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German Blitzkrieg
A German term for “lightning war,” blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. German forces tried out the blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939 before successfully employing the tactic with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in 1940.
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Invasion Of Poland
Hitler invades Poland on the 1st of September, 1939. Hitler bombarded Poland from the air ultimately to rule Poland. He had signed a treaty saying he would not act towards Poland, but he discarded that treaty. Britain and France declared war on Germany 2 days later.
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Germans surrender at Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad began in the summer of 1942, as German forces assaulted the city, a major industrial center and a potential strategic coup. But despite repeated attempts, the German 6th Army, under Friedrich von Paulus, and part of the 4th Panzer Army, under Ewald von Kleist, could not break past the adamantine defense by the Soviet 62nd Army, despite pushing the Soviets almost to the Volga River in mid-October and encircling Stalingrad.
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Patton Conquers Sicily
The invasion of Sicily was designed to open the shipping lanes in the Mediterranean, eliminate the island as an Axis base, and to encourage the fall of Mussolini's government. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was given overall command with British General Sir Harold Alexander designated as the ground commander. The principle forces for the assault were the US 7th Army under Lieutenant General George S.
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http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/george-smith-patton/videos/patton -
US lands in Salerno Italy
The 4th Beach Battalion, known as the ‘Knee-deep’ sailors, had prepared well for this assignment. After advanced training in North Africa, the sailors had received their baptism of fire in July during the Sicily landings. At the end of operations there, they returned to North Africa for replacements and rest. Before long, however, training resumed. Their instructors were Army Rangers. ‘They were supposed to toughen us up for Salerno,’ recalled Seaman James Townley.
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Allies land in Anzio, Italy
During the early morning hours of 22 January 1944, troops of the Fifth Army swarmed ashore on a fifteen-mile stretch of Italian beach near the prewar resort towns of Anzio and Nettuno. The landings were carried out so flawlessly and German resistance was so light that British and American units gained their first day's objectives by noon, moving three to four miles inland by nightfall.
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Rome Liberated
The first American soldiers, members of the 5th Army, reached the centre of Rome late last night after encountering dogged resistance from German forces on the outskirts of the city. Early this morning it was announced the German troops had been ordered to withdraw.
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Operation D-Day
On 6 June 1944 - D-Day - Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. This successful action signalled the beginning of the end of the Second World War: it was the first stage in the liberation of western Europe and a major step towards the defeat of Nazi Germany. The campaign was code-named Operation Overlord
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http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day/videos/dday-invasion -
Allied invasion of France
By daybreak, 18,000 British and American parachutists were already on the ground. At 6:30 a.m., American troops came ashore at Utah and Omaha beaches. At Omaha, the U.S. First Division battled high seas, mist, mines, burning vehicles—and German coastal batteries, including an elite infantry division, which spewed heavy fire. Many wounded Americans ultimately drowned in the high tide.
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France liberated
After more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division. German resistance was light, and General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the German garrison, defied an order by Adolf Hitler to blow up Paris’ landmarks and burn the city to the ground before its liberation.
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Invasion of Germany
As part of the armistice agreement France signed with Germany on June 22, Germany occupied northern France and all of France's Atlantic coastline down to the border with Spain. A new French government was established in the town of Vichy, which was in the unoccupied southern part of France. The Vichy government, under Marshall Henri Petain, declared neutrality in the war between Germany and Great Britain, but was committed by the armistice provisions to cooperation with Germany.
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Battle of the Bulge
On December 16, three German armies (more than a quarter-million troops) launched the deadliest and most desperate battle of the war in the west in the poorly roaded, rugged, heavily forested Ardennes. The once-quiet region became bedlam as American units were caught flat-footed and fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and, later, Bastogne, which was defended by the 101st Airborne Division.
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http://www.history.com/topic -
Fall of Berlin
The final chapter in the destruction of Hitler's Third Reich began on April 16, 1945 when Stalin unleashed the brutal power of 20 armies, 6,300 tanks and 8,500 aircraft with the objective of crushing German resistance and capturing Berlin. By prior agreement, the Allied armies halted their advance on the final chapter in the destruction of Hitler's Third Reich began on April 16, 1945 when Stalin unleashed the brutal power of 20 armies, 6,300 tanks and 8,500 aircrafts
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VE Day
On Mar. 7, 1945, the Western Allies—whose chief commanders in the field were Omar N. Bradley and Bernard Law Montgomery—crossed the Rhine after having smashed through the strongly fortified Siegfried Line and overran West Germany. German collapse came after the meeting (Apr. 25) of the Western and Russian armies at Torgau in Saxony, and after Hitler's death amid the ruins of Berlin, which was falling to the Russians under marshals Zhukov and Konev.
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Results Of VE Day
The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark—the German surrender was realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany.
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