Battles that Changed the World Quiz

Answer: Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was an air battle with the RAF (Royal Air Force) defending its country against the Luftwaffe, the German air force. Britain won and the planned German invasion of Britain was postponed indefinitely and then cancelled. Without air superiority any invasion attempt would have been suicidal.

Answer: Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad lasted from August 1942 to February 2 1943 with the Soviets trapping the Germans in the city forcing German Field Marshal Paulus to surrender with 91,000 of his army. The Germans and their allies had 1,011,500 men and Russia had 1,000,500. Most sources put the overall number of casualties at about two million.

Note that the city has been renamed Volgograd but the name of the battle remains unchanged.

Answer: Kursk

The Battle of Kursk took place on the Eastern Front fought between Germany and the Soviet Union. It lasted from 4 July to 20 July 1943 and was a victory for the Soviet Union. It was a major battle and weakened the Germans' main strength on the Eastern Front - their tanks. After Kursk there was no stopping the Red Army.

Answer: Coral Sea

Some people call it the Battle of Australia. The battle lasted from 4-8 May 1942. It was the first aircraft carrier battle fought without the ships themselves sighting or firing each other. The attacks were all done by aeroplanes. It was also the first major operational defeat for Japan.

Answer: Midway

Japan wanted to destroy the U.S. aircraft carriers that had been stationed at Pearl Harbor but were not at the base when it was bombed on 7 December 1941, and the U.S. wanted to destroy the Japanese carriers. U.S. Commander Chester W. Nimitz had gained access to Japanese naval codes that showed Japan's exact plans.

Answer: 4-7 June 1942

The victory of Midway made way for an offensive move for the Allies that put Japan on the defensive for the first time.

Answer: Guadalcanal

If Japan had these bases they would have planned an invasion of Australia and if the Japanese made the airfield they would have more control of the air and cut off supplies from America to Australia. The battle lasted from 7 August 1942 to February 1943.

Answer: Operation Overlord

The operational name for the invasion was Overlord and started on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Landings on five beaches Juno, Omaha, Sword, Gold and Utah. The main difficulties were on Omaha with 2,400 deaths and Juno with 1,200. The landings on the other beaches went more smoothly.
Operation Neptune was the operational name for the D-day landings.

Answer: Berlin

It was fought between April and May 1945 between Germany and the Soviet Union. The latter, with 2,500,000 men and 41,600 artillery pieces, outnumbered the Germans who had 1,000,000 men and 10,400 artillery. Germany surrendered on the 7 and 8 May 1945.

Answer: Okinawa

This battle was a huge win for the Allies and needed to be taken because the Americans needed to take the airfield. Once they had control of the island, the next place to attack was the mainland of Japan itself.