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Battle of Britain
Beginning around June 18, 1940 and lasting through the fall, the German Air Force attacked England. Germany was attempting to weaken the Royal Air Force of Great Britain. They targeted coastal towns, and then attacked airfields and factories throughout England. Hitler's army was defeated for the first time. The air force became an important part of the war and the United States believed that England could win and should be supported. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union and Poland and it was the largest invasion in warfare history. Hitler wanted to conquer Soviet territory and claim their resources. Germany was able to occupy some important territory, but was unable to take over Moscow. There were 775,000 casualties, 95% of all German casualties and 65% of all Allied casualties from 1941 to 1944.It changed the Nazi fortunes and established the Eastern Front with the deadliest battles of the war. -
Pearl Harbor-Japan Attacks
On December 7, 1941 at 7:55 am The U.S,naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, HI was attacked by Japan. Japan sought to weaken the U.S. Navy and because the US had frozen banks. Two waves of Japanese bombers attacked from the East and West. Japan hoped that the attack would weaken America, they did not expect the United States to repair our ships that quickly. Because of the attack, the U.S. entered World War II. -
Bataan Death March-March of Death
Japan won the Battle of Bataan on April 9,1942. The Imperial Japanese Army took 75,000 prisoners of war, 13,000 American and 12, 000 Filipinos. POWs were forced to march 80 miles to Camp O'Donnell in Balanga. Thousands of POWs were tortured and died. They were given no food or water until they reached Camp O'Donnell. A lot of propaganda was made to raise awareness about the war on Japan through publicizing these atrocities. -
Operation Overlord-D~Day
Operation Overlord, or the Battle of Normandy, began on June 6,1944 and ended on August 25, 1944. After Hitler conquered France the Allies wanted to once again have control. Initially 160,000 allied troops landed along a 50 mile stretch of beach on the coast of Normandy, France. Eventually Germany retreated and France was under the control of the Allies. -
Battle of the Bulge
Battle waged from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945. The Germans initiated an offensive attack against the Allies. The U.S., U.K, Canada, Belgium and Luxembourg resistance were caught by surprise. The attacked in France, Belgium and Luxembourg o the Western Front. Germany wanted to eliminate the American forces. Eventually the Germans lost and Hitler withdrew his army. It was the bloodiest battle for the U.S. in WWII. The Germans lost their reserve troops and were pushed back. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference held in Crimea was the second WWII meeting of the Big Three. The U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the Soviet Union's General Secretary Joseph Stalin all met to discuss the governing of Germany post-war. They planned the end of the Nazi's and the military and reparations to the countries that had been hurt. They divided Germany into equal sections for the U.S.,U.K, ,& Soviet Union and part of the US and UK's to France. -
Battle of Iwo Jima-America Takes Control
The Battle of Iwo Jima took place from February 19 - March 26, 1945. The battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest to take place in the Pacific. The United States fought to gain control of the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima was captured by the United States armed forces occupied by the U.S until 1968 when it was returned to Japan. The day was immortalized by the Pulitzer Prize winning photograph by Joe Rosenthal who graduated from the University of San Francisco. -
V-E Day-Victory in Europe
On May 8,1945 the Allies celebrated that Nazi Germany formally and unconditionally surrendered to the Allied Forces after suffering defeat. It was authorized by Hitler's successor Karl Donitz. It was signed on May 7 in Reims, France and May 8 in Berlin, Germany. Although the war in Europe was over, the war in the Pacific was still alive and well. -
Atomic Bomb-Hiroshima + Nagasaki
Although they were threatened with complete destruction, the Japanese refused to surrender to the US and at 8:15 am on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first nuclear weapon, an atomic bomb (Little Boy) on the Japanese Island of Hiroshima and then dropped a second bomb (Fat Man)on August 9 on the island of Nagasaki. The United States was the first to create an atomic bomb, the first bomb was dropped by the Enola Gay and the second by Bockscar.The U.S. hoped to end the war in Japan. -
V-J Day-Victory over Japan
On August 15,1945, Japan surrendered to the United States. The day is officially celebrated in the United States as September 2, 1945. After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war on Japan, the Japanese knew they were not strong enough to win the ward. A formal surrender ceremony was performed in Tokyo Bay, Japan, aboard the battleship USS Missouri. The war was finally over and the world was at peace.
