World War II Final

Siege of Leningrad

A prolonged military blockade undertaken mainly by the German Army Group North against Leningrad in the Easter Front theater of World War II. The siege started on 8 September 1941, when the last road to the city was severed. It is regarded as one of the longest and most destructive sieges in history. It was possibly the costliest in terms of casualties

Erwin Rommel

Also Known as the Desert Fox, served as field marshal in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War IIRommel's supreme achievement was his defeat of the British at Gazala in May 1942. North African campaign of 1941-1943.

Battle of Mercury

Also known as the Battle of Crete was fought on the Island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany began an airborne invasion of Crete. Greek forces and other Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, defended the island. The Battle of Crete was the first occasion where Fallschirmjäger (German paratroops) were used en masse. Resulted in a Axis Victory

Hunger Plan

Architect of the Hunger Plan was Herman Backe Plan developed by Nazi Germany during World War II to seize food from the Soviet Union and give it to German soldiers and civilians; the plan entailed the death by starvation of millions of "racially inferior" Slavs following Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. It was an engineered famine,

D-Day

Battle begun on June 6th 1944

Operation Typhoon

Called for two pincer offensives, one to the north of Moscow against the Kalinin Front. Germans begin their surge to Moscow, led by the 1st Army Group and Gen. Fedor von Bock. Russian peasants in the path of Hitler's army employ a "scorched-earth" policy.

Plot of 20 July 1944

Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters The name Operation Valkyrie, originally referring to part of the conspiracy, has become associated with the entire event. he underlying desire of many of the high-ranking Wehrmacht officers involved was apparently to show the world that not all Germans were like Hitler and the Nazi Party. The plan was to use an explosive put into a briefcase and placed under the table. However while Von Stauffenberg left for a planned telephone call the briefcase was moved from where it was under the table to the other side of the table leg by Col. Heinz Brandt. Moving the briefcase helped deflect some of the impact of the blast and protect Hitler and others from death. this coupled with the fact that only one explosive, instead of the two used in the planning, had exploded caused the failure in the Assignation attempt. Operation Valkyrie which was the actual attempt to overthrow of the central government. Stauffenberg and co-conspirator General Olbricht arrested the commander of the reserve army, General Fromm, and began issuing orders for the commandeering of various government buildings. And then the news came through from Herman Goering—Hitler was alive. Fromm, released from custody under the assumption he would nevertheless join the effort to throw Hitler out of office, turned on the conspirators. Stauffenberg and Olbricht were shot that same day.

Operation Overlord

Codename for the Battle of Normandy. The Operation was launched on June 6th 1944. A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August. This battle was a Allied victory and German forces retreated across the Seine on 30 August 1944, marking the close of Operation Overlord.

Pearl Harbor

Dec 7th 1941, A surprise attack by the Japanese on the Americans k at the American Naval Base in Hawaii. Just before 8am hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels.More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. "Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Warsaw Uprising

From April 19 to May 16, 1943, was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance led by the Home Army to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. The Uprising began on 1 August 1944, as part of a nationwide Operation Tempest. The main Polish objectives were to drive the Germans out of Warsaw while helping the Allies of World War II defeat Nazi Germany. Secondary political goals of the Polish Underground State were to liberate the capital in order to assert Poland's sovereignty before the Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation could assume control

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Hiroshima- August 6th 1945, world's first deployed atomic bomb was dropped. the explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Nagasaki- August 9th 1945 Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki killing an estimated 40,000 people. this forced Japanese Emperor Hirohito to surrender in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of "a new and most cruel bomb."

Second Kharkov

On 12 May 1942, Soviet forces launched an offensive against the German 6th Army established during the winter counter-offensive.was an Axis counter-offensive in the region around Kharkov against the Red Army. Its objective was to eliminate the Izium bridgehead over Seversky Donets or the "Barvenkovo bulge" which was one of the Soviet offensive's staging areas. The offensive was stopped by German counterattacks

Doolittle Raids

Saturday, April 18, 1942, was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on the island of Honshu during World War II, the first air operation to strike the Japanese Home Islands. served as retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and provided an important boost to American morale. US Propaganda victory

Battle of Midway

Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. Because of major advances in code breaking, the US was able to preempt and counter Japan's planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position

Combined Bombing Offense

Started on June 10th 1943 this was an Anglo-American offensive of strategic bombing during World War II in Europe. The primary portion of the CBO was against Luftwaffe targets which was the highest priority from June 1943 to 1 April 1944. Additional CBO targets included railyards and other transportation targets, particularly prior to the invasion of Normandy and, along with army equipment in the final stages of the War in Europe

Battle of Berlin

The Battle of Berlin was the last major battle in Europe during World War II. It resulted in the surrender of the German army and an end to Adolf Hitler's rule. The battle was primarily fought between the German Army and the Soviet Army. The Soviet army vastly outnumbered the Germans.The Battle of Berlin resulted in the surrender of the German army and the death of Adolf Hitler.It was a resounding victory for the Soviet Union and the Allies.

Battle of Kursk

The Battle of Kursk was an unsuccessful German offensive against Soviet forces in 1943. The Soviet line at Kursk began protruding into enemy territory, the Germans attempted to attack from different directions. After repositioning the Soviets held off the offensive before launching a counterattack, and reclaimed the cities of Orel and Kharkov. Hitler decided to call off operations at Kursk, its failure shifting the balance of power on the Eastern Front to the Soviets.

Battle of The Bulge

The Last German Offensive Campaign on the Western Front. Launched in Densely Forrest regions in Belgium. Surprise attack caught Allied forces off guard. Americans incurred their highest causalities during any campaign in the War. The battle also severely depleted Germany's armored forces, and they were largely unable to replace them. General George S. Patton's successful maneuvering of the Third Army to Bastogne proved vital to the Allied defense, leading to the neutralization of the German counteroffensive despite heavy casualties.

Operation Bargration

The Soviet Union achieved a major victory by destroying the German Army Group Centre and completely rupturing the German front line.

Operation Barbarossa

The code name for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, starting Sunday, 22 June 1941. In the two years leading up to the invasion, Germany and the Soviet Union signed political and economic pacts for strategic purposes. However, the German High Command began planning an invasion of the Soviet Union in July 1940. The Failure in Barbarossa proved a turning point in the fortunes of the Third Reich. More importantly it opened the eastern front. the Eastern Front would become the sight of many major battles.

Operation Husky

Was a major campaign of World War II, in which the Victorious Allies took the island of Sicily from the Axis powers. It began with a large amphibious and airborne operation, followed by a six-week land campaign, and initiated the Italian Campaign. Strategically, Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners; the Allies drove Axis air, land and naval forces from the island and the Mediterranean sea lanes were opened for Allied merchant ships for the first time since 1941.

Tiger I Tank

a German heavy tank of World War II deployed from 1942 in Africa and Europe usually in independent heavy tank battalions. gave the Wehrmacht its first armoured fighting vehicle. The Tiger was prone to certain types of track failures and breakdowns, and was limited in range by its high fuel consumption. It was expensive to maintain, but generally mechanically reliable.

Operation Little Saturn

a Red Army operation on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in the northern Caucasus and Donets Basin regions of the Soviet Union from December 1942 to February 1943. To exploit the victory of Operation Uranus , the Soviet general staff planned a winter campaign of continuous and highly ambitious offensive operations, codenamed "Saturn". The offensive succeeded in smashing Germany's Italian and Hungarian allies, applied pressure on the over stretched German forces in Eastern Ukraine and preventing further German advances to the relief of the entrapped forces at Stalingrad.

Iwo Jima

a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. he goal of capturing the entire island, including the three Japanese-controlled airfields to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the Pacific War of World War II. American Victory

Battle of Manila

a major battle of the Philippine campaign of 1944-45 during WWII. American and Filipino forces against the Japanese. esulted in the death of over 100,000 civilians and the complete devastation of the city, was the scene of the worst urban fighting in the Pacific theater. apanese forces committed mass murder against Filipino civilians during the battle. Allied victory meant End of Japanese rule in the Philippines and the restoration of the Philippines Commonwealth.

Battle of Stalingrad

a major confrontation of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. costly defeat for German forces, and the Army High Command had to withdraw vast military forces from the West to replace their losses. was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad. In the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet forces surrounded and crushed an entire German army. This monumental battle is justly considered a turning point in the war on the Eastern Front

Battle of the Philippine Sea

a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions.The battle was the last of five major "carrier-versus-carrier" engagements between American and Japanese naval forces, and pitted elements of the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet against ships and aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Mobile Fleet and nearby island garrisons. This was the largest carrier-to-carrier battle in history. American Victory

Manhattan Project

a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. Led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. The Manhattan Project was started in response to fears that German scientists had been working on a weapon using nuclear technology since the 1930s—and that Adolf Hitler was prepared to use it. two distinct types of bombs: a uranium-based design called "the Little Boy" and a plutonium-based weapon called "the Fat Man." important part of U.S. strategy aimed at bringing an end to World War II.

Battles of Rzhev

a series of Soviet operations in World War II between January 8, 1942 and March 31, 1943.

Operation Cobra

codename for an offensive launched by the First United States Army seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy Campaign of World War II. The intention was to take advantage of the distraction of the Germans by the British and Canadian attacks around Caen, in Operation Goodwood. and break through the German defenses that were penning in his troops, while the Germans were unbalanced. Operation Cobra, together with concurrent offensives by the British Second Army and the Canadian First Army, was decisive in securing an Allied victory in the Normandy Campaign. Allied victory

Battle of Leyte Gulf

considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history. from 23-26 October 1944, between combined American and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy. United States troops invaded the island of Leyte as part of a strategy aimed at isolating Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia, and in particular depriving Japanese forces and industry of vital oil supplies. The IJN failed to achieve its objective, suffered heavy losses, and never sailed to battle in comparable force thereafter. This was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks. Allied victory

Battle of the Coral Sea

fought from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia.The battle is historically significant as the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other.Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Allies.

Operation Uranus

he codename of the Soviet 19-23 November 1942 strategic operation in World War II which led to the encirclement of the German Sixth Army, the Third and Fourth Romanian armies, and portions of the German Fourth Panzer Army. The operation formed part of the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad, and was aimed at destroying German forces in and around Stalingrad.

Okinawa

major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Marine and Army forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. The initial invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945, was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Okinawa, a large island only 340 mi (550 km) away from mainland Japan. The United States created the Tenth Army to fight on the island. Battle has been referred to as the "Typhon of Steel" or "Rain of Steel". nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of Japanese kamikaze attacks, and the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. Allies Victory

Hundred Regiments Offensive

major campaign of the Communist Party of China's National Revolutionary Army divisions commanded by Peng Dehuai against the Imperial Japanese Army in Central China. The battle had long been the focus of propaganda in the history of Chinese Communist Party but had become Peng Dehuai's "crime" during the Cultural Revolution.

Guadalcanal Campaign

military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater. was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan. Decisive victory for the Allies. the Japanese suffered a far greater toll of casualties, forcing their withdrawal from Guadalcanal by February 1943.

Island Hopping

military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against Japan and the Axis powers idea was to bypass heavily fortified Japanese positions and instead concentrate the limited Allied resources on strategically important islands that were not well defended but capable of supporting the drive to the main islands of Japan. Also known as "leapfrogging"

Second El Alamein

was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein had prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt. The Second Battle of El Alamein revived the morale of the Allies, being the first major success against the Axis since Operation Crusader in late 1941. The Battle of El Alamein is usually divided into five phases, consisting of the break-in (23-24 October), the crumbling (24-25 October), the counter (26-28 October), Operation Supercharge (1-2 November) and the break-out (3-7 November). No name is given to the period from 29-31 October, when the battle was at a standstill.

Battle of Kasserine Pas

was a battle of the Tunisia Campaign of World War II that took place in February 1943. Kasserine Pass is a 2-mile-wide (3.2 km) gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains in west central Tunisia. The battle was the first major engagement between American and Axis forces in World War II in Africa. The Kasserine Pass was the site of the United States' first major battle defeat of the war.

Battle of Tunsia

was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African Campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces. More than 230,000 German and Italian troops were taken as prisoners of war, including most of the Afrika Korps. The Allied won this battle and as a result the Axis were ejected from Africa.

Operation Torch

was the British-United States invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign of the Second World War which started on 8 November 1942. The Operation was largely a success in that French North Africa fell to the Allies, but it did not distract significant amounts of German soldiers nor war material from other fronts, as they were largely content to let their French allies colonies fall. Operation Torch was the first time the British and Americans had jointly worked on an invasion plan together. The purpose of "Torch" was to hem Rommel's forces in between U.S. troops on the west and British troops to the east.