-
Period: to
German Blitzkreig
This was the strategy of using focused, short attacks for offensive by the Germans. The word itself means "lightning warfare" and was practiced and refined during the Spanish Civil War and the Invasion of Poland. It was used because it was proven to be successful especially against the Trench Warfare that the allies used. It involves both air and land support and it resulted in Germany controlling almost half of Europe at a point in time. It had its weaknesses though, and the Soviets found them. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland took place along Poland's border with Germany. It involved 1.5 million troops, aircraft, bombers, and naval ships which launched an attack on Poland. Hitler called for this attack because He thought that as the superior race Germans should be able to have more "living space." He convinced his people that the Polish had attacked Germany first and this was in defense. This attack was really the arousal for World War 2 and caused Britain and France to declare on them. -
Fall of Paris
On June 17th, 1940, France had grown weary from aggressions with both Germany and Italy. They asked for a rather fair armistice and after a few days, both Hitler and Pétain (the France leader) signed the armistice. France was forced to do this because they could not justify loosing more lives for a lost cause. The result of this was a split France, with the left being under an independent French rule and the other under Germany. -
Battle of Britain
This was an air battle between Britain and Germany in British air. It consisted of bombings which killed British in the thousands. The purpose of it was to weaken the British, which would then be the fall of both of the powers that had initially declared war on Germany. They were not able to send the ground troops that they planned to as a result of poor planning. It resulted in a German postponement of their invasion by sea of Great Britain and the British nationalism being stronger. -
Pear Harbor
Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack by the Japanese on a naval base in Hawaii. The Japanese wanted to attack the Americans because of how the Americans seemed to be allies with China while Japan was in conflict with China. This hostility caused the president to cut off all ties with Japan, causing them to declare war and attack. The result of this attack was a strong sense of nationalism among Americans, worse relations with Japan, and more involvement in World War 2 by Americans. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
This battle was an entire-sea battle between the United States Navy and the Japanese. It involved the sinking of ships on both sides including the USS Yorktown and the U.S. Lexington. This battle happened because the United States heard a report that the Japanese were going to try to conquer a port in New Guinea called Port Moresby. The result of the battle was the Japanese loosing the hold they had on the coral sea which stopped any plans they had on expanding from there. -
Battle of Midway
This was a naval battle between the United States and the Japanese that took place on an island in the pacific. The United States won the battle because they had broken the Japanese line of communication and therefore were able to hear and predict what their next move was going to be. After the interception the US mistakenly launched an attack thinking they were attacking the Japanese's main fleet. The result of the battle was the Japanese losing hope in conquering America, especially by sea. -
Battle of Stalingrad
This battle could be the battle with the most casualties to ever happen with close to 1.5 million deaths. It was originally a German offense to take over Stalingrad. The German Sixth Army were pushed back all the way to Berlin in a bloody push. It occurred because Germany thought the Soviets were unprepared since the Battle of Moscow. The result of the battle was that the Soviet Union was able to claim a ton of land that would later be part of the huge empire that reigned during the Cold War. -
Operation Gamorrah
This was a raid at night by the British airforce where they used over 700 bombers to drop bombs on Hamburg, Germany. This was only possible with the use of radar-blocking "windows". Following this, the American airforce sent two more raids by day. They did this to weaken German morale.The result of these horrible raids were over 30,000 deaths, 9,000 explosives dropped, and 280,000 buildings destroyed. Hitler and his officers felt a sense of despair that the war was going to come to an end soon. -
Allied Invation of Italy
The allied powers decided to do this because Italy was already weakened from loosing North Africa and Sicily. It consisted of driving out German influence and then the leaders of the current Italian government so that the country would not be oppressed by them. The allied to spearhead into major cities in the middle of the country. Naples was one of the last parts to be liberated and Sicily was one of the first. It resulted in a government that would be influenced by allied ideas. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
This battle occurred because American, Canadian, and British forces needed to free France from German control. It consisted of a sea innovation by these forces which were met with German machine gun fire. Hitler's holding back other soldiers from joining the front allowed 850,000 men to storm and continue further into France. This was a war-changing win for the allies. This resulted in the Nazi regime being pushed back to Germany and all of Western Europe being liberated. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
This was a battle fought on Japanese soil. A significant amount of the island's population was killed during the United State's raid of air and land. It occurred because the US had discovered that the Japanese had no protection against air raids. The result of this battle was nearly 1,600 Japanese soldiers being killed and the United States taking control of the air field. Communications were limited from the airfield and the positioning of it was not ideal, making the win not as big as thought. -
Potsdam Declaration
These were the terms that the Japanese were forced to surrender to due to their loss to America in many naval and land battles. It let the people of Japan decide If they wanted to be governed by the old empire or not although the allied tried to convince them that they should not. The result to this let Germany remain ally less since Italy and Japan were now rendered useless in the war. This truly let the allied powers focus all might on Germany, not allowing them to advance but only withdraw. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
The United States dropped two Atomic Bombs on Japan to force them to withdraw from the war. They dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima which took the lives of over 80,000 people, mostly civilians who had nothing to do with the war effort. Japan did not surrender after this first bombing, so the United States responded with dropping another bomb on Nagasaki, taking over 40,000 lives. This resulted in Japan withdrawing from the war and Germany being the last Axis power left. -
Battle of Bulge
This was Hitler's attempt to reverse the tides of the war and take the offense sense D-Day. He launched this attack because he knew it would be then or never. The German troops broke through the American front lines with over 200,000 men and 1,000 tanks. It was then that German spies spread rumors to American troops. The British came to the American aid to push the Germans back, resulting in Germany never being able to have an offensive push of this scale again.
