On 1 September, even 77 years of World War II began. The great war that killed more than 70 million people was recognized as one of the events that changed the history of the world.
Here are 10 most important battles during World War II which took place in 1939-1945, Kompas.com version
The German invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939 German forces invaded Poland from the north, south and west. While on September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Poland from the east side.
Two days after the invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany but aid sent to Poland was limited.
The invasion which also started World War II ended with the surrender of Poland on October 6, 1945.
The Battle of Britain
Adolf Hitler's desire overwhelmed England so he held a "Sea Lion" operation to occupy the island.
The German air force or the Luftwaffe carried out a massive attack on London and several other cities in England.
This air combat also marks a new technology called radar that allows the UK to know the direction of the attacks of German planes.
In this battle England lost 1,663 aircraft while Germany lost 1,977 aircraft. In addition 40,000 civilians were also killed in the fighting that took place from 10 July to 31 October 1940.
Operation Barbarossa
This is a massive operation held by Adolf Hitler to invade the Soviet Union, which had previously signed a non-offensive pact with Germany.
Barbarossa's operation, which began on June 22, 1941, is still considered to be the largest invasion operation in history.
Germany mobilizes 3.8 million personnel from various nations of Romania, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Finland.
Millions of soldiers were supported 3,350 tanks, 2,770 aircraft and 7,200 artillery weapons. Jumbo troop is still added 600,000 combat vehicles and 700,000 horses.
Japan Attack to Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attack on the US base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, dragged the superpower to the forefront of World War II.
Japan's intention to attack the United States is to remove the country's obstacles from dominating Asia and the Pacific
The attack was carried out on Sunday 7 December 1941 that morning carried out 348 units of aircraft flying from six aircraft carriers.
As a result of the sudden attack, eight US warships were heavily damaged, four of them drowning. Japan also drowned three cruisers, three destroyers and one training ship.
In addition, 188 US fighter planes were destroyed, 2,403 military personnel and US civilians were killed and 1,178 others wounded.
While Japan only lost 29 fighter planes, five mini submarines and 64 military personnel as well as one Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki was caught.
The day after the attack, on December 8, 1941, President Frank Delano Roosevelt declared war on Japan.
Japan seizes the Philippines
Japan began attacking the US-controlled Philippines on December 8, 1941 by sea from the Formosa (Taiwan) archipelago about 200 miles north of the Philippines.
The Philippine and US forces defending the archipelago were outnumbered by the invading forces. Plus most of the US and Filipino troops are inexperienced warriors making Japan easily move forward.
After trying to survive for five months, finally on May 8, 1942, the Japanese managed to control the Philippines.
It was considered the worst US defeat on the battlefield because 23 US soldiers were killed or captured. While the Philippines, no less than 100,000 soldiers were killed or captured.
The US military commander in the Philippines General Douglas McArthur was forced to withdraw to Australia while uttering his famous phrase: "We shall return."
The Battle of Stalingrad
The city war in Stalingrad on the banks of the Volga River, Russia, was considered the turning point of World War II, because the defeat in this city triggered the retreat of German troops from the Soviet Union.
The battle of Stalingrad is considered the single greatest and most brutal single battle in the history of war.
The fighting involved 2.2 million troops from both sides with the result that at least 1.7 million people were killed, wounded or caught.
The military operation to capture Stalingrad began at the end of the summer of 1942 which later developed into a town-run guerrilla warfare.
After being pressed and pinched, on 19 November 1942, the Red Army held Operation Uranus to attack Romanian and Hungarian troops who became the position of the wing of the German 6th Army.
After these two wings were destroyed, the 6th German army was besieged in Stalingrad until they surrendered in February 1943 out of ammunition and groceries.
In general the battle of Stalingrad lasted for five months, one week and three days.
The defeat of Germany in North Africa
Since 1940, the British Army has fought German and British forces in North Africa. The United States fought a war in North Africa on May 11, 1942.
The Allies are keen to win the battle on this North African front as a foothold to invade Europe through Italy.
In 1943, an allied tank troop led by George S Patton defeated German forces led by Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel.
As a result, 240,000 German and Italian soldiers surrendered. This African campaign resulted in over 400,000 soldiers on both sides dead, wounded, lost or caught.
Normandy landings
The largest amphibious operation in the history of the war was named Operation Overlord and was held on Tuesday, June 6, 1944.
This operation was held to liberate the area of western Europe occupied Nazi Germany and was the most important event in World War II.
The landing plan in Normandy, France has been worked on since 1943. In this battle big names are involved in it like General Dwight D Eisenhower (USA), Bernard Montgomery (England) and Erwin Rommel (Germany).
In total, the 156,000-strong allied force crossed from Britain to the coast of Normandy in France.
In addition the allies also deployed 5,000 landing craft and attackers, 289 transports and 277 minesweepers.
The fallen victims were also very large, on the first day as many as 10,000 soldiers became victims and 4,414 of them were killed. While on the first day Germany "only" lost 1,000 personnel.
Despite the massive fall of the victims, the allies succeeded in dominating Normandy, which became a foothold to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation.
Victory Day in Europe
This allied victory day was called VE Day on May 8, 1945 which is now a holiday in many European countries, marking the end of World War II on the Blue Continent.
The term VE Day has actually emerged since September 1944, in order to anticipate the victory of war that is increasingly in sight.
On April 30, 1945, the Nazi ruler, Adolf Hitler, committed suicide in the middle of the Battle of Berlin. Hitler's replacement Admiral Kalr Donitz then decided to surrender unconditionally to the allies.
Submitting Germany was officially signed on 7 May in Reims France and 8 Meil in Berlin, Germany.
In Europe, the war has officially ended, but in the Pacific the war has not ended because Japan has not given up.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs
Despite continued repression and retreat in the Pacific War, the Japanese army did not surrender and continue to fight with persistence that resulted in large casualties on the US side.
As a result, US President Harry Truman decided to use the latest findings at the time of the atomic bomb to reduce the casualties of US troops who will fall if invaded mainland Japan.
On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped in the city of Hiroshima. Three days later, the second atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki followed by a declaration of war from the Soviet Union.
The atomic bomb on Hiroshima killed between 90,000-146,000 people. While in Nagasaki as many as 39,000-80,000 people became victims of the terrible bomb.
Only six days later from the second atomic bomb in Nagasaki, Japan surrendered. Officially Japan surrendered after signing an agreement on September 2, 1945, as well as ending World War II.
That's the 10 events that happened when the second world war happened, this information I got from a book source about World War 2 published by kompas.com
