The European war was when the US got into WW2 after getting bombed by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Germany had conquered most of Europe. The English and Americans had to get involved because many were their allies. Fascism was introduced after WWI in Germany. The Germans faced a major loss in WWI, that is when Adolf Hitler got in to be the dictator. He promised to get Germany to how it was from even before the war.
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Axis ActionsGermany, Italy, and Japan were leaders of a group of nations called the Axis. The leaders of all three of those countries were dictators. Before the beginning of WWII they had all strengthened and modernized their armies. The Nazi party had rose to their power in during the 1930s. Hitler had been appointed as chancellor, he was also the Nazi party's leader. He made a promise to everyone that he would restore Germany as to how it was from before WWI, and make Germany more powerful than it had ever been. He was out to seek revenge on every country that had defeated Germany in WWI. Adolf Hitler believed that the Germans were the only true race and wanted to get rid of the Jews, communists, and any handicapped people. Japan had invaded Manchuria in the early 1930 because Manchuria had a lot of raw materials Japan needed. Later on in 1938, Japan also attacked China and went all the way to southeast Asia. Italy conquered Ethiopia in 1935. Germany started by taking over Austria. Italy and Germany sent many soldiers to help another fellow dictator, Francisco Franco, in his own war, the Spanish Civil War.
Eisenhower Speech to troops
President Eisenhower is addressing the American and English troops about their battle against the Germans at Normandy beach in France.
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The Blitzkriegs
The German word Blitzkrieg means "lightning war" in English. Blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to bring victory in the war. Germany first used this in 1939 against Poland. Blitzkriegs require artillery, tanks, and planes. German planes prevented their enemies from resupplying or redeploying when their fronts were breached. Germany also used this tactic on September of 1940 against Denmark, against Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France on May of 1940, Yugoslavia and Greece on April of 1941. German tried using this tactic of the Blitzkrieg on Great Britain but did not succeed because they were protected by the English Channel and the Royal Navy. Even though they still had a continuing war against Great Britain, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June of 1941. In the beginning, the German tactic of the Blitzkrieg was working sending Soviet forces 600 miles back all the way to Moscow, with devastating losses. Hitler solely declared war on the US in December of 1941. That was a bad idea because that plan only added economic and military power against Germany. Germany launched a second offense against the Soviet Union in 1942. However, the Soviet Union launched one against Germany and ended up trapping and destroying a whole German army in November of 1942. Germany proved to itself and everybody else that they could not defeat the Soviet Union. With the help of the Soviet Union, United States, and Great Britain the helped bring Hitler down from conquering the Soviet Union and attacking them. Germany was part of a war for about 3 more years after that leading to their defeat in May of 1945.
Here is a video showing the damage and intensity that the German Blitzkrieg caused. |
D-Day
Shortly after WWII started, German attacked France in May of 1940. The US got involved in WWII because of the Japanese's attack on Pearl Harbor. In January, President Eisenhower was selected as commander of Operation Overlord. The invasion of Normandy was supposed to take place on June 5, 1944. However, there were weather concerns which held them back 24 hours. Later on June 5, 1944 more than 5,000 ships and landing craft that had troops and supplies for the Americans and English left England from the Channel to France. There were 11,000 aircrafts being occupied to help the Americans and English with air cover and support with the invasion of Normandy. By the dawn of June 6, there were thousands of paratroopers and glide troopers on the ground behind enemy lines. The invasions began at 6:30 am. US forces received heavy resistance at Omaha Beach where there were more than 2,000 casualties. By the end of they day, there were approximately 156,000 allied troops on the Normandy beach. According to some estimates, there were about 4,000 casualties of allied troops from just the invasion of D-Day. There were several thousands wounded or missing battle. On June 11 of 1944, there were 326,000 troops, more than 50,000 vehicles, and 100,000 tons of equipment at the Normandy beach. The Germans were very confused because they did not have their commander Rommel. Hitler believed that this Normandy attack was a distraction from another attack coming at them, which was false. In the following weeks the allies had struggled to fight their way across the Normandy countryside because of the German resistance. The allies also had difficulty with the harsh landscape of marshes and hedgerows. By the end of June, the allies had taken over the main port of Cherbourg. Approximately 850,000 men and 150,000 vehicles had landed in Normandy and were ready to continue all across France. By the end of August of 1944, the allies reached the Seine River. Paris was liberated by the American and English, the Germans were removed from Northwestern France, this action concluded the Battle of Normandy. The allies then began to get ready to enter Germany, they would be meeting with Soviet troops from the east there. The Normandy invasion curved the Nazis plans. This prevented Adolf Hitler from sending his troops from France to build an eastern front against the Soviets. On May 8, 1945 the allies accepted the surrender on Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler had committed suicide just a week earlier on April 30, 1945.
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