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Germany launched the unprovoked attack at dawn on September 1, 1939, with an advance force consisting of more than 2,000 tanks supported by nearly 900 bombers and over 400 fighter planes. In all, Germany deployed 60 divisions and nearly 1.5 million men in the invasion. German units quickly broke through Polish defenses along the border and advanced on Warsaw in a massive encirclement attack.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/invasion-of-poland-fall-1939 -
Blitzkrieg is a term used to describe a method of offensive warfare designed to strike a swift, focused blow at an enemy using mobile, maneuverable forces, including armored tanks and air support. Such an attack ideally leads to a quick victory, limiting the loss of soldiers and artillery.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Paris fell to Nazi Germany on June 14, 1940, one month after the German Wehrmacht stormed into France. Eight days later, France signed an armistice with the Germans, and a puppet French state was set up with its capital at Vichy.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paris-liberated#:~:text=Paris%20fell%20to%20Nazi%20Germany,with%20its%20capital%20at%20Vichy. -
The prolonged bombing of South England by the German Luftwaffe and the successful resistance by the RAF Fighter Command, which put an end to the German plan of invading Britain.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/battle-of-britain#:~:text=Battle%20of%20Britain-,Battle%20of%20Britain,German%20plan%20of%20invading%20Britain -
Surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, by the Japanese that precipitated the entry of the United States into World War II. The strike climaxed a decade of worsening relations between the United States and Japan.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Pearl-Harbor-attack -
The battle ended the proposed Japanese sea-borne invasion of Port Moresby. When they attacked the American fleet at Midway the next month, the weakened Japanese were met by a stronger Allied fleet than they had expected, and were defeated. This was the end of Japanese naval power in the Pacific.
https://anzacday.org.au/ww2-the-battle-of-the-coral-sea -
During the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown, to the previously invincible Japanese navy.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-midway-begins#:~:text=During%20the%20four%2Dday%20sea,the%20previously%20invincible%20Japanese%20navy. -
Stalingrad was one of the most decisive battles on the Eastern Front in the Second World War. The Soviet Union inflicted a catastrophic defeat on the German Army in and around this strategically important city on the Volga river, which bore the name of the Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-battle-of-stalingrad#:~:text=Stalingrad%20was%20one%20of%20the,the%20Soviet%20dictator%2C%20Josef%20Stalin. -
The Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy was incredibly successful and achieved what it set out to. The Allied armies were able to force Axis naval, air and land divisions out of the area and allowed Allied merchant ships into the Mediterranean for the first time since 1941.
https://www.historycrunch.com/allied-invasion-of-italy.html#/ -
The D-Day operation of June 6, 1944, brought together the land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest invasion force in human history. The operation, given the codename OVERLORD, delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France.
https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/world-war-ii-d-day-invasion-normandy#:~:text=The%20D%2DDay%20operation%20of,the%20beaches%20of%20Normandy%2C%20France. -
The Allies won the Battle of the Bulge, resulting in significantly higher casualties on the German side despite their surprise attack on Allied forces. Losing 120,000 people and military supplies, German forces were dealt an irreparable blow, while Allied forces suffered only 75,000 casualties.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Bulge -
The first major camp to be liberated was Majdanek near Lublin, Poland in July 1944. The Germans attempted to hide the evidence of mass murder by demolishing much of the camp from the soviets. Parts including the gas chambers were left standing.In January 1945, Auschwitz was overrun by Russian soldiers. It was the largest extermination and concentration camp, over a million people had been deported from all over Europe. Upon liberation, only a few thousand prisoners remained.
www.iwm.org -
It had been one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history. After the battle, Iwo Jima served as an emergency landing site for more than 2,200 B-29 bombers, saving the lives of 24,000 U.S. airmen. Securing Iwo Jima prepared the way for the last and largest battle in the Pacific: the invasion of Okinawa.
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/iwo-jima-fact-sheet.pdf -
The Battle of Okinawa was a victory for the US but resulted in massive casualties on both sides. Japanese forces fought with the same fanaticism the Americans had witnessed in battles such as Iwo Jima. Rather than be taken prisoner, defenders often chose suicide.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-battle-of-okinawa#:~:text=The%20Battle%20of%20Okinawa%20was,prisoner%2C%20defenders%20often%20chose%20suicide. -
The two atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of people. By the end of 1945, the bombing had killed an estimated 140,000 people in Hiroshima and a further 74,000 in Nagasaki. These bombs were known to put an end to WWII.
www.icanw.org