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22,June,1941 - 5,December,1941

The operation Barbarossa was the plan made by Nazi Germany to invade Soviet Union. The operation is named after Frederick Barbarossa which is a 12th-century Holy Roman Emperor and Crusader. This operation is the largest and costliest land offensive in human history.

In this operation Germany planned to occupy the whole west Russia by the A-A line which is from the northern city of Arkhangelsk on the Arctic Sea through Gorky and Rostov to the port city of Astrakhan at the mouth of the Volga on the Caspian Sea in three months.

"We only have to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down."—Adolf Hitler

On the morning of 22,June,1941, the German army started crossing the board and attacking the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was not prepared for the German invasion. At very beginning days, most of the Soviet air force was destroyed by German bomber without taking off. Until August, Germany succeeded in occupying most of the Ukraine, Belarus and Baltic areas.

Nazi Germany's speed was getting slower and slower. They were still far away from the three most important big cities-Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad. The situation was getting worse from Germany, they failed to finish their plan in the summer. The autumn of Russia made all the roads become muddy. The motorization army was stuck.

Operation typhoon

On 13,October,1941, a German troop managed to close Moscow in only 141 km. But the Soviet army successfully defended. After that the winter was coming, it was the coldest winter recorded at that time(-28 degrees in Moscow).

With the failure to invade Moscow, the Barbarossa plan broke.

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World War II - Eastern Front (1941-1945) - Every Day

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1 September 1939 – 6 October 1939

Operation White

The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was signed. Germany claimed that the Polish army attacked a radio tower station in Gleiwitz, but actually was SS officers wearing polish uniforms. After the invasion happened, at Poland's request, the British and France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939. But in the end, the aid that had been given to Poland was very limited. The British and France didn't do any big operation to help Poland.

On 17 September, according to the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east.

On 6 October, Germany and the Soviet Union defeated the polish army and gained full control of Poland.

The Polish government-in-exile formed in London.

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10 July – 31 October 1940

The battle of Britain was the campaign that the Royal Navy Force and Royal Air Force defended the Britain against Nazi German air force. It was the first campaign fought entirely by the air force.

The primary object for Germany is to force the British to sign a peace settlement since France was surrounded already, then they can end the war.

At the first stage, on 16 July, Hitler prepared an operation called Operation Sea Lion as a potential operation to attack the British mainland. But with the failure of destroying the British air force and control the British Channel, Nazi cancelled the operation.

At the second stage, Nazi started the attack by air but not for invade British, it's for destroying British army industry. But soon it became just revenge for British bombed Berlin. All the Nazi air force went to attack London instead of important military industry.

On 22 June 1941, Nazi started invading Soviet Union, they had to put all the main army to the eastern front line, the battle of Britain ended.

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俄罗斯库尔斯克州库尔斯克

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5 July 1943 – 23 August 1943

The battle of Kursk is a major battle of the Eastern Front Line in WWII. This battle is the largest battle of tanks and largest single battle in history so far. With the battle of Stalingrad a few months earlier, these two battles were the turning point of the eastern front line in WWII, and contributed to Soviet Victory.

The Nazi tried to cut and surrounded the Soviet Army like they did in 1941, but the Red Army learned quickly from the war, arranged an effective defense against Nazi's strategic offensive. And as western allies invaded Sicily, Hitler had to divert the army from the eastern front line to help Italy.

The battle of Kursk is known as "last gasp of Nazi aggression".

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9 July – 17 August 1943

The purpose of the operation was to divert some Axis forces from the eastern front line.

The allies arranged huge airborne landings and sea borne landings. The battle of Husky achieved the goals that were planned. The allies succeeded in capturing the Sicily island in southern Italy. This made a preparation for allies to attack Italy on September 3 1943. And this is the first time the allies' merchant ships can access the Mediterranean sea since 1941. And Nazi Germany had to divert their army from eastern front line to help defense Italy. This contributed to Germany losing the battle of Kursk.

This also led to Benito Mussolini, being toppled from power in Italy on 25 July.

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8–16 November 1942

Operation Torch is an operation that secured British victory in North Africa and let America fight Nazi Germany and Italy on a limited scale.

After France was surrounded, French colonies were aligned with the Vichy France created by Germany. But the loyalties are mixed, a report said they may support allies.

The plan of the operation is to have a three-pronged attack on Casablanca(west), Oran (Center) and Algiers (Eastern). Then perform a rapid move to capture Tunis to catch the Axis force with the British army from the east(Egypt).

The West Task Force met an unexpected resistance and bad weather but they still managed to capture Casablanca, the principal French Atlantic naval base. The Eastern Task Force met less opposition and were able to push inland on the first day.

The success of the Torch Operation caused Admiral François Darlan, commander of the Vichy French forces to co-operate with allies and the previous Vichy West Africa Government joined allies.

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6 June – 30 August 1944

The Operation Overlord is more famously known as the Battle of Normandy. The purpose of the operation was to invade the western Europe that controlled by Nazi Germany. Hitler placed Erwin Rommel responsible for the fortification of the Atlantic Wall in France. The Wall tried to prevent allies from landing in Europe but failed. By the end of May, 1.5 million American soldiers arrived the British.

The allies succeeded in making Hitler believe that allies would land in Pas de Calais which is only around 40 km away from the British mainland. On 6 June, about 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel, including 1,200-plane airborne assault. By the end of August there were two million allies in France. The French Resistance in Paris rose against the Germans on 19 August. By 25 August, the whole city was liberated.

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December 7, 1941

Attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike played by Imperial Japan. The purpose of the strike was to destroy the US Navy before America got into the war against Japan. And because America gave an oil embargo to Japan, Japan lacked oil. So Japan wanted to attack South-East Asia to seize the resource.

After Japan's successful raid on Pearl Harbor, America joined the allies, and German declared war on America.

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4–7 June 1942

The battle of midway was fought during 4-7 June 1942. It is known as the turning point of the Pacific War. The plan of the Japanese was to lure America's aircraft carrier and destroy them to weaken America's power in the Pacific. However, the US army had successfully broken out Japanese Navy code and were aware of their trap. So the Americans had put four aircraft carriers near the midway island before the Japanese attack. The result of the battle was that Japan lost four aircraft carriers but the US only lost one aircraft carrier. The balance between Japan and America had shifted after this battle. America had taken back control of the Pacific War. This eventually contributed to the victory of allies in the Pacific.

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19 February – 26 March 1945

The US Army launched the Operation Detachment to capture the island with its two air fields. The island was heavily fortified, and different from other battles of the Pacific, casualties of this battle were very high. There were 21,000 Japanese soldiers on this island when the battle began. But only 216 were taken prisoner.

There were several reasons why Japanese had to defend this island.

First, the Japanese Imperial Navy almost lost all of its power in the previous battle, they can't defend the islands anymore.

Second, Japan also lost its air force, and it's impossible to help defend this island because it's too far from mainland Japan.

Third, if America captured the island, they can threaten the Japanese mainland and Taiwan by their air force.

The battle on the island was difficult with a ratio of three American casualties for every two Japanese.

The photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag at the top of Mount Suribachi becomes extreme popular.

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9 August – 20 August 1945

Operation August Storm

According to the Tehran Conference in November 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union promised to enter the Pacific Theater within three month after the end of the war in Europe.

The Nazi Germany surrounded in 9 May 1945. The Soviet Union used Trans-Siberian Railway to send their troops to their far-east land.

On 9 August 1945, just three months after Germany was surrounded, the Soviet army attacked Japanese puppet Manchukuo, and destroyed the Kwantung Army in a week. The Manchuria operation happened in a place that sums up areas of Germany and Italy. The operation was carried out as a classic double pincer movement over an area the size of the entire Western European theater of World War II.

As the most elite army, Kwantung Army, got defeated and America's nuclear bomb in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan surrounded in 15 May 1945.

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August 1942 to February 1943

The Solomon Islands campaign was a battle that America and Australia against Imperial Japan in west Pacific. The Solomon Islands was an important military position in west Pacific. By capturing the islands, America can open a way to recapture the Philippines, and cut off the resource of Japan from Netherlands East Indies.

Battle of Guadalcanal

August 1942 - February 1943

The battle of Guadalcanal is a famous battle in the Solomon Islands campaign. It followed allies' succeeded in Midway and Coral Sea in May and June in 1942. It was allies' first offensive against Japan. The operation effectively allowed them to seize the strategic initiative in the Pacific theater from the Japanese, contributed to the allies won the war.

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4–8 May 1942

The battle of Coral Sea was a battle between the IJN and allies(America and Australia) navy battle. This was the first navy battle that didn't fire upon one another, but use air craft carriers instead.

The objective for Japan was to strengthen their power in South-East Asia and cut off Australia's supply from other ally countries.

The battle started by Japanese forces successfully invading Tulagi on May 3. But the Japanese Navy's battleships were sunk by a surprise attack from the American Navy USS carrier Yorktown. The Japanese tried to locate allies and fought back. On the next day, both sides used aircraft carriers to attack. But they all failed to achieve the goal, attack enemies' aircraft carriers. Both Japanese navy and US navy attacked wrong target(The U.S. sank the Japanese light carrier Shōhō, and the Japanese sank the Sims, a destroyer, and damaged the fleet oiler Neosho.)

On the 8 May, the last day of the battle, both sides finally located the location of enemies aircraft carriers.

Both sides suffered from damaging or sunk aircraft carriers. Though Japanese Navy got the victory at last, but this battle still described as a strategic victory for the Allies, because from this battle they prevented some aircraft carriers to participate the battle of Midway.

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8 April  – 10 June 1940

The invasion of Norway is a part of Operation Weserübung. The value of Norway for Nazi is that the iron from Sweden pass through the Norway port, and they wanted to control the Baltic Sea. The British, France sent a troop to north Norway to help them.

The campaign ended until the king of Norway escaped to the British.

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9 April 1940

The invasion of Denmark is a part of the Operation Weserübung – Süd. When Germany attacked Denmark, it still stayed neutral. Germany wanted the access to the Baltic Sea to continue the trade with Sweden.

On the same day Germany invaded Denmark, Denmark surrounded.

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10 May–17 May 1940

The invasion of the Netherlands is a part of the Case Yellow. It was for the Nazi Germany to bypass the Maginot.

The battle lasted until all the Dutch army surrounded on 10 may 1940.

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10 May –28 May 1940

The invasion of Belgium is a part of the Case Yellow. After France and the British fully sent their army to Belgium, Germany started the second phase of the operation, a breakthrough through the Ardennes, and advanced toward the English Channel. At the end surround all the allied army.

The Belgian Army surrendered on 28 May 1940, ending the battle.

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10 May – 25 June 1940

In the Case Yellow, the German army made a surprise push through the Ardennes. British, Belgian and French forces were pushed back to the sea by the Germans. They were surrounded. Then they push deep to France, occupying Paris unopposed on 14 June.

On 22 June 1940, the Second Armistice at Compiègne was signed by France and Germany. A new neutral government replaced the third republic.

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10 May 1940

Germany troops quickly occupied the whole country in one day. The government escaped to London the same day.

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17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943

Stalingrad is a city in the south Soviet, it was an important industry center and transport hub on the Volga River. If Stalingrad fell, Germany would capture Soviet oil field very soon. So Stalingrad was placed in an important place by both Soviet and Nazi Germany. The city was also a very important symbol for the Soviet Union, because it was named by the leader Joseph Stalin.

On 17 July, the German Army approached the city. On 23 August, with the help of German Air force, the 6th army started attacking the city.

On 19 November, the Red Army started Operation Uranus, they succeeded surrounding the 6th army in the city. On 2 February 1943, the 6th army was running out of food and supplies, then they surrendered to Soviet.

The battle of Stalingrad is known as the bloodiest and fiercest battle of the entirety of World War II. And it was the turning point of the WWII.

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Battle of Stalingrad using Google Earth Remastered

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14 January – 1 March 1944

It was launched by the Red Army on January 14, 1944 with an attack on the German Army Group North by the Soviet Volkhov and Leningrad fronts, and alone through the Baltic Sea. The objective of the operation is to fully lift the siege of Leningrad from 1941.

In the first month, the Red Army successfully took back the control of Leningrad-Moscow railway and lifted the siege of Leningrad. The operation stopped in March, Soviet managed to push the front line to the Luga River.

This offensive was listed as one of Stalin's ten blows.

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16 April – 2 May 1945

The battle of Berlin was one of the major battles in WWII Europe Theater. After the Vistula–Oder offensive, the Soviet Union captured the whole east of Europe, the battle started happening in German territory. By the time of late March, the Red Army was only 60 km east from Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany.

On 16 April, the Red Army attacked from the north and south. Stalin let the main commanders of the front army, Georgy Zhukov, Konstantin Rokossovsky and Ivan Konev raced for Berlin. The competition was not just between the Soviet commanders, but also between the western country and Soviet Union.

The army was available for Germany, were roughly 45,000 people from different forces, such as the SS and remained Germany army from eastern front line. Over a week's attack, the Red Army were more and more close to the center of the city. On 30 April, Hitler committed suicide. There were little resistance until 8 May, all the army surrounded to Soviet Union or the western countries.

The war of Europe ended.

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12 January – 2 February 1945

In the operation, the Red Army made a huge progress. They advanced 480 km, and captured Kraków, Warsaw and Poznań, and move into German territory(Only 60 kilometers from Berlin).

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8–25 December 1941

On the same morning Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Japan attacked British Hong Kong to clear the British power in Asia, and attack China from south.

Less than three weeks later, the colony government surrendered.

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8 December 1941 – 9 March 1942

Indonesia was one of the Japanese targets. Because they wanted to take over the resources including oil in Indonesia.

With American protection in Indonesia, they couldn't attack it. This led to a plan to destroyed the American fleet before the war.

On the same day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Japan attacked Indonesia. On 8 March, the colony government decided to surrender.

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8 December 1941(Five hours in total)

There was only a brief fight between Japan and Thailand in south Thailand. Japan succeed to force Thailand to join the Axis.

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Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign(Island hopping)

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Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign(Island hopping)

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America used the Island hopping strategy against the Japanese Empire in Pacific Theater during World War II. The core of the strategy was to bypass the islands that were heavily fortified instead of capturing every island. And only to capture some important island, then America can easily cut the supply of the rest of the islands.

The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign was one of the battles of American Island hopping strategy. The battle lasted from August 1942 until February 1944. The Japanese army captured Gilbert island three days after the Pearl Harbor. The purpose of the US Navy was to establish an air base that can support the battle in the middle Pacific.

America managed to capture Gilbert and Marshall but with heavy casualties in Gilbert Island.

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23–26 October 1944

The battle of Leyte Gulf is one of the largest navy battles in human history. The Leyte Gulf was very important for the allies to retake the Philippines from Japan. Japan also realized that, so they mobilized nearly all of their remain major navy power to defend the area, but the allies' navy power was still stronger than Japanese Navy after the success in other places in the Pacific.

The battle can be mainly divided into four separate battles: the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle off Cape Engaño, and the Battle off Samar.

The Japanese's plan was to use an aircraft carrier to lure the allies army and their battle ships will attack allies' navy force from west. But they didn't succeed.

The result of the battle was that allies got a decisive victory and contributed to recapture the Philippines.