As we saw in the last video,
in 1942 we start to see the tide turn
in the Pacific. Just as reminder - In December of 1941, you have the Japanese attack
of Pearl Harbor which brings the United States
into World War II. And as we get into 1942, you have the Doolittle Raid
on the mainland of Japan which is a psychological victory
for America and the allies. Then you have the Battle of Coral Sea
and then Midway. Midway in particular was a huge -- I shouldn´t put red there,
I should leave it blue -- was a huge success
for the American Navy, followed by Guadalcanal after which the U.S.
is able to go on the offensive against the Japanese. We see a significant turning of the tide
in 1942 in the Pacific. And it also turns out
to be the case in Europe that we see a turning of the tide
in 1942. Just as Guadalcanal is occuring, you might remember that in 1941 Hitler and the Nazis decided
they want to attack the Soviet Union, probably not a good idea,
they going to stretch themselves thin, but they do so anyway. The Siege of Leningrad
starts in 1941, and then in 1942 by August,
they are able to reach Stalingrad, which is right about here. And Stalingrad,
it´s now called Volgograd, is right about there
if the map extended over there. This is a major series of battles
in World War II. Movies are made about Stalingrad,
incredibly bloody. Incredibly -- if you look at the pictures of the city of Stalingrad
after the battles there, the city is essentially in ruins. But the battles in Stalingrad
start in August of 1942 and they continue for several months,
going up to February of 1943. But this marks the turning point
for Hitler. He´s getting bogged down
in Leningrad, he´s getting bogged down
in Stalingrad, eventually gets defeated in Stalingrad
in early 1943. And his armies
are really spread thin. Stalingrad is a hugely important event or series of events
in World War II. And let´s just be clear
where we are right now. Stalingrad commences in August of 1942. And just to frame it in your mind - relativ to the Pacific Theater, this is right around
- plus or minus a few weeks - of when Guadalcanal was going on, conflict between the Japanese
and the American navies. You have these incredibly
bloody series of battles at Stalingrad. Then in October, we´ve been talking about this
back and forth, in North Africa and some people are: "Why are they even
worried about North Africa?" And I should have mentioned
this earlier, but we have to remember
that there is somewhat strategic here called the Suez Canal. Why is the Suez Canal strategic? It connects the Mediterranean
with the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. You don`t have to go
all the way around Africa to go from Europe
to the Indian Ocean. It`s an incredibly strategic passage
or way to travel by sea between -- I guess for the world --
but especially between Europe and Asia. You can imagine, the British were very keen
on protecting the Suez Canal and the axies would have loved
to get control of the Suez Canal. Let me write this here. This right over here
is the Suez Canal. And as we go into October, this is Stalingrad commences
right over here. And as we go into October, the British are able to defeat or
start to deafeat the axies and then push them back. This eventually leads to the British
being able to go all the way to Tunisia. This is the final back- and-forth-blow that starts to secure victory
for the allies in North Africa. And at the same time
that this is commencing in October, you have other allied forces,
starting to arrive in Morroco and Algeria. Forces from the U.S.
are arriving in Morroco, and forces from the U.K.,
from Great Britain, are arriving in Algeria. This is going to give the allies
control of North Africa, from which they can now
mount assaults onto the European mainland, which we will see
in the next series of videos. Definitely the tide is turning, and the allies are starting
to be able to go on the offensive both in the Pacific
and the European Theater.