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Non aggression pact
Hitler launches a blitzkrieg against Poland however, he was more concerned about war with the soviet union than with Britain and France. Not wanting to fight a war on two fronts, Germany signed the Nazi-soviet nonaggression pact.Which the two former rivals promised not to attack one another.Secretly they agreed to invade and divide Poland and and recognize each others territorial ambitions. -
Battle of Britain
Started by Hitlers plan to invade Britain, code name operation sea lion, depended upon Germany Luftwaffe, or air force destroying the British royal air force and gaining control of the skies above the English channel.Was a air battle between Germany and Britain. -
Atlantic Conference
President Woodrow Wilson believed that the peace conference was too important to be left to career diplomats and lesser politicians, so he crossed the Atlantic ocean himself to represent the United States at the conference, something no president has ever done.Also, known as a peace delegation which he didn't invite any leading republicans to join him in. -
Battle of Midway
The turning point of war in the pacific, ending the seemingly Japanese ad advance.An important naval battle in WW2 the united states dealt japan a decisive defeat.Torpedo planes and dive bombers sank 4 Japanese aircraft carriers, along with all 250 aircraft on board and many of japans most experienced pilots.Lead japan to the defensive. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Hitler wanted to capture the city of Stalingrad so that he could control the rich Caucasus oil fields.During the invasion soviet troops then counterattacked, trapping the German forces.Hitler refused to allow his army to retreat until some starved, got sick, suffered from frostbites, the surviving German troops finally surrendered. -
Operation Torch
A mighty women with a torch (Statue of Liberty), whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name mother of exiles.From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome;her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame,"Keep ancient lands,your storied pomp!"Representing to give her your tired,your poor,your huddled masses yearning to breather free,send these the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" -
Tehran Conference
Roosevelt,Churchill,and Stalin planned to defeat Germany,they traveled to Tehran,Iran,for their first face to face meeting.FDR sided with Stalin which he insisted that Britain and the united states carry most of the military burden by attacking Germany in the west,forcing Germany to divide its troops.Reluctantly Churchill agreed and they later the big three issued a joint statement that gave no hint of there earlier disagreements. -
Operation Overlord
The allied massive invasion of France.Involved landing 21 american divisions and 26 British,Canadian,and polish divisions on a 50 mile stretch of beaches in Normandy.The plan dictated striking five beaches in Normandy,but it also involved an elaborate deception.A fake army that existed only on paper so that they could convince Germans that the allied attack would come at Calais,not father west in Normandy. -
Battle of Iowa Jima
Fiercest battles in the island island hoping campaign.The united states marines faced a dug in,determined enemy.In 36 days of fighting,more than 23,000 marines became casualties.But they took the island.Six marines planted the american flag on Iwo jima symbolizing the heroic sacrifice of american soldiers. -
Battle of Okinawa
Taking Okinawa was the most complex and costly operation in the pacific campaign,involving half a million troops and 1,230 warships.U.S. forces finally took Okinawa but at a cost of roughly 50,000 casualties.Japanese were defenseless allowing american pilots to bomb the Japanese home islands.In a single night B-29 bombers destroyed 16 sqm of Tokyo,killing over 83,000 Japanese and injured 100,000 more. -
Surrender of Berlin/Germany
U.S army reached the Elbe River,50 miles west of Berlin.Allied forces were now in position for an all out assault against Hitlers capital.Hitler was by now a physical wreck:shaken by tremors,paranoid from drugs,and kept alive by mad dreams of a final war.He gave orders that no one followed and planned campaigns that no one would ever fight.Later on causing Germany to surrender. -
Italian campaign
A campaign that gave the allies complete control of the Mediterranean,paved the way for an invasion of Italy,and ended the rule of Benito Mussolini. Italy surrendered to the allies and 5 weeks later declared war on Germany. -
Potsdam Conference
Truman faces Stalin at Potsdam and later the big three formalized the decision to divide Germany into four zones of occupation:Soviet,American,British,and French.They agreed to new borders and free elections for Poland,and they recognized the Soviets right to claim reparations for war damages from the German sector they controlled. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
U.S. pilots dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima.Within two minutes more than 60,000 of Hiroshima 344.000 residents were dead or missing.Over the next three days Japanese leaders debated whether to surrender or continue to fight.Than the soviet union declared war against japan and invaded Manchuria.Next,the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki,killing 35,000 residents.Debate continued at the highest level of Japanese government.Finally,emperor Hirohito made the decision to surrender.