Military Power

What were the major turning points of World War 2? Ok, I know this is a trick question, In such a large conflict, there are certainly many "turning points", and there will be differing opinions on them. I just want to know what you think some of them are...

Battle of Britain

If the RAF had been destroyed, the English fleet could have then been attacked by the German air force and navy, resulting in the invasion of England and Spain joining the war alongside Germany. Spanish leaders had said if England was knocked out of the war they would join in.

This was probably one of the most important turning points in the war. If Hitler had defeated Britain the US and Russia would have lost a valuable ally and it would have allowed Germany to concentrate on the USSR. It also allowed D-Day and El Alamein to happen.

Battle of The Atlantic

If the U.S. had not been able to help Britain in the form of materials, ships, food i.e. the Lend-Lease Act, the Brits would of fallen to the Germans, or at the very least been useless to the war effort. And if the Brits would have fallen, there would have been no African Campaign. In that case, the Germans would have been fighting one on one with the Russians, and based on the initial performance of Germany, it is almost certain they would of crushed Russia.

D-Day (Operation Overlord)

The importance of the U.S. involvement in Europe cannot be understated. Some say Russia would have won the war against Germany without U.S. support. This statement is totally bogus. The Germans got all the way to Moscow before they were stopped by a combination of things. Even with the demise of the 6th Army, Hitler still had enough troops to stop the Russians. The reason he could not stop them is because he had to man the Atlantic Wall from a western invasion and continue his fighting in North Africa. This is where the United States comes in. Stalin had been begging President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill to start a second front so as to relieve the Russian burden as early as the Argentine Conference in 1941. Just the threat of a U.S. invasion made Germany move troops from Russia to France, which made is easier for the Russians when they finally went over to the offensive because they had less enemy to fight.

Pearl Harbor

In terms of the Pacific, when Japan failed to destroy the Pacific fleet in Pearl, they had effectively lost the war there and then, and although it is true that they did commit themselves to offensive operations up until Midway, the loss of the element of surprise and sheer industrial and military might of the US in comparison to that of Japan had already doomed the Japanese army and navy, which was both smaller and more ill-equipped than their American counterparts.

Mr. Churchill wrote in his diary on night of Pearl Harbor: "So that's how it ends, we win the war!"

Soviet invasion of Manchuria

The Soviet attack on Manchuria was a large, but underrated factor in the Japanese surrender. Although by this time American forced would have destroyed Japan in any case, the Soviet Union destroyed the one-million strong Kuantung army, which, although greatly weakened, was a central part in the Japanese plans to defend the home islands.

Cracking the Enigma codes

I'd say Pearl Harbor was a very big one. Also, Russians entering the war against Japan.