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Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was the air battle between Germany and Britain Germany's luftwaffe attacked Britain in what was named Operation Sea Lion, with hopes to gain an upper edge on the Royal Air Force.This attack was not as successful as Gemany hoped. Germany bombed as much of Britain as they could; however, Britain used radar to predict future Germany bombings and escaped this attack without too much damage. Germany actually ended up with more damage than Britain and could not defeat Britain. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was the spark that sent the USA into war. The Japanese attacked the US Navy's main Pacific base, bombing our ships and airfields and trying to weaken the USA so we couldn't influence their war in Southeastern Asia. However, most of the USA ships were out on patrol. Many were killed and we were set back for six months until FDR told Congress to declare war on Japan. -
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid was a USA planned night attack on Tokyo, Japan. James Doolittle led the USA bombers to bomg Tokyo during the day since their planes had been detected. Fifty Japanese citizens were kill and many buildings were damaged. The USA pilots then flew on to land in China. Although not much damage was caused in Japan, this attack was moral boost for the USA and also caused the Japanese to doubt their military leaders. -
Battle of Coral Sea
The Battle of Coral Sea was an air battle between Japan and the United States. The Japanese was attacking New Guinea when the USA sent two aircraft carriers to fight. The battle was completely fought in the air between the planes. The battle ended up being a draw; however, Japan stopped their attack on New Guinea. This was the first shift in momentum in the war in America's favor. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was between America nad Japan. Midway was an American naval base in the Pacific which was important for Hawaii's defense. Japan wanted to take over Midway and push America back to the California coast. Admiral Chester-Nimitz planted a lot of forces at Midway. Once teh Japanese atttacked, it became the most important naval battle in WWII. The USA defeated Japan handedly. The Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war in the Pacific. -
Battle of Stalingrad
This battle was one of the bloodiest in history. During Germany's attack on Russia, Hitler decided to focus on taking over Stalingrad. Although he was getting beat, Hitler refused to surrender. However, as the winter went on, the German army was not prepared for the harsh cold and became starving and sick. When they finally decided to retreat, thousands more died. Stalingrad eded up being the turning point in the war in Europe and it ended any of Hitler's plans to dominate Europe. -
DDay
The invasion of Normandy, France by the Allies was called Operation Overlord. The Allies planned a deception plan which allowed them to land 21 American divisions and 26 British, Polish, and Canadian divisions in 50 miles of beach in Normandy. The Allies forcefully hit the Germans in attempt to ruin their communication and transportation networks and their defenses. At the Omaha beach, the Nazi's were very tough and the battle became very bloody. The US now had a foothold in France. -
Valkyrie
Valkyrie was the attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg planted a bomb in Hitler's Wolfsschanze in hopes of killing him. Twenty people were killed or wounded by the explosion. Hitler was not one of them. Hitler took this as a sign that he had fate on his side and proceeded to fight and refused to surrender. -
The Battle of the Bulge
The Battle fo the Bulge was Hitler's last counterattack against the Americans. Hitler was almost successful because he created a bulge in teh American line, captured many key towns, and caught the Americans by surprise. The Americans, however, fought to hold the line at Bastogne. The Allied bombers then began to attack and push the Germans out of France. Hitler failed to put a wedge between the Americans and the British and demoralized his troops. -
Truman decides to drop the bomb
In the late summer of 1945, Truman decided to use the atomic bomb that they had constructed on Japan. He decided to do it because he did not know how close Japan was to developing their own atomc bomb and was trying to save American lives. He was firm on his decision and on August 6, 1945, American pilots dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and then a few days later on Nagasaki. This did a lot of damage and allowed the Soviet Union to invade Manchuria as Japan debated on whether or not to surrender.
