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Germany invades Poland
Under Hitler, Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe. Advancing technology allowed Hitler to surprise Poland with new ways of attack. The Blitzkrieg was a new strategy made by Hitler that involved quick assualts from airplanes, tanks and ground troops. With this new plan, Germany is able to take over the Polish army very quickly. Poland is taken over in just a few weeks. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the first defeat for Germany. When the British heard about operation Sea Lion, there was fear. They knew how fast Germany took over Poland with the Blitzkreig strategy. However, with the use of radar, the RAF, the British airforce, was able to pull off the victory over Germany. This was one of the turning points in the war. -
Pearl Harbor Day
The Japanese forces invade Hawaii. Early morning on a Sunday, Japanese airforces invaded the clueless military bases in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. There were two main goals of this invasion: the destruction of as many aircrafts and the sinking of as many aircraft carriers. Luckily, most of the US aircraft carriers were out that day so not many ships were destroyed. However, this was the first time an enemy had attacked the US on its own grounds. -
Battle of Midway
This is the turning point of the war in the pacific theater. Japanese admiral Yamamoto devised a plan to invade the Americans at Midway, where then, he could invade Hawaii. He gathered a large fleet to surprise the US but with radio interceptions, the US was able to counter the large fleet. This battle lasted 4 days, with the US victorious, losing only 1 aircraft carrier, while Japan lost 4. This became the major turning point for the pacific theater. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most hardest fought battles in World War II. The battle lasted over six struggling months and it was a battle of survival. The battle ended up with around 40,000 citizen casualties, and troop casualties total were over a million. In the end, German troops retreated, because they could not fight any longer. This ultimately became the turning point for the war in the Europe theater. -
D-Day
D-Day opened up a second front for Germany after invading Russia. This caused Germany to split forces, creating weaker armies. D-Day was an invasion of British and American troops to Normandy, France. Overall, the invasion was a success, opening up a two front war, but there were many casualties. Although the turning point had been passed, D-Day sped up the process. -
Death of Hitler
As Russia closed in on Germany, Hitler became more and more hopeless. When it came to him that everything had failed, he commited suicide in a bunker. This ended his regime and ended Germany's motivation to take over the world. With this the end of the war was coming near. -
VE Day
With the death of Hitler, followed the Victory in Europe. Berlin lay in ruins because of the unconditional surrender. Bombings happened daily over Germany and Germany began lossing battles consecutively, including the Battle of Berlin. Finally, the Allies had taken Germany and the war was over in Europe. However, the war in the Pacific was still continued, although near at its end too. -
Atomic Bomb dropped in Hiroshima, Japan
The first use of the atomic bomb happened in Japan, 1945. They were bombed twice, once august 6 and again in august 9. The first atomic bomb was dropped in Hiroshima, called little boy, and the second bomb was dropped in Nagasaki, called fat man. The atomic bomb dropped in Nagaski equaled up to 20,000 tons of TNT. Although, causing thousands of innocent Japanese death, this ultimately ended the war in the Pacific. -
VJ Day
After the atomic bombing, victory over Japan was inevitable. Along with the win in the Pacific, VJ day finally ended World War II, which had lasted six years. Now there was wolrd peace, and the big three, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at conferences such as the Yalta Conference, to discuss the future. Long term effects of World Was II was that it made the United States and Russia, known as the Soviet Union, superpowers. Also, it created the United Nations to maintain world peace.
