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The First Invasion
After signing a nonaggression pact with the USSR, Hitler moved his sights onto Poland, a lost piece of German land. On this day, Hitler moved troops and tanks onto its Polish borders and bombed Warsaw in order to conquer Poland. This is the day considered to be the beginning of WWII, it is a day is marked and will be marked on every history book ever created.
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The Allies Declare War
On this day Britain and France, the Allies, declared war on Germany. The Allies could no longer save Poland from being annexed into Germany, but that did not mean that they couldn’t fight against Nazi Germany’s future plans.
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The Battle of Britain
After the fall of France, Hitler is now focused on bringing down the Royal Air Force (RFA) in Britain. He plans to bomb Britain in order to weaken it. The bombings began in the summer of 1940. The Battle continued until May 10, 1941. On September 7, 1940, a German plane could not see below the foggy night and accidentally bombed London when they were not allowed to bomb London. This led to the bombing of Berlin by cause of the British RFA.
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Napoleon Returns, Not Really...
Operation Barbarossa invasion began June 22, 1941. The Soviets were surprised at this, and they were unprepared to counter the attack as the USSR’s military was large but it was not well trained or well equipped. The path Hitler took was just like the one Napoleon once took when they invaded Russia. As the Nazis took land, the days grew colder but their uniforms didn’t change. Many Nazi soldiers died from the cold, because Hitler refused to retreat.
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Pearl Harbor's Day of Infamy
Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. America interrupted Japan's conquering plan by cutting their oil. Meanwhile, Americans did not want to the the Philippines and Guam invaded, so they simply found a way to make things difficult for the Japanese troops. America also didn’t want Japanese troops taking over European colonies as those European countries could not defend themselves anymore.
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The Battle of Midway
A tiny island with an important airfield was something the opposition wanted to destroy. When Japan headed towards Midway, the Americans discovered this and put the Pacific fleet on the island in order to ensure the island was not going to be taken. The island gave America strategic leverage, so the Americans did not want to have this island conquered.
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The Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was one of Hitler’s last efforts to keep the Allies out of Europe. The Germans surprised the Allies by pushing into their front at Ardennes. This was a hard battle for the Allies, in fact, the outcome Hitler wanted from the battle was to separate American and British forces. However, Hitler’s plan was unsuccessful because he lost this battle.
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Conferences and Postwar Thoughts at Yalta
On February 4, 1945, the Russian, British and American heads of state got together to discuss and plan the future of of postwar Europe. The agreed on dividing Germany and Austria into four occupied zones, having German reparations—including slave labor of Nazi soldiers—and having Nazi war criminals prosecuted.
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The German Surrender
General Eisenhower unconditionally surrenders to the Allies. This marks the official end of war conflicts in Europe.
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The Atomic Bombing
In the morning of August 6, 1945, Colonel Paul W. Tibbets flew the Enola Gay from the Tinian Island to Japan, he carried an atomic bomb. At 8:16 AM, the bomb was dropped over Hiroshima, fulfilling America’s threat and immediately killing over 70,000 people. This event’s justification is still debated today.
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