World War 2 Review: Fun Facts and Quiz

Play my newest quiz on World War 2!  Interesting facts below:

1) In 1942-43, the Battle of Stalingrad marked a turning point in the war. Germany's momentum had been unstoppable before they'd been halted at Stalingrad. The battle lasted for six months and ended with a Soviet victory after the Axis powers ran out of ammunition and fuel. Over the six month period, the Axis suffered about 850,000 casualties and the Soviets had over 1,100,000.

In 1943, the Battle of Kursk was the final offensive that the Axis powers made against the USSR. They were defeated again, which allowed the Soviets to force them into retreating westward. At Kursk there were far fewer casualties than at Stalingrad, but the manpower involved was even greater. The Axis had about 912,000 men and the Soviets had a staggering 1,910,000 (about 800,000 more than in the counter-offensive at Stalingrad). 

2) Blitzkrieg is a term meaning "lightning war". It was Germany's signature strategy for defeating their enemies. Blitzkrieg tactics used speed and surprise to keep enemies "off balance". It relied on the co-ordination of tanks and dive-bombers to cause confusion and panic. A major objective was to break through enemy lines as quickly as possible so that the disruption of civilian populations could cause a shift of focus for the defending army. Blitzkrieg was one of the reasons why Germany was able to defeat France so quickly. 

3) On August 6, 1945, "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima by the United States Air Force. Paul W. Tibbets Jr. was the commander of the mission, and the plane he used was a B-29 called the Enola Gay. "Little Boy" exploded with the power of 16 kilotons of TNT and killed over 60,000 people immediately. (In the longer term the effects of radiation led to a much higher total number of deaths). It was named after what Humphrey Bogart's character called his enemy in "The Maltese Falcon". 

4) Klaus Barbie was a Gestapo member who was also known as the "The Butcher of Lyon". While stationed at Lyon, Barbie personally tortured French prisoners (women and children among them). After the war, he was employed by the United States Army Counter Intelligence Corps to battle Communism spreading in Europe. When the French discovered that he was working for the Americans, they made a plea to hand him over, but the U.S. refused. In 1971 he was found living in Bolivia by French Nazi hunters. In 1983 the Bolivian government arrested him and extradited him to France, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment.  

5) Leningrad (the old name of St. Petersburg) suffered a siege that lasted from September 1941 to January 1944. It was a strategic location for the Soviets because it was their only major city with a route to the seas of northern Europe. The Germans blocked all paths to the city because they wanted to put a stall on the Soviet Baltic Fleet and the city's many arms factories. 

6) Eddie Slovik was the only American soldier to be executed for desertion since the Civil War. He deserted his rifle unit because he thought it would face imminent danger during shelling. He was repeatedly given opportunities to return to the line, but he declined every time. During the war, thousands of American soldiers had been tried for the desertion of their lines. According to Slovik, he was only chosen to be executed because "they just need to make an example of somebody". 

7) Located on the North African coast, El Alamein was the Allied Powers' first major land victory against the Axis powers. There were two battles of El Alamein. The first one stalled the Axis advance into Egypt after Erwin Rommel's Panzer army had successfully occupied Libya. Their goal had been to capture the Suez Canal and control the Middle East, which they never accomplished. The second battle was crucial for the Allied powers. For the first time in the war they were able to make a major land offensive against the Axis and win a decisive battle. It gave them more confidence on all fronts of the war.

8) About 19,000 American soldiers died in the Battle of the Bulge- their highest number of casualties in the war. The goal of the Germans had been to recapture Antwerp, an important port located on the North Sea. Their strategy was to surprise the Allied forces by striking quickly and with force. It worked to some degree, but eventually ended with an Allied victory. The battle depleted Germany's resources and equipment, which meant that it was the last time they could make any advances in the west. 

9) Wernher von Braun designed and manufactured the V-2 rocket: the world's first long range ballistic missile. Over 3,000 V-2 rockets were launched by the German Wehrmacht, mostly in London and in the Battle of the Bulge. After the war Wernher was taken to the United States, where he was granted security clearance to work for the Americans.

He had a dream of a future in which rockets would one day be used for manned space exploration. That dream came true in the 60s, and in 1969 his crowning achievement was realized when the first men who walked on the moon were able to do so because of the development of his Saturn V booster rocket. 

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