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World War 2 Major Events
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Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier of France and Mussolini of Italy met in Munich and agreed that Hitler should have the Sudetanland of Czechoslovakia.
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Hitler marched into Czechoslovakia and occupied the country.
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Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact which included secret clauses for the division of Poland.
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The invasion of Poland by German forces make the official start of WWII.
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Britain and France declared war on Germany. Neville Chamberlain broadcast the announcement that the country was at war.
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Hitler launched his blitzkrieg against Holland and Belgium. Rotterdam was bombed almost to extinction. Both countries were occupied.
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Neville Chamberlain resigned after pressure from Labour members for a more active prosecution of the war and Winston Churchill became the new head of the wartime coalition government.
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The British commander-in-chief, General Gort, had been forced to retreat to the coast at Dunkirk. The troops waited, under merciless fire, to be taken off the beaches.
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Italy entered the war on the side of the Axis powers.
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This pact of mutual alliance was signed by Germany, Italy and Japan.
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Last German offensive in the East, killing over 200,000 Russians.
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Japanese attack American Base causing massive destruction and putting a huge dent in the Americans navy and air force.
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Great Britain and The U.S. declares war on the Japanese.
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A Four day battle fought between aircraft based on giant aircraft carriers. The U.S. destroyed hundreds of Japanese planes and regained control of the Pacific.
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Montgomery attacked the German-Italian army in North Africa with a massive bombardment followed by an armoured attack.
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The British and American forces managed to defeat the Axis forces in North Africa.
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Mussolini had been thrown out of office and the new government of Italy surrendered to the British and the USA.
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The siege of Leningrad was lifted by the Soviet army.
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160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France.
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The French capital of Paris was liberated from the Germans.
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President Roosevelt died. He was succeeded by President Truman.
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Italian partisans captured Mussolini and executed him.
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Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bombproof shelter with his wife.
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The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms and the war with Germany is over.
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Atomic Bomb is dropped onto Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Killing many and ending the war.
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Russia declared war on Japan and invaded Japanese-ruled Manchuria.
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The surrender of the Empire of Japan brought the hostilities of World War II to a close. Japan signs the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on board the USS Missouri.
