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German Invasion of Poland
Regarded as the event that started WW2. Hitler violated his non-aggression pact and decided to invade Poland (after signing appeasement with Britain and France, and a non-aggression pact with the USSR), focusing his army on Warsaw. Poland surrendered shortly after. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
After Poland is invaded, Britain and France ally and declare war on Germany. -
Armistice between France & Germany is signed
After a Nazi invasion, France decides to sign armistice with Germany and surrender, thus becoming part of Hitler's controlled territories in Western Europe. -
Warsaw Ghetto Establishment and Displacement
The Warsaw ghetto is established and Polish Jews are forced to relocate there. Beginning of extreme segregation and maltreatment with Holocaust victims. Ghettoes would later be established in other cities. -
Lend-Lease Act Enacted
The Lend-Lease Act enabled FDR to lend the countries of his choosing (read: the Allies) war supplies. This dramatically increased Britain’s war forces, angering Hitler and provoking him to start bombing down US cargo ships. -
Beginning of Operation Barbarossa
Hitler violates his non-aggression pact with Russia and decides to invade (sound familiar?) Russia. This proves disastrous for German troops, as the winter is harsh, Operation Barbarossa drags on, and people keep dying. They didn’t pack winter uniforms, as it was believed that the operation would be over in a month. As a result, Russia becomes part of the Allies. -
Japan Overruns French Indochina
After given control of Northern Indochina, by Vichy France , Japan takes charge in the south; aiming towards their goal of Japanese-controlled Asia. Angered by these imperialistic actions, FDR decides to cut off all US oil supplies to Japan and increases the tension between the US and Japan that would later lead to the war on the Pacific Theatre. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese Navy surprise-attacks the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, producing devastating results for the US Navy (lost most of their ships and ammo) and provoking the US to enter the war on the Allied side. -
Final Solution Begins
After the Wannsee Conference in 20 January 1942, Nazis decide that the Final Solution to the Jewish Question is complete extermination, starting to use extermination camps and gas chambers to eventually kill around six million Jews. -
Doolittle Raid / Attack on Tokyo
As a response to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US air-raids Tokyo, with some help from China. Parts of the city are destroyed and Japan has to focus on rebuilding rather than counter-attacking. -
Battle of Midway
Allies de-coded that the Japanese were going to attack Midway island, a small landing strip used by the US Navy, so they planned a counter-attack and followed through. This crippled Japan’s navy so much that it turned the Pacific Theatre in favor of the Allied forces. -
Gadalcanal Campaign Starts
Marks the beginning of General MacArthur’s island-hopping campaign. American and Australian forces fought against the Japanese to take over the island of Guadalcanal, which was going to be a Japanese air base. There were great losses in both sides, but in the end, the Allies were victorious and able to continue with their island-hopping strategy.
Ends in February 1943. -
Normandy Landings: D-Day
French, American, British, and Canadian soldiers stormed through the Normandy coast in France, battling against the well- defensed Germans; they were eventually able to break through Germany’s defense line and into the European front. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Germans attack Ardennes, which is in their Western front. Although the American defenses stationed there were surprised, they managed to win and advance further into the East, towards Berlin. -
Yalta Conference
FDR, Churchill, and Stalin meet at Yalta, Russia, to decide the fate of the post-war European front, since they seen Ally victory as inevitable. However, a victory on the Pacific front is not assured, so Stalin agrees to have Russia enter the fight against Japan as long as he receives influence over Manchuria. -
Battle of Okinawa
One of the bloodiest battles during the war, the Battle of Okinawa took place in Okinawa, Japan, between Japanese and American troops and marked the beginning of Allied victory in the Pacific Theatre. -
Nazi Germany SUrrenders
After Allied forces take over Berlin and Hitler commits suicide, Eisenhower (read: Germany) surrenders unconditionally, marking the end of the war in the European front. -
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
America drops an atomic bomb, developed by the Manhattan Project, as a last-ditch effort to win the Pacific war. Killed a total of 210,000 Japanese lives and destroyed the city of Hiroshima. -
Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki
The second atomic bomb, this time dropped in Nagasaki (again by the Allies), kills more than 70,000 people in an instant and pushes Japan to surrender. -
Surrender of Japan
The mass distruction caused by two attomic bombings bring Japan to finally surrender to General MacArthur (America), ending the war in the Pacific Theatre and officially ending World War Two.
