-
Invasion of Poland
It was a military action by Nazi Germany aimed at annexing Polish territory. In the operation, known as the White Case, the last units of the Polish army surrendered on 6 October. It was a significant event because it was the trigger of World War II in Europe and ended the Second Polish Republic. -
Period: to
Outstanding events of WW2
-
Germany attacks France
Germany's invasion primary objective was the conquest of the Gallic country, Germany's most powerful enemy. It would last until June 25 of that same year and ended with French defeat. It was important as moving away from this in France was created the Vichy government commanded by Marshal Petain, collaborators with the Nazi regime. -
Beginning of the Battle of Britain
It was a group of aerial fighting fought in British sky and over the English Channel, between the Luftwaffe and the RAF. It was so significant because Germany sought to destroy the Royal British Air Force (RAF) to obtain air superiority for an invasion of Britain, Operation Sea Lion. -
Hitler sends the Afrika Korps to North Africa
Afrika korps was a German military force sent to North Africa as the backing of Italian troops that were being defeated by the British during World War II. His commanders were Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel and Hans-Jérgen von Arnim. It's important because this event marked a defeat of Germany and Italy and the British victory. -
Beginning of Operation Barbarossa
Was the code name given by Adolf Hitler to the plan to invade the Soviet Union by the Axis Forces. It was so important as it opened the Eastern Front, which became the theater of one of the greatest operations of the war, the scene of the largest battles of the conflict in Europe. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
It was a preemptive military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawai . It was so significant because it sought to neutralize the U.S. Pacific Fleet and protect Japan's advance in British Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies. -
US and British troops land on the beaches of Algeria and Morocco
The military forces of the United States and the United Kingdom launched an amphibious operation call “Torch” against French North Africa (Algeria and Morrocco). It was so important because they wanted the Suez canal for oil production as it was an strategic product due to the increased mechanization of the army. -
Allied troops land on the beaches of Salerno
The U.S. 5th Army landed along the Salerno coastline. This was because the Germans had been unsure of where the invasion would be and it was so significant because it had been chosen as the site for invasion of mainland Italy because it was the most northerly point to which the Allies could provide air support. -
The D-day
The Allied forces led by US General Eisenhower, attacked German forces on the coast of Normandy as part of the Operation Overlord. It’s importance was that it helped end World War II, was one of the most ambitious and consequential military campaigns in human history, and marked the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe. -
The liberation of Paris by the Allies
The American troops enter Paris joining the Allied fight to liberate the city from the German control until the Germans surrendered the French capital on 25 August. It was so important because it liberated Paris from the Nazi invasion and led to the beginning of an interim government of the French republic. -
Hitler's suicide
Hitler killed himself in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery in Berlín by ingesting a capsule of cianuro and firing a gun in his head with Eva Braun who she married one day before committing suicide. It was an important event since it ended the Second World War in Europe. -
First atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima
An American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima under the orders of President Truman. The explosion immediately killed 80,000 people. It was a significant event because it was dropped to avoid more american casualties and to try to get Japan to surrendered. -
Japan formally surrender
Six years after the start of the war in Europe, on 2 september of 1945 Japan formally surrendered to the Allies, in a ceremony held aboard the battleship USS Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay. It was a very significant event as it ended officially with the second world war.
