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The Invasion of Poland was Germany's swift, brutal assault using blitzkrieg tactics, officially beginning the war.
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The fall of France was a swift German invasion (May 10 - June 22) that bypassed the Maginot Line through the Low Countries, leading to the rapid collapse of French and British forces, the capture of Paris, and France's surrender, resulting in a divided nation: German-occupied North and a collaborationist Vichy government in the South, significantly boosting Axis morale and isolating Britain.
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The London Blitz (September 1940 – May 1941) was a sustained, 8-month strategic bombing campaign by Nazi Germany against the UK, targeting civilians and infrastructure to break hopes.
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The Dunkirk evacuation (Operation Dynamo), from May 26 to June 4, 1940, rescued over 338,000 Allied troops surrounded by German forces in France during the second world war.
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The Italian Campaign (July 1943 – May 1945) was a long Allied operation to invade Italy, knock it out of the war, and divert German resources from the Eastern Front and France
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The Battle of Stalingrad (Aug 1942–Feb 1943) was a decisive shifting point in WWII, where Soviet forces stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and destroyed the German Sixth Army.
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D-Day (June 6, 1944) was the huge Allied invasion of Normandy, France, during WWII, codenamed Operation Overlord.
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Operation Market Garden (Sept 17–25, 1944) was a failed Allied WWII offensive in the Netherlands designed to get by German defenses and end the war early.
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The Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944 – January 25, 1945) was Germany's last major offensive on the Western Front during World War II, aimed at splitting Allied lines and capturing Antwerp.
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Victory in Europe Day celebrated on May 8, 1945, marks the formal acceptance of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender, ending World War II in Europe after almost six years.