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Fall of Paris
Germany takes over the country of France. On June 14, the people of Paris awaken to the fact that Germany has now taken over France, on it's mission to take over Europe. This was a great blow to the Allies. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan bombed the Pearl Harbor military base in Hawaii to keep the US from interfering with them taking over the whole Pacific Ocean. After, the US entered WWII for the first time since American security had been threatened. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
This was the Soviet Union's successful defense of the city of Stalingrad. It stopped the Germans from advancing into the Soviet Union and turned the tide of the war into the Allies favor. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
About 156,000 Allied troops landed on a 50-mile stretch of beach in heavily fortified Normandy France to take control of Western Europe from Nazi Germany. It led to France being taken back to the Allies control, which started the fall of the Nazis. -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by a surprise thrust through Ardennes to Antwerp. The Allies held off the Germans from taking important military bases by moving their armies to a shape of a bulge, which helped name it. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
As the Allies retook Europe, they found the remains of concentration camps and death camps that the Germans had set up for Jews, Poles, Gypsies, communists, homosexuals, and any others who didn't fit into the typical German mold. The remains of the camps were horrific. Emaciated people and bodies, along with gas chambers and terrible living conditions. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The US attacked the island of Iwo Jima so they could have a military base close to Japan's coast. It was an amphibious (water to land) attack, and the US wiped out the Japanese 23,000 troops in a little more than a month. -
VE Day
This was the day when the German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms. This was done because the Germans had lost too many lives and were forced to surrender. This led to the end of the war in Europe. -
Dropping of Nuclear Bombs
The nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagosaki are the first and only times nuclear bombs have been used in battle. When America bombed Hiroshima, it destroyed 90% of the city and killed 80,000 people, and when they bombed Nagosaki they killed 40,000 people. This led to Japan's surrender. -
VJ Day
This was the day when Japan announced its surrender because of the dropping of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagosaki. This was essentially the end of WWII.
