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Kristallnaucht
Kristallnaucht is German for "Night of Broken Glass". During Kristallnacht, Jewish homes, shops, schools, and synagogues were burned, destroyed and vandalized by the Nazis in Germany. 100 Jews died and 30 000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps. The significance of this is that it was the beginning of the first stage of the Holocaust: the stripping of rights. It was the beginning of the death of millions of people, and also demoralized the Jews by taking things of importance from them. -
Battle of Britain
The Germans tried to take over Great Britain, and started their attack with gaining control of the air. Due to superior radar, Britain was able to see Germany coming. Canada and other Allied countries were also sending troops and aircraft, so Britain won. Angered by this, Hitler ordered the German air force to bob cities, which started the "Blitz", a bombing of English cities. The importance of this is that it was Hitler's second mistake, and gave the Allies hope that Germany could be defeated. -
Dieppe Raid
This raid land was supposed to be an opportunity for the Allie's to test their equipment and boost their morals, and to relieve pressure of of the U.S.S.R. The Allie's encountered a German vessel on their way to the landing site, so the element of surprise was lost. There was also poor landing site planning, so the Canadians were slaughtered. There were 1494 casualties and 1947 were captured. The significance of this battle was that the Allies learned from their mistakes and win next time. -
V - E Day
V - E Day is short for Victory in Europe Day. It is May 8th, and is the day where the victory of the battle going on in Europe ended. On April 30 Hitler committed suicide, then on May 5 a ceasefire was declared. Afterwards on May 7 Germany surrendered unconditionally. This is significant as it was the end of the war in Europe and now the Allies could focus on fighting the war in the Pacific. It was a giant step towards the end of wartime. -
Hiroshima
After fire bombing Japanese cities for months, the Americans decided to end the war once and for all, as well as test their new toy. They decided to drop on atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb was hotter than the surface of the sun when it went off. It killed 70 000 people instantly and 400 000 people with the radiation. This event was important because it changed warfare forever, killed thousands, and was a test for the next bomb that would be dropped on Nagasaki, and end the war.
