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German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg means lightning war in German. The strategy was used by the Germans to quickly defeat enemy countries. The strategy hopes to overwhelm enemies by focusing their army in one spot. This is important because throughout WW2 Hitler used this many times. Some examples were this strategy happened are, the invasion of Poland, Belgium, Netherlands and almost every war with the Germans evolved. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg) -
Fall of Paris
Some time during June, the Germans successfully pushed into Paris. This show of strength by the Germans told everybody that they were strong. This was shocking because France had a pretty good army too.
(https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris)
Image:(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_in_World_War_II#/media/File:Paris,_Parade_auf_der_Champs_Elys%C3%A9e.jpg) -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a U.S naval base that had a devastating surprise attack. The attack was carried out by Japanese fighter planes. They managed to destroy or damage 20 American naval vessels. This attack didn't permanently cripple the U.S navy, but it did kill about 2403 people and 1000 people were injured. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor#section_5)
Image Credit: Getty Images -
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting of Nazi officials. They were there to plan the Final Solution. The conferences showed a turning point of the Nazi policy towards the Jews. The Final Solution turned into what people call the holocaust. This meeting was important because it discussed the plan of the holocaust. (https://www.britannica.com/event/Wannsee-Conference) -
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Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a brutal battle between the Russians and Germany. The battle was for the place of Stalingrad. The Russians held of the Germans for a while in hard conditions. The area became ruins because of airstrikes and the fighting. They were thousands of civilian losses for the Russians. But they held them off.
(https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad#section_2) -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
On April 19, 1943, residents of the Warsaw ghetto staged a armed revolt to prevent themselves from getting deported. They were out numbered by huge amounts. They fought hard but Germany broke through and leveled the place. This showed the bravery they had.
(https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising) -
Allies invade Italy
On July 10, 1943, The allies invaded Italy, a ally of Germany in hopes of freeing it. Very Quickly, they started taking over parts of Italy. This would lead to Italy not being a problem any more, because of the new government.
(https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-invade-italian-mainland) -
D-Day
D-Day lasted from June 1944 to August of the same year. D-Day was when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy to liberate them. The Beach was heavily defended by the Germans with machine guns. They were a lot of losses but they did liberate all of northern France. This was important because they pushed The Germans back, freeing France. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day)
Image: National Geographic -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a brutal battle lasting 6 weeks, from December 16, 1944, to January 25, 1945. The battle took place during bad weather conditions. The 30 German divisions fought battled fatigued American solders. The Allies took form of a large bulge, like the name said. The Americans suffered over 100000 casualties. Though they did win. This war would mess up the Germans because of their losses.(https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge) -
Potsdam Declaration
This is the day were the leaders of Russia, Britain, and the U.S met up in Potsdam, Germany to discus about what to do with Germany. The talks were about what Germany should have to pay for what they have done and conditions. This was were the "punishment" of Germany was discussed and decided on.
(https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/potsdam-conf) -
Dropping of the atomic bombs
On August 6, 1945 the first deployed Atom bomb happened over the Japanese city of Hiroshima killing massive amounts of them. 3 days later another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing more people. This event showed how powerful these bombs were and preventing the use or development of them in the future. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki)
Image: (https://images.theconversation.com/files/90947/original/image-20150805-22496-1rvnrf4.png?) -
Liberation of concentration camps
While the Allied troops moved through Europe, in a series of battles against Germany, they encountered the concentration camps with prisoners. Majdanek was the first major one to been liberated. This was a very important part of the war. They saved many people from dying. (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/liberation-of-nazi-camps) -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The battle of two Jima was a bloody mess. It was a battle between the Japanese and The U.S. A lot of people died but in the end the U.S rose to victory by capturing 2 airbases. (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima)
Image: (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/37mm_Gun_fires_against_cave_positions_at_Iwo_Jima.jpg) -
VE Day
Ve Day, also known as Victory in Europe is the day were people celebrated the victory of world war 2. It happened three days after the Germans lost. Canadian solders in Europe still joined in on the celebration. Celebrations happened in Toronto. It kinda shows how the world was still united with each other. (https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/newspapers/canadawar/veday_e.html) -
VJ Day
On August 15, 1945 is the day were Japan surrendered bringing the war to a end. This day marked the day where people would return to living normal lives.
The reaction of Japan surrendering was huge, as suspected. Like President Harry S. Truman saying that, “This is the day we have been waiting for since Pearl Harbor. This is the day when Fascism finally dies, as we always knew it would.”
(https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day)
