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Military operations of World War II involving Germany

  • Operation CrusaderIn August 1941, a German signals unit known as FAK 621 began reading British tactical codes with startling accuracy. This intelligence stream continued…
  • Operation QueenAllied high command believed total victory could be achieved by Christmas 1944. This optimism followed the rapid advance after the Normandy breakout in June…
  • Operation KutuzovOn the 12th of July 1943, the Soviet high command launched a massive counteroffensive against Army Group Center. This operation was named after General…
  • Leningrad–Novgorod offensiveThe first staff meeting to plan the liberation of Leningrad took place on the 9th of September 1943. This gathering occurred exactly two years and one day…
  • Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensiveIn January 1944, Soviet forces raised the Siege of Leningrad and drove the German Army Group North back to the Narva-Lake Ilmen-Pskov line.
  • First Jassy–Kishinev offensiveMarshal Ivan Konev commanded the 2nd Ukrainian Front during early March 1944. His forces began the Uman, Botoșani offensive operation on that date.
  • Case AntonAdolf Hitler ordered the occupation of Vichy France on the 12th of November 1942. This decision followed a final conversation with French Prime Minister…
  • Silesian offensivesThe Lower Silesian offensive began on the 8th of February 1945 and ended on the 24th of that same month. A second operation followed shortly after, running…
  • AdlertagOn the first of August 1940, Adolf Hitler issued a written order known as Directive No. 17 to Hermann Göring and the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe.
  • Falaise pocketOn the 25th of July 1944, American forces launched Operation Cobra near Saint-Lô. This offensive shattered German defenses and pushed troops south into open…
  • Operation PanzerfaustAdolf Hitler received word in October 1944 that Hungary's Regent, Admiral Miklós Horthy, was secretly negotiating his country's surrender to the advancing…
  • Battle of the DnieperThe Battle of the Dnieper began on the 26th of August 1943, marking a critical turning point in World War II. Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of…
  • Operation UranusOn the 28th of June 1942, the Wehrmacht began its offensive against Soviet forces opposite of Army Group South. This campaign, codenamed Case Blue, aimed to…
  • Vienna offensiveJoseph Stalin reached an agreement with the Western Allies prior to April 1945 concerning the relative postwar political influence of each party in much of…
  • KanalkampfOn the 16th of July 1940, Adolf Hitler issued Directive 16 to the German armed forces. The directive ordered preparations for an invasion of Britain under…
  • Operation MarsSoviet forces launched Operation Mars in the early hours of the 25th of November 1942. The goal was to encircle and destroy the German Ninth Army within the…
  • Liberation of ParisThe Allied strategy emphasized destroying German forces retreating toward the Rhine, not liberating Paris. General Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of…
  • Operation BagrationOn the 22nd of June 1944, the Red Army attacked Army Group Centre in Byelorussia. This offensive occurred just over two weeks after Operation Overlord began…
  • Dnieper–Carpathian offensiveThe Dnieper, Carpathian offensive began on the 24th of December 1943 and stretched until early May 1944. It involved almost 3,500,000 troops from both sides…
  • Gran Sasso raidOn the night of the 24th of July 1943, the Grand Council of Fascism passed a motion of no confidence against prime minister Benito Mussolini.
  • Operation AchseOn the 9th of May 1943, two days after the fall of Tunis to Allied forces, the German High Command informed the Italian Supreme Command that three new units…
  • Second Jassy–Kishinev offensiveThe Red Army had advanced past Romania's pre-war borders in the Uman, Botoșani offensive in early April 1944. By late April, German-Romanian allies managed…
  • Vistula–Oder offensiveIn the wake of Operation Bagration, Soviet forces secured two bridgeheads west of the Vistula river between the 27th of July and the 4th of August 1944.