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Successful German invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. Which saw a lot of air power and airborne infantry.
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The fall of Paris was a result of, The Maginot Line fortresses started to fall, though some held until July, not all of them did! Meanwhile the main attacks across the Somme and Aisne, eventually broke through, and succeeded in taking Paris. German armies outflanked the Maginot Line and pushed deep into France. The terms of the Armistice allowed the southern half of France, except the extreme south-east and the Atlantic seaboard, to remain under French civil administration. -
Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. It was the beginning of a campaign that would ultimately decide the Second World War.
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The Japanese military launched a surprise attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The United States military suffered 19 ships damaged or sunk, and 2,403 people were killed. Its most significant consequence was the entrance of the United States into World War II. -
The Wannsee Conference was a high-level meeting of German officials to discuss and implement the "Final Solution". The mass murder of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators required the coordination and cooperation of governmental agencies throughout Axis-controlled Europe. The conference marked a turning point in Nazi policy toward the Jews. -
A battle to gain territory in East Asia and Southwest Pacific, successfully removing the United States as the dominant power. Fought almost entirely with aircraft, during which the United States destroyed Japan's first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots. This victory for the US stopped the growth of Japan in the Pacific and allowed the United States to begin shrinking the Japanese empire through island-hopping invasions and larger naval battles. -
Young Jewish fighters participated in what became known as the Warsaw ghetto uprising. During the uprising, the civilian population in the ghetto also resisted German forces by refusing to assemble at collection points and burrowing in underground bunkers. After the Warsaw ghetto uprising, the SS and police deported 42,000 Jews to forced-labor camps. Most of these people were murdered in November 1943 in a two-day shooting operation known as Operation Harvest Festival. -
D-Day was born in the immediate aftermath of America's entry into the war, and agreement on a 'Germany first' strategy. A outset the Americans pushed for a cross-Channel invasion of north-west Europe as the most direct way to engage German forces. -
A plan called Operation Thunderclap was proposed. The idea was to bomb Berlin, which would inflict many casualties. However, the project was never put into action. -
The Battle of the Bulge marked the last German offensive on the Western Front. The major losses on the German side prevented Germany from resisting the advance of Allied forces following the Normandy Invasion. Four months after the end of the Battle of the Bulge, Germany surrendered to Allied forces. The Americans suffered some 75,000 casualties in the Battle of the Bulge, but the Germans lost 80,000 to l00,000. -
US Marines invaded Iwo Jima, after months of naval and air bombardment. The Japanese defenders of the island were dug into bunkers deep within the volcanic rocks. Roughly 70,000 US Marines and 18,000 Japanese soldiers took part in the battle. -
Soviet forces liberated Auschwitz, the largest killing center and concentration camp complex in January 1945. Following the liberation of Nazi camps, many survivors found themselves living in displaced persons camps where they often had to wait years before interaction. -
Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day, Germany unconditionally surrendered its military forces to the Allies, including the United States. On this day celebrations erupted around the world to mark the end of World War II in Europe. This marked the end of most of the fighting in Europe, where millions of service members and civilians were killed since the start of hostilities. -
United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. The bombings killed between 150,000 and 246,000 people, most of whom were civilians.
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V-J Day, or Victory over Japan Day, marks the end of World War II, one of the deadliest and most destructive wars in history. When Harry S. Truman announced on Aug. 14, 1945, that Japan had surrendered unconditionally, citizens around the world erupted in celebration and would officially be celebrated in the United States on the day formal surrender documents were signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.