Timeline of World War II

  • Germany troops invade Poland

    Germany troops invade Poland
    On Sep 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France responded to this in two days, and on Sep 3, they declared war after Germany refused to get out of Poland.
  • Germany conquers 5 countries in it's blitzkrieg

    Germany conquers 5 countries in it's blitzkrieg
    In April-October 1940, Germany conquered Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium. Hitler was set on conquering France after Belgium.
  • France surrenders to Germany

    France surrenders to Germany
    The French army wasn’t strong enough so France surrendered, leaving Britain and the Commonwealth alone to fight Germany.
  • Japan bombs Pearl Harbour

    Japan bombs Pearl Harbour
    Japan bombed the US naval base in Pearl Harbour. A large amount of the American fleet was the destroyed.
  • Japan attacks Hong Kong

    Japan attacks Hong Kong
    Right after bombing Pearl Harbor, Japan decided to attack Hong Kong. After Hong Kong fell to Japan, every Canadian in the colony was either killed or taken prisoner.
  • Raid of Dieppe

    Raid of Dieppe
    The Allied forces raided the French port of Dieppe after France surrendered to Germany.
  • Battle of Sicily

    Battle of Sicily
    Allied forces invaded Sicily. They fought soldiers through 240 km of mostly mountains. There were 562 casualties on the Allied side and the island was captured in a mere 38 days.
  • Battle of Ortona

    Battle of Ortona
    The Allies followed the Germans to mainland Italy. The Canadians had to capture the town of Ortona. Before they could get there they had to capture many small villages. Once they reached Ortona, The town was captures on December 28, 1943.
  • Final Allied invasion of Europe

    Final Allied invasion of Europe
    The Allies launched a full-scale invasion of Europe. They launched their attack of five beaches along the Normandy coast in France. They had lots of naval and air support, and they took down German communications before the attack. The German defence was very poorly coordinated because they weren’t expecting the Allies to make a landing in bad weather.
  • Japan surrenders after two atomic bombs

    Japan surrenders after two atomic bombs
    On August 6, 1945 an American bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days after, a second bomb hit Japan in the city of Nagasaki. They then surrendered on August 14 when they realised they couldn’t handle the power.