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German Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland by Germany began at on September 1st, when the Germans opened fire on the Polish garrison at Danzig. This was the start of the second World War. -
Germany Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. Germany did this on Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France through 1940. -
Fall of Paris
The Fall of Paris, also called the Battle of France, was the invasion of France by the German Army. Germany invaded France with ease, pushing them back to the sea. This was one of the events that gave France their reputation for having an almost push-over army. An armistice resulted between the two countries as Germany would control France. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the German Codename for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. It was to be the turning point for the fortunes of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, in that the failure of Operation Barbarossa arguably resulted in the eventual overall defeat of Nazi Germany. -
Pearl Harbor
Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. -
Wannsee Conference
On January 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered at a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to discuss and coordinate the implementation of what they called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." The solution, exterminate the Jews. -
Bataan Death March
After the April 9, 1942, U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II (1939-45), the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands perished in what became known as the Bataan Death March. -
Battle of Midland
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. Thanks in part to major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad in the Soviet Union during World War II. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of the war for them, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. -
Operation Gomorrah
The attack during the last week of July 1943, Operation Gomorrah, created one of the largest firestorms raised by the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces in World War II, killing 42,600 civilians and wounding 37,000 in Hamburg and practically destroying the entire city. -
D Day
Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
The camps were liberated by the Allied and Soviet forces between 1944 and 1945. The first major camp, Majdanek, was discovered by the advancing Soviets on July 23, 1944. Auschwitz was liberated, also by the Soviets, on January 27, 1945, Buchenwald by the Americans on April 11, Bergen-Belsen by the British on April 15, Dachau by the Americans on April 29, Ravensbrück by the Soviets on the same day, Mauthausen by the Americans on May 5, and Theresienstadt by the Soviets on May 8. -
Operation Thunderclap
Operation Thunderclap was a plan that was never used during WWII. The plan was to implement a huge attack on Berlin to destroy German morale. The plan was canceled as it was decided that it was unlikely to work -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the most important battles of WWII in which the United States Armed Forces landed and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Army. The American invasion, code named Operation Detachment, had the goal of capturing the entire island, including the three Japanese-controlled airfields to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. -
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg,was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War during World War II. It was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa between the Japanese and American militaries. -
VE Day
VE Day was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 to celebrate Germany's unconditional surrender during World War II. It is also known as V day. -
Dropping of the Atomic bombs
The atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan were conducted by the United States during the final stages of World War II in August 1945. The two bombings were the first and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in wartime. They were meant to destroy Japenese moral, but despite huge damages inflicted, the Japanese remained to fight but were unable to recover. -
V-J Day
On September 2, 1945, the Americans defeated the Japanese Army. This was the end of War II. It is now celebrated annually by the Americans on September 2, the date it occurred in 1945.
