WWII to Cold War by Hunter Nagy

The Last Stand of Dunkirk

hn745 — 2024-11-19 17:34:09 UTC

Dunkirk was the last stand for the advancing German army as the French and British forces were pushed back and surrounded by Germany. 300 thousand troops were trapped in the town and most of the troops were rescued but many did not make it out. However due to civilian help the outcome was a lot better than it could have been.

Invasion of Poland

hn745 — 2024-11-20 16:59:08 UTC

The invasion of Poland is a hugely important part of the war as when Germany attacked the country war was declared. Britain and France only 2 days later had declared war, starting the second world war. The invasion also showed the efficiency of Hitler's blitzkrieg (lightning war). The entire country was forced to surrender 4 weeks later as Germany had leveled the country. This level of speed and efficiency was unheard of up until the blitzkrieg as war was normally a slow and devastating thing. The invasion of Poland though had altered that perspective as it was done in 4 weeks.

Canadian Atlantic Navy Port

hn745 — 2024-11-21 17:29:44 UTC

The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is one of Canadian's biggest contributions in WW2. They had been an important part of The Battle of the Atlantic as they had been responsible for the sinking of 21 German U-Boats, a tenth of the total sunk during the war. The RCN were operated in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Canadian Pacific Navy Port

hn745 — 2024-11-21 17:33:23 UTC

The Royal Canadian Navy was also stationed in the Pacific ocean to help with the stopping of Japanese forces in the Pacific. They are stationed in Esquimalt, BC.

The Battle of Kursk

hn745 — 2024-11-28 17:17:01 UTC

This was the location of the biggest tank warfare of the second world war. Known as the Battle of Kursk, it was an unsuccessful raid from the Germans to take Soviet land. Over 600 thousand tanks were used in the battle, the most in history.

Stalingrad, Soviet Union

hn745 — 2024-11-28 17:24:06 UTC

This town was formerly known as Stalingrad and was known for its battle during the second world war. It was the first loss for German troops as the troops left the city in a rumble and later were cut out and annihilated.

Pearl Harbor Bombing

hn745 — 2024-11-28 17:30:49 UTC

This Japanese attack on the Navy base in Pearl Harbor changed the tides of the Japanese. This one attack made the united states enter the war a short time later, two days later.

Czechoslovakia

hn745 — 2024-11-29 04:48:02 UTC

In March 1939, Hitler invades Czechoslovakia, breaking the munich pact. This caused lots of concern for the trustworthiness of Germany as tensions started to rise.

Annexation of Austria

hn745 — 2024-11-29 04:57:40 UTC

Hitler's home country was Austria so it was almost a no brainer for him to want control over the country. Many of the people of Austria welcomed Hitler and his takeover with open arms and support.

Non Aggression Pact

hn745 — 2024-11-29 05:08:58 UTC

The Non Aggression Pact was a very important part of the beginning of the Second World War. The Soviet Union and Germany allied together until Germany broke the pact later in the war.

Battle of Britain

hn745 — 2024-11-29 05:19:45 UTC

The Battle of Britain was a very important battle for the allied forces. If this battle would have been won by Germany the war would have ended much differently. This was Britain's last stand but they never lost and were able gto fight another day.

Operation Barbarossa

hn745 — 2024-11-29 05:29:25 UTC

The operation started 22 June, 1941, and was supposed to be a quick operation to get the "weak" soviet army. However this decision was the worst thing Germany could have made. They lost the war after a counterattack from the Soviets due to the initial attack.

D-Day

hn745 — 2024-11-29 05:38:36 UTC

On June 6th, 1944, Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy in the largest amphibious invasion in history. Code named OVERLOAD, it had delivered 5 naval assault divisions that all storm the beaches to gain as much land as fast as possible. All in an effort to beat the Germans.

Berlin, Germany

hn745 — 2024-11-29 05:45:35 UTC

Russian (Soviet) troops reached Berlin April 1945, they basically marked the end of the war for Germany. On April 30th 1945, Hitler killed himself to not to captured as the Soviet troops were closing in.

The Atomic Bomb Pt 1

hn745 — 2024-11-29 16:15:22 UTC

This event had forever changed the world, the use of the Atomic Bomb was new ground for the war. The devastation faced by Japanese citizens was huge and casualties had reached thousands. Dropped Aug 6, 1945 on Hiroshima.

Atomic Bomb Pt 2

hn745 — 2024-11-29 16:19:55 UTC

The second bomb had been just as destructive as the first. It was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, citizens, some unaware, were still living their lives. The bomb was dropped Aug 9, 1945, only 5 days later on Aug 14, Japan surrendered.

The Invasion of Norway

hn745 — 2024-11-29 16:28:03 UTC

The Germans had invaded Norway as they feared the British and France wanted to occupy it. So Germany had wanted to gain control of it before it could happen. They also wanted to gain undisputed trade of Swedish iron to Germany.

French Armistice

hn745 — 2024-11-29 16:36:53 UTC

The Germans had beaten and conquered France and were basically forcing them to surrender. In a final show of pettiness Hitler made France surrender in the same traincar Germany had surrendered in ww1.

Execution of Mussolini

hn745 — 2024-11-29 16:48:09 UTC

As the Nazi began to get ready to surrender Mussolini to escape to Switzerland. However his disguise didn't work as planned as he was captured and killed by machine gun fire in the village of Giulino di Mezzegra.

Battle of El Alamein

hn745 — 2024-11-29 16:54:36 UTC

This was the turning point of the North Africa campaign as Allies attacked the Nazi's stationed there. Over half a million German troops had surrendered as the German and Italian army lost the battle to the British 8th Army.

The Closest Humanity has Gotten to Fallout!

hn745 — 2025-01-21 17:14:35 UTC

-The Cuban Missile Crisis was closest to a nuclear war we have ever gotten in history. A Soviet Sub had almost launched nuclear weapons upon the US. This was a result of the sub getting too close to the blockade surrounding Cuda at the time. The sub had thought that war had started and 2 out of 3 on board responsible for launching the missile had wanted to fire it. However, the one person_,Stanislav Petrov, that had decided not basically saved the world from nuclear war as the US was ready to start dropping as well.

-This event is one of the most significant events in the 20th century as it was the closest to all out nuclear war we have ever gotten. The world had felt the impact of this and the US/USSR had installed a hotline to prevent another near end scenario. The world had also been important as it was the reason for the "Mutually Assured Destruction" clause put into place between the USSR and US.

Communism Arrives in Cuba

hn745 — 2025-01-21 17:31:26 UTC

-In 1959 Cuba became a communist country and this caused a lot of problems as it is only 90 miles from the mainland US. Fidel Castro becomes the leader of the country, during this time as leader there were 643 attempts on his life. In response to the missiles in Turkey and Italy the USSR sent missiles to Cuba. This action raised many flags for the US due to Cuba's close proximity to its mainland. This sparked the naval blockade of Cuba by the US, this made sure no USSR ships could reach Cuba.

-This is significant to the 20th century because of the major ties to the US actions. The US was focused on Cuba for a while, sending hundreds of assassination and interference attempts to Cuba. In addition, this conflict of Cuba's communism lead the Cuban Missile Crisis, the closest the world came to the end.

Separation of Western and Eastern Berlin

hn745 — 2025-01-22 16:41:52 UTC

- The Berlin Wall was 100 miles long and 12 feet tall and was built in the middle of Berlin. The purpose of the wall was to stop the travel between East and West Berlin. This was due to the West side of the city being a part of the Communist USSR, citizens were trying to escape into none Communist side of Berlin and then to Eastern Europe. This caused the USSR to build the wall to keep people in as many of them were smarter people leaving. This act made the Soviets look weak as they were so desperate to keep people in their country.

- The significance this event has in the 20th century is that it was a huge sidetrack in the USSR. It made the country appear weak which at the was a bad thing as they were in turmoil with several other nations around the world. In addition, the wall was a symbol of the time as it was a lateral separation of Communist and Non-communist views. So when it was torn down it was a symbol of the fall of Communism in the world.

United States Nuclear Testing

hn745 — 2025-01-23 16:19:08 UTC

-Bikini Atoll was one of the most famous nuclear weapon testing sites from the cold war. During its use there was 20 hydrogen bomb denoted including Castle Bravo. This bomb was 100 times more powerful than teh one dropped on Nagasaki.

-This site has significance as it has ties to the nuclear arms race. This was one of the most significant parts of the cold war as it was the creation and testing of nuclear weapons. The testing of bombs at this site was a display of power to the Soviet Union to win the arms race.

The USSR Nuclear Testing Site

hn745 — 2025-01-23 16:42:22 UTC

-This site was one of the primary locations of nuclear weapons testing during the cold war by the USSR. During its operation 456 nuclear weapons were detonated there. It was also known as "The Polygon." This site was one of the aspects used to display their power in the arms race.

-This location is significant in the 20th century due to its role in the nuclear arms race. This testing site was the main one used by the USSR to sow their power of nuclear weapons to the US. This site was also a way of the USSR to show their power to the world through the testing of nuclear weapons.

The Invasion of South Korea

hn745 — 2025-01-24 15:16:08 UTC

-January of 1950, Stalin approves the invasion of South Korea thus starting the Korean War. The UN had sent in support to aid the Capitalist South Korea and the battle would stay a stalemate for 3 years. Nations throughout the UN including Canada had helped in the conflict and the border had basically stayed the same.

-This battle was significant to the 20th century as the battle proved that Communism would be contained. The battle was successful at not allowing Communist ideology into South Korea and gave hope it could be stopped.

The War on Vietnam

hn745 — 2025-01-24 15:35:36 UTC

-The Vietnam war was one of the most brutal wars in US history as the fighting involved ambushes and citizen attacks in South Vietnam. The war started with the assassination of JFK which was influenced by the previous assassination of teh South Vietnam leader. The war had little support from citizens in the US and strategies began to grow more brutal. When Nixon had become president after a bit of time he had to withdraw from the war.

-The significance to the 20th century this event carries is the show of military power a Communist country can still have over the US. This also showed a lot of weakness in the US as they couldn't even beat Vietnam in a battle.

The US Space Centre

hn745 — 2025-01-24 16:12:48 UTC

-The space race in the US is seen as a very important part of the cold war as the advancements in technology during this time were huge. The creation of NASA was to catch up with the Soviet space program at the time which was far ahead. This race was basically seen as a show of superiority over the other as both sides were racing to be the first on the moon. With Apollo 11, the US had been the first people on the moon beating the USSR.

-There are two reasons this was significant to the 20th century. The first being the fear of the USSR out pacing and finding ways to spy on the US from space. This fear was the reason for the race as the US tried to keep up. The other reason being the cooperation that the USSR and US shared after the space race was over.

The USSR Space Program

hn745 — 2025-01-24 16:34:26 UTC

-The USSR were the first to get a satellite into space with the launch of Sputnik in 1957. This sparked concern in the US as the USSR now had technology more advanced than theirs. This led to the space race where the USSR had an early lead, they launched Sputnik 2 with a dog named Lika a month. They also had the first person in space and the first person to orbit the earth.

-The significance to the 20th century this event had is the creation of first people and things being too space. This was a huge moment of technology and invention as there were no breakthroughs in this race all the time.

The Iron Curtain

hn745 — 2025-01-24 16:51:39 UTC

-The Iron Curtain was a "border" for the satellite states controlled by the USSR to not make contact with the Eastern countries. These were states like East Germany and Poland. It's purpose was in an effort to seal itself off from the rest of the non-Communist ideas.

-This was a significant part of the cold war because this was one of the USSR's first advancements after the war to both contain and control the people from getting non-communist ideas from the East.

The CIA's first mission

hn745 — 2025-01-25 05:50:48 UTC

The CIA, Central Intelligence Agency, was a spy organization disconnected from the government and military. Their 1st mission was to prevent the election of the Communist Italian party from gaining power. They did this through several different techniques from bribes and protest to full blown murders and assassinations.

-This was significant as this mission sparked many throughout the cold war. Their influence on the world through assassinations and rigging of election in the US's favor did lots to aid the anti-communist countries. This had a huge overall impact on the events at the time and through the cold war.

Cambodian Genocide

hn745 — 2025-01-25 06:09:00 UTC

-The Cambodian Genocide was a started after the Communist leader began forcing thousands into prison and labour camps. These camp would torture, exponent and then execute the prisoners. An estimated 2 million were said to have died in the Genocide, roughly 1/4 of the population of the country at the time.

-This event was significant to the Cold War as it showed the true dangers of a Communist government. Under the Communist rule Cambodia had suffered terribly. They faced a lot of loss and suffering and to many countries it simply showed teh dangers and renforced their anti-Comm. views.

Mao’s Famine

hn745 — 2025-01-27 00:59:16 UTC

-Mao, the leader of China, modeled his rule after Stalin's. This modeling involved a lot of purges, fear, starvation and death. This leadership led to The Great Famine. 20-50 million people were said to have died during this famine. Mao had made the famine worse with grain requisitions.

-This event is significant in the 20th century as the famine was hugely impactful on the population of China. There was 30-50 million deaths during the famine, that's more people then the Holocaust.

Suez Crisis

hn745 — 2025-01-27 01:32:06 UTC

-The Suez Crisis was when Egypt was working with both the US through funding and the USSR. They were playing with both sides. Britain, France and Israel didn't like this and invaded Egypt for this. However, Egypt were condemned by the US and USSR

-This was significant to the 20th century as this event was a huge laughing point for France and Britain. This event basically showed the world they weren't the major powers they once were. They were shut down and ordered to stop. This event also sparked more US involvement in the Middle East.

McCarthyism or Red Scare

hn745 — 2025-01-27 01:42:19 UTC

-This part of the Cold War was the height of fear of Communism in the US. Anyone accused of being a Communist was tried and even blacklisted. This was limited to no one, everyone was at risk and even Celebrities weren't safe.

-This event was significant to the 20th century because the US was in fear of their own neighbours. They believe anyone could be a Communist and that they are never safe. This also was a time of fear of saying secrets as they believed a Communist could be listening in on them.