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Invasion of Poland
The attack on Poland was an initial victory for Germany that surpassed the staff's initial expectations. It also galvanized Polish military resistance with the formation of a strong partisan underground that would never flag during the course of World War II and a Polish army in exile -
Fall of France to Nazi Forces
The Fall of France gave the Germans dominance in Continental Europe with no significant allied forces to contest them for two years. Another outcome was that Germany was able to isolate Great Britain from the rest of Europe. -
Rescue at Dunkirk
The Dunkirk evacuation was an important event for the Allies. If the BEF had been captured, it would have meant the loss of Britain's only trained troops and the collapse of the Allied cause. -
London Blitz
The Blitz changed the landscape of the city. Many famous landmarks were hit, including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London and the Imperial War Museum. Some areas, such as Stepney, were so badly damaged that they had to be almost entirely rebuilt after the war. -
Victory at Stalingrad
Russians consider it to be one of the greatest battles of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favour of the Allies. -
Italian Campaign
The Italian Campaign lasted from 1943 to 1945. It is estimated that between September 1943 and April 1945, 60,000–70,000 Allied and over 100,000 German soldiers died. The invasion of Sicily in July 1943 led to the collapse of the Fascist Italian regime and the fall of Mussolini who was incarcerated on July 25th, 1943. -
D-Day (Invasion of Normandy)
D-Day had opened another major front, where the bulk of America's rapidly expanding army could at last be brought to bear. It led to the liberation of France, denying Germany any further exploitation of that country's economic and manpower resources. -
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was one of the largest Allied operations of the Second World War. It aimed to secure the bridges over the rivers Maas (Meuse), Waal and Rhine in the Netherlands in order to outflank the heavy German defences of the Siegfried Line and to insure a swift advance towards Berlin. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge marked the last German offense on the Western Front. The catastrophic losses on the German side prevented Germany from resisting the advance of Allied forces following the Normandy Invasion. Less than four months after the end of the Battle of the Bulge, Germany surrendered to Allied forces -
Victory in Europe Day
On Victory in Europe Day, or V-E Day, Germany unconditionally surrendered its military forces to the Allies, including the United States. On May 8, 1945 - known as Victory in Europe Day or V-E Day - celebrations erupted around the world to mark the end of World War II in Europe.