Transcript World War II 1939

World War II
1939 - 1945
Invasion of Poland
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Germany invaded Poland on 1st September 1939
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Britain & France declared war on 3rd of September
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But initially held back from attacking Germany
The Blitzkrieg
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The blitzkrieg is German for 'lighting war'
First used by the Luftwaffe (German Airforce)
in April 1940
First came aeriel bombing...
...followed by tanks and infantry
The Allies were taken by suprise
The Netherlands fell in 5 days
Belgium in 18 days
Luxembourg in 48 hours
The excavation of Dunkirk started on May 26th
Pearl Harbour
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Hawaii - 7th December 1941
Surprise attack by Japananese
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Kamikaze pilots and mini-subs
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Resulted in USA enterting the war
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The Doolittle Raid
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1942 18th of April
Lt Colonel James H. Doolitle
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It was the first time the USA attacked
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the Japanese in WW2
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The Japanese used germ warfare to kill
up to 25,000 Chinese because they had
helped the Americans
The Afrikakorps
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Germany and their friends Italy also fought the
French and British in Africa
The leader of the German Afrikakorps was
Erwin Rommel known as the Desert Fox
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His tanks covered 320km in one day
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The best know battle was at El Alamein
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His panzer division were defeated by General
Montgomery in 1943
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He was later linked to a plot to kill Hitler
Delivery Day
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D-Day was June 6th 1944 when the Allies
landed on the beaches of Normandy France
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The German Army was taken by suprise
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They slowly advanced towards Germany
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The Russians attacked from the east in June
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Paris was freed in August 1944
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A famous tank battle happend called the
battle of The Bulge
End of War
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The Russian Army entered Berlin on 21st April
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Hitler killed himself on April 30th
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Germany surrendered on 7th May victory was
celebrated the following day known as VE day
War continued in the Pacific until August
On August 6th the USA dropped an Atom bomb
on Hiroshima followed 3 days later by the
bombing of Nagasaki
Japan surrendered on August 14th
50 million dead
20 million Russians
15 million Soldiers
6 million Jews
4 million Poles
>2 million Japanese