In your opinion what were the 3 most important battles in WW2 (1 in Europe, 1 in Asia, 1 anywhere) and why?

Question

Avner Eliyahu R

Operation Bagration - The Destruction of Army Group Center, an intersting choice - why. Also you did not pick a battle in the Pacific - please add one more.

Answer 1

The Destruction of Army Group Center in Russia: Bigger defeat for Germany than Stalingrad, the end of their offensive and the beginning of the big, successful sovjet offensives.

Batlle of Leyte: Japanese Navy virtually ceased to exist

Battle for Berlin: The end of the War in Europe, nearly 300,000 people died in two weeks.

@""they wer fearful of a Soviet

invasion and occupation"" They were not, the US begged the Sovjets to attack Japan.

Answer 2

1. The Air Battle of Britain in 1940.

2. The less known battle of Al Alamain in mid 1942, when Rommel's advance was stopped, after a surprisingly fierce British resistance. It might be then, or during another not-so-known battle there, that Rommel's troops made holes in water taps, drank the water, which happened to be salty, and their thirst made them surrender to the British.

3. The Soviet offensive, which began on the 22.6.1944, three years after n**i Germany attacked the Soviet Union.

Answer 3

1:I know Stalingrad or Kursk are the common choices for Europe, but I think the Battle of Moscow was actually more important. Had Hitler taken Moscow, it would not have ended the war, but it would have weakened the Soviets enough to make an eventual German victory likely. But the failure to take Moscow doomed the Germans to a long campaign, a war of attrition which they couldn't possibly win. The Germans appeared close to victory at Stalingrad, but while the battle in the city was raging, the German reserves were already used up, while the Soviets were building up a huge reserve on both flanks. Even had the city fallen, Germany had no reserves left, while the Red Army had plenty, and the disparity was growing.

2: Midway was a huge battle. Given the industrial might of the US, Japan wasn't going to win, but if they had won at Midway it would have forced the US to devote much more of its industrial might to the pacific war. Midway basically neutralized the threat from Japan, allowing us to chose how we wanted to allocate our resources.

3. Khalkin Gol: A battle between the Red Army and Japan a few weeks before fighting started in Europe that had monumental consequences. Japan was trying to decide between a strike north against the Soviets and a strike south, against the US. The Soviets dealt the Japanese army a humiliating, decisive defeat that caused Japan to forever abandon the idea of an attack on Russia, so that even in the darkest days of 1941, the Soviets did not have fight on two fronts, as Japan had been planning for a naval conflict with the US for over 2 years and did not develop the type of mechanized ground forces they would have needed to help Hitler. It also brought an obscure Soviet General to the attention of Stalin, and Georgi Zhukov would eventually go on to hand the German ground forces their first defeat on the war in the battle of Moscow, and eventually command the forces that took Berlin in 1945.

Answer 4

Geez, that is tough to answer.  You're likely going to get literally dozens of different answers.  I'm going to give you a little broader answer than you asked for by breaking it down to land/air/sea battles, so here goes.

Europe - Land Battle:  Battle of Stalingrad (honourable mention to D-Day)  Had Germany taken Stalingrad the entire course of World War 2 would have played out differently.

Pacific - Land Battle:  Guadalcanal.  First major US ground victory of the war.  Stopped the Japanese advance against Austrailia.  Loss of GuadalCanal probably would have meant the loss of Australia to the Japanese.

Europe:  Air Battle - Battle of Britain - No brainer here.

Asia:  Air Battle - The B29 missions against the Japanese homeland.  Even before Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the American pounding of Japan had virtually destroyed the infrastructure of the country.

Europe:  Sea Battle - Battle of the Atlantic - again, a no brainer here.

Pacific:  Sea Battle - Midway - first US victory of World War 2 against the Japanese.  Effectively halted Japanese expansion in the Pacific.

wild Card - Let's go back and say the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

Answer 5

1) Battle of Britain

One of the greatest air battle of WW2 where the RAF took on the Luftwaffe which determined the fate of the war. Sorry I can't be descriptive like the other battles.

2) Battle of Leyte Gulf: Battle of Samar

The US Navy finest hour. It began as a mismatch which turn into a all out brawl. Task Force 3 (Taffy 3) was under attack by Japanese Central Force, a force of 4 battleships including the most heavily arm ship ever to be deploy, the Yamato, 6 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, and 11 destroyers against only 6 escort aircraft carriers, 3 destroyers, 4 destroyer escorts (frigates), and 400 aircraft arm with only anti personal bombs that weren't meant to take on enemy ships. The destroyers and frigates were lying off smoke to cover their retreat. Capt. Evans of the USS Johnston made a vow to never retreat "from harm's way" at the Battle of the Java. He ordered his ship to “flank speed, full left rudder,” attacking on his own in what appeared to be a suicide mission. The USS Johnston was able to successful dodge all of the Japanese shell and got close enough to torpedoed the Japanese squadron flagship, the heavy cruiser Kumano. This encourage Admiral Sprague to ordered all destroyers and frigates to turn around and attack. The Johnston later sunk and 186 of her crew were lost including Capt. Evans who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. A book was written on the battle, "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailor."

3) Battle of Midway

The turning point for the Allied in the Pacific. Admiral Nimitz predict the Japanese attack on Midway, he was correct. A force of  4 carriers, 7 battleships, about 150 support ships, and 280 aircraft attack Midway with a defense of 3 carriers, about 50 support ships, and 360 aircraft. The fate of the battle was determined by the Japanese destroyer Arashi, who was busy trying to depth charged the U.S. submarine Nautilus. It wonder away from the Japanese forces as they change course to attack their main target: US carriers. VT-3 arrive to the spot where the Japanese force was suppose to be but saw nothing expect for Arashi heading back to the Japanese force after it give up on trying to sink Nautilus. Arashi lead them straight to the Japanese force with good timing since the fighters were busy. They were able to cripple 3 of the  carriers and unable with to launch aircraft.

Answer 6

1) Europe

The Siege of Stalingrad, halted the n***s eastern expansion and attempt at taking the USSR. Not only did it stall the n***s for almost 3 to 4 years, but caused the n***s to pool so much of their resources and time into a lost cause that allowed the allies to have two front against the superior strength of the Germans.

2) The dropping of the atomic bomb over Nagasaki and Hiroshima. While not technically a battle, this event changed the world and started the nuclear age. It also caused a complete and total end to the war while "saving" the lives of millions by preventing an invasion in which millions of japanese as well as american soldiers could have died.

3)The Battle of Britain, like the Siege of Stalingrad prevented the advancement of the n***s, while at the same time providing teh Allies with an inspirational rally point, while causing the n***s to more quite a bit of there resources into a lost cause.

Answer 7

The Battle of Stalingrad - Truly the turning point in the war, the Germans had thrust so much into capturing Stalingrad that defeat to the 6th army spelt the beginning of the end of the Axis on the Eastern front.

The Battle of Midway - A major victory for the US in stopping the Japanese getting their hands on a vital Island for refueling and also destroying their carrier fleet.

El Alamein - An important battle for the Allies because it was the start of the offensive to drive the Germans out of North Africa and to make sure the Allies controlled the vital shipping lanes of the Middle East and the Suez canal, and also for the invasion of Italy.

Answer 8

1) Stalingrad.  The first of many crushing defeats inflicted on the Germans in Russia, but probably the most significant.   After Stalingrad the Red Army really believed it could win; the chaos and shortages of the first eighteen months of the campaign were behind them, and it was only a matter of time before they entered Berlin.

2)  Midway.  Japan had lost the war the minute the first bombs fell at Pearl - for reasons of industrial might if no other.  The only question was how long it would take.  At Midway, the Japanese navy suffered a blow from which there was no hope of recovery.

3)  D-Day.  The only realistic obstacle between the Anglo-American forces and victory was the English Channel.  By a stupendous logistical feat, the Allies got enough men ashore in the first twenty-four hours to make the final result of the war inevitable.