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Miracle of Dunkirk
-Germans were heading into Belgium
-Allies retreated to Dunkirk
-Big turning point in the war
-Germans paused and regrouped before heading to Dunkirk, for reasons unknown
-Although the British were able to save some of their troops, the Allies still suffered a loss to Germany
End date: June 4th,, 1940 -
Battle of Britain
-Between British and German air forces
-France quit WWII in June of that year, and it was Britain and Germany
-Britain's success depended on gaining air superiority
-British had a military advantage over Germany
-Germans were defeated
End date: October 31st, 1940 -
Battle of Leningrad
-German army surrounded Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg)
-880 day seige
-Eventually became symbolic
-At the beginning of 1943, the Soviet Union found a way to get vital rations
-Germany became weak by January of 1944 and the Soviets drove them away
End date: January 27th, 1944 -
Battle of Stalingrad
-Resulted in roughly 2 million casualties, both military and civilian
-Germans wanted to take over Stalingrad (now Volgograd) for an industrial and transportation center
-Lots of urban street fights occured during this time
-German invaders suffered during the winter
-Soviets won, it was a great humiliation to Hitler while Stalin gained confidence
End date: February 2nd, 1943 -
Operation Torch
-Allied invasion of French North Africa
-Went through North Africa to get to Germany, because they couldn't do it via France
-To clear the Mediterranean Sea of Axis shipping to make more room for the Allies to use
-Landed in Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers
-Afrika Corps surrendered in May of 1943
End date: November 10th, 1942 -
D-Day
-The Allied Forces invaded France by means of beach landings
-They lead the Germans to believe that they were going to invade Pas-de-Calais instead of Normandy
-Purpose was to liberate northwest Europe from German occupation
-By June 11th, there were over 326,000 troops, 50,000 vehicles and 100,000 tons of equipment in Normandy
-On May 8th, 1945, they got an unconditional surrender from Nazi Germany, just one week after Hitler's suicide on April 30th -
Battle of the Bulge
-Hitler's attempt to split the Allied armies
-Germany made a surprise blitzkrieg attack through the Ardennes, which was lightly defended by 2 inexperienced American troops
-Germans drove on toward the River Meuse
-Allies took on the form of a large protrusion, or bulge, resulting in the name.
-Ruined the German army and prevented them from making another attack on the Allied forces
End date: January 25th, 1945 -
Battle of Berlin
-Soviet Union crossed Poland, and had an advantage over the Germans after the Battle of the Bulge
-Hitler directed the defense of the city himself, despite the situation being hopeless
-Berlin surrendered to the Russians on May 2nd
-Germany fully surrendered as a whole on May 7th
-Soviet victory, and marked the end of WWII
End date: May 2nd, 1945
