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OVERALL DISCLAIMER: All links used to complete these are in the document linked below. 

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OVERALL DISCLAIMER: All links used to complete these are in the document linked below. 

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mn6uH00VmWK5o8ZE2XqGxbkEE8xrFX1_Oj2AeQfviuQ/edit?usp=sharing

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Germany Invaded Poland - September 1st 1939

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Germany Invaded Poland - September 1st 1939

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Germany invaded Poland's western border to expand their empire. This event began WWII

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Just over a week ago The Almanac featured The Nation's response to the Hitler-Stalin Pact, in which the leaders of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to divvy up Poland and, for a time, avoid direct confrontation in war. The almost-inevitable consequence of that agreement, the German invasion of Poland, came on this date in 1939. In his poem, "September 1, 1939," first published in The New Republic, W.H. Auden wrote about sitting in a dive bar in midtown Manhattan as the world hurtled toward war: "Defenceless under the night/ Our world in stupor lies." In its issue of September 9, The Nation, which had long advocated a united democratic fight against fascism, responded to the beginning of war with an editorial titled "Munich Bears Fruit."

August, 1938, ended in Munich. August, 1939, ended in war. But, in fact, the new world war was bred at Munich and in the series of surrenders to force and threats that preceded Munich. If August, 1938, had ended in a decision to defend Czechoslovakia as Poland is now being defended, it is possible that no armed conflict would have resulted. Munich persuaded Hitler of the indestructible temper of his nerves, the invincibility of his forces....

The issue is not a romantic one that can easily be dressed up in the camouflage of propaganda. It is simply this: Hitler's struggle for power must be thwarted. The qualified blessings of old-fashioned imperialism must be preserved as a bulwark against the spread of fascist domination. And democracy-even that "pluto-democracy" derided by Hitler-must be defended against a despotism that would crush all attempts to make democracy real. Put in more concrete words, the governments of the Western nations must fight for their existence, and the peoples must fight to hold on to their hard-won political and economic liberties, to prevent the spread of an organized system of persecution.

September 1, 1939

To mark The Nation 's 150th anniversary, every morning this year The Almanac will highlight something that happened that day in history and how The Nation covered it. Get The Almanac every day (or every week) by signing up to the e-mail newsletter.

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September 1, 1939: Germany Invades Poland, Beginning World War II

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Just over a week ago The Almanac featured The Nation's response to the Hitler-Stalin Pact, in which the leaders of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to divvy up Poland and, for a time, avoid direct confrontation in war. The almost-inevitable consequence of that agreement, the German invasion of Poland, came on this date in 1939.

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France and Germany fought in France. The goal was the surrender of France to the Germans. Hitler had invaded France, and the French were forced to surrender.

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Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Luftwaffe, Nazi Germany's air force were trying to successfully defend Great Britain over Southern England. Their goal was try and destroy their Air Force and prepare for invasion.
Source: Notes

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Contents

1. Herman Göring and the Luftwaffe

2. Operation Sea Lion

3. Churchill's "Finest Hour" Speech

4. Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Messerschmitt BF-109

5. Blitz Begins

6. Who Won the Battle of Britain?

7. Why Did the British Win the Battle of Britain?

8. Significance of the Battle of Britain

9. The Battle of Britain Movie

The Battle of Britain in World War II was between Britain's Royal Air Force ( RAF) and the Luftwaffe, Nazi Germany's air force, and was the first battle in history fought solely in the air. From July 10 through October 31, 1940, pilots and support crews on both sides took to the skies and battled for control of airspace over Great Britain, Germany and the English Channel. The powerful, combat-experienced Luftwaffe hoped to conquer Britain easily, but the RAF proved a formidable enemy.

Herman Göring and the Luftwaffe

After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to have an air force. With the help of the Soviet Union, however, Germany secretly defied the treaty and trained air force pilots and support staff on combat planes.

When Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich came to power, Nazi Germany began rebuilding their air force. He officially created the Luftwaffe in February 1935, placing former World War I fighter pilot and political ally Hermann Göring in charge.

Operation Sea Lion

By the start of World War II in 1939, the Luftwaffe was the strongest and best-trained air force in the world. They played a crucial role in Germany's methodical and highly effective invasion of much of Western Europe, including Poland, Holland, Belgium and France.

After France fell to Germany on June 22, 1940, Hitler set his sights on the Soviet Union but still had to contend with Great Britain. He planned a massive invasion by land and sea, code named Operation Sea Lion, but knew he needed to defeat the RAF first.

Hitler hoped his Luftwaffe and its fierce reputation would intimidate Britain enough that they would surrender peacefully, and even dangled the prospect of a peace treaty. However, he underestimated the resolve of Britain's people, its military and its combative new prime minister, Winston Churchill, who rejected the offer outright.

Churchill believed Hitler and the evils of Nazism had to be abolished no matter what. He knew that the RAF was Britain's main defense against German troops crossing the English Channel.

Did you know? The battle received its name from a speech Winston Churchill delivered to the British House of Commons on June 18, 1940, in which he stated, "the Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin."

Churchill's "Finest Hour" Speech

Days before France's surrender, Churchill gave his famous " Finest Hour" speech to the House of Commons, making it clear he had no intention of capitulating to Hitler, although some members of Parliament hoped to negotiate peace.

In his speech, Churchill said, "the Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin." He spoke of his certainty that the Luftwaffe would attack Britain hard, but also his confidence that the RAF, commanded by Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, would hold their own and be victorious.

Churchill knew failure was not an option, and his powerful speech boosted the morale and patriotism of the British people, its military and Parliament.
READ MORE: 10 Things You May Not Know About Winston Churchill
Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Messerschmitt BF-109

Hitler and many of his generals were unprepared to invade Britain. Göring, however, was confident his Luftwaffe would quickly destroy the RAF with his German bombers and prevent, or at least postpone, the need for a full-scale invasion; Hitler gave him the go-ahead to prove it.

On July 10, 1940, the Luftwaffe attacked Britain, performing reconnaissance missions and targeting coastal defenses, ports and radar stations. Their efforts, however, did little damage to the RAF.

In mid-August, using mostly single-engine Messerschmitt BF-109 combat planes, the Luftwaffe began attacking Britain's airfields, air fighter production sites and targeting RAF Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes in the air.

Blitz Begins

Despite being outnumbered, the RAF retaliated by bombing Berlin. Enraged, Hitler and Göring changed tactics and ordered a bombing campaign known as " the Blitz " against London, Liverpool, Coventry and other major cities, hoping to decimate the morale of the British people. To ensure massive casualties, German bombing was carried out at night.

On September 15, the Luftwaffe began two massive raids on London, eager to force the British to the negotiating table, but they could not defeat the RAF or gain control of British airspace. The Luftwaffe was by then stretched too thin, poorly organized and unable to keep up with the demand for new fighter planes or overcome the RAF's superior technology.

Who Won the Battle of Britain?

By the end of October 1940, Hitler called off his planned invasion of Britain and the Battle of Britain ended. Both sides suffered enormous loss of life and aircraft. Still, Britain weakened the Luftwaffe and prevented Germany from achieving air superiority. It was the first major defeat of the war for Hitler.

Although Britain stood alone against Germany after the fall of France, nearly a quarter of the RAF pilots who participated in the Battle of Britain were from other countries including Poland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, France, the United States and South Africa.

Why Did the British Win the Battle of Britain?

The British won the Battle of Britain due to a confluence of factors. They were defending their home territory, so were more motivated to succeed, and also knew the local geography better than the invaders. Another major factor was the Dowding System, named after Sir Hugh Dowding, Commander in Chief of the RAF Fighting Command. The Dowding System's pioneering use of radar (which could warn the RAF of enemy attacks), aircraft and ground defense gave Great Britain a competitive advantage.

Significance of the Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was a turning point in World War II; if the RAF had not held off the Luftwaffe, Hitler would have likely moved forward with his Operation Sea Lion invasion of the British Isles. This would have been devastating to the British people and all efforts to stem Hitler's rise to power. Germany needed to control the English Channel to invade Britain, and the battle prevented them from gaining that valuable control.

Britain's victory in the Battle of Britain demonstrated the courage and resilience of the country's military and its people and allowed them to remain free from Nazi occupation. It also enabled the Americans to establish a base of operations in England to invade Normandy on D-Day in 1944.
READ MORE: D:Day: An Interactive
The Battle of Britain Movie

The Battle of Britain's significance was not lost on Hollywood. In 1969, MGM released The Battle of Britain movie starring Laurence Olivier as commander Hugh Dowding.

Other notable productions include: Battle of Britain, a documentary produced by brothers Colin and Ewan McGregor to mark the event's 70th anniversary; Voices of the Battle of Britain, a documentary which includes first-hand accounts of RAF veterans; and Mission of Honor, a movie which tells the story of RAF Hurricane Squadron 303.

Sources

Battle of Britain. International Churchill Society.
Battle of Britain. WW 2 Facts.
How the Luftwaffe Fought the Battle of Britain. Imperial War Museum.
The Battle of Britain: A Brief Guide. Military History Matters.

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Herman Göring and the Luftwaffe Operation Sea Lion Churchill's "Finest Hour" Speech Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Messerschmitt BF-109 Blitz Begins Who Won the Battle of Britain? Why Did the British Win the Battle of Britain?

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Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - December 7, 1941

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Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - December 7, 1941

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The Japanese and the United States Military fought. Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japan wanted to prevent the US from interfering with their plans and to destroy their fleet.

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The Path to Pearl Harbor | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

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On December 7, 1941, Japan staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, decimating the US Pacific Fleet. When Germany and Italy declared war on the United States days later, America found itself in a global war.

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The United States destroyed Japan's first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots. It was fought on the Midway islands. The Japanese hoped to force the United States to negotiate for peace.

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Overview

A major goal for Japan during World War II was to gain territory in East Asia and Southwest Pacific, effectively removing the United States as the dominate power. Japanese military planners hoped to defeat the US Pacific Fleet and take Midway, from which they could launch additional attacks on Pearl Harbor. This, they believed, would secure their dominance in the area and force the United States to negotiate for peace.

Part of the Northwestern Islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, Midway Atoll is one of the most remote atolls located more than 3,200 miles from San Francisco. The United States annexed the atoll in the nineteenth century, and by 1940 had begun constructing facilities on the islands in preparation for war. On December 7, 1941, Japanese destroyers shelled the facilities at Naval Air Station Midway. By June 1942, PBY Catalinas and B-17s were stationed on Midway, along with 4,000 American personnel.

The five-day battle, fought from June 3-7, 1942, encompassed an area the size of the contiguous United States. Japanese and American ships fought at ranges of 50-150 miles apart.

Breaking the Code

In early 1942, Navy cryptanalysts had begun breaking Japanese communication codes, and had become learned of Japanese plans to attack a location in the Pacific referred to as "AF." To determine what AF meant, a simple trick was used: American forces at Midway were told to send out a false message that they were running low on fresh water. After the message was sent, cryptanalysts deciphered a Japanese message that AF was short on water. With the confirmation that AF was Midway, Station Hypo in Hawaii, decoded further messages, providing the US Navy with the date of the attack, and the Japanese order of battle. With this vital information at hand, Admiral Chester Nimitz prepared US Naval forces to counterattack.

Opening Strikes

On June 3, 1942, a PBY flying a scouting patrol out of Midway discovered part of the Japanese Midway Occupational force southwest of the atoll. Throughout the day, additional sightings were made, but the Japanese carrier force was not located. B-17s and PBYs from Midway make attacks on the sighted force, but with minimal results. Heavy anti-aircraft fire kept the crews from remaining in the area to determine the affects of the attack, but a heavy cruiser and one transport were reported as hit, along with a second cruiser, likely hit on the stern. That night, four PBY-5As carrying Mark XIII torpedoes carried out the first nighttime torpedo attack by patrol planes on surface ships. Although the results of the attack were indefinite, the small force believed that one or two enemy ships had sustained damage.

The Battle

On the morning of June 4, 1942, aircraft from Japanese carriers attacked and damaged the US base on Midway. The US Marine Corps force stationed on Midway endured devastating losses, but the facilities only suffered minor damage. The US carrier force was to the east of the island and had located the main body of the Japanese force. As the Japanese aircraft returned to their carriers, the Japanese navy became aware that US naval forces were in the area.

From the American carriers USS Yorktown (CV-5), USS Enterprise (CV-6), and USS Hornet (CV-8) TBD Devastator torpedo bombers launched to attack the Japanese force. Drawing out enemy aircraft, they cleared the skies for SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the Enterprise and Yorktown to make an attack, leaving the Japanese carriers Kaga and Akagi fatally damaged and wrecking the carrier Soryu. The only surviving Japanese carrier, Hiryu, launched two waves of attacks against the American carriers, bombing Yorktown. Severely damaged, the ship's crew fought to keep the carrier afloat. Dauntlesses from Enterprise struck the Hiryu in the early evening, striking a fatal blow against the fourth and final Japanese carrier off Midway.

On June 5, Rear Admiral Spruance pursed the Japanese fleet to the west with his task force as the Japanese were forced to scuttle Akagi and Hiryu. The crew of Yorktown continued to fight to save the damaged carrier. On June 6, the final aerial attacks took place. Dive bombers (SBDs) from Enterprise and Hornet inflicted sever damage on the Japanese fleet, sinking the heavy cruiser Mikuma, and damaging three other ships. Salvage operations on Yorktown were interrupted by a Japanese submarine, which torpedoed the carrier and the destroyer USS Hammann (DD-412). On June 7, Yorktown rolled and sank at dawn.

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Battle of Midway | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

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A major goal for Japan during World War II was to gain territory in East Asia and Southwest Pacific, effectively removing the United States as the dominate power. Japanese military planners hoped to defeat the US Pacific Fleet and take Midway, from which they could launch additional attacks on Pearl Harbor.

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The United States Military and the Japanese Imperial Navy. This was the first amphibious invasion in the Pacific Ocean in Tugali, Florida, and the Solomon Islands of Guadalcana. The Allies were working on starting their own offense in the Pacific Ocean.

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The Solomon Islands Campaign: Guadalcanal | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

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After the US strategic victories at the Battles of the Coral Sea (May 7–8, 1942) and Midway (June 4–7, 1942), the Japanese Imperial Navy was no longer capable of major offensive campaigns, which permitted the Allies to start their own offensive in the Pacific.

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The Soviet union and Germany fought in this war. It was North and South of the German salient whose tip was at Stalingrad. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. Hitler's goal was to eliminate Soviet forces in the south, secure the region's economic resources.

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Warsaw Ghetto Uprising - April 19th 1943

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Warsaw Ghetto Uprising - April 19th 1943

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The Germans and the Jewish people were in this event. It was the uprising of Jews in the Warsaw ghetto against the Germans. They fought because the Germans wanted to deport the Jews who lived there, and didn’t want to be deported.

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The Warsaw ghetto was the largest Jewish ghetto in German-occupied Europe. Established by the Germans in October 1940, and sealed that November, the ghetto housed approximately 400,000 Jews.

The "Great Action"

From July 22 until September 12, 1942, German SS and police units, assisted by auxiliaries, carried out mass deportations from the Warsaw ghetto to the Treblinka killing center. During what was described as the "Great Action," the Germans deported about 265,000 Jews from Warsaw to Treblinka. They killed approximately 35,000 Jews inside the ghetto during this operation. By early 1943, the surviving Jews in the Warsaw ghetto numbered approximately 70,000 to 80,000 individuals.

The Jewish Underground (ŻOB and ŻZW) in the Warsaw ghetto

The "Great Action" had been disguised as a "resettlement operation." However, by late summer 1942 it was clear to many ghetto inhabitants that deportations from the ghetto meant almost certain death.

In response to these deportations, several Jewish underground organizations banded together on July 28, 1942. They created an armed self-defense unit known as the Jewish Combat Organization ( Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa ; ŻOB). It is estimated that ŻOB had roughly 200 members at the time of its formation.

There was also a second force organized by the right-wing Revisionist Zionist movement, especially its youth group, Betar. This second force was called the Jewish Military Union ( Żydowski Związek Wojskowy ; ŻZW).

Although initially there was tension between the ŻOB and the ŻZW, both groups worked together to oppose German attempts to destroy the ghetto. At the time of the uprising, the ŻOB had about 500 fighters in its ranks and the ŻZW had about 250.

During the summer of 1942, efforts to establish contact with the Polish military underground movement, called the Home Army ( Armia Krajowa ; AK), did not succeed. But in October, the ŻOB managed to establish contact with the AK. They obtained a small number of weapons, mostly pistols and explosives, from AK contacts.

The First Attempt at Resistance against the Germans

In January 1943, German SS and police units returned to the Warsaw ghetto to resume mass deportations. They planned to send thousands of the ghetto's remaining Jews to forced-labor camps in the Lublin District of the General Government.

A small group of Jewish fighters, armed with pistols, infiltrated a column of Jews being forced to the Umschlagplatz (transfer point). At a prearranged signal, this group broke ranks and fought their German escorts. Most of the Jewish fighters died in the battle. However, the attack disoriented the Germans. As a result, the Jews who were arranged in columns at the Umschlagplatz had a chance to disperse.

Jewish resistance leaders also encouraged fellow ghetto inhabitants to defy deportation orders and hide from German authorities. Seizing only 5,000-6,500 ghetto residents, the Germans suspended further deportations on January 21.

Encouraged by the apparent success of the resistance, people in the ghetto began to construct subterranean bunkers and shelters. They were preparing for an uprising should the Germans attempt a final deportation of the remaining Jews from the ghetto.

April 19, 1943-May 16, 1943

On April 19, 1943, the eve of the Passover holiday, the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto began their final act of armed resistance against the Germans. Lasting twenty-seven days, this act of resistance came to be known as the Warsaw ghetto uprising.

The Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB) had received advanced warning of a final deportation action planned by the Germans. In response, the ŻOB warned residents of the ghetto to retreat to their hiding places or bunkers.

German Preparations

Based on their experience earlier that year in January, German authorities had knowledge of the ghetto's defense organizations. On the eve of the action, they replaced the chief of the SS and Police in Warsaw, Obergruppenführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg, with SS and Police Leader [ SS- und Polizeiführer ] Jürgen Stroop. Stroop had considerable experience in partisan warfare. He also had considerable forces at his disposal. These forces included around 2,000 soldiers and police, reinforced with artillery and tanks.

Jewish Resistance

Twenty-four year old ŻOB commander Mordecai Anielewicz commanded the Jewish insurgents. The ŻOB fighters were armed with only pistols, grenades (many of which were homemade), and a few automatic weapons and rifles. Nonetheless, they stunned the Germans and their auxiliaries on the first day of fighting. They forced German troops to retreat outside the ghetto wall. Stroop reported losing 12 men during the first assault on the ghetto. These men were either killed or wounded.

About 700 young Jewish fighters clashed with German forces, sometimes in hand-to-hand combat. These fighters were poorly equipped and lacked military training and experience. The ŻOB did have the advantage of waging a guerilla war. They would strike, and then retreat, to the safety of ghetto buildings, bunkers, and underground tunnels. The general ghetto population likewise thwarted German deportation efforts, refusing to assemble at collection points and burrowing in underground bunkers.

In the end, the Germans razed the ghetto to the ground. They burned and demolished this part of Warsaw, block by block, in order to smoke out their prey.

The ghetto fighters and the civilian population who supported them held the Germans at bay for nearly a month. On May 8, 1943, German forces succeeded in seizing ŻOB headquarters at 18 Mila Street. Anielewicz and many of his staff commanders are thought to have committed suicide in order to avoid capture.

On May 16, Stroop announced in his daily report to Berlin that "The former Jewish Quarter in Warsaw is no more."

The entire sky of Warsaw was red. Completely red.
- Benjamin Meed (oral history)

To symbolize the German victory, Stroop ordered the destruction of the Great Synagogue on Tłomackie Street on May 16, 1943. The ghetto itself lay in ruins.

Casualties

The SS and police deported approximately 42,000 Warsaw ghetto survivors who were captured during the uprising. These people were sent to the forced-labor camps at Poniatowa and Trawniki, and to the Lublin/Majdanek concentration camp. Most of them would be murdered at these camps in November 1943 in a two-day shooting operation known as Operation Harvest Festival ( Erntefest ).

At least 7,000 Jews died fighting or in hiding in the ghetto. Approximately 7,000 Jews were captured by the SS and police at the end of the fighting. These Jews were deported to the Treblinka killing center where they were murdered.

For months after the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto, individual Jews continued to hide in the ruins of the ghetto. On occasion, they attacked German police officials on patrol. After the ghetto was liquidated, perhaps as many as 20,000 Warsaw Jews continued to live in hiding on the so-called Aryan side of Warsaw.

Legacy and Remembrance

The Warsaw ghetto uprising was the largest and, symbolically, most important Jewish uprising during World War II. It was also the first urban uprising in German-occupied Europe. The Jewish resistance in Warsaw inspired uprisings in other ghettos such as in Bialystok.

Today, Days of Remembrance ceremonies to commemorate the victims and survivors of the Holocaust are linked to the dates of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.

Last Edited: Apr 17, 2023

Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

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The Warsaw ghetto uprising was the largest, symbolically most important Jewish uprising, and first urban uprising in German-occupied Europe.

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Almost 133,000 troops from the United States, the British Commonwealth, and their allies brought together the land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest invasion force in human history in Normandy, France.

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The D-Day operation of June 6, 1944, brought together the land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest amphibious invasion in military history. The operation, given the codename OVERLORD, delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France. The beaches were given the code names UTAH, OMAHA, GOLD, JUNO, and SWORD. The invasion force included 7,000 ships and landing craft manned by over 195,000 naval personnel from eight allied countries. Almost 133,000 troops from the United States, the British Commonwealth, and their allies, landed on D-Day. Casualties from these countries during the landing numbered 10,300. By June 30, over 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies had landed on the Normandy shores. Fighting by the brave soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the allied forces western front, and Russian forces on the eastern front, led to the defeat of German Nazi forces. On May 7, 1945, German General Alfred Jodl signed an unconditional surrender at Reims, France.

Order of the Day, June 6, 1944:

General Eisenhower's determination that operation OVERLORD (the invasion of France) would bring a quick end to the war is obvious in this message to the troops of the Allied Expeditionary Forces on June 6, 1944, the morning of the invasion.

"Order of the Day" - statement as issued to the soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force on June 6, 1944 [Museum Manuscripts transferred to the Library FY69, Box 1; NAID #12000995]

"Order of the Day" - draft of statement [Ray W. Barker Papers, 1942-46, Box 1, Papers Pertaining to COSSAC and SHAEF, 1942-1945 (1); NAID #12010107]

In Case of Failure of the D-Day Operation:

Following the decision for the cross channel invasion, General Eisenhower wrote a press release on a pad of paper, to be used if necessary. The handwritten message by General Eisenhower, the "In Case of Failure message," is mistakenly dated "July" 5 instead of "June" 5.

In Case of Failure Message [Eisenhower's Pre-Presidential Papers, Principal File, Box 168, Butcher Diary June 28 - July 14, 1944 (2); NAID #186470] Transcript

Prelude to Operation Overlord:

The Trident Conference, May 1943 [Combined Chiefs of Staff: Conference Proceedings, Box 2, Trident Conference May 1943 Papers and Minutes of Meetings; NAID #12005142]

The Quadrant Conference, August 1943 [Combined Chiefs of Staff: Conference Proceedings, Box 2, Quadrant Conference August 1943 Papers and Minutes of Meetings; NAID #12005143]

Harry Butcher, Naval Aide to General Eisenhower, Diary Entry, October 5, 1943 [Eisenhower's Pre-Presidential Papers, Principal File, Box 167, Diary-Butcher Oct. 1 - Dec. 30 1943 (1); NAID #12004922]

The Sextant and Eureka Conferences, November-December 1943 [Combined Chiefs of Staff: Conference Proceedings, Box 2, Sextant Conference November-December 1943 Papers and Minutes of Meetings; NAID #12005144]
Handwritten note from President Roosevelt to Marshal Stalin appointing General Eisenhower to command Operation Overlord. General George Marshall added a note to Eisenhower on December 7, 1943
Overlord - Anvil Papers, December 1943 - April 1944 Part 1 [Walter Bedell Smith Collection of World War II Documents, Box 21, Overlord-Anvil Paper (1); NAID #12009137]

Overlord - Anvil Papers, December 1943 - April 1944 Part 2 [Walter Bedell Smith Collection of World War II Documents, Box 21, Overlord-Anvil Paper (6); NAID #12005073]

Operation Policy Memoranda, January 29, 1944 [DDE's Pre-Presidential Papers, Box 136, Conferences Supreme Commanders (Jan-June 1944); NAID #12005223]

British Assault Area - Naval Operation Orders, May 15, 1944 [Walter Bedell Smith Collection of World War II Documents, Box 48, British Assault Area - Naval Operation Orders Operation Neptune (1); NAID #12004565]

Minutes of the SCAEF 21st Meeting, June 2, 1944 [DDE's Pre-Presidential Papers, Box 136, Conferences Supreme Commanders (Jan-June 1944); NAID #12004923]

Conditions in Normandy, June 3, 1944 [DDE's Pre-Presidential Papers, Box 137, Crusade In Europe (Documents) (3); NAID #12005079]

Reports:

Report of the 8th Air Force, Normandy Invasion, June 2-17, 1944 [Walter Bedell Smith Collection of World War II Documents, Box 48, Eight Air Force Tactical Operations in Support of Allied Landings in Normandy June 2-17 1944 (1); NAID #12005069]

Report of the Amphibious Operations, Invasion of Northern France, Western Task Force, United States Fleet, June 1944 [Walter Bedell Smith Collection of World War II Documents, Box 48, Amphibious Operations Invasion of Northern France - Western Task Force June 1944; NAID #12005066]

Report of the 82nd Airborne Division, "Operation Neptune" at Normandy, June 6 - July 8, 1944 [U.S. Army Unit Records, Box 6, 82nd Airborne Division in Normandy France - Operation Neptune; NAID #12004816]

After Action Report, 115th Infantry, June 1944 [U.S. Army Unit Records, Box 867, 115th Infantry Regiment After Action Report June 1944; NAID #12004462]

After Action Report, Headquarters, 22nd Infantry, July 21, 1944 [U.S. Army Unit Records, Box 791, HQ 22nd Infantry Regiment After Action Report June 1944; NAID #12004463]

SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces) Messages:

SHAEF Incoming Message from General Eisenhower to General Marshall concerning the first reports of the Normandy landing, June 6, 1944 [DDE's Pre-Presidential Papers, Box 133, Cables Official (GCM/DDE February 19 - October 18, 1944) (4); NAID #594652]

SHAEF Message from General Eisenhower reporting on the D-Day landing area, June 8, 1944 [DDE's Pre-Presidential Papers, Box 130, Cables-(C.C.S. October 1943 - July 1945) (2); NAID #12009139]

Journal Entries:

Journal entries from the 16th Infantry Regiment Journal, June 6-17, 1944 [U.S. Army Unit Records, Box 1264, 16th Infantry Regiment Journal June 6-17 1944; NAID #12004868]

Additional Information:
D-Day: Planning Overlord Subject Guide D-Day: The Invasion Subject Guide
Photographs:

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World War II: D-Day, The Invasion of Normandy

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The D-Day operation of June 6, 1944, brought together the land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest amphibious invasion in military history. The operation, given the codename OVERLORD, delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France.

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The German Army and The Allied Army fought this battle with the most casualties for the U.S. Army. It was Adolf Hitler’s last major offense in the war against the Western Front. It happened in the Ardennes, France. The goal of the war was to try to split the Allied forces before they could arrive to Germany.

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Called "the greatest American battle of the war" by Winston Churchill, the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes region of Belgium was Adolf Hitler's last major offensive in World War II against the Western Front. Hitler's aim was to split the Allies in their drive toward Germany. The German troops' failure to divide Britain, France and America with the Ardennes offensive paved the way to victory for the allies.

Lasting six brutal weeks, from December 16, 1944, to January 25, 1945, the assault, also called the Battle of the Ardennes, took place during frigid weather conditions, with some 30 German divisions attacking battle-fatigued American troops across 85 miles of the densely wooded Ardennes Forest.

As the Germans drove into the Ardennes, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle's name. The battle proved to be the costliest ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties. The formerly serene, wooded region of Ardennes was hacked into chaos by fighting as the Americans dug in against the German advance at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and, later, Bastogne, which was defended by the 101st Airborne Division.

"Did you ever see land when a tornado's come through? Did you ever see trees and stuff, twisted and broken off? The whole friggin' forest was like that," said U.S. Army Charlie Sanderson in My Father's War: Memories from Our Honored WWII Soldiers.
READ MORE: 8 Things You May Not Know About the Battle of the Bulge
The surprise German attack broke through the front on day one as stories quickly spread of massacred soldiers and civilians, according to the U.S. Army Center of Military History.

"For those who had lived through 1940, the picture was all too familiar. Belgian townspeople put away their Allied flags and brought out their swastikas," the center writes. "Police in Paris enforced an all-night curfew. British veterans waited nervously to see how the Americans would react to a full-scale German offensive, and British generals quietly acted to safeguard the Meuse River's crossings. Even American civilians, who had thought final victory was near were sobered by the Nazi onslaught."

Troops Faced Severe Cold

Hitler's mid-December timing of the attack-one of the bloodiest of the war-was strategic, as freezing rain, thick fog, deep snow drifts and record-breaking low temperatures brutalized the American troops. More than 15,000 "cold injuries"-trench foot, pneumonia, frostbite-were reported that winter.

"I was from Buffalo, I thought I knew cold," baseball Hall of Famer and WWII veteran Warren Spahn said in The Love of Baseball. "But I didn't really know cold until the Battle of the Bulge."

Nazis Sent in Imposters and Changed Road Signs

Another Nazi strategy was to attempt to infiltrate the Allied troops.

Veteran Vernon Brantley, a private first class in the 289th Regiment, told the Fort Jackson Leader in 2009 that his unit had just arrived in Germany from France when they were told to load up and return to Luxembourg.

"We got word that the Germans had dropped a lot of paratroopers behind our lines, and that they were dressed like American Soldiers and spoke English," he said. "... They were there to create confusion."

The Germans also changed road signs and spread misinformation.

"The Nazis were carefully groomed for their dangerous mission," LIFE magazine reported in 1945. "They spoke excellent English and their slang had been tuned up by close association with American prisoners of war in German camps. ... Under the rules of the Hague Convention these Germans were classifiable as spies and subject to an immediate court martial by a military tribunal. After brief deliberation American officers found them guilty, and ordered the usual penalty for spies: death by firing squad."

To stop infiltrators, the U.S. troops would ask suspected Germans to answer American trivia questions.

"Three times I was ordered to prove my identity," Gen. Omar Bradley recalled, according to the Washington Post. "The first time by identifying Springfield as the capital of Illinois; the second by locating the guard between the center and the tackle on a line of scrimmage; the third time by naming the then-current spouse of a blonde named Betty Grable."
Click here to watch the full episode on the Battle of the Bulge and more from WWII in HD on History Vault
Allied Air Forces Arrived on Christmas Day

It wasn't until Christmas Day that the weather conditions finally cleared, allowing Allied air forces to strike.

"It was on that bright, clear and cold Christmas morning in 1944 that the ground froze solid," Brantley told the Leader. "The tanks and air forces could finally maneuver, and get assistance to all of us who were previously blocked off. ... It was a welcome sign to see the sun come up. It meant that we were alive for one more day."

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander, and Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. led the American defense to restore the front. According to the National Archives' Bloodiest Battle, Eisenhower gave Patton the Third Army, about 230,000 soldiers, and ordered him to head to the Ardennes.

101st Airborne Division Arrive in Bastogne

In the small, pivotal Belgian town of Bastogne, the Germans surrounded thousands of Allied troops. Eisenhower, in response, sent in more units, including the famed 101st Airborne Division.

"When the Germans sent a message demanding the surrender of the 101st on December 22, they got a one-word response from its commander, Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe: 'Nuts!'" the Bloodiest Battle states. "This was interpreted by German officers as a more colorful-and negative-response to their demand. The day after Christmas, units of Patton's rapidly approaching Third Army finally arrived, broke through the German lines, and rescued the troops."

Claiming victory of the battle on January 25, 1945, and the Allies headed for Berlin. The war ended less than five months later with Germany's May 7 surrender.

In all, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, 1 million-plus Allied troops, including some 500,000 Americans, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, with approximately 19,000 soldiers killed in action, 47,500 wounded and 23,000-plus missing. About 100,000 Germans were killed, wounded or captured.

"The Ardennes campaign of 1944-45 was only one in a series of difficult engagements in the battle for Europe," wrote John S.D. Eisenhower, in his 1969 book, The Bitter Woods. "Nevertheless, it can be said that the Ardennes campaign epitomized them all. For it was here that American and German combat soldiers met in the decisive struggle that broke the back of the Nazi war machine."

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Battle of the Bulge - Definition, Dates & Who Won

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The Battle of the Bulge took place in December 1944, after Adolf Hitler launched a surprise blitzkrieg against Allied Forces in northwest Europe. Caught off-guard, American units fought to stem the German advance. As the Germans pushed through American defenses, the front line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle's name.

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Auschwitz liberated by Soviet troops - January 27, 1945

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Auschwitz liberated by Soviet troops - January 27, 1945

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On this date, the Soviet army liberated approximately 7000 prisoners in Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Mankowitz in Auschwitz, Poland. Soviet troops wanted to free the survivors of the network of concentration camps.

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On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops enter Auschwitz, Poland, freeing the survivors of the network of concentration camps-and finally revealing to the world the depth of the horrors perpetrated there.

Auschwitz was really a group of camps, designated I, II, and III. There were also 40 smaller "satellite" camps. It was at Auschwitz II, at Birkenau, established in October 1941, that the SS created a complex, monstrously orchestrated killing ground: 300 prison barracks; four "bathhouses" in which prisoners were gassed; corpse cellars; and cremating ovens. Thousands of prisoners were also used for medical experiments overseen and performed by the camp doctor, Josef Mengele, the "Angel of Death."
Listen to HISTORY This Week Podcast: Episode 4: January 27, 1945 Surviving Auschwitz

READ MORE: The Shocking Liberation of Auschwitz: Soviets 'Knew Nothing' as They Approached Auschwitz Survivors Recall Harrowing and Heroic Moments From the Death Camps Horrors of Auschwitz: The Numbers Behind WWII's Deadliest Concentration Camp This Midwife at Auschwitz Delivered 3,000 Babies in Unfathomable Conditions The Jewish Men Forced to Help Run Auschwitz How the Nazis Tried to Cover Up Their Crimes at Auschwitz
The Red Army had been advancing deeper into Poland since mid-January. Having liberated Warsaw and Krakow, Soviet troops headed for Auschwitz. In anticipation of the Soviet arrival, SS officers began a murder spree in the camps, shooting sick prisoners and blowing up crematoria in a desperate attempt to destroy the evidence of their crimes. When the Red Army finally broke through, Soviet soldiers encountered 648 corpses and more than 7,000 starving camp survivors. There were also six storehouses filled with hundreds of thousands of women's dresses, men's suits and shoes that the Germans did not have time to burn.

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On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops enter Auschwitz, Poland, freeing the survivors of the network of concentration camps-and finally revealing to the world the depth of the horrors perpetrated there. Auschwitz was really a group of camps, designated I, II, and III. There were also 40 smaller "satellite" camps.

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Yalta Conference -  February 4, 1945 – February 11, 1945

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Yalta Conference -  February 4, 1945 – February 11, 1945

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The Yalta Conference involved President Franklin D. Roosevelt (The United States), Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Britain) and Soviet Primer Joseph Stalin (USSR). It was a conference between the leaders of the US, Britain, and the USSR in Yalta, Russia. It was held to discuss the future of the war and the world after the war.

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Tehran Conference

Prior to the Yalta Conference, the three leaders met in November 1943 in Tehran, Iran, where they coordinated the next phase of war against the Axis Powers in Europe and the Pacific.

At the Tehran Conference, the United States and Britain had committed to launching an invasion of northern France in mid-1944, opening another front of the war against Nazi Germany. Stalin, meanwhile, had agreed in principle to join the war against Japan in the Pacific after Germany was defeated.

By February 1945, as Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin gathered again at Yalta, an Allied victory in Europe was on the horizon. Having liberated France and Belgium from Nazi occupation, the Allies now threatened the German border; to the east, Soviet Union troops had driven back the Germans in Poland, Bulgaria and Romania and gotten within 40 miles of Berlin.

This put Stalin at a distinct advantage during the meeting at the Black Sea resort, a location he himself had proposed after insisting his doctors had barred him from traveling long distances.

Pacific War

While the war in Europe was winding down, Roosevelt knew the United States still faced a protracted struggle against Japan in the Pacific War, and wanted to confirm Soviet support in an effort to limit the length of and casualties sustained in that conflict. At Yalta, Stalin agreed that Soviet forces would join the Allies in the war against Japan within "two or three months" after Germany's surrender.

In return for its support in the Pacific War, the other Allies agreed, the Soviet Union would gain control of Japanese territory it had lost in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, including southern Sakhalin (Karafuto) and the Kuril Islands.

Stalin also demanded that the United States grant diplomatic recognition of Mongolia's independence from China: the Mongolian People's Republic, founded in 1924, was a Soviet satellite.
WATCH VIDEO: FDR: The War Years
Division of Germany

At Yalta, the Big Three agreed that after Germany's unconditional surrender, it would be divided into four post-war occupation zones, controlled by U.S., British, French and Soviet military forces. The city of Berlin would also be divided into similar occupation zones.

France's leader, Charles de Gaulle, was not invited to the Yalta Conference, and Stalin agreed to include France in the post-war governing of Germany only if France's zone of occupation was taken from the US and British zones.

The Allied leaders also determined that Germany should be completely demilitarized and "denazified," and that it would assume some responsibility for post-war reparations, but not sole responsibility.

Poland and Eastern Europe

Stalin took a hard line on the question of Poland, pointing out that within three decades, Germany had twice used the nation as a corridor through which to invade Russia. He declared that the Soviet Union would not return the territory in Poland that it had annexed in 1939, and would not meet the demands of the Polish government-in-exile based in London.

Stalin did agree to allow representatives from other Polish political parties into the communist-dominated provisional government installed in Poland, and to sanction free elections there-one of Churchill's key objectives.

In addition, the Soviets promised to allow free elections in all territories in Eastern Europe liberated from Nazi occupation, including Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.

In return, the United States and Britain agreed that future governments in Eastern European nations bordering Soviet Union should be "friendly" to the Soviet regime, satisfying Stalin's desire for a zone of influence to provide a buffer against future conflicts in Europe.

United Nations

At Yalta, Stalin agreed to Soviet participation in the United Nations, the international peacekeeping organization that Roosevelt and Churchill had agreed to form in 1941 as part of the Atlantic Charter. He gave this commitment after all three leaders had agreed on a plan whereby all permanent members of the organization's Security Council would hold veto power.

Having discussed these key issues, the Big Three agreed to meet again after Germany's surrender, in order to finalize the borders of post-war Europe and other outstanding questions.

"There is no doubt that the tide of Anglo-Soviet-American friendship had reached a new high," wrote James Byrnes, who accompanied Roosevelt to Yalta, in his memoirs. Though Roosevelt and Churchill also considered the Yalta Conference an indication that their wartime cooperation with the Soviets would continue in peacetime, such optimism would prove to be short-lived.

Impact of the Yalta Conference

By March 1945, it had become clear that Stalin had no intention of keeping his promises regarding political freedom in Poland. Instead, Soviet troops helped squash any opposition to the provisional government based in Lublin, Poland. When elections were finally held in 1947, they predictably solidified Poland as one of the first Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe.

Many Americans criticized Roosevelt-who was seriously ill during the Yalta Conference and died just two months later-for the concessions he made at Yalta regarding Soviet influence in Eastern Europe and Northeast Asia.

President Harry Truman, Roosevelt's successor, would be far more suspicious of Stalin that July, when the leaders of the Allied powers met again at the Potsdam Conference in Germany to hash out the final terms for ending World War II in Europe.

But with his troops occupying much of Germany and Eastern Europe, Stalin was able to effectively ratify the concessions he won at Yalta, pressing his advantage over Truman and Churchill (who was replaced mid-conference by Prime Minister Clement Attlee).

In March 1946, barely a year after the Yalta Conference, Churchill delivered his famous speech declaring that an " iron curtain" had fallen across Eastern Europe, signaling a definitive end to cooperation between the Soviet Union and its Western allies, and the beginning of the Cold War.
READ MORE: How the 'Big Three' Teed Up the Cold War at the 1945 Yalta Conference
Sources

The Yalta Conference 1945. Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State.
Terry Charman, "How Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin Planned to End the Second World War." Imperial War Museums, January 12, 2018.
The End of World War II and the Division of Europe. Center for European Studies, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Yalta Conference: Definition, Date & Outcome - HISTORY

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The Yalta Conference of 1945 was an historic meeting of three World War II allies: U.S. President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Churchill and Soviet Premier Stalin.

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Battle of Iwo Jima - February 19, 1945 – March 26, 1945

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Battle of Iwo Jima - February 19, 1945 – March 26, 1945

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US Marines and the Japanese Imperial Army fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima which was one of the bloodiest battles of WWII. The amphibious invasion of Iwo Jima was the resulting battle against Japanese forces on Iwo Jima. On the island of Iwo Jima, the US Army was hoped they could use Iwo Jima as a staging field for the potential invasion of mainland Japan.

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Iwo Jima Before the Battle

According to postwar analyses, the Imperial Japanese Navy had been so crippled by earlier World War II clashes in the Pacific that it was already unable to defend the empire's island holdings, including the Marshall archipelago.

In addition, Japan's air force had lost many of its warplanes, and those it had were unable to protect an inner line of defenses set up by the empire's military leaders. This line of defenses included islands like Iwo Jima.

Given this information, American military leaders planned an attack on the island that they believed would last no more than a few days. However, the Japanese had secretly embarked on a new defensive tactic, taking advantage of Iwo Jima's mountainous landscape and jungles to set up camouflaged artillery positions.

Although Allied forces led by the Americans bombarded Iwo Jima with bombs dropped from the sky and heavy gunfire from ships positioned off the coast of the island, the strategy developed by Japanese General Tadamichi Kuribayashi meant that the forces controlling it suffered little damage and were thus ready to repel the initial attack by the U.S. Marines, under the command of Holland M. "Howlin' Mad" Smith.

Marines Invade Iwo Jima

On February 19, 1945, U.S. Marines made an amphibious landing on Iwo Jima and were met immediately with unforeseen challenges. First and foremost, the beaches of the island were made up of steep dunes of soft, gray volcanic ash, which made getting sturdy footing and passage for vehicles difficult.

As the Marines struggled forward, the Japanese laid in wait. The Americans assumed the pre-attack bombardment had been effective, and had crippled the enemy's defenses on the island.

However, the lack of immediate response was simply part of Kuribayashi's plan.

With the Americans struggling to get a foothold on the beaches of Iwo Jima-literally and figuratively-Kuribayashi's artillery positions in the mountains above opened fire, stalling the advancing Marines and inflicting significant casualties.

Despite a banzai charge by dozens of Japanese soldiers as dusk fell, however, the Marines were eventually able to move in past the beach and seize part of one Iwo Jima's airfields-the stated mission of the invasion.

Battle of Iwo Jima Rages On

Within days, some 70,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima. Although they significantly outnumbered their Japanese enemies on the island (by a more than three-to-one margin), many Americans were wounded or killed over the five weeks of fighting, with some estimates suggesting more than 25,000 casualties, including nearly 7,000 deaths.

The Japanese, meanwhile, were also suffering major losses, and were running low on supplies-namely, weapons and food. Under Kuribayashi's leadership, they mounted most of their defenses via attacks under the cover of darkness.

While effective, the success of the Japanese forces seemed to merely forestall the inevitable.

Just four days into the fighting, U.S. Marines captured Mount Suribachi, on Iwo Jima's south side, famously raising an American flag at the summit. That image was captured by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, who won a Pulitzer Prize for the iconic photograph.

However, the fighting was far from over.

Iwo Jima Falls to American Forces

Battles raged on in the northern part of Iwo Jima for four weeks, with Kuribayashi essentially setting up a garrison in the mountains in that part of the island. On March 25, 1945, 300 of Kuribayashi's men mounted a final banzai attack.

The American forces sustained a number of casualties, but ultimately quelled the attack. Although the American military declared that Iwo Jima had been captured the next day, American forces spent weeks on end trudging through the island's jungles, finding and killing or capturing Japanese "holdouts" who refused to surrender and opted to continue fighting.

Dozens of Americans were killed during this process. Two Japanese holdouts continued to hide in the island's caves, scavenging food and supplies until they finally surrendered in 1949, almost four years after the end of World War II.

In the end, neither the U.S. Army nor the U.S. Navy was able to use Iwo Jima as a World War II staging area. Navy Seabees, or construction battalions, did rebuild the airfields for Air Force pilots to use in case of emergency landings.

Letters from Iwo Jima

Because of the brutality of the fighting, and the fact that the battle occurred fairly close to the end of World War II, Iwo Jima-and those who lost their lives trying to capture the island-retain a great deal of significance even today, decades after the fighting stopped.

In 1954, the U.S. Marine Corps dedicated the Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial, near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to honor all Marines. The statue is based on Rosenthal's now-famous photograph.

Actor/director Clint Eastwood in 2006 made two movies about the events on Iwo Jima called, respectively, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. The first depicts the battle from the American perspective, while the latter shows it from the Japanese perspective.

Sources

Brimelow, B. (2018). "73 years ago a war photographer snapped the most iconic image of World War II - here's the story of the battle behind the photo." BusinessInsider.com.

Naval History and Heritage Command. "The Battle for Iwo Jima." History.Navy.mil.

National World War II Museum. "Fact Sheet: the Battle for Iwo Jima." NationalWW2Museum.org.

National World War II Museum. "Iwo Jima and Okinawa: Death at Japan's Doorstep." NationalWW2Museum.org.

Gerow, A. (2006). "From Flags of Our Fathers to Letters From Iwo Jima: Clint Eastwood's Balancing of Japanese and American Perspectives." The Asia-Pacific Journal.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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Battle of Iwo Jima - Facts, Significance & Dates

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The Battle of Iwo Jima (February 19 - March 26, 1945) was an epic military campaign between U.S. Marines and the Imperial Army of Japan during World War II. American forces succeeded in securing the island, which was considered to have great tactical importance for its airfields.

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The German Army and the Soviet Army were fighting for the surrender of the German army and the death of Adolf Hitler (by suicide) in Berlin, Germany. They fought because Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was in a hurry to capture Berlin before the rest of the Allies so he could keep Germany's nuclear research secrets for himself.

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Kids learn about the Battle of Berlin in WW2 including who fought, the commanders, the events of the battle, who won, facts, and the results.

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Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day) - May 8, 1945

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Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day) - May 8, 1945

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Germany and allies celebrated this day to officially mark the end of World War II in Europe.  Germany unconditionally surrendered its military forces to the Allies (including the US) in Normandy, France.

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There were two surrender signings. The first was on May 7, 1945, when German Col. Gen. Alfred Jodl signed Germany's surrender on all fronts in Reims, France.

The second signing - insisted upon by Soviet Premier Josef Stalin - was by German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel the next day in Berlin. Jodl and Keitel were later found guilty of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, and both were subsequently executed.

The conflict began in 1939 when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland. Among the dead were about 6 million Jews who were murdered by Nazi Germany. Some 250,000 U.S. troops were also killed in the fighting in the European theater.

After the many deaths during the war in Europe, V-E Day was cause for worldwide celebration.

Tens of thousands of people filled the streets of New York, New Orleans, London, and cities in Canada, Australia and other Allied nations. There was also a massive celebration in Paris. U.S. forces participated in the celebrations in France, a nation that had borne much of the brunt of the fighting. The Soviets celebrated their own "Victory Day" on May 9.

President Harry S. Truman announced V-E Day to the American people, saying in a radio address: "Our rejoicing is sobered and subdued by a supreme consciousness of the terrible price we have paid to rid the world of Hitler and his evil band. Let us not forget, my fellow Americans, the sorrow and the heartache, which today abide in the homes of so many of our neighbors - neighbors whose most priceless possession has been rendered as a sacrifice to redeem our liberty."

Although fighting ended in Europe, it continued in the Pacific, where U.S. and Allied forces fought the Japanese in Okinawa, the Philippines and other places. The areas of Western Europe liberated by Allied forces would become thriving democracies, while those liberated in the East would be occupied for decades by Soviet forces.

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Victory in Europe Day: Time of Celebration, Reflection

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There were two surrender signings. The first was on May 7, 1945, when German Col. Gen. Alfred Jodl signed Germany's surrender on all fronts in Reims, France. The second signing - insisted upon by Soviet Premier Josef Stalin - was by German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel the next day in Berlin.

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Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - August 6th, 1945 and August 9th, 1945

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Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - August 6th, 1945 and August 9th, 1945

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American B- 29 Bomber and the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were all involved in the bombing. The dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki so that they could bring the war to a quick end, since Japan refused to stop fighting.

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Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Causes, Impact & Lives Lost

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On August 6, 1945, during World War II (1939-45), an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, immediately killing 80,000 people. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people.

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Victory in Japan Day (V-J Day) - August 15, 1945 – September 2, 1945

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Victory in Japan Day (V-J Day) - August 15, 1945 – September 2, 1945

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The citizens of Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea and the United Kingdom were involved in V-J Day marking the end of WWII. Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally. War-weary citizens around the world erupted in celebration.

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V-J Day, or Victory over Japan Day, marks the end of World War II, one of the deadliest and most destructive wars in history. When President Harry S. Truman announced on Aug. 14, 1945, that Japan had surrendered unconditionally, war-weary citizens around the world erupted in celebration.

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Nuremberg Trials - November 20, 1945 – October 1, 1946

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Nuremberg Trials - November 20, 1945 – October 1, 1946

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Nazi officials who committed crimes against humanity and/ or war crimes had to bring Nazi War criminals to justice for what they had done in the war. Thirteen trials of people who were considered to be Nazi War Criminals had to justify the things they did in Nuremberg, Germany at court.

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The Road to the Nuremberg Trials

Shortly after Adolf Hitler came to power as chancellor of Germany in 1933, he and his Nazi government began implementing policies designed to persecute German-Jewish people and other perceived enemies of the Nazi state. Over the next decade, these policies grew increasingly repressive and violent and resulted, by the end of World War II (1939-45), in the systematic, state-sponsored murder of some 6 million European Jews (along with an estimated 4 million to 6 million non-Jews).

Did you know? The death sentences imposed in October 1946 were carried out by Master Sergeant John C. Woods (1903-50), who told a reporter from Time magazine that he was proud of his work. "The way I look at this hanging job, somebody has to do it . . . 10 men in 103 minutes. That's fast work."

In December 1942, the Allied leaders of Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union "issued the first joint declaration officially noting the mass murder of European Jewry and resolving to prosecute those responsible for violence against civilian populations," according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). Joseph Stalin (1878-1953), the Soviet leader, initially proposed the execution of 50,000 to 100,000 German staff officers. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965) discussed the possibility of summary execution (execution without a trial) of high-ranking Nazis, but was persuaded by American leaders that a criminal trial would be more effective. Among other advantages, criminal proceedings would require documentation of the crimes charged against the defendants and prevent later accusations that the defendants had been condemned without evidence.

There were many legal and procedural difficulties to overcome in setting up the Nuremberg trials. First, there was no precedent for an international trial of war criminals. There were earlier instances of prosecution for war crimes, such as the execution of Confederate army officer Henry Wirz (1823-65) for his maltreatment of Union prisoners of war during the American Civil War (1861-65); and the courts-martial held by Turkey in 1919-20 to punish those responsible for the Armenian genocide of 1915-16. However, these were trials conducted according to the laws of a single nation rather than, as in the case of the Nuremberg trials, a group of four powers (France, Britain, the Soviet Union and the U.S.) with different legal traditions and practices.

The Allies eventually established the laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials with the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal (IMT), issued on August 8, 1945. Among other things, the charter defined three categories of crimes: crimes against peace (including planning, preparing, starting or waging wars of aggression or wars in violation of international agreements), war crimes (including violations of customs or laws of war, including improper treatment of civilians and prisoners of war) and crimes against humanity (including murder, enslavement or deportation of civilians or persecution on political, religious or racial grounds). It was determined that civilian officials as well as military officers could be accused of war crimes.

The city of Nuremberg (also known as Nurnberg) in the German state of Bavaria was selected as the location for the trials because its Palace of Justice was relatively undamaged by the war and included a large prison area. Additionally, Nuremberg had been the site of annual Nazi propaganda rallies; holding the postwar trials there marked the symbolic end of Hitler's government, the Third Reich.

The Major War Criminals' Trial: 1945-46

The best-known of the Nuremberg trials was the Trial of Major War Criminals, held from November 20, 1945, to October 1, 1946. The format of the trial was a mix of legal traditions: There were prosecutors and defense attorneys according to British and American law, but the decisions and sentences were imposed by a tribunal (panel of judges) rather than a single judge and a jury. The chief American prosecutor was Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954), an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Each of the four Allied powers supplied two judges-a main judge and an alternate.

Twenty-four individuals were indicted, along with six Nazi organizations determined to be criminal (such as the "Gestapo," or secret state police). One of the indicted men was deemed medically unfit to stand trial, while a second man killed himself before the trial began. Hitler and two of his top associates, Heinrich Himmler (1900-45) and Joseph Goebbels (1897-45), had each committed suicide in the spring of 1945 before they could be brought to trial. The defendants were allowed to choose their own lawyers, and the most common defense strategy was that the crimes defined in the London Charter were examples of ex post facto law; that is, they were laws that criminalized actions committed before the laws were drafted. Another defense was that the trial was a form of victor's justice-the Allies were applying a harsh standard to crimes committed by Germans and leniency to crimes committed by their own soldiers.

As the accused men and judges spoke four different languages, the trial saw the introduction of a technological innovation taken for granted today: instantaneous translation. IBM provided the technology and recruited men and women from international telephone exchanges to provide on-the-spot translations through headphones in English, French, German and Russian.

In the end, the international tribunal found all but three of the defendants guilty. Twelve were sentenced to death, one in absentia, and the rest were given prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life behind bars. Ten of the condemned were executed by hanging on October 16, 1946. Hermann Göring (1893-1946), Hitler's designated successor and head of the "Luftwaffe" (German air force), committed suicide the night before his execution with a cyanide capsule he had hidden in a jar of skin medication.

Subsequent Trials: 1946-49

Following the Trial of Major War Criminals, there were 12 additional trials held at Nuremberg. These proceedings, lasting from December 1946 to April 1949, are grouped together as the Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings. They differed from the first trial in that they were conducted before U.S. military tribunals rather than the international tribunal that decided the fate of the major Nazi leaders. The reason for the change was that growing differences among the four Allied powers had made other joint trials impossible. The subsequent trials were held in the same location at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg.

These proceedings included the Doctors Trial (December 9, 1946-August 20, 1947), in which 23 defendants were accused of crimes against humanity, including medical experiments on prisoners of war. In the Judges Trial (March 5-December 4, 1947), 16 lawyers and judges were charged with furthering the Nazi plan for racial purity by implementing the eugenics laws of the Third Reich. Other subsequent trials dealt with German industrialists accused of using slave labor and plundering occupied countries; high-ranking army officers accused of atrocities against prisoners of war; and SS officers accused of violence against concentration-camp inmates. Of the 185 people indicted in the subsequent Nuremberg trials, 12 defendants received death sentences, 8 others were given life in prison and an additional 77 people received prison terms of varying lengths, according to the USHMM. Authorities later reduced a number of the sentences.

Aftermath

The Nuremberg trials were controversial even among those who wanted the major criminals punished. Harlan Stone (1872-1946), chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court at the time, described the proceedings as a "sanctimonious fraud" and a "high-grade lynching party." William O. Douglas (1898-1980), then an associate U.S. Supreme Court justice, said the Allies "substituted power for principle" at Nuremberg.

Nonetheless, most observers considered the trials a step forward for the establishment of international law. The findings at Nuremberg led directly to the United Nations Genocide Convention (1948) and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), as well as the Geneva Convention on the Laws and Customs of War (1949). In addition, the International Military Tribunal supplied a useful precedent for the trials of Japanese war criminals in Tokyo (1946-48); the 1961 trial of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann (1906-62); and the establishment of tribunals for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia (1993) and in Rwanda (1994).

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Nuremberg Trials - Definition, Dates & Purpose

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The Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949 to try those accused of Nazi war crimes. The defendants, who included Nazi Party officials and high-ranking military officers, etc., were indicted on such charges as crimes against peace and crimes against humanity.

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In my opinion, the two most important events are the Battle of Berlin and the D-Day invasion. The Battle of Berlin was important because after Hitler died, he left an impact on the world as we see it today. It was also the last major battle in Europe during WWII. Germany surrendered from the war and that led to V-E Day which was the end of WWII. On V-E there was celebrating because it officially marked the end of WWII in Europe. There were also lasting impacts from the war such as rations, destruction that needed to be dealt with which added extra expenses for the government.