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The war in the air
Prewar doctrine had held that waves of bombers hitting enemy cities would cause mass panic and the rapid collapse of the enemy. As a result, the Royal Air Force had built up a large strategic bomber force. By way of contrast, Nazi German air force doctrine was almost totally dedicated to supporting the army -
Period: to
The European Theatre of World War II
was a really huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland -
Service Act of 1940
was the first peacetime conscription in United States history -
WW2 draft
President Franklin Roosevelt asked the U.S. Congress to extend the term of duty for the draftees beyond twelve months. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
the Japanese shocked the world by bombing the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. -
Day of Infamy
the nation was gathered around its radios to hear President Roosevelt deliver his Day of Infamy speech. That same day, Congress declared war on Japan. On December 11, Congress declared war on Germany -
American entering the war in 1941
Four days later Hitler declared war on the United States. President Roosevelt called on Congress for immediate and massive expansion of the armed forces. Twenty years of neglect and indifference, however, could not be overcome in a few days. -
RAF second attempt
The RAF make a second unsuccessful attempt to sink the Tirpitz while in port at Trondheim. First trainloads of Jews from Paris arrive at Auschwitz. The Pacific War Council is set up in Washington, with representatives from Britain, Australia, Canada, China, New Zealand, Netherlands, Philippines and the the US. The Allies formally divide the Pacific theatre into two commands. -
German defences
The Germans' first line of defense was the English Channel, a crossing which had confounded both the Spanish Armada and Napoleon Bonaparte's Navy. Multiplying the invasion obstacles was the extensive Atlantic Wall, ordered by Hitler in his Directive 51 which stretched from Belgium to Spain in varying degrees, but was most elaborate facing the English channel. -
the Normandy invasion of June 6th 1944
The armed forces used codenames to refer to the planning and execution of specific military operations. Operation Overlord was the codename for the Allied invasion of northwest Europe. The assault phase of Operation Overlord was known as Operation Neptune. -
War comes to the west
the Phoney War ended with a sweeping German invasion of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and French Third Republic that bypassed French fortifications along the Maginot Line. After overrunning Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg, Germany turned against France, entering the country through the Ardennes on May 13—the French had made the fatal mistake of leaving this area almost totally undefended, believing its terrain to be impassable for tanks and other vehicles. Most Allied forces were in Fla
