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German-Soviet Non-Agression Pact
German-Soviet Non-Agression Pact
On August 23, 1939 Germany and the USSR surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, in which the 2 countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. The Pact fell apart in June 1941, when Nazi forces invaded the Soviet Union.
Citations: history.com -
Germany and USSR invade Poland, setting off WW2
Germany invades Poland
Germany invades Poland with help from Russia. The Polish Army falls within weeks of the invasion. Germany attacked swiftly with over 2000 tanks and 1000 planes. Russia received the northern half of Poland and Germany got the southern half.
Citiaions: www.ushmm.org -
Invasion of France and capture of Paris
Paris under German control
Just four days into the invasion German troops crossed the Germany invaded France on May 10, 1940 to June25, 1940. Meuse river, and had broken through the French lines. Attempts by the Allies to launch counterattacks by air and land either failed with heavy losses, or were thwarted by the pace of events. Soon following Paris fell unopposed to Germany.
Citations: www.history.co.uk -
Bombing of London, Battle of Britian begins
Battle of Britian color film
In 1940, German and Italian Air Forces attacked Britian, in the largest bombing campaign to that date. It was a significant turning point of WW2. The Battle of Britain ended when Germany’s Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force despite months of targeting Britain’s air bases, military posts and citizens. The victory saved the country from ground invasion.
Citations: www.history.com -
The Tripartite Pact is signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan
Signing of the Axis Pact Footage
The Axis powers were formed when Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies by the signing of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. The Pact said assistance will be provided if any of them suffer attack by any nation not already in the war. This alliance was mostly aimed directly at “neutral” US. It made the US to think twice before it joined the Allies.
Citations: history.com
Citations: Guided Notes from Notebook -
The US gives Britian war supplies for military bases (Lend-Lease Act)
Video on the Lend-Lease Act signed by FDR
The Lend-Lease Act was the act for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during WW2. It let the president transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress appropriated money to “the government of any country whose defense the President thought vital to the defense of the United States.”
Citations: www.history.com -
Germany and Italy invade Greece and Yugolslavia
Documentary on the invasion Crete, Greece
Operation Castigo was the the codename given for the bombing of Belgrade, Greece. 24 divisions and 1,200 tanks attacked the Baltic Nations. Greek and British troops fought back but were defeated. The attack on Yugoslavia was swift and brutal, resulting in the death of 17,000 civilians. All of Yugoslavia’s airfields were also bombed, destroying most of its 600 planes.
Citations: history.com -
Germany invades the USSR, German defeat at Stalingrad, turning point in the war in Eastern Europe
Invasion of USSRHitler without regarding the German-Soviet nonagression pact ordered the invasion of the USSR under the codename "Operation Barbarossa", the largest German military operation in WW2. It was done to get rid of the Communist threat to Nazis. The Russians burned everything in their path to keep it out of German hands. The Nazis advanced further in and were met in Stalingrad and were defeated and stopped.
Citations: ushmm.org -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa, Invasion of USSR Footage
On June 22, 1941, Hitler launched his armies east in a massive invasion of the USSR. 3 army groups with over 3 million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and 3000 tanks smashed across the frontier into the USSR. The invasion covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea, a distance of two thousand miles. It was the largest German military campaign of WW2.
Citations: www.history.com -
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
Color film of the Pearl Harbor Attack
On December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It lasted just 2 hours, but it was devastating. Japan destroyed 20 American naval vessels and 300 airplanes. 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died, and 1,000 were wounded. The day after the US declared war on Japan, and Japan's allies Germany and Italy declared war on the US.
Citations: www.history.com -
Germany declares war on the US, US declares war on Japan and Germany
Hitler declares war on the US
Germany honoring its alliance with Japan delcared war on the US. Itlay followed. -
Bataan Death March
Bataan Death March Footage and Interveiw
When the US surrendered the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during WW2, 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an horrific 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers suffered intense heat and harsh treatment by the Japanese. Thousands died in what now became know as the Bataan Death March.
Citations: www.history.com -
Battle of Coral Sea
Battle of Coral Sea
The Tide turns against Japan. 1st naval battle where ships never saw each other. The US forces got help from the Australian forces in fighting Japan in the Coral Sea. All fighting was done by carrier aircrafts. The ending result was a draw. The Allies gained strength and were encouraged.
Citations: Guided Notes from Notebook -
Battle of Midway, American Victory, Turning Point
Battle of Midway
The US defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of WW2. The US was able to defeat Japan. All Japanese carriers and 253 planes were destroyed. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the Allies to move further into the Pacific.
Citations: Guided Notes from Notebook, www.history.com -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Footage
Between July 22 and September 12, 1942, German authorities deported and murdered around 300,000 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. On July 28, 1942, several Jewish underground organizations created an armed self-defense unit known as the Jewish Combat Organization.The Germans broke the organized military resistance within days. 56,065 Jews were captured and 7,000 dead.
Citations: www.ushmm.org -
Allies land in Normandy, D-Day, begin liberation of Western Europe
D-Day Footage
D-Day also known as Operation Overland and the Invasion of Normandy. It began on June 6, 1944 when some 156,000 Allied forces landed on 5 beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. By August all of northern France had been liberated, and by spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of WW2
Citations: history.com -
Beginning of the liberation of the concentration camps
Concentration Camp Footage (BE WARNED)
Soviet forces were the first to approach a major Nazi camp, reaching Majdanek near Lublin, Poland. Attempts to hide the evidence by the Nazis was a failure.The Soviets liberated Auschwitz, the largest killing center and concentration camp, in January 1945. In the following months, the Soviets liberated additional camps in Europe. Other Allied countries followed.
Citations: www.ushmm.org -
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge Footage
On Dec. 16 the Germans launched the last major offensive of the war, also known as Operation Mist, the Ardennes Offensive and the Battle of the Bulge. It was an attempt to split the Allied forces and create a "bulge." The Germans deployed 250,000 soldiers into the initial assault. Hitler gambled everything on this. It was "the last stand of the German army."
Citations: history.com, Guided Notes from Notebook -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima Footage
On Feb. 19, 3 U.S. marine divisions landed on the island. Iwo Jima was defended by 23,000 Japanese troops, who fought from an elaborate network of caves, dugouts, tunnels and underground installations. Despite the conditions, the marines wiped out the defending forces after a month of fighting and earned an important victory. The island was crucial to attacks on the Japan's mainland.
Citaions: www.history.com -
Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany's death
Hitler's Death News Report
Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Germany in WW2. He was warned that the Allies were overtaking Germany and urged to escape to Berchtesgarden, a small town in the Bavarian Alps where he owned a home. But instead he chose suicide. He and his wife swallowed cyanide, tested on his “beloved” dog and her pups. Then shot himself with a pistol.
Citations: history.com -
The US drops the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, forcing Japan to surrender, ending WW2
Footage of the dropping of the atom bomb
Though the war in Europe had ended, the US was still fighting Japan. After FDR's death Harry Truman became president. They were both advised that any attempt to invade the Japan would result in horrific casualties. So FDR approved it to be dropped after Aug. 3 1945. So to save American lives it was dropped. It instantly killed 80000 people in Hiroshima and 40000 in Nagasaki.
Citations: history.com
