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7 July 1937,Clash near the Marco Polo Bridge, close to Beijing
The triggering of the full-scale war with China that lasted until 1945 began with an obscure clash involving a Japanese unit on night manoeuvres near the Marco Polo Bridge southwest of Beijing on the night of 7-8 July 1937. -
10 May 1940: Germans launch offensive in the West
The German unwillingness to limit their war to the conquest of Poland and to launch meaningful peace talks meant that the Second World War -
12 August 1940: Battle of Britain begins
The first concerted attack on British airfields was launched on 12 August 1940. The fall of France ensured that German air bases were now close to Britain. The luftwaffe (German air force) was instructed to help prepare the way for invasion by driving British warships -
22 June 1941: Launching of Operation Barbarossa
Hitler’s overconfidence and contempt for other political systems reinforced his belief that Germany had to conquer the Soviet Union in order to fulfill her destiny and obtain Lebensraum (living space). -
7 December 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attack on the United States meant the conflict was clearly a world war. Japan could have restricted itself to attacking the British and Dutch colonies in South-East Asia, but, instead chose to also attack America in order to prevent it from opposing Japanese expansion. -
4 June 1942: Battle of Midway
The continued capacity of the American navy, however, was shown clearly, on 4 June, with the American victory in the battle of Midway, a naval-air battle of unprecedented scale. -
5 July 1943: Germans launch battle of Kursk
The last major German offensive on the Eastern Front sought to exploit the opportunities provided by a major German salient. -
6 June 1944: D-Day
The Germans had concentrated more of their defences and forces in the Calais region, which offered a shorter sea crossing and a shorter route to Germany. -
23–26 October 1944: Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Americans used their naval and air superiority, already strong and rapidly growing, to mount a reconquest of the Philippines from October 1944. That operation helped ensure a naval battle: that of Leyte Gulf of 23–26 October, the largest naval battle of the war and one (or rather a series of engagements) that secured American maritime superiority in the western Pacific. -
9 August 1945: Dropping of second atom bomb, on Nagasaki
The limited American ability to deploy more bombs speedily was not appreciated. Some 6.7 square kilometres of Nagasaki was reduced to ashes; 73,884 people were killed and 74,909 injured. Long-term health consequences were calamitous.