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Battle of Dunkirk
The BEF (British Expeditionary Force) and other allied troops tried evading the war by evacuating the French seaport of Dunkirk. Germany finally felt strong enough to attack Britain. His attack pushes this evacuation. Very many people got saved during this time, but a lot of casualties still happened. -
Battle At Moscow
This battle was fought between Germany and the Soviet Union. It took place at the peak of Operation Barbarossa and ended the German's plans to capture Moscow. This ultimately led to the downfall of the Third Reich. Joseph Stalin yet again wanted to play things down and just tried boosting morale. -
Pearl Harbor
This attack from Japan was a surprise aerial attack on the naval base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Japan decided to do this because they thought that the United States was going to join the war soon. The attack was ordered by Nagano Osami and Hideki Tojo. Further problems grew from this attack. It placed the setting stone for the Japan/US rivalry. -
Battle of Midway
The Midway Islands, claimed by the US, were wanted by Japan. There were high levels of resources there. A major air and submarine base of the US was located there. Japan thought that if they could overtake these islands, attacks on Hawaii would be much easier. US Marine, George Cannon, would be the first marine to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. -
Battle of Stalingrad
This was a successful Soviet defense against Germany. Russians considered it to be one of the greatest battles of their Great Patriotic War. The plan from Germany was to capture Stalingrad and overrun it. But the Soviets fought back against Hitler's people and won. -
Battle of Kursk
This battle was an unsuccessful attack from Germany on the Soviet area around the city of Kursk. Germany tried to attack them to recover the offensive on the eastern front. Their attack failed because of antitank defenses and minefields. Walther Model led the German troops. -
Battle of Normandy
A.K.A. Operation Overlord. This was an allied invasion on western Europe. US, British, and Canadian forces landed all over the area of Normandy, France. All of northern France was taken over and then reorganized to attack Germany. -
Battle of the Bulge
This battle was the last major German offensive on the Western Front. It was an unsuccessful attempt to push the allies back from their territory. The "bulge" refers to the wedge that the Germans put in allied lines. General Eisenhower led the Allies into defending their lines. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
This battle was fought between the United States and Japan. This was one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the US marines. Iwo Jima is a small volcano island with a few bases on it. It was planned for Japan to get revenge on the US. But US was successful once again -
Battle of Berlin
This battle was one of the last battles to happen during WW2. The Soviet Union did this attack on Berlin because of Berlin previously causing suffering for Soviet people. Soviet marshals, Ivan Konev and Georgiy Zhukov caused enormous casualties on Berlin. Most of Berlin just hid. But Hitler got wind of what was happening. He sent troops to try to stop the siege.