September 1,1939: German Invasion of Poland
September 1,1939: German Invasion of Poland
September 1,1939: German invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939 German troops invaded Poland on three fronts; East Prussia in the north, Germany in the west and Slovakia in the south. Germany had 2600 tanks against the Polish 180, and over 2000 aircraft against the Polish 420. Their “Blitzkrieg,” tactics of war first caught the Poles off guard. German armored columns burst through war saw which wan bombed on September 25, 1939. With in a few days western Poland became a Reich Protectorate. Finally on September 17, 1939 Soviet Union invaded Poland from the East, and by the end of the month Poland had been partitioned between Germany and the USSR.
The invasion of Poland is significant in World War two since it started the big war, which engulfed every country in the world, took millions of lives, and caused loss of immeasurable wealth. If Germany had not invaded Poland, the Soviet Union wouldnt have ventured into the war, and it wouldnt have started the chain of military expansion.
June 10, 1940: Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain began in the air on June 10, 1940, with attacks on costal ports and shipping. The German strategy was to bring the royal air force to battle over the English channel, when this did not work, Luftwaffe attacks moved inland to eliminate British fighter bases protecting the coast. But, the eight gun hurricane and spit fire fighters proved too much for the Messerschmidts and Stukas of Germany. The German bombers operating of a maximum range were often left with out fighter escort over targets, which made them vulnerable to the British fighters. One more disadvantage, the German had, was that the British had a chain of radar stations along the coast which gave them reasonable warnings of any enemy raids and even gave time to pilots for addition rest. Even so, it was a close battle with both air fleets losing
approximately the same number of machines, but losing
airplanes was not a problem as they were being replaced at a marvelous speed. It was the loss of trained pilots which was a concern for both sides. A misdirected German bombing rate on London resulted in retaliatory raid on Berlin. The London raid was aimed at causing panic among the British civilians but instead it hardened the British to resolve the fight till the end.
The battle of Britain was significant in World War two because it prevented Germany from gaining control over all of Western Europe. After Germany occupied France it only needed to capture Britain to assume supreme status, but the fall of Germany in the battle of Britain proved what Britain was capable of and that Germany could not invade every country and win.
June 22, 1941: German invasion of USSR
German invasion of the Soviet Union code named Barbarossa was Germanys attempt to crush Soviet Union. On June 22, 1941, German armies poured into the Soviet Union, and on the first day the Panzers forced their way behind Soviet lines and took all designated targets. The German Stuka dive bombers destroyed Soviet defenses, and with in weeks Germans had whipped out 5000 aircraft, 15000 tanks and entire Soviet armies. The German Northern army group reached Leningrad, the second most important city of USSR after Moscow and captured, but the Germans were never strong enough to maintain the hold of the city and lifted the siege after 30 months in January 1944. Much of the damage to the Red army of the USSR was done when Germanys central army group fought its way across Ukraine. Germany went ahead capturing Sevastopol in the Crimea and decided to attack Moscow in the last week of October, 1941. The German troops were in the suburbs of Moscow trying to encircle the city by December, but harch weather conditions and lack of food, and winter clothing supply prevented Germans from capturing Moscow even though there were just 5 km to cover.
German invasion of the USSR is significant in World War two, since it put the Germans in an insecure position. The German dream to crush the Soviet Union was left unfulfilled, which strengthened the allies position, and weakened Germany. This also proved that in spite of Germanys various victories, Germans were incapable of fighting a prolonged war.
October, 1942: Battle of El Alamein
The Battle of El Alamein, which was fought in the desert of North Africa, is seen as one of the decisive victories of World War two. The Battle of El Alamein was fought mainly between two commanders- Bernard Montgomery of the British eighth army and General Rommel of Afrika Corps. The battle lasted from October 23 to November 3 1942. The