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Germany's Invasion of Poland
On September 1st, 1939 Germany invaded Poland. Poland was defeated within a few weeks of the invasion. German units with more than 2000 tanks and 1000 planes crushed the polish defenses, then they moved into Warsaw, which is an important part of Poland. Warsaw surrendered on Sept 27th 1939. www.ushmm.org/wlc/em/article.php?ModuleId=10005070 -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg is a German term for lightning war. It is a military tactic to make disorganization among the targeted forces. It uses concentrated fire power which means mobile units all attacking one area. This results in quick military endeavors. www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Fall of Paris
After Britain and France declared war on Germany, they did not do much fighting at all, so it became known as the "Phony War", because no one was fighting. Then in may 1940, Germany attacked France and they surrendered after 4 days. http://history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/fall-of-france -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler sent his armies eastward towards Russia. Three army groups with 3 million German soldiers, 150 divisions and 3000 tanks rushed into Russia. Barbarossa was one of the huge turning points of the second world war. Its failure forced Germany to fight a 2 front war against superior forces. www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was when Japan launched 200 planes from 6 aircraft carriers in its first wave against the US naval base located in Oahu Hawaii. The attack was a complete surprise to the government and the public because the US and Japan had been speaking of ways to keep the peace in the pacific. The United States lost 18 ships and 2400 men. Despite the initial success, it failed to deliver the knockout punch the Japanese had hoped it would. www.nationalww2museum.org -
Wannsee Conference
Reinhard Heydrich conveyed the Wannsee conference in Berlin with 15 high ranking Nazi bureaucrats. This was used to coordinate the final solution where the Nazis would attempt to eliminate the Jewish population because Hitler thought they were the cause of Germany's hardships. www.historyplace/worldwar2/holocaust/h-wannsee.htm -
Bataan Death March
After the U.S. surrendered the Bataan peninsula to the Japanese, over 75,000 Filipino and American troops had to make a 65 mile march to the prison camp. The conditions were terrible and they were in the blazing sun for the most part of the march. Thousands died on the trek. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Battle of Stalingrad
This was the successful defense of Stalingrad in Russia. Russia thinks this was their best battle of their patriotic war. it stopped Germans advance into the country. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
From April 19th to May 16th, The population of the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw Poland, staged in armed revolt against officers and the deportation to concentration camps. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/warsaw-ghetto-uprising -
Operation Gomorrah
British bombers raided Hamburg, Germany overnight while Americans were also bombing the same area during the day. This was the allies version of Blitzkrieg. The British dropped 2300 tons of incendiary bombs in just a few hours. 800 planes flew and only 12 were lost. www.hitory.com/this-day-in-history/operarion-gomorrah-is-launched -
Allied Invasion of Italy
This was when the allies went into the 'toe' of italy and forced them to surrender. Mussolini's plan of making a great empire failed and he had to surrender to the allies. The surrender wasn't actually made public until September 8th. -
D-Day
The battle of Normandy resulted in the allied liberation of eastern Europe. On D-Day 156000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on 5 beaches that were on a 50 mile stretch of France. By late August all of northern France had been liberated.Many called this the beginning of the end pf the world war. www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler tried to split the allies in northwest Europe with a surprise blitzkrieg through the Ardennes to Antwerp. The Americans fought desperate battles to slow the Germans advance. The allied line took on the appearance of a bulge which gave the battle its name. www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge -
Battle of Iwo Jima
This was an amphibious invasion to get a base near the Japanese coast. 3 waves landed on the island while Iwo Jima was defended by 23,000 Japanese soldiers. The marines wiped out the defending forces after a month of fighting. www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
Operation Thunderclap
This was a bombing of the eastern most side of Germany to slow the transport infrastructure Germans air defenses were little substance and were destroyed. ww2today.com/13-february-1945-operation-thunderclap-raf-start-firestorm-in-dresden -
Battle of Okinawa
This was the final and largest pacific island battle of world war 2. 287,000 US troops battled against 130,000 Japanese soldiers. Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the allies suffered 65,000 casualties, but only 14,000 of which were deaths. www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
VE Day
Both Great Britain and the US celebrated Victory that day. Cities in all nations put up flags rejoicing the defeat of the Nazi army. German troops through Europe finally laid down their weapons. In Prague Germany surrendered to the Soviet Union. www.historty.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
The United States became the first and only nation to use atomic bombs in war. Though it ended WWII, many claim it started the cold war. By the time the US made a successful atomic bomb, Germany had already been defeated. So they used it to defeat the Japanese. www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima -
VJ Day
This was when Japan was defeated by the allies. September 2nd was the formal surrender of Japan to the allies. They signed the document on board a US naval ship. www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day
