major battles of wwii

Major Battles of WWII

Although Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor FDR felt that Americans needed to defeat Germany in Europe first

By 1941 Hitler occupied almost all of Europe until he invaded Russia in 1941

This was a huge mistake as Germany was not prepared for Russian winters and never made it to the capital of Moscow.

The War in Europe

The campaign in Africa and Italy

In 1942 Americans and Brits invaded Italy

Led by George Patton a popular military general

The Invasion of Italy 1942

June 6, 1944 Britain and America invade France to take it away from Hitler

Led by Dwight D. Eisenhower at Normandy and Omaha beaches

The largest amphibious operation

Omar Bradley led the first American army to land in France

The Re-occupation of France 1944

D-Day

With Hitler on the run and France returned to the Allies, Germany tried one last counter attack at Ardennes.

This was the costliest battle for the allies

Caught off guard Americans lost 80,000 soldiers

With the Allies invading Germany from the west and the Soviets invading Germany from the east; Berlin was surrounded. Hitler commits suicide

The Battle of the Bulge 1944