In 1941, Hitler and his Generals gambled everything they had on the German military's ability to defeat Russia before the winter. The invading German military caught the Russian army by surprise. The Russians lost many men and equipment, not to mention the entire territory between Poland and Moscow. The Germans were suffering from the climate when new Russian reinforcements counter-attacked near
Moscow. The Russians, fully equipped for the extreme winter conditions, defeated the Germans with no problems. Moscow was saved and the Germans were stopped. The Battle of Moscow was a major turning point in World War II because it marked the limit of what the German military could achieve in the eastern front.
Pearl Harbor was a major turning point in World War II because it brought the Americans into the war. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. This event forced the United States into the war at the same time when Hitler was stopped near Moscow. The attack on Pearl Harbor started a war that Japan could not win. Admiral Yamamoto, their greatest military leader, warned them of that, but the extreme militarist Japanese leadership refused to consider other options. The attack led to the United States bombing Japan and invading France.
On June 6, 1944, the United States was ready to counter-attack. They were ready to invade Europe in order to occupy Germany from the West to match the Russian advance from the East. D-Day, the invasion of France, did not change the outcome of the war, as Germany was already losing it, but it marked the long-awaited end of World War II. V-Day, the surrender of Japan, came a year later and ended World War II permanently.
World War II, the second global war in history, marked a time of grief and loss like no other. The Battle of Moscow, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and D-Day were the three major turning points of the War. These events played a large factor in determining how the War ended and who would win. The aftermath of World War II was the beginning of an era defined by the decline of all great powers except for the Soviet Union and the United States.