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Battle of Britain
During July, 1940, the German Air Force invaded Great Britain's air space in an act to win air superiority over the British, but also as their first step in invading Britain and defeating their last major enemy in Western Europe. The Germans continuously bombed Britain throughout the battle, but the British fought back. The battle ended sometime in October the same year, with the Britain defeating Germany. This marked the first time in World War II when Germany has gone to battle and lost. -
Operation Barbarossa
On the 22nd, about 4.5 million German troops launched a surprise attack on Russia from Poland, Finland, and Romania. The Germans were able to advance about 200 miles into Russia from the border, where they started. They were trying to get Russia's natural resources, such as oil, coal, lumber, natural gas, etc. and land. In the end, the Germans failed to conquer Russia at a great loss on both sides. It also was a turning point in the war because it caused the Russians to join the Allies -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
At 7:55am on Sunday morning, Japanese naval pilots bombed the U.S. port of Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii. Two waves of Japanese planes attacked. The bombing took place due to Japan's wanting to take out the majority of the U.S. Navy, because America had stopped any natural resources from being traded with Japan, along with freezing all Japanese finances in American banks. This led to the U.S. declaring war on Japan and entering World War II, and also declaring war with Germany and Italy. -
Gen. MacArthur Leaves the Philippines
General Douglas MacArthur announces to the Filipinos that he is leaving in March for Australia to take command of the Allied Forces in the Pacific, but promises them "I shall return". -
Bataan Death March
The march consisted of American and Filipino prisoners captured by the Japanese under Lt. Gen. Masaharu. Between 72,000 and 76,000 POWs were forced to walk from the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell, which was about 63 miles north. They were starved, beaten, stabbed, shot, or given the sun treatment. The Japanese treated the prisoners this way because they believed that anyone who surrenders, such as the POWs, are unworthy of respect. Many died, fueling America's urge to fight Japan harder. -
Operation Overlord and D-Day
D-Day was when about 150,000 Canadian, British, and American Allied solders stormed the beaches of Normandy, France under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the overall commander. Although D-Day was the day of the attack, the operation lasted until August 25, 1944. The operation's goal to push Germans out of France and advance into Europe from the west, which would help end the war was successful. The Allies rid France of the Germans and started the beginning of the end of the German's defeat. -
Battle of the Bulge
The battle started when Germany launched a surprise attack on a 50 mile long stretch of Belgium, where they drove troops and artillery deep into the bulge in the Allies' lines. The battle happened as Germany's last, desperate offensive attack against the Allies, but were later forced to retreat. The battle resulted in over 75,000 casualties and marked the end of serious German resistence. -
Yalta Conference
The conference was a meeting between the U.S., Pres. Rosevelt, U.K., P. M. Churchill, and Russian Gen. Sec. Stalin. They discussed Europe's post-war organization in the Livadia Palace near Yalta in Crimea. The need to make preparations for the Allies' victory in Europe was the reason for the conference. By the end of the meeting on February 11, the men had agreed upon key actions that would be acted upon, such as war criminals being put on trail, Germany to be demilitarized and denazified, etc. -
Battle of Iwo Jima "Operation Detachment"
During the battle, the Americans and Japanese fought over the island of Iwo Jima, which is part of the Japanese Volcano Island Chain. The Americans fought for the island because it would be the perfect place for the Americans to stage attacks on the Japanese main land islands. The Battle of Iwo Jima lasted until March 26, 1945, when the Americans won Iwo Jima from Japan, giving the Americans the prime location they wanted to attack Japan from. -
V-E Day
It is also known as 'Victory in Europe Day' because it was the day when the German act of military surrender to the Allied Expeditionary Force, which was signed in Reims, France on the 7th by the representative of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, General Alfred Jodl, was made official. The Germans surrendered because they realized that their causes were futile, especially after Hitler commited suicide on April 30. V-E Day resulted in Nazi's defeat and the end of World War II in Europe. -
Dropping the Atomic Bomb - Hiroshima
American President Harry S. Truman ordered Americans to fly the Enola Gay over Hiroshima, Japan and drop 'Little Boy', the nuclear bomb the U.S. had been developing. The bomb killed about 70,000 Japanese, but it is the consequence of Japan not surrendering, which were stated by the U.S. in the Potsdam Declaration. 'Little Boy' was the first nuclear weapon to be used in warfare, and the amount of destruction it inflicted, along with the bombing of Nagasaki, caused the Japanese to surrender. -
Dropping the Atomic Bomb - Nagasaki
Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima and the Japanese still had not surrendered, President Truman sent another American plane with another bomb named 'Fat man', to Nagasaki, Japan, where it caused more casualties amoung the Japanese - about 40,000 were killed. This second nuclear bomb, along with the first, inflicted damaged so great, that Japan was forced to surrender. -
V-J Day
On V-J Day, also known as 'Victory in Japan', the Japanese government agreeded to surrender to the U.S. government, but signed the official document on the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. Japan decided that they had undergone too much death and destruction from the bombings. Their surrender resulted in the U.S. and Allies victory over the Axis Powers, and the end of World War II.
