Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan
Allied Powers: US, GB, Soviet Union, China, Free French
German Invasion of Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg: had to go across water to get to Norway.
Invasion of France: france created the maginot line to protect themselves but it was worthless because germany went through belgium. france surrenders within a month. miracle of dunkirk- lost, but saved many many lives. why did france surrender so quickly? didn't want to lose too many people. thought there was no way they could beat them so they thought just surrender now.
Vichy Gov't: helped capture jews and worked with hitler. led by marshal henri petain, axis side. free french underground- we recognized as the french gov't. fled to GB. secretive. were on the allied side.
Battle of Britain- july 1940. aerial attack. invasion never happened. "never was so much owed by so many to so few" - Churchill. referencing the airforce.
Ultra- helped us win, we had the enemy's playbook but they didnt have ours. we intercepted their code.
Germany Invades USSR: final plan for operation barbarossa. hitler hated communists. invaded the soviet union for resources and he hated communists also wanted more space for the german people. invaded the ukraine area of the soviet union. stalingrad, most deadly battle of WWII.
japan invades french indochina: 3 options for japan after this invasion- leave and go back to japan, take over, compromise. japan felt they had to do this in order to take down the US.
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Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. This required that men between the ages of 21 and 35 register for the draft. Once the U.S. entered WWII men between the ages of 18 to 35 were put into military service, and men between the ages of 18 and 65 were required to register. If drafted the men were to serve in the military for 12 months. The act also stated that no more than 900,000 men were to be training at one time. After the attack on Pearl Harbor many men volunteered to serve in the military.
Japan had intended a second attack on Pearl Harbor, but since the United States aircraft carriers weren't on base at the time they did not go through with it. Kermit A. Tyler, an Air force officer, ignored the radio warning about the attack on Pearl Harbor, but an African American cook on board didn't ignore it and fought to tell other people about it. He was awarded with the Navy Cross for his bravery and going beyond his duties.
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