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Invasion of Poland
During September of 1939, Hitler used physical force to take important land from Poland. Soviet Union also took part in the invasion, as the 2 superpowers split the land with the Polish Corridor in between. This major battle, was the beginning of Germanys powerful tactic called the "blitzkrieg". Because of this war, Britain and France declared war on Germany, creating the beginning of World War two. -
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Battle of the Atlantic
This battle was important to Britain because to lose this battle would mean their loss of open sea lanes to North America and their empire. If germany took comand of this section they would be able to prevent Britain from receiving more resources By the time the battle finished, Britain had destroyed 71 U-Boats. -
Evacuation of Dunkirk
On the port of Dunkirk, layed approximately 340,000 allied soldiers. This French piece of land was next to the channel connecting to Britain. Britain being this close was able to aid the allied soldiers in retreating back to Britain. During the evacuation, Hitler had the chance to crush the ally soldiers, but surprisingly he chose to restrain his troops. -
Fall of France
After the evacuation of allied soldiers, Germany saw a weakened defense in France. The prior succesful tactic of the "blitzkrieg" was once again very effective when put to use against the French army. The Maginot Line proved useless to the French, as Hitlers forces bypassed it through luxembourg. The deploy tactics used by the French slowed down the tanks to the speed of their infantry. The main reason of the success of the German blitzkrieg was because of their luftwaffe aircraft forces. -
Battle of Britain
Above the English channel was a battle of Goering's "Luftwaffe" vs. the Royal Air Force. A win in this battle for Germany, was thought to be necessary to the invasion of the British Isles. Because of the recent attacks on France, Britain was the only country able to defend itself. Important reason for the defeat of Germany was the high technology planes in Britains possession called the "Spitfire". A back and forth attack of Berlin and London bought Britain time to gather defences. -
Winter War
Soviet unions "Red Army" began an attack on Finland, because controlling the scandanavian countries would give an advantage in water control to the Russians. Unfortunately for the Red army this victory did not come easily. The war portrayed the weaknesses of the Red Army during the long battle. 5 months after the beginning, Finland finally surrendered giving Russia power in their area. -
Barbarossa
Hitler wanted as much power as possible, and if backstabbing allies helped his cause, than he would do so. During the Summer of 1941 Hitler began an attack on Russia. Hitlers reasoning for this was from the nazi racial theory. Nazis believed countries east of Gerrmany had to make way for the "master race". Also, by defeating the Soviet Union, Hitler would finally end his battle of Communism. -
Battle of Stalingrad
This vicious battle was one of the bloodiest battles fought in world war 2. During november, the red army began to strike back. Hitler now ordered Von Paulos, a German commander, to fight to the death and not retreat. Air support promised boy Goering never arrived, eventually causing 300,000 German troops to surrender. This battle weakened the once strong Germany army. -
Battle of El Alamein
This battle took part about sixty miles from the Suez Canal. It was thought that whoever won this battle would control that strategic strip of water. By the end of the war, the "Desert Rats" defeated the famous Rommel. Hitler was now denied access to the oil of the Middle east, which was a very important resource during the war. Like the Soviets Red army during the Winter war, the Nazi army was now proven beatable. -
Italian Campaign
Allied forces took their actions to Italy. The first landing by the allies was on the island of sicily. After the surrender of the italian government, hitler rescued Mussolini and brought him North. Mussolini was not safe, because he was eventually captured by Italian Partisans and hung and displayed in Milan. The victory of this battle was a step for the liberation of Europe. -
Normandy Invasion
During the summer of 1944, the British, Canadian and American armies invaded the beaches of Normandy. This territory was previously taken by Germany. This battle was the first big battle that Canada took part in, as they invaded a Juno Beach. Rommel correctly predicted that who ever won this important battle would win the war. -
Battle of the Bulge
On this date the Germany army launched one last offensive and found a weak spot in the allied front in the Ardennes. This was the last ditch effort by the German forces. Germany had a large advantage in soldiers with a ratio of 2.5:1. This may have been the last of the war, but it proved the difficulty in delivering the final blow to Hitlers forces. The Germans made it sixty miles before being stopped on Christmas day.
