-
Period: to
World War II
-
German invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland was the spark that started World War II. It only took a matter of weeks for the Germans to defeat the Polish military. -
Period: to
Battle of Britain
During the mid July of 1940 the Luftwaffa began bombing Britain to soften Britain up for the invasion that was supposed to happen. The Birtish airforce held off the invasion, and changed the war by stopping the Germans and holding back Hitler. -
Operation Barbarossa
Germany and the Axis powers begin a massive invaion of the Soviet Union. 4.5 million troops invaded the Soviet Union. The Russians did not stand a chance against the Germans blitzkreig tactics. German forces advanced 200 miles into Soviet territory, destroyed nearly 4,000 aircraft, and killed, captured, or wounded some 600,000 Red Army troops. The efffect this had on World War II was now Hitler broke the nonagression pact, and now has to fight a two front war. -
Battle of Moscow
Hitler beleived that capturing the capital of Russia, Russia would fall and it would make Operation Barbarossa a success. Moscow turned into a fortress with 422 miles of anti-tank ditches being dug, 812 miles of barbed wire entanglements and some 30,000 firing points. The Germans lost about 155,000 men, the importance of this battle is it showed the world that the Germans are beatable. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad is considered by many historians to have been the turning point in World War II in Europe. Stalingrad was an important target as it was Russia’s centre of communications in the south as well as being a centre for manufacturing. The battle at Stalingrad made the German army dry in Russia and after this defeat the Germany Army was in full retreat. -
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a decisive battle on the Eastern Front during World War II. The battle was an attempt by the German side to get on the offensive after defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad. The Soviet counterpart, however, had good intelligence about the German preparations. The Red Army established deep defensive positions and gathered large forces in reserve. The Battle of Kursk was the largest armored battles of World War II. It also arked the defeat of the Germans in the Eastern Front. -
D-Day
Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy,France. More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded. This invasion was the begining of the end for the Nazis and the European capaign. -
Battle of the Bulge
After the allied forces' successful D-Day invasion of Normandy, France,the Second World War was alost over, But on December 16, with the onset of winter, the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler's favor. This battle had the heaviest toll for America. This battle was Hitlers last stand against the allies he threw all he had against the allied forces, and lost ensureing Nazi defeat. -
Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin was the last major battle of the European theater. It was faught with the Red Army and the depleated Nazi force in Berlin Germany. It was one of the bloodiest battles in history 350,000 people died in total. This battle was so important because it marked the end of the war in Europe, this is also the time when Hitler shot himself completly collapsing theNazi army. -
Hiroshima/Nagasaki
During World War IIan American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japan's Emperor Hirohito announced his country's unconditional surrender in World War II.
