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Britain guarantees territorial integrity of Poland
This guarantee formally ended the policy of appeasement, and the British government reluctantly began to prepare for war. Conscription was introduced for the first time in peacetime on 27 April, with little protest. On 23 August, the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact put to rest the British hopes of a Russian ally. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain warned Adolf Hitler that Britain would support Poland if it was attacked by Germany. -
German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
On August 23, 1939, a little over a week before the beginning of World War II, Germany and Soviet Union signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. The terms of the pact were that if Germany attacked Poland, then the Soviet Union would not come to its aid. Thus, if Germany went to war against the West (especially France & Great Britain) over Poland, the Soviets were guaranteeing that they would not enter the war; thus not open a second front for Germany. -
Hitler & Nazi Germany invade Poland
At 4:45 a.m., some 1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. -
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WWII
An international military conflict, World War II resulted in more loss of life and material destruction than any other war in recorded human history. From Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939 until the Allies' victory in 1945, armed clashes between two opposing alliances--known as the Axis and the Allies--ravaged cities and towns across Europe, Asia, Africa and the islands of the Pacific. The war ended with the surrender of Japan on August 14, 1945. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany in response to the invasion of Poland
On 1 September, German forces invaded Poland. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain still hoped to avoid declaring war on Germany, but a threatened revolt in the cabinet and strong public feeling that Hitler should be confronted forced him to honour the Anglo-Polish Treaty. Britain was at war with Germany for the second time in 25 years. -
Battle of the Atlantic begins
"Battle of the Atlantic", coined by Winston Churchill in 1941, covers a campaign that began on the first day of the European war and lasted for six years, involved thousands of ships and stretched over hundreds of miles of the vast ocean and seas in a succession of more than 100 convoy battles and perhaps 1,000 single-ship encounters. Tactical advantage switched back and forth over the six years as new weapons, tactics and counter-measures were developed by both sides. -
Passenger Liner Athenia torpedoed
The S.S. Athenia was the first British ship to be sunk by Nazi Germany in World War II. The sinking of the Athenia marked the killing of the first Canadian in WWII - stewardess Hannah Bird of Quebec. -
Canada declares war on Germany
On Sept. 10, 1939, a special session of Parliament approves Prime Minister Mackenzie King's request that Canada join the war in Europe. The decision, seen by most Canadians as inevitable, comes exactly one week after England and France declare war on Nazi Germany. It is the first time that Canadians make their own declaration of war as a sovereign nation. -
German invasion of the Low Countries and France begins
The German army rapidly defeated France with a strategy called 'blitzkrieg', or 'lightning war', which used speed, flexibility and surprise to execute huge outflanking manoeuvres. Paris fell on 14 June and France capitulated on 25 June. Hitler had achieved in a matter of weeks what the German army had failed to do after four years of desperate fighting on the Western Front of World War One. -
Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of the coalition government
Following the disastrous Norwegian campaign, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain faced heavy criticism at home. By early May, Chamberlain had lost the confidence of the House of Commons. Labour ministers refused to serve in a national coalition with Chamberlain as leader, so he resigned. Churchill became prime minister on 10 May, the same day Germany invaded Holland and Belgium. (photo: Yousuf Karsh) -
Battle of France
In World War II, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, executed on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. (aka: The Fall of France) -
Battle of Dunkirk
The Battle of Dunkirk was a battle in the Second World War between the Allies and Germany. A part of the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and allied forces in Europe from 24 May to 4 June 1940. After the Phoney War, the Battle of France began in earnest on 10 May 1940. -
Thousands of Allied troops evacuated from Dunkirk, France (Operation Dynamo)
Allied forces were utterly overwhelmed by the German 'blitzkrieg' in France. Thousands of soldiers were trapped in a shrinking pocket of territory centred around the French seaside town of Dunkirk. The Royal Navy's Operation Dynamo succeeded in evacuating approximately 338,000 British and French troops in destroyers and hundreds of 'little ships' - volunteers who sailed to France in their own vessels - over a period of ten days, while under constant attack from the Luftwaffe (German air force). -
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Operation Dynamo - Dunkirk Evacuation
The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940, when British, French, Canadian, and Belgian troops were cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk in the Second World War. -
Battle of Britain begins with heavy raids by the German Luftwaffe
In July 1940, German leader Adolf Hitler ordered preparations for Operation Sealion - the invasion of Britain. The Luftwaffe (German air force) first had to destroy the Royal Air Force. Vastly outnumbered, the RAF nonetheless consistently inflicted heavy losses on the German squadrons, thanks to excellent aircraft, determined pilots and radar technology. On 17 September, two days after the Luftwaffe sustained its heaviest single day of losses, Hitler postponed the invasion. -
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Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the air campaign waged by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940. The objective of the campaign was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF), especially Fighter Command. The name derives from a famous speech delivered by Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the House of Commons: "The Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin." -
Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union
Under the codename Operation "Barbarossa," Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 in the largest German military operation of World War II. Adolf Hitler had always regarded the German-Soviet nonaggression pact, signed on August 23, 1939, as a temporary tactical maneuver. -
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Operation Barbarossa - Germany attacks Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along the Eastern front. It was the largest military offensive in history. In addition to the large number of troops, it also involved 600,000 motor vehicles and 750,000 horses. Planning for Operation Barbarossa started on 18 December 1940. -
Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor (called the Hawaii Operation or Operation Z by the Japanese) was an unannounced military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on the morning of December 7, 1941. It resulted in the United States' entry into World War II the next day. The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from influencing the war that Japan was planning in Southeast Asia. -
First American troops arrive in Europe, landing in Belfast
America entered the war on the Allied side in December 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent German declaration of war on the United States. Millions of men and thousands of planes and tanks were deployed to Britain, which became a base for American airmen flying bombing raids over Europe, a staging post for American troops on their way to fight in North Africa, and crucially the launching point for the D-Day invasions that began the liberation of Western Europe. -
'Dieppe Raid' ends in disaster for the Allies
The Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe, on the northern French coast, had a variety of purposes. It would raise morale at a time when the war was going badly, it would show the Soviets that the western Allies could open a second front, and it would teach valuable lessons for the eventual full-scale invasion of Europe. It was a disaster. Of the 6,000 mainly Canadian troops who made it ashore, more than 4,000 were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. -
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Decisive British victory over German forces at Battle of El Alamein, Egypt
General Claude Auchinleck had stopped the Axis forces (mainly German and Italian troops) during the First Battle of El Alamein in early July 1942, but the Allied position was still precarious. When General Bernard Montgomery took command of 8th Army, he built up its strength to a level of superiority before smashing the Axis forces in a carefully coordinated assault, driving them all the way back to Tunisia. By May 1943, the Axis had been completely cleared out of North Africa. -
Germany calls off the Battle of the Atlantic
Allied merchant shipping losses to German 'U-boats' in the Atlantic had reached crisis levels in late 1942 to early 1943. At the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, Allied leaders allocated more resources to the battle. In March 1943, after a 'blackout' of several months, German U-boat ciphers were once again broken, allowing the new resources to be deployed to devastating effect. By May 1943, U-boat losses were so heavy that Kriegsmarine commander Admiral Karl Dönitz called off the battle. -
The Invasion of Sicily - Operation Husky
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis (Italy and Nazi Germany). It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.
Husky began on the night of July 9-10 1943, and ended August 17. Strategically, Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners. -
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Canadians in The Italian Campaign
The Italian Campaign of WWII began with the invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and ended, for Canada, in February 1945 when the 1st Canadian Division was redeployed from Italy to the Western Front to assist with the advance across Western Europe to Germany. The Italian Campaign was Canada’s first major ground participation in the Second World War in Europe and would cost 25,264 casualties, 5,900 of them fatal, over its course which, at its highest peak, saw over 76,000 Canadians serving in Italy. -
Allies win the Battle of Monte Cassino after five months of fighting
The battle centred on the ancient Italian monastery of Monte Cassino. The Allies were attempting to break through the German 'Gustav Line', which ran across Italy, south of Rome. The Germans sought to halt the Allied advance north by holding them at Monte Cassino. The bitter fighting lasted over five months, during which the monastery was reduced to rubble. By the time the Allies broke through, casualties numbered more than 54,000 Allied and 20,000 Germans troops. -
Liberation of Rome
Fighting in the Italian Campaign continued as the
Allies made their way north through many German
defensive positions. Notable for Canada was the
Battle in the Liri Valley, with the ensuing liberation
of Rome by the American army on June 5, 1944. -
Allied forces land in Normandy on D-Day, starting the liberation of France
The invasion of Europe - the largest amphibious invasion in history - succeeded in landing 150,000 troops on the beaches of Normandy on the first day, through a massive combined operation requiring hundreds of ships and total air superiority. Behind the lines, Allied paratroops seized key strategic targets, while the French resistance sabotaged rail and communication links. By the end of D-Day, five beachheads were secured, and the Allies had a foothold in France. -
Allied forces are defeated at the Battle of Arnhem
Operation Market Garden was a bold plan to land 30,000 Allied troops behind enemy lines and capture eight bridges spanning a network of waterways on the Dutch-German border near Arnhem. It would allow the Allies to outflank German border defences, opening the way for an advance into Germany and an early end to the war. A combination of factors, including faulty intelligence about German strength and bad weather, resulted in failure. More than 1,130 Allied troops were killed and 6,000 captured. -
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The Liberation of the Netherlands
On May 5, 1945, Col.-Gen. Johannes Blaskowitz formally surrendered the remaining 117,000 German troops in the Netherlands to Canadian Lt.-Gen. Charles Foulkes of the First Canadian Corps, ending nearly eight months of bitter and difficult fighting. -
Hitler commits suicide
The cause of death is suicide by a gunshot wound to the head and cyanide posioning. The lack of public information concerning the whereabouts of Hitler's remains, confused reports stemming from the dual method and other circumstances surrounding the event encouraged rumours that Hitler may have survived the end of World War II. -
Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) - the war in Europe ends
German forces had been utterly defeated by the end of April 1945. Adolf Hitler committed suicide on 30 April as Soviet forces closed in on his Berlin bunker. The German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz surrendered to Allied General Dwight Eisenhower in France on 7 May. The following day was officially celebrated in Britain as Victory in Europe Day. The entire country came to a standstill as people celebrated the end of war. -
Atomic Bomb - Hiroshima
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against Japan in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After six months of intense strategic fire-bombing of 67 Japanese cities the Japanese government ignored an ultimatum given by the Potsdam Declaration. By executive order of President Truman the U.S. dropped the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6, 1945. -
Atomic Bomb - Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against Japan in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After six months of intense strategic fire-bombing of 67 Japanese cities the Japanese government ignored an ultimatum given by the Potsdam Declaration. By executive order of President Truman the U.S. dropped the nuclear weapon "Fat Man" on the city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. -
Victory over Japan Day marks the end of World War Two
On 6 August, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the American bomber 'Enola Gay'. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on the port city of Nagasaki. In all, 140,000 people perished. Less than a week later, the Japanese leadership agreed to an unconditional surrender, and the Emperor Hirohito broadcast his nation's capitulation over the radio. Victory over Japan day also marked the end of World War Two.
