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German Blitzkrieg
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German Blitzkrieg
A military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. It came about to preserves human lives and limits the expenditure of artillery. Its successful execution results in short military campaigns. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Fall of Paris
Parisians awaken to the sound of a German-accented voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8 p.m. that evening-as German troops enter and occupy Paris. By the time German tanks rolled into Paris, 2 million Parisians had already fled, with good reason. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, that was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces. the sanctions made the Japanese more determined to stand their ground. During months of negotiations between Tokyo and Washington, D.C., neither side would budge. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
Wannsee Conference
On this day, Nazi officials meet to discuss the details of the “Final Solution” of the “Jewish question.” Herman Goering, writing under instructions from Hitler, had ordered Reinhard Heydrich. The minutes of this conference were kept with meticulous care, which later provided key evidence during the Nuremberg war crimes trials. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a brutal military campaign between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers. The battle is infamous as one of the largest, longest and bloodiest engagements in modern warfare. Stalin and his generals, including future Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev, fully expected another Nazi attack to be aimed at Moscow. However, Hitler and the Wehrmacht had other ideas. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Operation Gomorrah
British bombers raid Hamburg, Germany, by night in Operation Gomorrah, while Americans bomb it by day in its own “Blitz Week.” Britain had suffered the deaths of 167 civilians as a result of German bombing raids in July. Now the tables were going to turn. The evening of July 24 saw British aircraft drop 2,300 tons of incendiary bombs on Hamburg in just a few hours. More than 1,500 German civilians were killed. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/operation-gomorrah-is-launched -
D-Day
The battle began when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring, the Allies had defeated the Germans. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Battle of the Bulge
In December, Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Lieutenant General George S. Patton’s successful maneuvering of the Third Army to Bastogne proved vital to the Allied defense, leading to the neutralization of the German counteroffensive despite heavy casualties. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was an epic military campaign between U.S. Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan in early 1945. the Imperial Japanese Navy had been so crippled by earlier World War II clashes in the Pacific, Given this information, American military leaders planned an attack on the island. It’s believed that all but 200 or so of the 21,000 Japanese forces on the island were killed, as were almost 7,000 Marines. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
VE Day
On this day in 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. They were putting out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. The effect of this is a big celebration across the USA and Europe. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
During World War II, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This happened in reaction to Pearl Harbor and Japan not surrendering to the USA. Because of this event, there are generations of damage. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki -
VJ Day
Japan’s formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. And because of this, we celebrate VJ Day. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II, and one of the bloodiest. the invasion was part of Operation Iceberg, a complex plan to invade and occupy the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa. About 7,000 Japanese soldiers surrendered, but many chose death by suicide. Some jumped from high hills, others blew themselves up with grenades. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
Liberation of concentration camps
These concentration and slave-labor camps, located throughout the Reich, were different from the extermination camps. The concentration camps were places of appalling suffering and death, the authorities 'merely' incarcerated the inmates. By 1945, British Army forces had crossed Lower Saxony toward the Aller River. That day, the Germans opened negotiations for the surrender of the nearby concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/liberation_camps_01.shtml
