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German Blitzkrieg
German troops invade Poland for "living space" for the superior race. Britain and France declare war on Germany when Hitler's dishonest remark on the invasion being a defense mechanism isn't believed, leading to the start of WWII. Hitler attacked the USSR, breaking his pact that Poland would be the last invasion; This killed 3 million Polish Jews in death camps.
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Germany invades France
The British Prime Minister urged for aid in weapons and allies for war and Franklin Roosevelt confirmed that the U.S. would be prepared to lend materials. A curfew was made for 8pm due to German troops roaming to occupy Paris around that time. When German troops got there, most Parisians had fled Paris. The Parisians trapped in the capital cheered as they saw Canadian troops roaming, offering hope for free France.
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Battle of Britain
German and British air forces would clash in the skies over the UK of the summer of 1940. This was the turning point in WWII which was the largest bombing event in history.It ended when German Luftwaffe couldn't gain superiority over Royal Air Force. Britain's win spared the British grounds of invasion,proving that air force alone can win major battles.
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Lend Lease Act
The purpose of the Lend Lease Act was for the U.S. to provide military aid to foreign countries. This helped the U.S. remain neutral in war yet still provide the help that other countries needed: Soviet Union, Britain, Brazil, and China. With out price, the U.S lent their weapons to Britain, eventually leading them into war. They were fighting but not directly.
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Invasion of Soviet Union
Hitler directed his Nazi army eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union. The invasion ranged from North Cape to the Black Sea. Germany had the best forces at this point until the Russian weather proved that they weren't so indestructible.
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Operation Barbarossa
Adolf Hitler sent his German troops to invade the Soviet Union. Up until this point in history, the Germans had been undefeated; This battle showed them they were not invincible. The counterattacks prevented them from their advances. Moscow appeared to be open yet the weather worked in the Russians favor. The Germans (technically not receiving the defeat) slowly retreated, causing them to take part in a two front war.
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Pearl Harbor
Japan was looking to expand their territory, creating an empire. The U.S cut off trading many things with the Japanese, most importantly, oil. Japan angered by this, sent hundreds of troops to Pearl Harbor as a sneak attack, destroying 20 naval boats. The intention of this attack was to weaken the Pacific Fleet which they succeeded in doing so by killing more than 20,000 Americans.
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Declaration of war between Japan and the U.S
After the devastation of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt declares war on Japan. FDR gives a speech on what japan had done to the US Pacific Fleet and ships. Spies were set up on the coasts of California to watch out for Japanese Americans who claimed their loyalty to America. Precautions were made and felt necessary back then over Japanese Americans but were later regretted later.
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Bataan Death March
The Japanese were going to invade the Philippines after the day after bombing Pearl Harbor. The Japanese took over manila and american and Filipino defenders were forced to retreat to the Bataan peninsula. The U.S-Filipino army stood ground despite the lack of naval and air support. U.S army was starving and the general finally surrendered 75,000 troops at Bataan. The surrendered troops were rounded up and killed.
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Battle of Midway
The Japanese wanted to invade a place near pearl harbor to draw out the attention of the U.S. fleet and weaken them. The Pacific Fleet commander cracked the code to the Japanese plans and set planes into position so that they would be prepared for when the Japanese attack. They found the Japanese in a vulnerable state while they were refueling and reloaded weaponry, diverting the Japanese defenses in bombing.
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Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
There were many riots going against the deportation to extermination camps and death camps and it caused more and more to happen. SS forces brought in tanks and artillery to liquidate the Warsaw ghetto, managing to fight the Germans. At the time,Germans raided each house destroying bunkers that residents were hiding.In no time, the Nazis were in control of the ghettos entirely.
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D-Day
156,000 American, British, and Canadian forces landed on 5 beaches of the Normandy region with intentions of invasion. The Allies reached the Seine River and Paris was liberated. Germans were forced away from the northwestern France area,concluding the battle of Normandy. The battle of Normandy turned the tide onto the Nazis.
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Battle of the Bulge
Hitler wanted to split the allied forces by the means of blitzkrieg through Ardennes to Antwerp. Despite counterattacks that are usually made by the Germans, it was miscalculated how much defense should be in Ardennes and there was not enough.There was shortage in fuel and supplies which caused Hitler to not be able to gain the victory he wanted but hopefully a draw between the allies.There suffered 100,000 casualties.
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Battle of Iwo Jima
Americans needed a base near the Japanese coast so they invaded Iwo Jima. There was damage in Japan from bombing which sparked the idea of attacking the weakened area and created area of the U.S. to defend themselves and invade.
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Liberation of Concentration Camps
American forces closed in on Nazi concentration camps and there were explosives that would be sent to blow up any evidence of the camps or the inmates. The camps held thousands of prisoners which most died of malnutrition, mistreatment, disease, etc. They were slave laborers. They were tested on by scientists in labs with certain diseases,viral infections, and vaccines like lab rats.
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Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The manhattan project was a secret organization for process of building an atomic bomb which consisted of hundreds of scientists, mathematicians, and etc. The first bombing of japan was called "Little Boy" which was the smaller bomb the U.S. launched and blew up Hiroshima as a threat. Seemingly, japan was not surrendering so they U.S released "Fat Man" which was gigantic and led to much devastation.
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