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German Blitzkrieg (1939- 1940)
Blitzkrieg is a German term for "lightning war". It is a military tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces and locally concentrated firepower. The Germans had tried the blitzkrieg out in Poland in 1939 before they successfully employed the tactic with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France in 1940. Poland was Germany's first successful implementation of Blitzkrieg. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/blitzkrieg -
Fall of Paris (1940)
As the German troops entered and occupied Paris, the Parisians awakened to the sound of a German voice that announced on loud speakers that a curfew was being set for 8 p.m.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris -
Pearl Harbor (1941)
On the morning of December 7, 1941, 183 aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The Japanese attack had several major aims. This attack killed more than 2,400 Americans as well as damaging or destroying eight Navy battleships and more than 100 planes.
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/01/06/how-america-changed-after-pearl-harbor -
Wannsee Conference (1942)
Nazi officials met to discuss the details of the "Final Solution" of the "Jewish Question". The agenda was simple and focused: to devise a plan that would render a "final solution to the Jewish question." Months later, the "gas vans" in Chelmno, Poland, which were killing 1,000 people a day, was proved to be one of the solutions they had been looking for. The most efficient means of killing large groups of people at one time.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-wannsee-conference -
Battle of Midway (1942)
This battle took place 6 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of WWII. This battle was an important turning point in the Pacific. This victory allowed the U.S. and its allies to move in an offensive position. The imperial navy of Japan swept aside all of its enemies from the Pacific and Indian oceans.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Bataan Death March (1942)
The day after Japan bombed the U.S. naval base at pearl harbor, the Japanese invasion of the Philippines began. On April 9, their forces were crippled by starvation and disease. General Edward King Jr. ended up surrendering his approximately 75,000 troops at Bataan. They were forced to march 65 miles. This march took around 5 days to complete.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bataan-death-march -
Battle of Stalingrad (1942)
Brutal military campaign between the Russian forces and the Nazis of Germany and the Axis powers during WWII. Known as one of the largest, longest, and bloodiest engagements in modern warfare. More than 2 million troops fought. Nearly 2 million people were killed or injured in the fighting.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion- 1944)
The allied forces attacked the German forces on the coast of Normandy, France. They had a huge force of over 150,000 soldiers. The allies attacked and gained a victory that became the turning point for WWII in Europe. D-Day forced the Germans to fight a two front war again just as they had in WWI. But the Germans could not handle war on both sides of them.
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~kmmurray/The%20Longest%20Day/The%20Effects%20of%20D-Day.html -
Battle of Okinawaw (1945)
This was the last major battle of WWII. It was also one of the bloodiest. On Easter Sunday, the navy's 5th fleet along with 180,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops declines on the Pacific Island of Okinawa for a final pish towards Japan. This invasion was part of Operation Iceberg. It was a plan to invade and occupy the Ryukyu Islands, that included Okinawaw. The allies won this battle.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa -
Battle of the Bulge (1945)
The German's launch the last major offensive of the war, Operation Mist, also known as the Ardenne Offensive. This was an attempt to push the allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium. The Germans lost so many of their experienced troops and equipment that there was no way their army could launch another attack on allied forces.
https://worldhistory2battleofthebulge.weebly.com/results-and-significance.html
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-bulge -
Battle of Iwo Jima (1945)
1/3 of the Marines losses during WWII happened at Iwo Jima. The allied forces suffered more casualties than their Japanese counterparts. By 1945, the allies were gaining ground in the pacific theater. The marines captured 216 Japanese soldiers and the rest were killed in action.
https://www.recordonline.com/article/20070325/NEWS/703250339
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/2017-07/iwo-jima-fact-sheet.pdf -
VE Day (1945)
Victory in Europe day. Celebrated to mark the formal acceptance by the allies of WWII of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. The allies were overrunning Germany from the west during April as Russian forces advanced from the east. On April 25, 1945, the allied and soviet forces met at the Elbe river, the german army was all but destroyed.
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/VE-Day/ -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs (1945)
President Truman was warned by some of his advisers that any attempt to invade Japan could result in horrific American casualties. He 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.history.com/this-day-in-history/atomic-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima -
VJ Day (1945)
News of the surrender was announced to the world on August 15, 1945. This surrender sparked spontaneous celebrations over the final ending of WWII. This was considered when Japan officially surrendered in 1945.
http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/September/vjday.htm -
Liberation of the concentration camps (1945)
As the allies advanced across Europe at the end of WWII, they came across concentration camps. These camps were filled with sick and starving prisoners. The first camp to be liberated was Majdanek near Lublin, Poland in July 1944. American forces liberated mpre than 20,000 prisoners at Buchenwald.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/liberation-of-the-concentration-camps
