Philip+Arnold


 * Timeline**:
 * Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact**: August 23, 1939, Germany and the USSR agree to not attack eachother for 10 years. It only lasts 2 years because of the German invasion of Russia.
 * Lend Lease Act**: March 1941, United States lends weapons and supplies to Great Britain and the USSR while being neutral.
 * Attack on Mers-el-Kébir**: July 3, 1940, the British fleet destroys the French fleet in order to keep the French navy out of German hands.
 * Battle of Britain:** 1940, air battle over England for air supremacy. Victory for the United Kingdom and prevents a German invasion.
 * Pearl Harbor**: December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launches a surprise attack on the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese goal was to knock the US out of the Pacific. Although the attack is successful, they do not destroy the aircraft carriers and the United States wants revenge.
 * Doolittle Raid**: April 18, 1942, a United States attack on the Japanese home islands. It was more symbolic than strategic because it shows that the Japanese are not in total control of the Pacific.
 * Battle of Midway**: June 4-7, 1942, The first major victory of the United States against Japan. A large Japanese fleet is destroyed and eliminates entire Japanese control over the Pacific.
 * Second Battle of El Alamein**: October 23-November 5, 1942, a major turning point in the North African theatre. The British led by Bernard Montgomery defeat the advancing Germans, led by Erwin Rommel. The victory kept the Suez Canal and oil fields of Arabia safe from German attack.
 * Operation Barbarossa**: June 22, 1941, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, breaking the non aggression pact signed 2 years earlier. The Germans surprise the Russians and use the blitzkrieg tactic to advance deep into Russian territory.
 * Battle of Stalingrad**: July 17, 1942-February 2, 1943, the first major defeat of the Germans on the eastern front. The Germans get stuck in Stalingrad and face house to house fighting eliminating their tank and air power. The Germans also have to face a siege and the brutal Russian winter, they surrender on February 2, 1943.
 * Battle of Kursk**: July-August 1943, a series of large tank and air battles on the eastern front. It was the last major German offensive and marked a turning point because it proved that the blitzkrieg strategy could be defeated.
 * D-Day**: June 6, 1944, the invasion of Western Europe by the Allied forces. Troops landed on beaches in Normandy, France. The invasion was a huge success and marked the beginning of the end for the Nazi occupation of Europe.

Major Turning Points:

Many people thought that a cross-channel invasion of occupied Europe would be impossible during WW2. The Germans created a heavily defended Atlantic Wall stretching from southern France to Norway. This wall was only heavily defended at ports and large coastal towns, so the Allies, led by Dwight Eisenhower, decided to invaded the relatively undefended beaches of Normandy. Millions of supplies and soldiers were amassed in England to prepare for the largest amphibious invasion of all time. The allies employed George Patton to lead a decoy army that was supposed to attack Calais, France so that the Germans would not be prepared for the attack. Deception along with superior numbers and firepower allowed the Allies to take the Normandy beaches with minimal casualties, except for Omaha beach where the US soldiers ran into sheer cliffs and crack German regiments. The invasion of Normandy prepared Europe for liberation and defeat for Hitler and the Nazi regime. **Operation Barbarossa** Typical of Hitler, he blatantly broke a treaty he signed with Operation Barbarossa and the invasion of the USSR. Hitler and the Germans wanted to access the vast resources and land that the Soviet Union had to offer. Using the blitzkrieg strategy, the Germans won many victories and advanced deeply into Soviet territory taking many prisoners. The Eastern theater of WW2 was extremely brutal and prisoners on both sides were starved and murdered. Civilians also faced these dangers and in the first few months of the invasion, millions of people were dead. The Russian army had been weakened by Stalin's purges, leaving it inexperienced and unprepared for the massive attack. The German victories would not last, however, fuel shortages, the Russian winter, and attrition wore down the Germans and they faced a bitter defeats at Stalingrad and Kursk. From that point forward, the Soviets, now allied with the Allies, drove the Germans back into Berlin. Operation Barbarossa was a grave mistake by Hitler, it opened up a two front war and the Germans were not prepared to face the elements of Russia. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was the stupidest thing that the Empire of Japan could have done during WW2. The Japanese were expanding rapidly in Asia and the Pacific in search for a great empire and resources to supply their war machine, they feared the United States even though there was a strong isolationist movement in the US at the time. The Japanese decided to attack the US fleet and knock them out of the war after a swift victory. The attack did the opposite, the US aircraft carriers were not destroyed, and the public wanted revenge on the Japanese. The Japanese did not realize the capabilities of the United States or how motivated they would be to avenge their defeat at Pear Harbor. Not only did the US attack Japan, but they decided to defeat the Nazis in Europe. Had the Japanese not attacked Pearl Harbor, they could have expanded in Asia, attacking the British, Dutch, and French declaring that they were freeing the native people from imperialism when in reality they were exploiting resources. Bibliography: 1. Stalingrad Diary. Web. 26 Feb. 2010. <[]>. 2. "Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation" __American Rhetoric__ Feb 25, 2010. <[]>. 3. "World War Two in Europe Timeline." //The History Place//. Web. 27 Feb. 2010. <[]>.
 * D:Day**
 * Pearl Harbor**