1
WWII Key Facts - ALLIES vs. AXIS
ALLIED FORCES (ALLIES)
COUNTRY
LEADER
IMAGE
Winston Churchill
Joseph Stalin
Franklin Roosevelt
South Africa, Belgium, Holland,
Norway, Greece, Poland
Various
AXIS POWERS
COUNTRY
LEADER
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Emperor Hirohito & Hideki Tojo
Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Finland,
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
Various
2
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Unification of Austria - ANSCHLUSS
When Did it Happen:
March 12th, 1938
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Germany, Austria
Reichstag members applaud Hitler following his
annexation of Austria, March 13, 1938.
Where did it Happen:
Germany, Austria
Objective:
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- ANSCHLUSS, LEBENSRAUM, AUSTRIA, LEAGUE OF NATIONS
3
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Sudetenland – Invasion of Czechoslovakia
When Did it Happen:
September 1938
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Germany, Czechoslovakia, England, France,
Italy, USSR, and other participating Munich
Conference attendees.
Where did it Happen:
After the Munich Agreement, Germany was given
Sudetenland, a geographic area of Czechoslovakia that
was predominantly German-speaking.
Czechoslovakia
Objective:
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- SUDETENLAND, MUNICH CONFERENCE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN, EDOUARD
DALADIER, JOSEPH STALIN, ADOLF HITLER, NAZI-SOVIET PACT
4
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Invasion of Poland - Blitzkrieg
When Did it Happen:
March, 1939
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Germany, Poland
Where did it Happen:
Poland.
German Panzers (Tanks) were heavily employed
during the Blitzkrieg attack on Poland.
Objective:
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- BLITZKRIEG, PANZER, WEHRMACHT, LUFTWAFFE
5
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
The Miracle at Dunkirk – Operation Dynamo
When Did it Happen:
May/June 1940
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Britain, Germany, France, Canada
Where did it Happen:
Dunkirk, France
Thousands of civilian ships help evacuate and
save soldiers from the German advance.
Objective:
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- DUNKIRK, WINSTON CHURCHILL
6
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Battle Over Britain – Operation Sea Lion
When Did it Happen:
July-October, 1940
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Britain, Germany
German Luftwaffe battle the Royal Airforce (RAF) in
dogfights over major British cities such as London.
Objective:
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- ROYAL AIR FORCE (RAF), LUFTWAFFE, RADAR
Where did it Happen:
British airspace.
7
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Operation Barbarossa – Invasion of the Soviet Union
When Did it Happen:
June 1941 – Summer 1942
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Germany, Soviet Union
German Panzers lead the Blitzkrieg attack on the
Western Front of the Soviet Union as they advance
towards Moscow, the capital city.
Where did it Happen:
Western Part of Soviet Union, right up to the outskirts
of Moscow.
Objective:
Details:
.
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- SOVIET, COMMUNISM,REICH, BLITZKRIEG, PANZER, WEHRMACHT, MOSCOW, TWO-FRONT BATTLE,
RUSSIAN WINTER
8
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Battle of Stalingrad
When Did it Happen:
Summer, 1942
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Germany, Soviet Union
Where did it Happen:
The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest in
modern history and was fought primarily among the
ruined buildings of the destroyed city.
Objective:
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- STALINGRAD, CLOSE COMBAT
The city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia.
9
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Pearl Harbour – Operation Hawaii
When Did it Happen:
December 7th, 1941
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
United States of America, Japan
Where did it Happen:
The sneak attack on the American Naval Base
marked the entry of Japan in to WWII on the side of
Germany and Italy and United States on the
Allied Side.
Objective:
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- PEARL HARBOUR, SNEAK ATTACK,
Oahu, Hawaii, South Pacific
10
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Battle of Hong Kong
When Did it Happen:
December 8th, 1941
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Britain, Japan, Canada, China, Australia, India
A Japanese Victory parade after the British surrender
Hong Kong.
Objective:
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- HONG KONG, PRISONER OF WAR CAMP
Where did it Happen:
Hong Kong, China
11
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Battle of Dieppe – Operation Jubilee
When Did it Happen:
August 19th, 1942
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Germany, Canada, Britain
Where did it Happen:
German Occupied port of Dieppe, Northern Coast of
France.
The Dieppe Raid was poorly planned and cost
many young Canadian troops their lives.
Objective:
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- DIEPPE, BLOODBATH, ATLANTIC WALL
12
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Battle of Ortona – AKA Little Stalingrad
When Did it Happen:
December 1943
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Germany, Canada
Where did it Happen:
Small town of Ortona, central Italy.
Objective:
- Canadians were given the mission to capture the tiny, Italian
town of Ortona because it was a key German command centre.
Canadian Riflemen battle German
soldiers in close quarter combat.
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- ORTONA, MOUSEHOLING
13
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Battle of Normandy – Operation Overlord (D-Day)
When Did it Happen:
June 6th, 1944
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Germany, Britain, U.S.A., Canada, France
Where did it Happen:
Normandy, Northwestern coast of France
On June 6th, 1944, The Allied Forces launched a large
scale invasion to break the German lines along the
Western Front in order to begin their drive towards
Germany.
Objective:
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- NORMANDY, OPERATION OVERLORD, FUNNIES, UTAH, OMAHA, GOLD, JUNO, SWORD, DECOYS
14
WWII Prominent Battles/Events – Organizer
Name of Battle/Event:
Battle of the Bulge – Ardennes Offensive
When Did it Happen:
December, 1944
Who Fought/Is Involved (Major
Participants/Adversaries):
Britain, U.S.A., Germany
Where did it Happen:
Ardennes Forest, Belgium
German forces attempted to counter attack after
their crushing defeat at Normandy in order to
stop the Allied advance.
Objective:
Details:
Outcome:
KEY TERMS:
- ARDENNES,