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Germany invades Poland
Germany launched the blitzkrieg tested three years earlier during the Spanish Civil War upon Poland. Poland's two million man army was easily defeated, many of whom were on horseback against German tanks. The Soviet Union attacked from the west on September 17 according to the Nazi-Soviet non-Aggression pact signed a month earlier. The British declared war on Germany on September 3. -
Operation Dynamo
Operation Dynamo was put into action; 887 ships of all sizes, sometimes dangerously, crossed the English Channel to rescue 338,226 men by bringing them to England. Allied forces were battered, but they were in tact enough to fight another day. -
The Battle of Britain
The German air force, or Luftwaffe, dropped bombs on London and the other major cities of Great Britain. Over 30,000 Londoners died, but Germany lost over 1,700 aircraft. Many historical sites of London were damaged or destroyed. The plan was called Operation Sea Lion and directed by Luftwaffe chief Herman Goering. German aircraft were eventually detected by early forms of RADAR. When Hitler launched his attack on the Soviet Union in 1941, the plan to bomb Britain into submission was abandoned -
America joins the war
On the morning of December 7, 1941 Japanese warplanes attacked U.S. warships at Pearl Harbour naval base in Hawaii. It came as a complete surprise to the Americans . Within hours bombs and torpedoes sank six American ships and killed more than 2,000 Americans. The Japanese had destroyed the heart of the American fleet . -
U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Following his arrival in London, Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower takes command of U.S. forces in Europe. Although Eisenhower had never seen combat during his 27 years as an army officer, his knowledge of military strategy and talent for organization were such that Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall chose him over nearly 400 senior officers to lead U.S. forces in the war against Germany. After proving himself on the battlefields of North Africa and Italy in 1942 and 1943. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
severe house-to-house fighting in the Russian city of Stalingrad led to a stinging German defeat. Thousands of Russian citizens and soldiers died each day in an effort to keep the Germans from taking the city. The German 6th Army, led by General Von Paulus, was forced to retreat under pressure from Soviet forces led byGen.Georgi Zhukov. Paulus finally surrendered after 146,000 soldiers had died. The Germans were on the defensive in the East from then on. -
The Battle of Iwo Jima
Sulfur Island was a stratigically important island that the US thought was going to be an easy mission, but in turned out to be the hardest mission in the war. -
D Day
The Allies land in Normandy and begin the more famous part of the Eastern Front. -
V-E Day
This was the day the Germans surrendered to the Allies and only left the Japanese to defeat. They surrenendered because Der Fûrher. -
Dropping the A-bomb
We used drastic measures against the ely destroy them.Japanese to defeat them. We dropped Fat Man and Little Boy on the Japanese to instill fear and to complet. -
V-J Day
This was wgen Japan surrenered after we bombed Hiroshima and Nagisaki. There is a famous picture celebrating the event.