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Decision↕ | Year↕ | Decision Maker↕ | Country↕ | Theater↕ | Outcome↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Invasion of Poland | 1939 | Adolf Hitler | Germany | Europe | Triggered outbreak of World War II |
Dunkirk evacuation | 1940 | Winston Churchill | United Kingdom | Europe | Saved 338,000 Allied troops from capture |
Battle of Britain air defense | 1940 | Hugh Dowding | United Kingdom | Europe | First major defeat for Luftwaffe, invasion postponed |
Operation Barbarossa | 1941 | Adolf Hitler | Germany | Eastern Front | Largest invasion in history, eventually failed |
Attack on Pearl Harbor | 1941 | Hideki Tojo / Isoroku Yamamoto | Japan | Pacific | Brought United States into the war |
Declaration of war on United States | 1941 | Adolf Hitler | Germany | Global | Linked European and Pacific wars |
Wannsee Conference and Final Solution | 1942 | Reinhard Heydrich | Germany | Europe | Formalized genocide of European Jews |
Battle of Midway trap | 1942 | Chester Nimitz | United States | Pacific | Four Japanese carriers sunk, turning point in Pacific |
Defense of Stalingrad | 1942 | Joseph Stalin | Soviet Union | Eastern Front | German 6th Army destroyed, eastern turning point |
Operation Overlord (D-Day) | 1944 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | United States / Allies | Europe | Opened Western Front in France |
Operation Bagration | 1944 | Joseph Stalin / Stavka | Soviet Union | Eastern Front | Destroyed German Army Group Center |
Battle of Leyte Gulf | 1944 | Douglas MacArthur | United States | Pacific | Largest naval battle in history, Japan's navy crippled |
Yalta Conference agreements | 1945 | Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin | Allies | Global | Shaped postwar Europe and Cold War borders |
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima | 1945 | Harry S. Truman | United States | Pacific | First nuclear weapon used in war |
Atomic bombing of Nagasaki | 1945 | Harry S. Truman | United States | Pacific | Second nuclear strike, Japan surrendered days later |
Soviet declaration of war on Japan | 1945 | Joseph Stalin | Soviet Union | Pacific | Manchuria invaded, pressured Japanese surrender |
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