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Battle of Dunkirk
Lasting from May 26th to June 4th 1940, the Battle of Dunkirk was an attempt to move out all troops on the beaches of Dunkirk, France. As the Germans had quickly surrounded them through the successful use of their blitzkrieg tactic, the only place left to go was across the English Channel toward England. With support from the air from the RAF, preventing Luftwaffe (German air fleet) bombings, the troops eventually were able to evacuate on large ships provided by the British Navy. -
Battle of Britain
After the successful German invasion into France, the Nazi army set their eyes on Britain. From July 10th up until October 31, 1940, Germany's Luftwaffe fought to take over Britain. However due to their newly perfected radar system, and an excellent Air force, Britain was much more prepared than Germany had expected causing the Nazi regime their first loss of the War. -
Battle of Crete
The battle of Crete lasting 12 days was a German attempt to gain the Greek island of Crete through the use of their Luftwaffe. This air superiority greatly outweighed the lack of troops Germany had compared to their opponents and led to their success. Yet while this battle was a loss for the allies, they were able to crack the Enigma machine without German knowledge which would prove to be very useful later on. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa marked Germany's first attempt at capturing the Soviet Union. It appeared to be quite successful at first as the Soviet troops were poorly trained. However the size of their army and the harsh winter proved to be an advantage as the Nazi troops, around 10 miles away from reaching their goal of capturing Moscow, Russia, were then pushed back about 160 miles. -
Battle of Moscow
The high point of Germany's Operation Barbarossa to control the Soviet Union, the Battle of Moscow served to be an important battle. At this point, the Soviet Army seemed to be outmatched compared to the well trained German forces and were losing fast. However as the rainy season and harsh winter settled in, the Nazi Army was in no way prepared and the Soviet Army took advantage of this opportunity and pushed them back. For the remainder of the War Germany fought a defensive battle. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
In early December of 1941, the Japanese military commenced a surprise attack on a US military base on Hawaii known as Pearl Harbor. Not only was this the first direct interference with the US, but also this base held the majority of the US navy fleet. -
Battle of Midway
This 4 day naval battle was a United States attempt to eliminate Japan's first line of aircraft carriers. This battle was a success and helped to end the Japanese invasion in the Pacific. -
Battle of Stalingrad
This battle is considered by some to be the sole most important battle of WWII. This battle officially gave the Allies the upper hand as Hitler had to admit to a true defeat when his army surrendered to the Soviet Union after almost a half a year of fighting. -
Operation Torch
This operation was highly secret as the US planned to boldly send 35,000 troops and 250 tanks through enemy U-boat waters to attack the Vichy French (An Axis power) in Northern Africa. However despite the dangers and complexities of this operation, it proved to be quite successful and caused America and Britain to have a better relationship which proved to be very important in future efforts against Axis powers. -
Guadalcanal campaign
This six month campaign fought between the United States and Japan was a series of seven major battles both on land and sea. Finally, the US was successful as the Japanese armies were beginning to starve and tire out. The Allied powers successfully gained control of Guadalcanal and several other smaller islands and were one step closer to defeating the Axis powers in the Pacific. -
Battle of Normandy
Also known as D-Day, this land and sea invasion is considered the largest in military history as the British and United States fought on the beaches of Normandy, France committing great blows on the Axis powers. This almost 3 month fight freed all of Northern France, and greatly deteriorated the German forces psychologically. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was a four day battle in the Philippines with the goal of having a better grip Allied grip of the Pacific. . This battle, considered to be the largest sea battle in modern history, granted the Allies control of the Pacific and dismantled the Japanese Navy -
Battle of Iwo Jima
In attempts to damage Japanese moral by capturing the symbol of Japanese homeland as well as use the airfields as access points for strategic bombings, the US fought intensely for an entire month. Under Operation Detachment the US attacked and captured Iwo Jima accomplishing what they had originally set out to do and set them up for their final battle in Okinawa. -
Battle of Okinawa
Okinawa was the most important piece of land for the US. If it was captured, the US could finally send direct attacks on Imperial Japan. However it wasn't going to be easy as Japanese soldiers chose to die rather than surrender and the Kamikaze, which were basically human missiles as they would fly their planes directly into US ships, were another challenge. Yet after three months they finally succeeded in capturing and removing their final obstacle. -
Battle of Berlin
One of the last battles of the War, the Battle of Berlin lasted from April 20th to May 2, 1945 and was fought between the Soviet and German Armies. This battle began when the Soviet Army attacked Germany from the north south and east, however, Germany could not stand and quickly crumbled. By May 2nd the battle ended with Soviet victory and on May 8th, the war eventually ended in Europe as Germany officially surrendered.