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German Blitzkrieg (1939-1940)
German term for “lightning war,” blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. This was highly effective during the invasions because of the strategy that was put into it, it would catch people off guard which in turn would result in German victories. They also used this successful tactic with Belgium, Netherlands, and France... all in 1940. -
Germany's Invasion of Poland (1939)
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. This invasion occurred because the German-Soviet Pact of August 1939, which stated that Poland was to be partitioned between the two powers, enabled Germany to attack Poland without the fear of Soviet intervention. The impact that this invasion had was massive because it was the first invasion that Germany made...the first of many to come. -
Operation Barbarossa (1941)
Operation Barbossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Over the course of the operation, about four million soldiers of the Axis powers invaded Soviet Russia along a 2,900 kilometer front. The operation was driven by Adolf Hitler's ideological desire to conquer the Soviet territories as outlined in Mein Kampf. -
Pearl Harbor (1941)
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it had already done massive damage to everything. The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. Three days later, Germany and Italy also declared war on America. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a crucial and decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy under Admirals Chester Nimitz, Frank Jack Fletcher, and Raymond A. Spruance decisively defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy. This defeat devastated Japan. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion) 1944
This battle was a huge deal for the war. We invaded the beach hoping for an "easy" victory but the Germans were prepared and it was actually one of the hardest fought battles ever. Many died, but it helped weaken Germany tremendously. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. United States forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties for any operation during the war. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces landed and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. -
VE Day
This is the day in which Germany finally surrendered. Thus marking an end to WW2. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bomb
In August 1945, during the final stage of the Second World War, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history. -
VJ Day
Victory over Japan Day (also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, V-J Day, or V-P Day) is a name chosen for the day on which Japan surrendered, in effect ending World War II. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
In the summer of 1944, the Soviets also overran the sites of the Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka killing centers. The Germans had dismantled these camps in 1943, after most of the Jews of Poland had already been killed. The Soviets liberated Auschwitz, the largest killing center and concentration camp, in January 1945.
