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World War II
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Germany invades Poland
On September 1, Germany invaded Poland. This was the spark of World War II. Hitler had been building up his army for a while previous to this, but no one felt in nessecary to stop him until now. The other major powers felt guilty about blaming Germany for the first World War, so they allowed them to go on as they were for a while. However, when Germany invaded Poland, they realized that Germnany was serious and dangerous and that they had higher goals. -
Battle of Britain
After France surrendered to Germany, the Germans advanced farther north and turned their sights on Great Britain. The Battle of Britain was fought largely by airplanes. Germany spent much of this battle trying to destroy the British Royal Air Force by attacking airfields and radar bases and bombing London and other urban centers in Great Britain in an attempt to break British morale... -
Cont.
...The Germans expected the British to give in quickly, but they did not. They never surrendered or lost hope, even as they were brutally attacked. The battle got it's name fom a speech Winston Churchill gave stating, "The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin." -
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Battle of Britain
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Operation Barabossa
Germany and it's allies finally launched an attack on Russia. Hitler ordered the first Blitzkreig attacks on a completely unprepared Russia. The Germans quickly moved through Russia, advancing to Moscow by December. However, the Russians used the same tactics they had used with Napoleon, and although mostly sucessful, the Germans suffered great losses on their way through Russia. -
Battle of Moscow, Russia
The Battle of Moscow was also known as Operation Typhoon. The Germans had planned to encircle and take Moscow. Taking Moscow was seen as a great victory for the Germas. However, their troops were worn thin after months of campaigning through Russia to reach this point and supplies were limited. The Germans attempted to take Moscow as the cold Russian winters set in, but found it heavily guarded and the conditions worse than they expected. This Soviet victory stopped the Germans on... -
Cont.
... on thier way through Russia. Until this point, the Germans had been sucessful for the most part in Russia. They had expected an easwy victory. When the Russians stopped them, they were devastated. This battle changed the course of Operation Barbarossa and stopped Germany from quickly and easily taking Russia. It turned the war on the Eastern front around for Germany and forced them to tranfser man troops from the Western front to the East. -
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Battle of Moscow, Russia
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Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad changed the course of WWII. Before this battle, the Germans controlled 90 percent of Stalingrad. When the harsh, Russian winter came, the Soviets counter-attacked. Both sides suffered heavy losses, but in the end the Russians pushed back the Germans. As they were retreating, Hitler gave the order, "the city it to be held at all costs." However, the Germans simply could not. On February 2, 1943, the Germans surrendered and from this point on, Germany was on the defensive. -
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The Battle of Stalingrad
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The Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was also known as Operation Citadel. It was one of the largest battles of the German campaign in Russia during WWII. The Germans made one last attempt to get on the offensive after the Battle of Stalingrad. Badly defeated, the Germans tried once again to turn around the war on the Eastern Front. However, the Russians were strong enough at this point to keep the Germans away and to force them out of Russia. The Russians... -
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...had long known about the Germans plans, due to intelligence. This way, the Russians were able to set up complicated and brilliant defence systems. This helped them beat the Germans once and for all. -
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The Battle of Kursk
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D-Day
D-Day was an incredibly important battle, which took place on the beaches of Nermandy in France. On D-Day, thousands pf planes, ships, tanks, landing craft and more than 3 million troops from Canada, France, Great Britain and America attacked the beaches of France in Normandy. There was lots of preperation leading up to this battle, including creating an entire decoy army, to decieve the Germans into thinking the attack would take place in Calais, France. The troops under General Dwight... -
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.. D. Eisenhower surprised the Germans, by attacking the beaches of Normandy, fighting for 60 miles of beaches. Lots of men were killed in this attack, on both sides, more than 2,700 Americans alone. In the month that followed, over 1 million more allied troops joined the forces and they slowly pushed the Germans back. By September, France, Belgium and Luxembouurg were liberated. -
Battle of the Bulge
At this point, Hitler was being defeated on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. He decided to make a counter-attack in the East to try to turn things around. Hitler said, "This battle is to decide whether we shall live or die... All resistance must be broken in a wave of terror." Ther Germans caught the allies by surprise, breaking through their line, but eventually, the allies recovered and the Germans were once again forced to retreat, due to their lack of reinforcements. -
Battle of Berlin
The Soviets had driven the Germans back to Germany, and they were still retreating. The British and American aircraft assisted minimally in this conflict, as General Dwight D. Eisenhower saw no reason sustain losses for what he knew would ultimetly be Russia's land after Germany was defeated. Stalin sent his two best generals to race to Berlin, the capital of Germany. After some heavy fighting and sustaining over 30,000 losses on the way, the Soviets encircled Berlin. Hitler attempted a... -
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... a breakout, but Hitler himself was unwilling to leave the city. 10,000 German soldiers defended a shrinking area in the center of Berlin. Hitler and his companions stayed hidden in the Fuehrerbunker until April 30, when he commited suicide. On May 2, the Soviets captured the Reich Chancellery, and the Germans were forced to surrender. This battle marked he end of WWII andte ultimate surrender of Germany. -
The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On August 6 at 8:15 in the morning, a US airplane called "Enola Gay" dropped an atomic bomb, called "Little Boy" on the Japaneese city of Hiroshima. This bomb dropped 2,000 ft above Hiroshima, destroying 5 square miles of the city. The Japaneese still did not surrender to the Americans, so three days later, andother airplane, called "Bockscar" dropped another bomb, this one called "Fat Man" at 11:02 in the morning on this Japaneese city of Nagasaki. This bomb was more powerful than the first... -
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... destroying 2.6 square miles of Nagasaki. Between them, these bombs killed more than 120,000 people, with tens of thousands more to die later due to radiation poisoning, including many innocent civillians. However, these bombings brought about the surrender of Japan and the end of the war in the Pacific. Six days after the second bomb was dropped, on August 15th, Japaneese emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender. -
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Hiroshima/Nagasaki
