Crucial Turning Points of World War II

By late 1941 Germany had overrun Europe. Japan would soon rule the western Pacific. The U.S. and its allies faced two military empires still expanding their powers. • Stalingrad: Hitler has Stalingrad within his grasp, but his foolish strategy locks his armies into a battle they cannot win. • Guadalcanal: U.S. troops capture this central Pacific island and gain an invaluable air base. It is the Japanese Army's first major defeat in the Pacific and a huge boost to American morale. • North Africa: In November of 1942, Allied landings put Rommel's mighty Afrika Korps on the run. The Allied victory gives them a launching pad from which to invade Italy. • D-Day: The Allied storming of the German Atlantic Wall is the greatest invasion from the sea in the history of warfare. It is the turning point of World War II. • Iwo Jima: Needed as an emergency field for American B-29 Superfortresses returning from bombing missions against Japan, Iwo takes an enormous American toll: 6,800 marines.