Battle of Britain British planes fought German aircraft above Britain in 1940, preventing a German invasion.
The Blitz For 37 weeks in 1940–41, German bombers targeted British towns with nighttime air raids.
Allied bombing raids From 1942, the Allies started bombing German cities.
Nazi persecution The German Nazi party forced Jewish people to wear a yellow star badge. From 1942, Jews and other victims were killed in extermination camps, mainly in Poland.
Flash invasion
Battle of Stalingrad
Hitler invaded and conquered most of western Europe, including France, in three months in 1940.
German expansion into eastern Europe was halted in January 1943, when their troops surrendered Stalingrad (see p141).
D-Day In 1944, Allied troops landed in Normandy to free Europe from German control (see pp142–43).
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Battle of the Atlantic German submarines sank thousands of ships carrying supplies to Britain, until the Allies stopped them in 1943, using better radar and antisubmarine ships.
The Eastern Front
AFRICA
Fighting in the desert As the war spread to North Africa in 1940, Axis and Allied forces fought with tanks, planes, and mines in the desert heat.
Germany and the Soviet Union pushed the border back and forth in eastern Europe as they fought ferocious battles (see pp140–41).
Battle of Anzio After Italy’s leader, Mussolini, was removed from office in 1943, the Allies fought German troops for control of the country during 1944.
China in the war China had been partly invaded by Japan before the war, but the unoccupied part of the country joined the Allies. More civilians died here than in any other country.
1939– 1945
World War II
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Battle of Darwin The biggest attack on Australia was a Japanese air-strike of 242 planes over Darwin, in February 1942.
When Germany’s dictator, Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland in 1939, Britain and France declared war. As more countries joined in, the world was divided into Axis powers, led by Germany, Italy, and Japan; and the Allies, led by Britain, the US, and the Soviet Union. By the time war ended in 1945, millions of people had suffered and died, some while fighting, some from bombing raids at home, and others through the Holocaust (Hitler’s killing of certain groups, especially Jews).
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DURING THE WAR, MANY CHILDREN HAD TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES——AS
