Kelly+Marra

The Battle of Britain began during the summer of 1940 and was never actually completed/ finished by Germany. The Battle of Britain between Germany and Britain was the largest airborne war ever fought. The British did not have as many fighters as Hitler did; most of the British navy was spread out around the world and they were forced to stand alone against the Nazi empire as they had no allies. They had just thrown out Chamberlin, their prime minister, and elected Winston Churchill in office who had been warning the British about Hitler since the 1930s. Winston Churchill organized the defense against the Nazi attack.
 * The Battle of Britain: 1940 **

The reasoning behind the strength of the British was the Royal Air Force known as the RAF. Germany knew their only way to defeat the British was to devastate the RAF so they would win the British Isles. The Nazi’s sent their Luftwaffe to bomb parts of England and especially London which destroyed it but the RAF stood stronger than expected. Overall, the Battle of Britain was a turning point in the war because the Germans did not complete this battle; it was given up in order to try Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa, so the British stopped the Germans. The Battle of Britain showed the power of Britain and the RAF and ultimately changed the immediate goal of the Germans to go after Russia.




 * Operation Barbarossa: June 22, 1941**

Operation Barbarossa was Hitler’s big plan to conquer Russia. It was known as the greatest land-air attack in the history war as it began on June 22, 1941. Operation Barbarossa began after the Germans withdrew from the Battle of Britain and sent the troops to the east to destroy the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was in the non-aggression pact with Germany for the first two years of the war but was always one of Germany’s biggest enemies because of their land and natural resources. This attack came as a surprise to Russia as Germany violated the pact. Eventually, Hitler sent his blitzkrieg as he wanted to kill the Jews and the Communists and began to work rapidly and was thought to have taken over within a month.

Hitler began Operation Barbarossa late in military season as that was obvious when they were caught and stunted by the winter season. The winter was the leading factor of stopping the Germans as it they did not come prepared to fight through it and it gave Russia time to rebuild vast new armies that would slowly pushed the Nazi’s back. Moscow and Stalingrad were as far as Hitler ever got before having to go back. Overall, this was a turning point in World War II as it was the first time Hitler was defeated and pushed back to Germany; this opened the eyes of the other countries to see that they were becoming weaker and could eventually be beaten.




 * This is a map of Operation Barbarossa. It is demonstrating the tactic of the Germans as they are going to invade the Soviet Union. It also mainly shows that to the right of the dashed-line is Russia’s territory which is Germany’s goal to take over.**




 * Pearl Harbor: Sunday, December 7, 1941**

Sunday December 7, 1941 was one of the most devastating days for the U.S. in history as about 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were injured. While the U.S. was conducting peace negotiations with Japan, Japan’s fleet surprised the U.S.’s fleet at Pearl Harbor and sunk the majority of it. The bombing was an obvious message from Japan as they were trying to ensure their dominance over the Pacific. The U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet was located there and was an obvious threat to the Japanese which needed to be eliminated if Japan wanted to be kept safe. Japan also lacked natural resources and was always envious of the resources around them in other countries. They believed they needed to be dominant over the Pacific, thus decided to surprise attack Pearl Harbor who originally thought they were going for the Philippines.

The bombing on Pearl Harbor was one of the most important turning points of the war. On December 8, 1941 the congress almost unanimously declared war against the empire of Japan and on December 10, 1941 they declared war on Germany. This ultimately changed the public opinion to support the war completely as they decided they were going to always stay neutral throughout the war. Overall, this surprise attack forced the strength of the U.S. to be question which led to the entry of World War II to show its dominance.



Munich Agreement:** signed September 30, 1938, dated September 29, 1938 ** Germany Surrenders: ** January 31, 1943 Bibliography:
 * Timeline:
 * Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact:** August 23, 1939
 * Invasion of Poland:** September 1939
 * Invasion of France:** May 1940
 * U-boat war:** June 1940
 * Battle of Britain:** August 1940
 * Lend-Lease Act:** March 11, 1941
 * Operation Barbarossa:** June 22, 1941
 * Pearl Harbor:** Sunday, December 7, 1941
 * Midway**: June 4, 1942
 * Stalingrad**: July 17, 1942
 * D-Day:** June 6, 1944
 * Atomic bomb on Hiroshima:** August 6, 1945
 * Atomic bomb on Nagasaki:** August 9, 1945
 * Japanese Surrender**: August 14, 1945
 * 1) "BBC - History - World Wars: Pearl Harbor: A Rude Awakening." BBC - Homepage . Web. 28 Feb. 2010. []
 * 2) "Focus on World War II: Battle of Britain on YourDiscovery.com." Discovery Channel International . Web. 27 Feb. 2010. []
 * 3) "Focus on World War II: Operation Barbarossa on YourDiscovery.com." Discovery Channel International . Web. 28 Feb. 2010. (picture and information) (picture = primary source as it is showing the harsh winter that they had to fight through) []
 * 4) "Focus on World War II: Pearl Harbor on YourDiscovery.com." Discovery Channel International . Web. 28 Feb. 2010. (picture and information) [].
 * 5) "Focus on World War II: RAF in the Battle of Britain on YourDiscovery.com." Discovery Channel International . Web. 27 Feb. 2010. [|http://www.yourdiscovery.com/web/world-war-2/ww2-focus/flashpoints/battle-of-britain-raf]
 * 6)  (Primary Source) "Franklin D. Roosevelt's Message on War Against Japan." // American Decades // . Ed. McConnell, Tandy. Online ed.   Detroit:   Gale,   2003.  // Student Resource Center - College Edition // . Gale. MARY INSTITUTE & ST LOUIS DAY SCHOOL. 28 Feb. 2010  []
 * 7) "Google Image Result for http://edhird.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/battle-of-britain1.jpg." Google Images . Web. 28 Feb. 2010. []
 * 8) "Google Image Result for http://pm3042.k12.sd.us/Event/Pearlharbor.jpg." Google Images . Web. 28 Feb. 2010. []
 * 9) "Russia At War 1941-1945 Barbarossa." Russia At War 1941-1945 Home . Web. 28 Feb. 2010. [] (Map)
 * 10) (Primary Source) "Winston Churchill: Their Finest Hour Speech (1940)." //World History: The Modern Era.// ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2010. http://www.worldhistory.abc-clio.com