What Is The Battle Of Ww2 Essay

Battles of WWII World War was a bloody and massive conflict. Each battle saw large losses on each side, not to mention the innocent civilian losses in events such as the Holocaust and the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the war. Many of these conflicts could be considered major events and turning points of the war, with each one contributing to the final outcome. Among the most impactful battles of WWII was the Battle of Britain on the European stage, and the Battle of the Coral Sea on the Pacific stage.
The Battle of Britain began several weeks after Winston Churchill’s famous speech in which he stated, “The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” Unfortunately, he was
correct. On July 10th, the German Luftwaffe, led by Commander Hermann Goring, launched its first attack against the British Royal Air Force (Harney, “Battle of Britain”). From the first phase of battle, the RAF and it’s commander Hugh Dowding were put largely on the defensive. The Germans focused on attacking ports and shipping stations in order to cut off Britain’s trade. The second phase involved targeting the RAF planes and air bases themselves. Both sides suffered heavy losses during this time, with “an average loss of 21 percent of the RAF’s fighter pilots and 16 percent of the Luftwaffe’s fighter pilots each month during July, August, and September,” (History.com, “Battle of Britain”). The final stages of the battle consisted primarily of the London Blitz, a time when German aircrafts would launch massive bombing runs nightly in an effort to break the will of the British citizens. In the end, however, they failed to force Britain to negotiate and surrender, resulting in the first major German loss of World War II. Overall, there were 966 British aircrew killed or wounded, as well as 1547 aircrafts destroyed. The German troops lost 2698 aircrew (not including 638 missing bodies identified by British Authorities), as well as 1887 aircrafts. In addition, 967 crewmembers were captured (Harney, “Battle of Britain”).
After experiencing their first major loss, the morale in German troops dropped for the first time in the war. Hitler was forced to permanently ‘postpone’ the battle, and redirect his efforts elsewhere. Had he been successful in his hair campaign, German forces may have been able to launch an amphibious attack on the British Isles, taking the nation just as they took France (Harney, “Battle of Britain”). The Allied power’s forces would have been even fewer, and Nazi Germany may have succeeded in conquering all of Europe.
Similar to the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Coral Sea was also the first of it’s kind.
The four-day battle was the first carrier vs. carrier battle in history. The goal of this skirmish (led by Admiral Frank J. Fletcher and Vice Admiral Takagi Takao of the U.S. and Japanese forces, respectively) was centered around Australia, Japan’s next target in its Pacific campaign (History.com, “Battle of Coral Sea”). The Japanese planned to launch an attack against Port Moresby, Australia in order to sever communications between Australia and the U.S. Allied codebreakers were able to decipher Japanese messages, and saw the attack coming. They were able to move forces into place, including the air force carriers USS Lexington and USS Yorktown (Alex, “Battle of Coral Sea Timeline”). American forces were able to sink the lesser carrier, the IJN Shoho, and damaged the IJN Shokaku. In return, Allied forces lost the USS Lexington completely. This battle was technically a victory for Japan, but they were unable to capture Australia which set back their plans for dominating the pacific (Alex, “Battle of Coral Sea Timeline”). In addition, it left the Japanese with insufficient forces for the future Battle of Midway, allowing for an Allied
victory.
World War II had many outcomes, including establishing the United States as one of the most powerful nations in the world. Had almost any of the battles ended differently, the entire war might have had a different outcome: the spread of communism and Nazi Germany. While it is impossible to say for sure what may have happened, the Battles of Britain and the Coral Sea had a major impact on the global conflict, if not directly then indirectly. In the end, Hitler was stopped in his European conquest and the second world war came to an end.