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Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe. German forces broke through Polish defenses along the border and quickly advanced on Warsaw, the Polish capital. -
UK and France declare war on Germany to defend the balance of power in Europe and safeguard Britain's position in the world. -
Paris fell under German occupation in mid 1940. The French government relocated to Vichy and the capital was governed by Hitler's military. During the occupation, a curfew was imposed, food was rationed, and coal for heating was in short supply. Jews in Paris were forced to wear the yellow Star of David badge. -
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. -
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto spent months planning an attack that aimed to destroy the Pacific Fleet and destroy morale in the U.S. Navy, so that it would not be able to fight back as Japanese forces began to advance on targets across the South Pacific. -
Soviet forces launched a counteroffensive against the Germans arrayed at Stalingrad. They quickly encircled an entire German army. -
The death of Benito Mussolini occurred in the final days of World War II in Europe, when he was summarily executed by an Italian partisan in the small village of Giulino di Mezzegra in northern Italy.
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Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. -
The tussle between the Soviet Union and its allies, and the legacy of the First World War, Germany actually surrendered twice.
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The United States bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, were the first instances of atomic bombs used against humans, killing tens of thousands of people, obliterating the cities, and contributing to the end of World War II. -
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the reason for Japan's surrender.
