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- May 4, 1942 to May 8, 1942
- located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Australia
- naval and air engagement between US and Japan, where US fleet turned back a Japanese invasion force heading for strategic Port Moresby in New Guinea
- Japanese wanted to seize control of coral sea by establishing air bases in southeastern New Guinea and in the Solomon Islands
- Allied intelligence learned of this, and alerted all available sea and air power
- Japanese landed at Tulagi in the Solomons, and US planes struck the landing group
- important US figures: Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher, Chester W. Nimitz
- Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was important to Japanese forces
- Japanese planes sank a US destroyer and an oiler, but Fletcher's planes sank US carriers and cruiser
- many Japanese planes were lost, forcing Port Moresby invasion force to turn back
- strategic victory for the Allies. known as the first major engagement in naval history where surface ships didn't fire a single shot
- foreshadowed the carrier warfare to follow in the Pacific arena

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- last major battle in Europe during WW2, resulting in surrender of German army
- mostly fought between German Army and Soviet Army, who greatly outnumbered the Nazis
- many German soldiers were sick and wounded
- April 16, 1945 to May 2, 1945
- Soviet commanders: Georgy Zhukov, Vasily Chuikov, Ivan Konev
- German commanders: Adolf Hitler (lead defense of the city), Gotthard Heinrici, Helmuth Reymann
- Soviets attacked along the Oder River near Berlin and advanced on the city. began bombing Berlin, and surrounded the city within a few days
- Hitler attempted to move a German army from Western Germany to provide support
- Soviets entered destroyed/bombed city, engaged in hand-to-hand combat
- once Soviets approached the center of the city and Germans were running out of ammunition, Hitler committed suicide along with his wife
- on May 1st, most of remaining German soldiers attempted to escape to western front, and on May 2nd, German generals inside Berlin surrendered
- on May 7, 1945, leaders of Nazi Germany signed an unconditional surrender to Allies, ending war in Europe
- decisive victory for Soviet Union and the Allies

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Battle of Dukla Pass Monument, Svidník, Slovakia

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May-June 1940
Between Germany, France, and Great Britain
Important commanders: Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill
-Germany invaded the French coast and allies evacuate, so Germany claims victory but evacuation serves to boost British morale
Germany invaded France in a blitzkrieg and cut off all communication with the allied forces, so British evacuated all soldiers to prevent annihilation

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- air-sea battle between US Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy in the pacific ocean
- occurred in the six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor: June 4, 1942 - June 7, 1942
- Japan wanted to establish naval and air superiority in the Pacific, but were first stopped by US fleets in Battle of the Coral Sea
- Admiral Isaroku Yamamoto was commander of Imperial Japanese Navy, and decided to destroy the rest of the US Pacific fleet with a surprise attack at the Allied base on Midway Island
- Japan planned an air attack, commanded by Vice Admiral Chuichi Naguma, an invasion force led by Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo, and a joint strike between Yamamoto's and Nagumo's forces after the US called in reinforcements
- US cryptanalysts broke Japanese communication codes and knew that Japan was planning an attack. they were able to decipher that the location of the attack was Midway, and would occur on June 4 or 5
- Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander in chief of US Pacific Fleet, was important in developing counterattack
- the Japanese launched the first phase of attack, inflicting damage, but leaving US anti-aircraft defense still functioning
- US launched bombers, hitting Japanese carriers
- on June 6, Yamamoto ordered retreat. b/c of US victory, Japan abandoned plans to expand their reach in the Pacific, keeping them on the defensive for the rest of the war
- gave US forces confidence, while decreasing Japanese morale

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Iwo Jima, Iōjima, Ogasawara, Tokyo, Japan

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February 1945- March 1945
Between U.S. and Japan
Important commanders: Holland Smith, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi
-U.S. invaded the island and was some of the bloodiest fighting of WW2
Japanese took advantage of mountainous landscape to set up camouflaged artillery and hold back the U.S., but the U.S. bombs on Iwo Jima gave them the advantage

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- Ardennes region of Belgium
- from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945
- Hitler's last major offensive in World War 2 against western front. wanted to split up the Allies (Britain, France, USA) in the drive towards Germany
- during extremely cold winter conditions, German divisions attacked American troops
- costliest ever fought by the US army, with over 100,000 casualties
- battles fought at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize, and Bastogne, which was defended by 101st Airborne division
- surprise German attacks made American and British troops nervous, as it was strategically done during extremely cold temperatures and horrible conditions, which was brutal to American troops
- Nazi strategy: infiltrate allied troops, changing road signs, spreading misinformation
- Allied air forces were able to strike when weather conditions cleared. Germans surrounded Allies in Bastogne, but air divisions broke through German lines and Allies declared victory, allowing them to head for Berlin
- US General Dwight D. Eisenhower
- command of German offense given to Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt

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Battle of Okinawa Historical Display, 3 Chome-11-3 Jitchaku, Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan

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April 1945-June 1945
Involved: Japan and United States
Important Commanders: Simon Bolivar Buckner, Curtis E Lemay, Marc Mitscher
-U.S. invaded Ryukyu Islands and became one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific War
-America planned to overwhelm the Japanese with preliminary bombardment and large amphibious landing
-Japanese would use the terrain to slow the advance of American forces

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D-Day Beaches, Le Presbytere, rue d'Argouges, Mosles, France

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June 1944-August 1944
Allied forces attacked German forces on coast of Normandy which gave the Allied forces an upper hand over Germany
Involved: America, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain
Important Commanders: Dwight Eisenhower, Erwin Rommel, Adolf Hitler
Allied powers made it look like they were going to invade Pas-de-Calais rather than Normandy, used fake equipment and a phantom army in in England to deceive Hitler and invaded Normandy with 156,000 troops

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- land/sea battles between Allied and Japanese forces in Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands
- August 1942 - February 1943
- turning point in favor of Allies in the Pacific war
- Japanese moved troops to Guadalcanal, and Allies took steps to eject them, as planed operating from the area would be bad for nearby bases
- US personnel: general Alexander Vandegrift, vice admiral William Halsey
- US launched amphibious assault on the islands, surprising Japanese defenders. strong naval and air support, seized Guadalcanal airfield and harbor on Florida Island
- Japanese forces launched cruisers and destroyers against the Allies, sinking US and Australian cruisers
- largely a naval battle, but Japanese planes continued to harass the US resupply efforts
- after a series of violent confrontations, US was left in a position of strength in the Solomon Islands
- Japanese cruisers and destroyers shelled Henderson Field, and sunk US destroyers
- in February 1943, Japanese troops evacuated Guadalcanal, which paved the way for more Allied wins in Solomon Islands

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- military campaign between Russian forces and Nazi Germany/Axis Powers
- one of the largest and bloodiest battles in modern warfare
- from August 1942 to February 1943, almost 2 million people were killed/injured
- Germany's Wehrmacht forces had captured areas that are now Ukraine and Belarus in 1942, and planned to attack southern Russia
- Stalin's Red Army had suffered major losses in Battle of Moscow
- USSR generals: Nikita Khrushchev, Georgy Zhukov, Aleksandr Vasilevsky
- Nazi general: Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus
- Nazi forces focused on Stalingrad, as it served as the industrial center in Russia. Volga river was an important shipping route
- as the Wehrmacht advanced, Russian forces were able to stall them in a few bloody fights, but Stalin's forces lost around 200,000 men
- Russians shipped out grain and cattle from Stalingrad, but residents hadn't been evacuated
- Germany's Luftwaffe Air Force rendered Volga River impassible to shipping and conducted air strikes
- thousands of civilians killed, thousands more sent into German slave labor camps
- Nazi forces had control of the air by September, and Stalingrad was in ruins in late 1942
- Russian forces made a defensive ring around the city, forming a blockade. as winter came in, German forces lacked supplies and were succumbing to weather
- by February 1943, Russian troops re-took Stalingrad, and it was the first failure of the war acknowledged by Hitler

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December 7, 1941
Between Japan and USA
Important commanders: Nagano Osami- Japanese admiral, Tojo Hideki- prime minister of Japan, Edward Kimmel- U.S.  navy officer
-A surprise attack on the United States that caused the United States to enter WW2
The message that war was about to occur took the U.S. a long time to decode and wasn't communicated to Kimmel, then when U.S. government tried to send a message, it was too late and the attack had already occurred.
The U.S. missed many opportunities to prevent the attack, which gave Japan the upper hand.

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- Soviet defense of Moscow between October 1941 and January 1942 against Nazi Forces
- Hitler considered Moscow (largest USSR city and capital) to be the primary military/political objective for the Axis powers in the USSR
- Nazi commanders: Fedor von Bock, Heinz Guderian
- Soviet commanders: Georgiy Zhukov, Aleksandr Vasilyevskiy
- the original Nazi plan was to blitz Moscow and capture it within four months
- Soviets resisted, especially in Battle of Smolensk, where they delayed Nazi progress
- Nazis took Smolensk, then consolidated their lines around Leningrad and Kiev
- Soviets stopped Nazi offensives 75 miles from Moscow, and Nazi army was slowed by harsh weather (thick mud, onset of cold weather, freezing ground)
- by December, Nazi forces had advanced extremely close to Moscow, but Soviet Siberian troops who were prepared for winter warfare attacked the German forces, driving them back out of Moscow
- one of the most important WW2 battles, because the USSR was able to successfully prevent the Nazis from capturing Moscow. also one of the largest, with almost a million casualties
- first time since Nazi Wehrmacht forces had begun conquests in 1939 that they had been forced to majorly retreat

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- located in El Alamein, about 150 miles west of Cairo
- two battles: first between July 1-July 27 1942, second between October 23 - November 11, 1942
- the Axis powers of Italy and Germany faced a defeat by the British Eight Army
- second battle was the climax of the North African Campaign
- conflict first arose in 1940, when Italy invaded Egypt. this threatened the British assets of the Suez Canal and Persian Oil fields. British defeated the Italians and Germany intervened
- General Erwin Rommel was a German general who helped Axis powers succeed early on in the fighting; known as a master of desert warfare
- Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery was a British commander, who wanted to transform the British Eighth Army's fighting prowess
- the Axis powers were running low on supplies, but rather than attacking early,  British commanders decided to build up their weaponry and man power
- through Operation Lightfoot, the British established offensive channels to attack the Axis powers
- one of the first obvious victories of the British against Axis powers, which served to boost morale and put Britain back on the map as a fighting force

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Battle of Atlantic: 1939-1945
Between Germany, Great Britain, and the United States
Important commanders: Winston Churchill, Sir Johnson Cotesworth Slessor- British military officer
Germany's strategy was to starve Britain into submission by destroying merchant ships and and their cargos of food and materials
Allied powers plan was to blockade the axis powers access to Europe and security of allied sea movements and use superior technology

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- defense of Great Britain against air raids, between July-September 1940
- largely fought over southern England
- between the British Royal Air Force and Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe
- Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, Air Vice Marshal Keith Park, and Winston Churchill were key figures for Britain
- Reichmarschall Hermann Goering was the supreme commander of the German Luftwaffe. General Adolf Galland was an important German fighter pilot and commander
- after British forces withdrew from Dunkirk, Germany completed invasion of France, leaving British alone. when Britain did not surrender to peace, Hitler was forced to plan raids against Britain.
- battle began with bomber attacks against shipping on July 10, and the main offensive by Hitler occurred on August 13, against aircraft factories and radar stations
- Britain's radar early warning system kept German attacks fro being surprises, and the British air forces were able to fight back against the Germans