' agreement, offered similar aid to USSR. -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese, who were already waging war against the Chinese, attacked the US pacific fleet at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, as a preliminary to taking British, French and Dutch colonies in South East Asia. The base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. The attack came as a shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War 2. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway, fought in June 1942, must be considered one of the most important naval battles of the pacific campaign of World War Two. The Battle of Midway destroyed Japan’s naval strength when the Americans destroyed four of its aircraft carriers. The Japanese operation sought to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the pacific, but didnt turn out as they had hoped. Japan’s navy never recovered from its mauling at Midway and it was on the defensive after this battle. -
Italy Surrenders
Mussolini had been thrown out of office and the new government of Italy surrendered to the British and the USA. They then agreed to join the allies. The Germans took control of the Italian army, freed Mussolini from imprisonment and set him up as head of a puppet government in Northern Italy. This blocked any further allied advance through Italy. -
D - Day
The allies launched an attack on Germany's forces in Normandy, Western France. Thousands of transports carried an invasion army under the supreme command of general Eisenhower to the Normandy beaches. The Germans who had been fed false information about a landing near Calais, rushed troops to the area but were unable to prevent the allies from forming a solid bridgehead. For the allies it was essential to first capture a port. -
Battle of Bulge
This was the last major Nazi offensive against the Allies in World War Two. Hitler ordered a massive attack against what were primarily American forces. The attack is strictly known as the Ardennes Offensive but because the initial attack by the Germans created a bulge in the Allied front line, it's refered to as the Battle of Bulge. The battle was a last ditch attempt by Hitler to split the Allies in two in their drive towards Germany and destroy their ability to supply themselves. -
Hitler commits suicide
An event that took place in his underground bunker, Hitler consumed a cyanide capsule then shot himself with a pistol. At his side were Eva Braun, whom he married only two days before their double suicide, and his dog, an Alsatian named Blondi. The bodies of Hitler and Eva were cremated in the chancellery garden, and later reported recovered in part by Russian troops. Hitler was officially declared dead by a German court in 1956.
