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Battle of France/Miracle of Dunkirk May 10, 1940 – Jun 25, 1940.
Battle of Dunkirk Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands invaded by German- a blitzkrieg attack German forces invaded France and tricked allies by not going along Maginot Line instead Ardennes Forest. Hitler gave orders to halt advance of German divisions bearing down on Dunkirk Blitzkrieg was successful and lead France into armistice. “Miracle at Dunkirk” cry of war represents British pride and legacy Germany annexed half of France German forces invade France pushing British+French forces back to sea -
Battle of Britain Jul 10, 1940 – Oct 31, 1940
A turning point in the war when Germany Luftwaffe didn't gain superiority over the Royal Air Force.
Hitler attempted to orignally get Britain to surrender without a fight but that later didn't happen
The battle was fought mostly in air in many planes with the Airforce
The RAF force included the planes, the Hawker Hurricane, and the Spitfire,
The hurricane was responsible for majority of Luftwaffe losses during the battle.
More than 1700 Luftwaffe (German air force) planes were destroyed. -
Battle of Leningrad Sep 8, 1941 – Jan 27, 1944
Operation Barbarossa- german and finnish forces take over Lenins city. There was an 880-day siege that the population had to endure which caused much hardship. Over one million civilians died because of the siege.There was a corridor in narrow land that soviets got supplies and rations were able to get through
Germans with their single army were able to maintain their siege.
Suffering+sacrifices experienced by the people of Leningrad and defending forces inspired Soviet war effort. -
Battle of Stalingrad 23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943
German air force started the battle(Luftwaffe) with the bombing of the Volga River then after Stalingrad. Soviets defending hid all around the city to attack Germans. They trapped the Germans in Stalingrad which made them run out of food and supplies. There were over a million soldiers on both sides of the battle and tanks and planes were used in fighting. 91,000 German soldiers captured at the end of battle
After many months of starving and suffering in battle Germans surrendered on February 2. -
Operation Torch- Nov 8, 1942 – Nov 10, 1942
Allied invasion of French North Africa. British and Americans worked together in the invasion plan for the 1st time. The Allies planned to invade Morocco and Algeria. Both these countries were under the rule of Vichy France. 60,000 French troops in Morocco and small naval fleet based at Casablanca. Plans made to gain the cooperation of the French army. Torch opened second front to relieve pressure of Hitler’s push into the Soviet Union, paved the way for the Allies to jump from Africa to Italy. -
D-Day
156,000 allied forces landed on five beaches along the coast of France. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history. The allies were trying to deceive and trick German Forces. 6/5/1944 = original day selected for the invasion but it got postponed due to some bad weather. 4,000 Allied troops lost lives in the D-Day invasion with thousands more wounded or missing. D-day is important because allied forces invaded Normady during ww11 leading to its ending in Europe -
Battle of the Bulge Dec 16, 1944 – Jan 25, 1945
The battle was a very important event in U.S. history during Roosevelt's presidency. It was the largest battle that the U.S. army had fought. The battle lasted a month long and about 500,000 German, 600,000 American and 55,000 British troops became involved. Allies were able to reclaim the territory that Germans had captured. 76,000 Americans were killed/wounded/captured. Germany suffered many bad losses, it was last major Nazi offensive in WW11. Battle of the Bulge ended in victory for Allies. -
Battle of Berlin Apr 16, 1945 – May 2, 1945
Last major battle in Europe in WW2, Germans surrender and Hitlers rule is over. Fought between German and Soviet Army both had many soldiers tanks and aircraft. Oder River near Berlin is where the battle began and the soviets first attacked and where able to advance in the city. April 20th, Soviets begin to bomb Berlin by having it completely surrounded. They brought the city into ruins, lots of fighting was hand-hand and building-building. Hitler was defeated and he later committed suicide.
