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Germany Invades Poland WW II Begins
German troops and aircraft attack Poland. Soviet troops will invade Poland from the east on September 17, and Poland will surrender to the Germans on September 27. -
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Major Events of World War II
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Britain & France Delcare War on Germany
After Hitler ignores their demand for German withdrawal from Poland, and as the British ship Athenia is sunk by German U-boats off the coast of Ireland, Great Britain and France formally declare war on Germany. -
Hitler Invades France and nearby Countries
The German Blitzkrieg ("lightning war") begins, as Rotterdam and other Dutch cities are attacked from the air. By the end of the month, the Dutch armies will have surrendered, Belgium will have surrendered, and the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk will be underway. -
Battle of Britain Begins
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Battle of Britain Ends
The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany. -
Pearl Harbor Attacked
Just before 8 a.m., Honolulu time, 360 Japanese planes attack Pearl Harbor, the U.S. military base on the Hawiian island of Oahu. The attack cripples the U.S. Pacific fleet, and kills more than 2,300 American soldiers, sailors, and civilians. The attack precedes Japan's formal declaration of war, which is delivered by the Japanese foreign minister to the U.S. embassy in Tokyo more than seven hours later. -
Battle of Stalingrad Begins
Germany and her Axis partners launch a new offensive in the Soviet Union. German troops fight their way into Stalingrad (Volgograd) on the Volga River by mid-September and penetrate deep into the Caucasus after securing the Crimean Peninsula. -
Battle of Stalingrad Ends
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Allied Victory in Africa
Axis forces in Tunisia surrender to the Allies, ending the North African campaign. -
D-Day
The Allied invasion of Europe commences just after midnight, as more than 175,000 troops land at Normandy. The largest invasion force in history, it includes 4,000 invasion ships, 600 warships, and 10,000 planes. -
Battle of the Bulge Begins
The Battle of the Bulge begins. It the last major German counteroffensive, as allied troops are pushed back in Belgium's Ardennes Forest. As Allied lines fall back, a "bulge" is created in the center of the line, giving the battle its familiar name. Two weeks of intense fighting in brutal winter weather follow before the German offensive is stopped. -
Battle of the Bulge Ends
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Germany Surrenders
Germany surrenders unconditionally to General Eisenhower at Rheims, France, and to the Soviets in Berlin. President Truman pronounces the following day, May 8, V-E Day. The U.S., Russia, England, and France agree to split occupied Germany into eastern and western halves. -
Bombing of Hiroshima
The U.S B-29 Superfortress, Enola Gay, drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese industrial city of Hiroshima. The city is leveled, and an estimated 100,000 people are killed immediately (another 100,000 will die later from radiation sickness and burns). -
Bombing of Nagasaki
On August 9, a second bomb will be dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. -
Japan Surrenders
General MacArthur accepts the formal, unconditional surrender of Japan in a ceremony aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
