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Russian and Germans invade Poland
This is the start of WW2. It started when Germany invaded Poland from the western side and Russia invaded Poland from the Eastern side. The Soviets invaded 16 days after Germany started. This ended when Germany and Russia captured Warsaw and made Poland surrender. After this Germany anexed a large part of Poland and the Soviet Union got the rest of the land. -
Germany invades Scandanavia
Germany invaded Norway on April 9,1940. Hitler invaded Norway mainly for its coastline. He wanted the coastline because he could easily send ships or submarines to the Atlantic Ocean. Another reason they invaded Norway is because they had iron ore. Norway's factories didn't stop during the winter like Sweeden's factories. Germany didn't invade Sweeden because they remained neutral and they sold lots of iron ore to Germany at the beginning of the war. -
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Germany invades France, and the Low countries
Germany invaded the Low Countries on May 10, 1940. They were trying to invade France but the Maginot Line was in their way. They invaded Belgium and the Netherlands because it was a way around the Maginot Line. The Maginot line was an area of France with deep trenches that France created after WW1 for protection from Germany. The Low countries surrendered on May 27,1940. On June 9,1940 France signs a treaty with Germany to stop fighting them . France gave 2/3 of their land to Germany. -
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The Battle of Britian
The Battle of Britian is basicaly the air battle for Britian. The countries involved were Germany, Itlay, England, and Canada. It started when the Germans started bombing England. Germany was trying to get superiority over the Royal Air Force so they could later invade England. At the end of the battle Germany failed and did not get the superiority of the Royal Air Force. This was Germany's first major loss. That made it a turning point in WW2. It is estimated that 2,800 aircraft were lost. -
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Fighting starting in Africa
When Italy invades Somaliland soon war spreads to much of North Africa. The Italians initialy won by having more troops. Then the British counter attacked the Italians and destroyed them. When the Germans heard about this they sent troops and then the British and Germans fought. This fighting lasted untill May1943. -
Germany invades Russia
In what was called Operation Barberosa over 3 million German troops invaded Russia. In 1939 Germany and Russia signed a treaty to invade Poland and not fight each other. But then on June 22,1941 Germany broke the pact and invaded Russian territory. Only one month earlier Germany asked the Soviet Union to join Germany and the Axis Powes. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The bombing of Pearl Harbor was a suprise attack by the Japanese on America. It started as a regular day on the Navy Base but then early in the morning the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. There was gun fire everywhere. The Japanese sunk many American ships. The Americans tried to fight back against the Japanese but the Japanese kept destroying everything in sight. This is what got America into WW2. -
America invades Africa
This invasion was called Operation Torch. This is important because it is America's first ivolvement in fighting of WW2. This is where they learned to fight and cooperate with other allies. This also opened 2 fronts that Germany had to fight in North Africa. The Germans surrendered in North Africa on May 13, 1943. -
Allies invade Italy
On Sptember 3,1943 the Allies began the invasion of Italy's mainland. 5 days later Italy surrenders but Germany keeps fighting in Italy. More than 400,000 Italians had died in World War 2. This forced the Germans to fight on two fronts,(Russia and Italy) -
D-Day
On June 6,1944 156,000 Allied soliders invaded Normandy, France. This attack was called Operation Overlord. The troops used a suprise attack on this one spot of three places they could have attacked. They had tricked the Germans by using inflatable tanks and trucks in England to make it look like they were attacking somewhere else. This now made Germany fight a war on three fronts.(Russia, France, and Italy) -
Germany Surrenders
Germany unconditionally was forced to surrender and give up all troops. General Jodl signed for the Germans because Hitler had committed suicide. 43 million people lost their lives in Europe during WW2. 6,860,000 of those lives were Germans. -
1st Atomic Bomb dropped on Japan
On August 6, 1945 Americ dropped the first Atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. They dropped it to force Japan to surrender so the U.S would not need to invade Japan and risk more lives. Several days later they drop the second Atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. 80,000 Japanese people were killed on the first bomb drop. -
Japan Surrenders
Japan surrendered after the second Atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Other reasons Japan surrendered were that their Air Force and Navy were destroyed and the U.S had blockaded the country. It is estimated that 2 million Japanese PEOPLE died during all of WW2. Thsi marked the end of World War 2.
