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German Blitzkrieg
Hitler promises that the Sudetenland would be his last expansion but then breaks the agreement when he turns to invade Poland. Hitler and Stalin agree to not attack one another and divide Poland. This allows Hitler to not fight a two front war. -
France invasion
France and Britain declared war on Germany and waited for the first few months for Germany to attack. This was known as the Phony War. The fall of France occurred when Hitler invades thru Belgium in May and by June controls France. -
London bombing
Hitler's plan to take invade Britain was to bomb them continuously. The bombing was called of after 11 months when they realized the plan was unsuccessful. Britain's victory saved them from ground invasion. -
Lend Lease
The United States gave Britain war supplies and old naval warships in return for military bases in Bermuda and the Caribbean. It allowed the United States to support its war interests without being overextended into battle. It also allowed Britain to keep fighting. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the German code name for the invasion of the Soviet Union. Hitler became suspicious of the Soviet leader's intentions and became highly interested in overthrowing the Soviet regime. The defeat of the Germans was a big turning point of the war. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese become angered when the US stops importing oil to Japan. The Japanese destroyed 20 naval vessels and more than 300 airplanes. Over 2,000 Americans died and 1,000 were injured. -
War Declared
After the Pearl Harbor attack, Germany declared war on the United States. The United States also declared war on Germany and Japan. Hitler had thought Japan was strong enough to defeat the US. -
Bataan Death March
About 75,000 American and Filipino troops were forced to make a 65-mile march to prison camps after the surrender of the Bataan Peninsula. Thousands died along the way with harsh treatments. After the war, the man held responsible for the death march was executed. -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the Pearl Harbor attack, the US defeated Japan in a naval battle. The Americans sunk four fleet carriers, 322 aircraft, and five thousand sailors. Americans lost 147 aircraft and three hundred seamen. -
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto uprising began when German troops entered the ghetto to deport all then surviving residents. Many Jews began to organize resistance against the Germans. 750 Jews fought but the Germans slowly ended the resistance. 56,000 Jews were captured, 7,000 were shot, and the rest were deported. -
D-Day
The invasion of Normandy was one of the biggest military assaults in history with about 150,000 American, British, and Canadian forces landing on five beaches. The reason of this to liberate Western Europe. By late August, all over northern France had been liberated. This was seen as the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. -
Germany invades Soviet Union
Hitler invaded Germany because he believed he could use the same tactics with the same level of success as the invasion of Poland. By doing this, Hitler gained more land and it was the largest German military operation of WWII. The invasion was a turning point of the world because Germany to fight a two-front war. -
Liberation of concentration camps
Allied forces began to move across Europe and encounter concentration camps. The Soviet Union was the first liberate camps by liberating the biggest killing center, Auschwitz. Germans had tried to destroy any evidence of the murdering but soviet forces found hundreds of thousands personal belongings of the victims. 800,000 women outfits were found and 14,000 pounds of human hair. -
Battle of the Bulge
This was the last major German offensive campaign off WWII when Hitler attempted to split Allied armies in northwest Europe. This was the largest battle ever fought by America. A total of 3,000 civilians died during the fighting and also from being executed by German combat. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima was defended by 23,000 Japanese army and naval troops. After a month of fighting, the marines wiped out the Japanese. 5,900 American soldiers died and 17,400 were wounded. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped its first atomic bomb on the city, Hiroshima and 3 days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The bombs were dropped because the US feared that invading Japan wouldn't work and Japan was not ready to surrender. Over 90% people who within 500 meters of the bombs died.
