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Germany Invades Poland
The invasion of Poland by Germany lasted from September 1st to October 6th of 1939. Germany's objective was to reach the capital of Warsaw. Poland was Hitler's first target in his quest to conquer Europe. On the date of 9/1/1939, Germany crossed Polish territory to begin WWII. -
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World War II Events
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Winter War of 1939-1940
Along a strip of region known as the Karelian Isthmus, the Finnish prepared for Soviet Russia offensive plans. Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, looked for an invade as successful as Germany's upon Poland. Throughout the first half of the war, the Russians faced absolute defeat by the Finnish. As Stalin grew more impatient, he decided to bring in a more heavy approach with machine guns. Russia was eventually able to fight their way back and the Finnish signaled defeat to end the Winter War. -
Invasion of Norway
On April 9th of 1940, Germany continued their quest to conquer Europe by invading Norway. This was the first time in WWII history where Axis and Allied forces met in combat. After recently sieging Denmark, Germany and the Axis powers were as strong as ever. Although Allied forces tried to resist the invasion, Germany triumphed over Norway. Norway was surrendered on June 10th, 1940. -
Invasion of France
To complete the conquer of western Europe, Germany planned to invade France and its neighboring countries (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg). The Axis forces dominated during the invasion, especially with France's neighboring countries which didn't cause them much trouble, After setting traps and passing Maginot Lines, the Germans were able to conquer Western Europe. They conquered 4 countries in less than 6 weeks which was remarkable. -
The Battle of Britain
After their tremendous success throughout early WWII, Germany decided to hit the center of the British Empire by targeting Great Britain. Germany's aircraft numbers were much higher than Great Britian's and the aircraft matchup was nearly equal. The battle lasted nearly a year, and surprisingly, Great Britain held up against Germany. The Axis forces weren't able to conquer Great Britain which was an absolute upset for Germany and it's military. -
The Soviet Offensive (Operation Barbarossa)
On June 22nd of 1941, Germany invaded Soviet Russia. They caught Russia by surprise and were able to succeed and push through Russia tremendously. After fighting for months, Germany finally reached Moscow. The Soviets unleashed a barrage of intense offense during the winter of 1941. They forced Germany to retreat and their offensive murdered over 1,000,000 German soldiers. This was another German defeat. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese commenced an aerial/naval attack and bombing upon the United States at Pearl Harbor. Over 350 Japanese planes arrived at Pearl Harbor, armed for war. The Japanese triumphed over the U.S. naval fleets within 4 hours and completely destroyed the Hawaiian naval fleet. After the attack was completed, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered one of the greatest speeches of American history. The "Day of Infamy" speech will be remembered by Americans for a long time -
D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy
At 6:30 AM, on June 6th, 1944, Allied troops commenced one of the biggest invasions of WWII. The Allies landed on the beaches of Normandy, France with the largest number of soldiers and fire arms than ever before. Although the U.S. suffered 5,000 soldier casualties rather than Germany's 1,200, this was an Allied victory. The Allies were able to push through the beaches of France to clear the way to Paris. -
Battle of the Bulge
By the end of 1944, the Allies had pushed very far throughout Europe. There were close to 80,000 Allied troops in Europe to stand against Hitler and the Third Reich. On December 16th, 1944, Germany brought about the largest artillery bombardment ever. Although it tremendously helped, the Allies and Axis were still fighting for the small town of Bastogne. With Germany in a probable defeat, by February of 1945, the Battle of Bulge ended by Adolf hitler committing suicide. -
Battle of Okinawa
