-
Hitler's invasion of Austria
Hitler told his military advisors that to grow and prosper, Germany would need the land of countries around them. He had a plan to annex Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich. German troops marched into Austria. Hitler announced that the union between Germany and Austria was complete. -
Battle of Britain
Germany's navy couldn't compete with the navy of Britain so they launced an air war. German planese would drop bombs over Britain every day and night. The Royal Air Force of Britain fought back with the help of a radar which plotted the flight paths of German planes. The RAF shot down almost 200 German planes and only lost 26 of their own aircrafts. Hitler called of the invasion of Britain afterwards. -
Pearl Harbor
The US cut off trade with Japan, but Japan needed oil to fuel their war machines. A Japanese dive-bomber swept over Pearl Harbor and was followed by many Japanese warplanes. The Japanese killed and injured thousandds of Americans and sunk or damaged 21 ships and 300 aircrafts. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
Americans and Australians were the main Allied forces in the Pacific. They stopped the Japanese from driving towards Australia. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, fighting was done by airplanes. This was the first time that a Japanese invasion had been stopped and turned back. -
Battle of Midway
Japan's next target was Midway but was stopped by Americans. Chester Nimitz, the commander of American naval forcees defended the island. Americans sent torpedo planes and dive bombers to attack. At the end of the battle, the Japanese lost four aircrafts carriers, a cruiser, and 250 planes. The battle led to Allies winning territory island by island from the Japanese. -
Battle of Stalingrad
A battle between the Germans and the Soviet Union. Hitler wanted to capture Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus Mountains and wipe out Stalingrad. Every building was set on fire. Soviet officers recommended blowing up the city's factories and abandoning the city. Germans conguered Stalingrad house by house. Soviets used fresh tanks across frozen land in the winter and started a big coutnerattack. Germans surrendered on January 31. -
D-Day
An Allied invasion into France led by American General Dwight d. Eisenhower. A force included nearly 3 million British, American, and Canadian troops. The whole invasion was kept secret by creating a phantom army with its own headquarters and equipment to fool Germans. -
Battle of the Bulge
In October, Americans captured their first German town. In response, German tanks broke through weak American defenses. Hitler wanted a victory that would split American and British forces and break up allied supply lines. Tanks drove into Allied territory and created a bulge in the lines. This battle lasted for a month and weakened the Germans. -
US Bombing of Japan
President Truman wanted to use an atomic bomb to end the war. A B-29 bomber released an atomic bomb over Hiroshima. Seconds later, almsot every building in the city collapsed into dust. That ended the existence of Hiroshima. A second bomb was dropped three days later on Nagasaki. The bombings killed 200,000 Japanese people. Emperor hirohito ordered Japan's leaders to draw up papers to end the war.
