Battles of the Second World War took place across the globe. Some of them lasted for many days, while others for months or even years. These battles also had a huge impact on the war itself. One can define the word ‘battle’ as an event occurring at a certain place over a relative span of time. The shortest of battles may have lasted about 90 minutes, while the longest may have taken three months.
Of course, the ‘battle of the Atlantic’ was a significant one, but it was not really a battle. Instead, it was a series of battles that lasted six years. Here, we’ve listed the battles of World War II. They had the most impact on the political and military events that occurred later.
1. Battle of Kursk
During the Second World War, the Battle of Kursk was fought during the period spanning July to August 1943. It was a series of offensives between the forces of the Soviet Union and Germany. They took place on the Eastern Front near Kursk. It was about 450 kilometres southwest of Moscow. The German codename for this series of offensive was ‘Operation Citadel’.
It led to the Battle of Prokhorovka, which was among the largest ever armoured clashes. This battle was fought on the 12th of July, 1943. The Germans failed to take over the forces of the Soviet Union. In this process, they also lost a large number of tanks and soldiers.
2. Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin was known as the ‘Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation. It was carried out by the Soviet Union and was the Second World War’s final major offensive in Europe. The Red Army had carried out the Vistula-Oder Offensive carried out in January and February 1945. After this offensive, the army had halted on a line spanning 60 kilometres east of Berlin.
The defence plan of the Germans against the Soviet attack was Operation Clausewitz. After the Soviet offensive resumed on the 16th of April, Berlin was attacked from the east and south. In the north, a third force countered the German forces.
3. Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow addresses two critical times of battling on the Eastern Front. It happened during the Second World War from October 1941 to January 1942. By early October, there were 4,000,000 casualties on the Soviet side. The German armed forces had come within 200 miles of Moscow. This was when Operation Typhoon was unleashed.
It was an attempt to hold on to the Soviet capital and shut down the mission. Yet, the outcome was something that neither side had expected. The Soviets had a tremendous yet badly coordinated army. The Germans, with their mastery and equipment, might have won any conflict in the world.
4. Battle of Pearl Harbor
It was an overwhelming assault on the US maritime base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack was codenamed Operation AI and was carried out by the Japanese Imperial Army. It took place on the 7th of December, 1941. With this attack, the worsening relationship between the United States and Japan reached its peak.
Once the US fleet was kept out of their way, the Japanese could easily establish their dominance over Southeast Asia. It could also take over the Indonesian archipelago. On November 26, a Japanese fleet sailed about 275 miles north of Hawaii.
It included six aircraft carriers, three cruisers, two warships, three cruisers, and eleven destroyers. Around 360 planes were launched from the location for the last attack. Four US Navy war vessels were sunk and another four were badly damaged.