-
German Blitzkrieg
On September 1st, 1939, Hitler invades poland after claiming germans in Poland were being persecuted, using a german crimnal who was killed as proof. Germans used Blitzkreig ( Lighting) warfare that featured air attacks nad fast moving armored strikes, allowing them to take Poland within a month.
Source: Notes and American Anthem book -
Fall of Paris (1940)
3 weeks after the Blitzkreig, German Advance was moving southward and the french were fleeing, leaving the city of Paris open. France was convinced America would come to it's aid but they didn't, This allowed German troops to occupy Paris on the evening of june 14th, 1940.
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/francesurrenders.htm -
Operation Barbossa (1941)
On June 22, 1941, the German troops invaded the Soviet Union. With over 3 million soldiers attacking, the Germans still were faced with defeat. This marked a major turning point in the war because now Germany, would have to fight a two-front war.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
Because of the already high tensions between the U.S. and Japan over conflict over Frech Indochina & Japan's alliance with Germany, Americans speculated a possible attack from Japan. On December 7th, 1941, Japan attacked the American naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japan planned for months to destroy as many American ships & planes as possible. Forces at the base were unready to defend it. The attack lasted two hours & Americans were left in defeat.
Source:Book -
Wannsee Conference
Wannsee
On Jan. 20th,1942, Nazi officials met to discuss the solution to the "Jewish Question." Nazi officials discussed multiple ways of getting rid of the Jews, essentially "exterminating" them. Although some oppsoed, the solution later became literally "working them to death" and gassing them. -
The Battle of Midway
Japanese military planners planned to lure American troops into a Large sea battle at the Island of Midway becasue of the supeiror naval army. However, naval intelligence officers broke a japanese code and found out about the attack. Becasue of this, the Americans had a huge advantage and were able to destroy 3 of the 4 Japanese carriers and later the last one, resulting in a tremendous American Victory.
Source: Book -
Allied invasion of Italy (1943)
Allies began their invasion of Europe starting from the landings on the Island of Sicily, encountering little resistance. All the troops were shore within 3 days, making the invasion succesful.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-invade-italian-mainland -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion- 1944)
On June 6th, 1944, the allies invaded France from the beaches of Normandy by first bombing key german targets and taking air superiority. the Navy shelled the coast to remive as much opposition as possible, The outcome was 10,000 allied deaths and a weaked German defense that was not quick enough to respond to the invasion.
Source: Book -
Battle of Iwo Jima
This Battle took place on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, that wasn't heavily defended at the shore but rather inland. This resulted in intiial success for the allies in taking the Island, but the Japanese fought from underground tunnels and caves that were to hard to find and destroy. Despite this, it resulted in American victory and casualtiies included 5,900 dead and 17,000+ injured.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
The Battle of Okinawa
The Japanese Island of Okinawa would be the launching pad of the final invasion of Japan. American forces invaded on April 1st, 1945, pushing Japanese forces to the southrn tip where they planned their response. THe Japnese fought off the Americans using underground tunnels and dugouts gto hide. Resulting in 12.000+ American deaths and an American victory later in June.
Source: Book -
VE Day
On May 8th, 1945, A few days after hitler commited suicide, German troops in Europe surrended. VE (Victory in Europe day concludes Hitler's war and is still celebrated today.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/ve_day
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Liberation of Concencration Camps
The soviet Union were some of the firsts to liberate concentration camps. On July 23rd, 1945, the soviets invaded poland and took over many camps containing sickly prisoners, making many germans flee. Other allied forced also took over and freed prisoners from the camps. Although Germans tried to hide the evidence of the mass kills, allied forces came upon thousands of dead bodies.
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007724 -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
On August 6th, 1945, an American bomber dropped the attomic bomb on the Japanses city oof HIroshima killing 80,000+ people and detroying 90% of the city. A second bomb was dropped on Nagaski 3 days later killoing 40,000+ people. Japan surrendered in WWII on August 15th.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki -
VJ Day
On August 14th, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrended for good. This brought the end to World War 2. VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day) is also a term used on Spetember 2, when Japan's formal surrender took place.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
Battle of the Bulge
As the allies moves eastword, the Germans launched a surprise attack known as the Battle of the Bulge. The German advance created a bulge in the allied battle lines and threatened to take back vital land from the allies. Once to the important city of Bastogne, Germans lost a battle to the determined Americans, By the end of January the german offensive was pusshed back and victory was close for the allies.
Source: Book
