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European TheaterObjectives: Student will discover the major battles that were fought in the European Theater. Students will begin designing a poster to illustrate those battles.

+Theater

During a time of war, the military uses the term “theater” to refer to a specific geographical area. WWII had two theaters: European and Pacific.

+Fronts

The European Theater was broken up into the Western and Eastern Front because the European Theater was so big.

+Germany Invades PolandSeptember 1, 1939

+What happened?1st use of “Blitzkreig”

Polish Army defeat in a matter of weeks

Britain and France declared War on Germany to honor their agreement to protect Poland’s borders

+Importance

Beginning of WWII

+Germany invades FranceMay 10-22 1940

+What happened?3 days after

Germany invades France, the Germans break through the lines of defense

German Army captures Paris

French government agrees to disband Army and turn over all Jews to Germany

+Importance

Britain is now the only member of the Allies in Europe and the invasion also helped strengthen the Nazi hold over Europe

+Battle of BritainJuly 1940

+What happened?Air Raids by Germany

against London & other major cities

Germany wanted to destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF) & force Great Britain to surrender

Germany believed they couldn’t carry out an assault on Great Britain until the RAF was taken down

+Importance

First defeat of Hitler’s military forces

+Battle of StalingradBegins August 1942, Ends February 1943

+What happened?Germany invaded the

Soviet Union and bombed the city of Stalingrad

Soviet Union sent 1 million well supplied soldiers to Stalingrad

Germany moves into city and was unable to receive food and supplies. They were forced into hand-to-hand combat and surrendered

+Importance

Turning point of the Eastern Front of the war: Soviet Union beings to push Germany back

+D-DayJune 6, 1944

+What happened?Paratroopers

invaded the coast of Normandy, France and were followed by a landing by the marines

After sustaining heavy losses, Allied forces gained control of the coast

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+Importance

Turning point of the Western Front of the war: Great Britain and U.S. began to push Germany back

+Battle of MidwayJune 1942

+What happened?U.S. surprise

bombing on Japanese cities

Japan sent all of their military to Midway to launch attack on U.S. Fleet

U.S. Fleet was waiting for the Japanese to show up

U.S. defeated the Japanese in battle

+Importance

Turning point of war in the Pacific: America begins to push Japan back