Major European Theater Battles

By noahhaselby
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    Battle of Dunkirk

    • Rescue of 338,226 Allied troops from advancing German troops
    • Dunkirk is in the north of France on the shores of the North Sea
    • Hitler used blitzkrieg during this battle
    • 800 to 1,200 of small boats came to the aid of Allied troops
    • 68,000 soldiers were dead, wounded, missing, or captured
    Importance: it was a the first major point where Britain could have lost the War.
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    Battle of Britain

    • Winston Church became British prime minister at the time
    • Germany starts are attacks, then land soldiers on the shores
    • After the 1st month, Germany started bombing major cities
    • Used radar and Enigma to get victory in the air
    • Code name was Operation Sea-lion
    Importance: first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces and was the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign ever
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    Battle of Leningrad

    • German's surrounded Leningrad and tried to siege it, but were unsuccessful
    • Land and Air attack
    • Bombed the city repeatedly to cut of supplies to the city
    • longest and deadliest siege in modern history
    • Many people starved or froze to death in Leningrad
    Significance: The German's stopped attacking the east after this battle and their army became very weak
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    Battle of Stalingrad

    -Stalingrad was a major economic center at the time and was named after Stalin
    -Easy attack for Germany because the Soviets were defending Moscow
    -The Germans wanted to cut off the supply of oil in Russia
    - 600,000 people lived in Stalingrad at the time
    - Soviet Victory
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    Operation Torch

    • First time the US and Britain had jointly worked on an invasion together
    • Amphibious landing
    • 3 landing sites: Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers
    • Allied invasion of North Africa
    • approx. 150,000 Nazi troops were captured
    Importance: It was the first major operation that the US took place in the European / North African theater of WWII.
  • D-Day

    D-Day

    • The largest amphibious invasion in history.
    • More than 13,000 aircraft and 5,000 ships supported the operation.
    • Estimated 10,000 Allied causalities, injuries, and missing on D-day
    • The original date for the invasion was June 5, 1944 but bad weather postponed it a day
    • The invasion's code name was Operation Overlord.
    Importance: It is considered the single most important event in WWII and led to the freedom of France from Germany. It was turning point in the war.
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    Battle of the Bulge

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    Battle of Berlin

    • 350,000 casualties on both sides
    • Hitler committed suicide with his wife Bruan
    • Soviets outnumbered the Germans
    • Bombing of Berlin
    • Germany surrendered
    Significance: It was the last major battle in Europe during WWII.