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Germans and Russians occupied Poland. The territory was divided up between Germany and the USSR.
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In the west very little happened, as there was a five-month pause (called 'Phoney War' by the American press). In the east, Russians took over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and invaded Finland. Meanwhile, French and Germans manned their defences.
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Hitler's troops occupied Denmark and landed at the main Norwegian ports, ending the calm of the Phoney War.
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The three attacks were launched simultaneously. The Dutch surrendered after four days, and Belgium surrendered at the end of May.
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The British navy played a vital role, as it evacuated over 338000 troops from Dunkirk, which would have been impossible if Hitler had not ordered the German advance towards Dunkirk to halt.
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The Germans captured Paris on 14 June, and France surrendered on 22 June. They occupied the north part of the country and the Atlantic coast.
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Goering's Luftwaffe tried to destroy the Royal Air Force as a preliminary to the invasion of Britain. When Hitler noticed that British air power was far from being destroyed, he called off the invasion. The British succeed, demonstrating that Germans were not invincible.
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The Italian leader sent an army to Egypt while another army invaded Greece. However, the British drove the Italians out of Egypt, pushed them back far into Libya and defeated them at Bedafomm.
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In February, Hitler sent Rommel and the Afrika Korps to Tripoli, and together with the Italians, they drove the British out of Libya.
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Hitler's forces invaded Greece, the Germans soon captured Athens and the British, which came there to help the Greeks, were forced to evacuate.
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That was the name of the German invasion of Russia. The German attack was three-pronged: in the north towards Leningrad, in the centre towards Moscow, and in the south through Ukraine. However, the German forces failed to capture Leningrad and Moscow.
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The USA was brought into the war by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The motives for the attack were tied up with economic problems.
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There were at least 20 camps set up by the Germans to carry out what they called the 'Final Solution' of the 'Jewish problem'. Between December 1941, when the first Jews were killed at Chelmno in Poland, and May 1945 when the Germans surrendered, some 5.7 million Jews were murdered, along with hundreds of thousands of non-Jews: gypsies, socialists, communists, homosexuals and the mentally handicapped.
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The Pearl Harbor event gave the Japanese the control of the Pacific, and by May they had captured Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong and Burma, the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, and two American possessions, Guam and Wake Island.
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The Americans beat off a powerful Japanese attack by destroying four of the Japanese carriers and about 330 planes. Meanwhile, Germans were in Egypt.
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The Germans reached Stalingrad at the end of August, but though they destroyed the city, Russians refused to surrender. Six months later, after being counter-attacked, the Germans surrendered.
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The Afrika Korps were driven back by the British Eighth Army. This event led on to the complete expulsion of Axis forces from North Africa.
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This was the first stage in the Axis collapse. British and American troops landed in Sicily and captured the island, causing the downfall of Mussolini.
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Allied troops crossed to Salerno, Reggio and Taranto on the mainland and captured Naples.
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That was the name given to the invasion of France, which began on "D-Day", 6 June. The landings took place from sea and air, and even though there was German resistance, at the end of the first week about 326000 men landed safely.
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The Germans broke through the American lines and advanced 60 miles, causing a huge bulge in the front line.
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Early in 1945, Germany was being invaded in both fronts, from east and west. After April, Hitler committed suicide and Germany surrendered.
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The Americans dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and three days later they dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. About 124000 were killed, and after that the Japanese government surrendered.
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This emerged as the successor of the League of Nations, and its main aim was to try to maintain world peace.
