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Invasion of Poland
The Invasion of Poland marked the beginning of World War II. Hitler invaded Poland first using his tactic blitzkrieg. Germany struck Poland hard; the Polish kept withdrawing back further and further east in wait for the arrival of aid from their allies, Britain and France. On September 3rd, France and the UK had declared war on Germany, but their aid was limited. The Soviet Union invaded on September 17th with their Red Army. Poland had fallen to Germany by the end of September. -
British Forces Attack Italian Forces in North Africa
Beginning with the Italian Declaration of War on June 10, 1940, the British crossed Libya with their 11th Hussars Army and they captured the Italian Fort Capuzzo. A series of attacks were fought after this one, but none leading to the absolute capture of North Africa by the British. In May of 1942, the US joined the British in their fight against the Italians and German. The Allies were able to drive Rommel out of North Africa, leaving his 240,000 army of Germans and Italians to surrender. -
Germany Invades France
France tried to prepare for the invasion by constructing a series of forts along the eastern French boarder known as the Maginot line. France thought that Germany would invade from head on just like in World War I. However, in between the Maginot line and Belgium was the Ardennes, a rocky forest. Germany surprised France with this tactic and was able to penetrate through France and moved toward the English Channel, where the British troops escaped. France had fallen in 35 days. -
The Battle of Britain
After France had fallen, Germany’s next target was the British. The Germans’ Luftwaffe would attack the Royal Air Force. This was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces and is the most sustained bombing campaign to date. Germany bombed everything it could for years, but their loss was substantial. The UK developed radar and used it to figure out where they could be attacked by the British. After this long campaign, Germany suffered its first defeat in the skies. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan resented any threat to their authority in the Pacific Region. The United States’ presence in the Philippines and the fact that they supported China, posed as a threat the Japanese. Japan decided to plan an attack on Pearl Harbor, the US Navy’s main Pacific base. Japan’s primary goal was to demolish the US aircraft carriers and battleships. The attack on Pearl Harbor resulted in massive losses for the United States. After this strike against the US, the US declared war on Japan. -
Japan takes the Philippines from the US
Japan bombed the Philippines hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Half of the U.S. aircraft was destroyed on ground as they were at Pearl Harbor. General Douglas MacArthur miscalculated the Japanese strength and reacted far too late during the invasion of the Philippines. Eventually, the US had to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula. MacArthur was able to retreat to Australia, but the US forces remained behind. Thousands of US forces surrendered and had to march the Bataan Death March. -
The Battle of Midway
Midway was the US naval base in the Central Pacific vital to the defense of Hawaii. Therefore, losing Midway would send the US forces back to the California Coast. After Japan’s damage at Pearl Harbor, Japan wanted to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the war. Japan wanted to demoralize the United States and consume power in the Pacific, so they planned an attack on Midway. Admiral Chester Nimitz, however, knew about the Japanese plans and massively defeated Japan. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Germany captured or killed thousands of Russians, but it couldn’t conquer the Soviet Union because it was too massive and the Russians were fighting back brutally. In 1942, Hitler settled on just attempting to take over Stalingrad and refused to let his army surrender. However, 91,000 of Hitler’s soldiers surrendered due to the bone-chilling winter, starvation, and disease. Germany’s entire 6th army was lost and the war began to turn for the Allies. -
D-Day
The invasion of Normandy (D-Day) was led by Eisenhower and had an elaborate strategy called operation overlord. On June 6, 1944, the Allies hit the German force. Allied planes prepared the way by attempting to bomb German communication and transportation networks. The Americans faced trouble at Omaha from the Germans. Americans soldiers entered into a battlefield of mined areas, bullets flying, and scattered corpse parts. D-Day was a long day, but in the end, the Allies had a toehold on France. -
The Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was Hitler’s counterattack. Germany’s goals with this battle were to split the Americans and British in half, capture key towns, and destroy Allied armies. Due to the Allies overconfidence, the Germans were able to catch the Allies by surprise. This surprise attack was accomplished during heavy overcast weather which hindered the American air forces’ ability to bomb the Germans. Eventually the skies cleared and the Allied bombers were able to attack the Germans. -
The Dropping of the Atomic Bomb
Scientists had learned how to split the nucleus of certain elements and that this process released an enormous amount of energy; this was the creation of the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project was top secret and kept security as tight as possible. Leslie Groves was in charge of the building facilities and J. Robert Oppenheimer dealt with the scientific aspects. The first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. These bombs forced Japan’s surrender.
