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German Blitzkrieg
The Blitzkrieg Germany invasion of France leads to the fall of France. The British army is then evacuated from Dunkirk. Blitzkrieg means "lightning war", this is a military tactic designed to create confusion within the enemy forces this preserves human lives and limits the expenditure of artillery.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Period: to
Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact
Also known as the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. This happened before World War II broke out. The Nazi's and The Soviet Union signed this pact to agree on not using military force against each other in the coming 10 years. This lasted till June, 194 when Germany forces invade the Soviet Union.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/german-soviet-nonaggression-pact -
Fall of Paris
Germany takes over the rule of Paris, imposing a curfew at 8pm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris -
Pearl Harbor
A Japanese dive bomber flew into the naval base at Pearl Harbor, and 360 war planes followed. President Roosevelt predicted the Japanese to do something but he never too precautions to increase security at the base at Pearl Harbor.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pearl-harbor-bombed -
Wannsee Conference
Nazi's and Germany government officials set a meeting at a villa in the suburb of Berlin to discuss the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question". They discussed plans to murder Jews and the coordination behind it with government controls through Axis Controls Europe. They estimated 11 million Jews to be dead by the end of their process.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005477 -
Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March took place when the Filipinos and American's surrendered and were rounded up and forced to march 65 miles from Mariveles to San Fernando. The prisoners were dived into groups of 100 and each group took approximately 5 days to complete. It's known that many died due to the brutality of their captors. At the camp, thousands of died due to the unsanitary conditions which caused disease and led to starvation.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Battle of Stalingrad
successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad. Combined military and civilian casualties of nearly 2 million. It stopped the German advance in the soviet union.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
Allied Invasion of Italy
Montgomery's 8th army began the invasion of the Italian Mainland. The Italian government then agreed to surrender as long as they get treated fairly, and if the Italians aided the allies in expelling all the Germans from Italy.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/allies-invade-italian-mainland -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
The Normandy landings (codenamed Operation Neptune) were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 (termed D-Day) of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II.
https://www.google.com/search?q=day+normandy+invasion&oq=day+normandy+in&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.8374j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 -
Battle of the Bulge
In December 1944, Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Caught off-guard, American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and Bastogne.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Invasion of Iwo Jima, a key island in the Bonin chain roughly 575 miles from the Japanese coast, was sparked by the desire for a place where B-29 bombers damaged over Japan could land without returning all the way to the Marianas, and for a base for escort fighters that would assist in the bombing campaign.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima -
VE Day
The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Soviet forces, to keep from being taken prisoner. About 1 million Germans attempted a mass exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended, but were stopped by the Russians and taken captive. The Russians took approximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before and after the German surrender.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/victory-in-europe -
Dropping of the Atomic bombs
President Truman, warned by some of his advisers that any attempt to invade Japan would result in horrific American casualties, ordered that the new weapon be used to bring the war to a speedy end. On August 6, 1945, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped a five-ton bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
https://www.google.com/search?q=dropping+of+the+atomic+bomb&oq=dropping+of+th&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l4.2596j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 -
VJ Day
On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as “Victoryover Japan Day,” or simply “V-J Day.”
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/v-j-day -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
In January 1945, Auschwitz was overrun by Russian soldiers. It was the largest extermination and concentration camp, to which over a million people had been deported from all over Europe. Upon liberation, only a few thousand prisoners remained. Most of the surviving prisoners had been taken away on death marches.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/liberation-of-the-concentration-camps