-
The Reichstag Fire
On February 27, 1933, the building of the German Parliament, the Reichstag building, had been set on fire by a radical Dutch Communist. Despite being an individual act, Hitler had exaggerated the incident to the point where he had blame the Communist Party in Germany, saying that the Reichstag fire was just a beginning of their evil doings. This caused less people in Gernany to support the Communist Party, and quickly gave the Nazi Party majority of the seats in the Reichstag, or the Parliament. -
Remilitarization of the Rhineland,
Whereas the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaty prevented Germany from keeping any military in the Rhineland, Hitler broke these two treaties on March 7, 1936 by marching in Rhineland with 22,000 soldiers. Despite such violations of regulations, France and Britain had been unable to take any sort of action, and this eventually caused Germany to be too powerful, and had in time caused World War 2. -
Munich Agreement/Crisis
The Sudetenland had been a German speaking region lying along the borders of Czecozlovakia and Germany. As Germany had been openly expressing their desire over the Sudetenaland, Britain and France cound not ignore it; in September 30, 1938, the Leagers of Germany, France, and Britian met in Munich to authorize German occupation over the Sudetanland. After Britain and France had acquiesced into Germany's requests, Hitler promised that he would never make further territorial claims in Europe. -
Non-agression Pact
On August 23, 1935, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Non-agression Pact, a treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union that restricted the two nations from invading each other. Through this pact, the Germans were able to avoid a two front war like they had in World War One. Despite the treaty being broken within two years by Germany, this pact created a big advatnage for Germany for some time. -
Dunkirk Evacuation
The Dunkirk Evacuation, which took place in Dunkirk, France, was a plan set up by the Allies to help evacuate some 338,000 soldiers (mainly British) trapped in France, so that they may be utilized in the differenct war fronts. By being able to save these experienced soldiers, the Allies were able to gain victory in other fronts such as in North Africa. After the evactuation, the two sides(Axis and Allies) were now in balance, taking away the number advantage the Axis Powers had for a while. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a series of battles in the United Kingdom Airspace, mainly between the Royal Airforce and the German Airforce. During the long duration of 3 months and 3 weeks, the two forces continuously collided, with the British Royal Air Force being the ultimate victor. The Battle of Britain lies as one of the most important turning points of the War due to the fact that if it had failed, The Germans would have attempted to actually take over Britain. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa marked the beginning of the German invasion of Russia, and also the end to the Non-Agression Pact. Hitler had sent 4 million soldier to fight the Soviets in their homeground; and for a period of approximately 5 months, the Germans took over several major cities such as Moscow, but failed to control it until the end of the battle. -
Stalingrad
As Germany had gone through and controlled Poland, the German Army continued to march all the way to Russia, to a city called Stalingrad. In Stalingrad, the Russian Army had lost millions of manpower, but had kept Germany from advancing due to their large number. As the battle dragged on longer due to the weather problems and supply shortages, in 1943, when the battle was considered over, the German forces at Russia had been almost completely destroyed, causing Germany to ultimately lost the War -
Second Battle of El-Alamein
Whereas the German troops had been prevailing in Northern Aftica for a while, after the Battle of El-Alamein, the Allies, specifically the British took control. As the English Prime Minister, Winston Churchil put it, "before Alamein we never won a battle, after Alamein we never lost one". The victory at El-Alamein later on opened up a path to invade Italy and Sicily. -
The Invasion of Normandy
During the months of June and July of 1944, the Allied forces invaded occupied France into a area known as Normandy. By succesfully defeating the German forces in France, the Allied forces were able to slowly reach Germany, where they were end to "end the war," at least in the European Theater. This event is a significant turning point, for it shows the fall of a major member of the Axis Powers, Gernany, and foreshadows an overall Axis defeat.
