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German Blitzkrieg
A German term for "lightning war". It is also a military tatic ultimately focusing on how to disorganize the enemy forces through use of concentrated firepower. German forces tried blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939 before the invasions of Belgium. This tatic was also used by German commander Erwin Rommel when he was in North Africa. -
Fall of Paris
German forces told the French people that curfew was at 8pm. By the time German tanks rolled into Paris 2 million Parisians had already fled with good reason. The German Gustapo went to work almost immediatly. Interrogations, arrests, and spying. -
Pearl Harbor
This attack happened just before 8 a.m. many Japenese fighter planes attacked the American naval base here near Honolulu, Hawaii. The enemy forces managed to destroy 20 american naval vessels, and more than 300 airplanes. After this attack on Americans President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. This is fact a date that will live in infamy. -
Wannsee Conference
Himmler second in command of the SS assembled the conference in Berlin with 15 top Nazi bureacrats to coordinate the Final Solution. Where the Nazis would attempt to elimanate the whole Jew population. -
Battle of Midway
This was probably the most decisive naval battle in the Pacafic. Thanks to the major advances in code breaking. The United States was able to counter an ambush planned by Japan to eliminate the remaining carriers. This was the turning point in the Pacific putting the US in an offensive position. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Residents of the Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Poland, staged an armed revolt against deportation to extermination camps. This encouraged others in extermination camps, and ghettos to revolt as well. -
Operation Gomorrah
British Bombers raid Berlin, Germany by night this is called Operation Gomorrah, While Americans bombed Berlin by day in its own "Blitz Week". British aircraft drop 2,300 tons of incendiary bombs on Berlin in just a few hours. British only lost 17 aircraft, but in all 721 flew. -
D-day (Normandy Invasion)
Allied troops landed on a 50 mile stretch of beach to combat the Nazis. The 50 mile stretch of land was heavily fortified French coastline. This invasion let the Allies gain a foothold in Europe. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
Soviet soldiers were the first to liberate concentration camp prisoners. On July 23, 1944 they entered Majdanek camp in Poland. On January 27, 1945 they entered Auschwitz and found hundreds on sick and exhausted prisoners. -
Battle of the Bulge
German offense attack through Allied defense line. They attempted to split the allied armies by using suprise blitzkrieg. The Germans launched the attacks through the Ardennes to Antwerp. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
This was a major and key battle for the Allies in the Pacific. There are many tunnels, caves, and dugouts for the hostiles to hind in and surprise the allies with. The Allies needed Iwo Jima for an airstrip for the B-29's to bomb the other nearby islands. This battle is also where the Marines memorial comes from when 4 marines and a navyman set up the second United States flag. -
Operation Okinawa
This was the largest amphibous landing in the Pacific theater of World War 2. It also resulted in the largest casulites with over 100,000 Japanese casulties, and 50,000 casualties for the Allies. This was a 80 day battle also known as the "Typhoon of Steel". -
Victory in Europe Day
On this day Great Britian and the United States celebrate victory in Europe day. Rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi machine. With the German surender all the POW's were released and sent back home. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
On this day an American B-29 dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb of the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another atomic bomb on Nagaski. Japan's Emperor Hirohito announced his country's unconditional surrender in World War 2 on the radio. -
Victory Over Japan Day
On this date it was announced that Japan surrendered to the Allies. This term is also used on September 2, 1945 when Japan's formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. This surrender finally closes World War 2.
