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Battle of France/Miracle of Dunkirk
May 10, 1940 - June 25, 1940 Battle of France
May 26, 1940 - June 4, 1940 Miracle of Dunkirk
Dunkirk
-Code name was Operation Dynamo
-BEF was sent to help defend France
-After being invaded, 338,000 ally troops evacuated to England
This was a turning point in the war for the Allied war effort.
Battle of France
-Also called The Fall of France
-Germany invaded France and its government collapsed
France's collapse allowed Germany to fight the war at sea and air in the Mediterranean. -
Battle of Britain
July 10, 1940 - October 31, 1940
-French signed an armistice and quit WW2 which left the British alone
-Battle was fought entirely in the air
-British military leader was Air Marshal Hugh Dowding
-Hitler suspended Battle of Britain
-Germany's luftwaffe had experienced significant loss
This was the largest bombing campaign and was a turning point in the war for the British which showed that a battle could be fought and won all in the air. -
Battle of Leningrad
September 8, 1941 - January 27, 1944
-900 day siege
-more than 1 million civilians died
-Soviets used an ice & water road over Lake Ladoga to evacuate citizens and bring supplies to soldiers
-There was also a land corridor that opened up in the city that carried supplies too
-German army became weak & eventually was driven out of Leningrad
Even though millions died during the siege it helped the Soviet war effort by inspiring them to keep fighting. -
Battle of Stalingrad
1942 - February 2, 1943
-nearly 2 million casualties
-Soviet victory
-Russians called it contemporary cannae
-Germans called it Rattenkrieg which means Rat War
-the Soviet victory caused Hitler to be humiliated
Russians believe that this battle was one of their greatest and so do historians. They say that it marked the turning point in the war for Allies and was the bloodiest battle -
Operation Torch
November 8, 1942 - November 10, 1942
- First time that the British & Americans had worked on an invasion plan together
- General Eisenhower commanded Operation Torch
- Allies wanted to invade North Africa
- Russia convinced allies to start a new front by invading the western sector of the war
- French surrendered
Not only was it the first time the British and Americans worked together on an invasion plan, but it was also the first large American airborne drop. -
D-Day
June 6, 1944 - August 1944
- Also called Battle of Normandy
- Allies led Germans to believe that they were going to invade in Pas-de-Calais instead of Normandy
- Thousand of troops, equipment, & air support from the Allies invaded Normandy.
- Allies lost more than 4,000 troops during the invasion
- Allies were successful in the invasion
This was the turning point in the war where Allies got the upper hand. -
Battle of the Bulge
December 16, 1944 - January 25, 1945
-Hitler wanted to split the Allied armies through a surprise Blitzkrieg
-Germany had a quarter-million troops
-Allied front took appearance of a bulge
-U.S army suffered over 100,000 casualties
-General George S. Patton turned the 3rd army 90 degrees from Lorraine which turned out to be successful in driving out Germany
This was one of the most desperate attacks done by the Germans that resulted in the US army suffering the most deaths done in battle in WW2 -
Battle of Berlin
April 16, 1945 - May 2, 1945
-Stalin wanted to take Berlin ahead of his allies
-over a million shells were fired at the German army
-Soviets launched one of the most powerful artillery barrages in history
-over 30,000 Soviet soldiers died
-around 10,000 German soldiers died
The Soviets wanted to get ahead but their plan failed and resulted in many deaths.
