World War Two Key Events
- Created by: SGriffin49
- Created on: 04-07-21 10:27
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- World War Two Key Events
- War in Europe
- On 1st September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. On 3rd September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany.
- By May 1940, Germany had invaded Holland and France. The speed of German attacks, known as Blitzkrieg, took the Allies by surprise.
- British and French troops had been pushed back to the beaches of Dunkirk. They were trapped and their only escape route was the sea.
- in May 1940 the British government launched Operation Dynamo. The aim was to evacuate the 300,000 soldiers on Dunkirk beaches.
- Many soldiers were safely rescued using fishing boats and pleasure steamers.
- Dunkirk is seen as a great success and a plan of courage and resilience. However, it also highlighted the power of the German army.
- Battle of Britain
- Following Dunkirk, Hitler controlled all of Western Europe. He now made preparations to invade Britain- Operation Sealion.
- Hitler's first aim was to use his air force to wipe out the British air force. If he did this, he could safely send ships to England.
- The Germans believed their Luftwaffe was more powerful than the RAF but they were actually quite evenly matched. Britain had developed a radar system to track German planes before they reached the English coast.
- The Germans bombed many air fields but they never defeated the RAF.
- Hitler called off Operation Sealion after 2 months. Hitler had finally faced a defeat.
- War in the East
- Hitler wanted to invade the USSR to end Communism and take over Russian land for German people. Hitler thought he could defeat the USSR in 6 weeks.
- Hitler ordered 3 million men to invade and surround the Soviet army.
- The Soviets fought fiercely and prevented the Germans from advancing and capturing key Russian cities such as Moscow and Leningrad.
- The harsh Russian Winter was a disaster for the Germans. Many froze to death.
- Battle of Stalingrad
- After the disastrous winter, Hitler ordered his men to invade Stalingrad.
- The battle was brutal but Soviet forces began to take control of Stalingrad and surrounded the German army.
- The Soviets cut off the German supply chain and forced them to surrender.
- The Soviet army now began advancing towards Germany.
- The end of the war
- The Germans were fighting on both the Western and Eastern fronts and were quickly running out of supplies and soldiers.
- 6th June 1944: D-Day Landings. Nearly 200,000 British and American soldiers landed in Normandy and began advancing through France to Germany.
- Germany were being pushed further and further back as Britain and American regained Western Europe.
- By 1945, it was clear to Hitler that he was going to be defeated.
- By April 1945, the British, Americans and Soviets were within days of reaching Berlin and forcing Hitler to surrender.
- On 30 April 1945, Hitler committed suicide, The war was over. Germany surrendered.
- War in Europe
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