1. Battle of Britain
   invasion of Poland
2. fall of France

On September 1, 1939, Hitler sent his armies to invade Poland. This act of violence triggered WWII in Europe.

1. Los Angeles
   Paris
2. London

It was one of the war's darkest months. In May 1940, German forces strolled into Paris, which had surrendered rather than be destroyed. A major Allied city was in Nazi hands.

1. the opening of a Hitler-themed amusement park
   French civilians took back Paris.
2. an unlikely evacuation

The German army forced French and British troops all the way to the coast of France. But a frantic Allied evacuation rescued hundreds of thousands of troops and took them to Britain, in what's now called the Miracle at Dunkirk.

1. 10 aircraft carriers
   using helicopters
2. small private boats

British officials pleaded with civilians to loan or even drive their boats across the English Channel to Dunkirk -- hundreds heeded the call, saving hundreds of thousands Allied soldiers from becoming Nazi POWs.

1. a major American defeat
   a bomb test
2. an attempt on Hitler's life

On July 20, 1944, German dissidents tried to kill Hitler with a briefcase bomb. But a heavy table deflected the blast, saving the Fuhrer's life … and prolonging the insanity of the Third Reich.

1. China
   Philippines
2. Cuba

In 1937, Japan began its war with China, in effect kicking off WWII in the Pacific. Millions of Chinese troops and civilians would perish in the years-long conflict.

1. Zamibia
   Soviet Union
2. United States

In June 1941, Hitler was infuriated at the inability of his forces to subdue Britain. Rather than wait for the Western Front to stabilize, he launched an attack on the Soviet Union.

1. 500,000
   800,000
2. 3 million

Hitler sent 3 million German troops to invade the USSR. In doing so, he depleted the number of men he could've used on the slowly-crumbling Western Front.

1. Germany
   Poland
2. Mexico

In just days, the U.S. went from virtual bystander to a nation under siege. As America buckled from the devastation at Pearl Harbor, Germany declared war on the United States.

1. Battle of the Kasserine Pass
   Battle of Britain
2. Battle of Hong Kong

In July 1940, the Battle of Britain began, pitting the German Luftwaffe against Britain's Royal Air Force. Hurricanes and Spitifires parted the skies with a hail of lead, sending Nazi planes spiraling into the sea.

1. Battle of Monte Cassino
   Battle of Crete
2. Battle of Kursk

In the summer of 1943, the world witnessed the biggest armored battle in history. The Battle of Kursk saw the Germans and Soviets facing off with thousands of tanks, and the Red Army hung on for an important victory.

1. America joined the fray.
   Japan declared war on Italy.
2. The U.S. Navy was destroyed.

Before Pearl Harbor, America was on the fence with regard to military action. Afte the attack, the U.S. dove headlong into war in both the Pacific and European theaters.

1. Invasion of Normandy
   Battle of Monte Cassino
2. Battle of Midway

At the Battle of Midway, the Japanese aimed to crush what was left of the U.S. Navy. Instead, the Americans sprung a trap … and sent four Japanese carriers to a watery grave. The Japanese navy never recovered from these incredible losses.

1. a top-secret spy mission
   a plan to create an atomic bomb
2. a major offensive

Operation Uranus was a major Soviet offensive at the Battle of Stalingrad. It was a desperate attempt to push the Germans back from a critical Soviet stronghold.

1. stay and fight
   break out and meet reinforcements
2. surrender

Hitler made a grave error in ordering his 6th Army to stay and fight, even while trapped by the Soviets. In the end, he lost the entire army … a fact that had tremendous implications for the rest of the war.

1. assassination attempt on President Roosevelt
   atomic bomb attack in Berlin
2. Allied invasion of Normandy

In the history of human warfare, few days have had the significance of June 6, 1944. It was D-Day, the attempted Allied invasion of Normandy.

1. about 7,000
   about 25,000
2. about 60,000

The Allies organized the biggest amphibious assault in history for D-Day. More than 7,000 ships took the fight to the Atlantic Wall in hopes of sending the Germans running. They did.

1. New York
   a concentration camp
2. Berlin

It was a momentous accomplishment in the European theater. Soviet troops got an intimate look at the Holocaust on January 27, 1945, when they liberated the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp.

1. a round of food poisoning in Europe
   an assassination plot
2. a lopsided Pacific battle

In June 1944, American forces were vastly superior to the Japanese. The "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" found the Americans blasting plane after enemy plane right out of the sky.

1. Japan
   Germany
2. France

It was the last major German offensive of the war, a surprise attack that became known as the Battle of the Bulge. A modest American unit was the only force standing in the way of the revitalized blitzkrieg.

1. about 450
   about 2,000
2. about 19,000

Amidst the bone-freezing cold, American troops remained in their foxholes under heavy fire, unable to retreat. Nearly 19,000 of them died turning back the German offensive.

1. Battle of Okinawa
   Battle of Somme
2. Battle of Stalingrad

At Stalingrad, the Soviets made their stand. It was one of the biggest battles in human history, and in the end the Red Army stood tall … sending the Germans to a crushing defeat.

1. 200
   700
2. 2,000

On June 22, 1941, Hitler flung 3 million soldiers into a 2,000-mile Soviet front. At first, the Germans advanced steadily, but spread too thin, their momentum eventually faded.

1. fighter jets
   anti-tank rockets
2. exploding bayonets

At the Battle of Berlin, Germans unleashed newfangled anti-tank rockets, destroying thousands of Soviet tanks in the process. But would these powerful weapons be enough to turn the tide of the battle?

1. Battle of Berlin
   Battle of the Bulge
2. Battle of Stalingrad

And the world rejoiced at the news. Trapped on all sides by vengeful Soviet soldiers, Hitler shot himself during the Battle of Berlin. It was the final nail in the coffin of the blood-frenzied Third Reich.

1. He resigned.
   He deployed nuclear weapons.
2. He went golfing.

An invasion of Tokyo would've been a bloothbath for both sides, something that Truman wanted to avoid. Instead, he unleashed two atomic bombs, one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki, in hopes of forcing the Empire to capitulate.

1. They wanted to surrender.
   They wanted to keep fighting.
2. They fled the country.

Who's scared of a couple of mushroom clouds? Most top Japanese officials thumbed their noses at America's nuclear weapons. It was only when a much scarier threat emerged that they began to reconsider their stance.

1. Italy
   USSR
2. Poland

On August 9, 1945, the USSR sent its men to attack Manchuria, a Japanese puppet state. Suddenly, Japan found itself fending off the fearsome Red Army.

1. It surrendered.
   It unleashed its secret weapon.
2. It signed an alliance treaty with China.

When the Soviets made it clear that they intended to take the war to Japan, the Japanese knew they were out of options. The Red Army attack, paired with America's atomic bombs, convinced the Empire to surrender.

1. aboard a battleship
   in Washington D.C.
2. They still have not surrendered. Banzai!

On September 2, 1945, the Allies breathed a sigh of war-weary relief. Aboard the USS Missouri, a battleship deployed near Tokyo, the Japanese signed an official surrender, and WWII was over.