World War II 1940-1945: Significant Events

• Poland is conquered by Germany.
• Germany attacked France,and it fell in June 1940.
• Nazis conquered majority of Europe and North-Africa. However, their British opposition, led by Winston Churchill, was not defeated.
• The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was conducted by the  Imperial Japanese Navy against a US Naval Base in Hawaii. It was ultimately a loss for the U.S.
• The Battle of Midway occured in 1942 when US and Japanese aircrafts fought in a 4-day battle. Ultimately, the US defeated the Japanese by destroying a majority of their planes and consequently regaining control over the Pacific.
• On June 22, 1941 German troops crossed the Russian borders. Though many Russians were harmed, the Germans were generally unsucesssful due to the lack of preparation for winter, trains not working, and Stalin's number of troops. In 1943 a second attempt was made that resulted in a 9-month long battle that is attributed to the ultimate demise of the German Sixth Army in Russia.
• June 6th, 1944 D-Day took place when General Dweight Eisenhower led U.S. and allied troops in an invasion of Normandy, France. From there they progressed into Belgium, and ultimately into Germany while Russian troops fought on the opposite side.
• May 7th, 1945 Germany surrendered.
• During the year of 1945 U.S. President Truman ordered that atomic bombs be dropped on Japan at the following sites: Hiroshima and Nagasaki.These attacks killed and injured hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens and marked the end of the war between the two countries.