Download Major Events of WWII

Major Events of WWII
Blitzkrieg in Poland - Hitler invades Poland, Sept.
1939 - France and Germany declare war on Germany
France falls to Germany - Miracle of Dunkirk Occupied and Unoccupied France (Vichy - Nazi
sympathizers)
‘The Blitz’ in London - Germany bombs England for
months, night and day - Edward R. Murrow reports
via radio to the American people, bringing the
problem home
Tripartite Treaty - 1940 Germany, Italy, Japan form
Axis Powers
Fall 1941 - German U-boats begin attacking U.S.
ships, FDR orders Navy to shoot U-boats on sight
(still no declaration of war)
December 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbor attacked by
Japanese - U.S. declares war on Japan, Germany and
Italy declare war on U.S.
Bataan Death March, December 1941- General
MacArthur struggles in Asia, ordered to retreat to
Australia - some Americans remain behind - May
1942, soldiers surrender, Japan forces the POWs to
march 55 miles to ride a train and then 8 more miles 7,000 American and Filipino troops died
Doolittle Raid/Battle of Coral Sea - Nighttime raid
planned, Americans detected so commence raid
immediately - small victory, but huge for morale; In
early May, during Pacific storm, Japan and America
fight - forces Japan to call off attack on New Guinea emphasized the use of aircraft carriers and planes
June 1941 - Hitler invades Soviet Union - Raid on
Stalingrad proves too much - Russian winter and
terrain prove too much - turning point of war in
Europe
Plan for Allies to control North Africa to prepare for
invading Italy; El Alamein - October 1942, major
victory for Allies, allows them to push westward;
Eisenhower commands troops in invasion of North
Africa
February 1943 - German General Rommel (Desert
Fox) leads troops against Americans at Tunisia - lack
of supplies force Rommel to retreat
George S. Patton (Old Blood and Guts), a tank
commander, put in charge in North Africa - May
1943, German and Italian forces in Africa
surrendered
January 1943 - Allies meet to strategize - Allies
decided to increase bombing in Germany and invade
Italy and Allies would only accept an unconditional
surrender
July 1943 - Eisenhower leads invasion of Italy hoping to trap Axis powers in Sicily - Axis escapes to
mainland - did give Allies complete control of
western Mediterranean
September 3, 1943, Mussolini surrenders to Allies (5
weeks later declare war on Germany - Hitler rescues
Mussolini and places him in power in northern Italy
Starting in 1942 - Air Force launches attack on
Germany - British practiced saturation bombing;
Americans practiced strategic bombing - Tuskegee
Airmen play key role - 20% casualty rate
Battle of Midway - turning point of war in the Pacific
- Midway was an American naval base in the Central
Pacific - Admiral Nimitz became aware of the
Japanese plans to control Midway and force
Americans back to California
1943 sees the Allied leaders arguing about strategy Soviet Union had carried the burden in Europe wants to open second front in France - finally at the
end of the Teheran Conference, The Big Three agree
to open a second front in France - Code named
Operation Overlord (D-Day)
Invasion of Normandy (D-Day June 6, 1944) Eisenhower is supreme commander, British General
Montgomery commander of armed forces, U.S.
General Bradley led First Army
21 American divisions, 26 British, Canadian and
Polish divisions land on beaches of Normandy
with more than 4,400 ships and landing crafts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCEFOx5Hc2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqSg7WO4tT4
Involved a deception - Allies created a fictional army
under Patton - fake offices, cardboard tanks,
detectable radio traffic - wanted Germans to prepare
for attack at Calais - it worked
Omaha beach saw biggest casualties - Germany had
fortified area with guns and mines - first off the boats
were shot down; Allies are able to get into France and
within a month troops are in Berlin
Germany again faces a two front war after D-Day August 1944, Paris liberated, people celebrate
July 20, 1944, Rommel and others plot to overthrow
Hitler - not successful, Rommel commits suicide
Battle of the Bulge - Hitler’s last ditch effort - dresses
soldiers as Americans and causes other confusion;
Allies caught by surprise - created a bulge in
American line - bad weather does not allow air force
to combat, finally skies clear and Americans can
launch an assault in the air
In April 1945, Mussolini attempts to escape to
Switzerland, is captured and executed
Hitler and a few others commit suicide on April 30,
1945
Late April, FDR passes away and Harry S Truman
becomes president
May 7, 1945, Germany surrenders to Eisenhower celebrated as V-E day (Victory in Europe)
Pacific war continues - America follows a strategy of
island hopping
Japanese service men rather than surrender would kill
themselves; kamikaze pilots deliberately crashed
their planes
Iwo Jima – one of fiercest battles of island hopping –
February/March 1945 – famous photograph records
the U.S. victory – which came at a great loss of lives
Okinawa – April 1945 – most complex and costly
campaign in the Pacific – in single night B-29
bombers destroyed 16 square miles of Tokyo
Manhattan Project – Einstein and Oppenheimer
develop Atomic weapons; President Truman must
decide whether or not to use them; Deciding Japan
would not surrender until every last man was gone,
the decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki was
made
August 15 V-J (Victory in Japan) Day – although
official surrender does not come until September 2
Schindler’s List
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLSI8z6EcAs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmyP-ljev68
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIp_8RNNX4k