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Germany invades Poland
German forces bombarded Poland on land and from the air, with Hitler seeking to regain ground lost from World War 1.
The invasion was a primer for Hitler's 'blitzkrieg' strategy that he intended to win the war with. It was characterised by heavy bombing early on to cripple enemy fortifications followed by a large scale land assault with overwhelming numbers of infantrymen, tanks and artillery. -
Britain and France declare war on Nazi Germany
Neville Chamberlain was appointed Prime Minister of Britain in 1937 and is known for using the 'appeasement' policy frequently. He tried to avoid large scale warfare in Europe by seeking a diplomatic solution with Nazi Germany, meeting with Hitler three times in 1938 and even returning with a signed undertaking from Hitler promising "peace in our time". -
France officially surrenders
Following the French defeat at the Battle of France, the French government was forced to relocate to Bordeaux on the 10th of June and declared Paris an open city on the same day, saving it from bombings and assault. After the French government signed the armistice Germany occupied northern and western France and gave them access to the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel, putting the United Kingdom within reach. -
Operation Barbarossa begins
Operation Barbarossa was the codename for Nazi Germany's invasion of the USSR, involving 4 million Axis soldiers invading from Western Russia along a 2,900 km front. Whilst Axis forces were able to capture important economic areas namely in Ukraine, the invasion halted on the outskirts of Moscow as the Axis forces faced a bitter Russian winter and a massive Soviet counter-attack. Operation Barbarossa opened up the Eastern Front and put a clench on Axis forces in Europe, leading to their loss. -
Battle of Pearl Harbour
Prior to the Battle of Pearl Harbour, the United States had a peace treaty with Japan and had largely been absent from the war save for a few skirmishes with German naval forces. The attack was intended to cripple the U.S Pacific Fleet from interfering with Japanese military action in Southeast Asia. Admiral Yamamoto originally planned that the attack should not commence until 30 minutes after a decaration of war on the United States had been sent. -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was planned by the Japanese to eliminate the US as a power in the Pacific thereby asserting Japanese power in the region. However, US codebreakers were able to ascertain the Japanese attack enabling the Navy to prepare for an ambush. The United States Navy managed to cripple Japanese naval forces, sinking 4 carriers, 1 heavy cruiser and several aircraft. The Battle of Midway was the Allies' first major naval victory against the Japanese. -
Remaining German forces in Stalingrad surrender
Before the Battle of Stalingrad German forces had almost consecutive victories on the Eastern Front. After Stalingrad they had won no decisive battles, and the 6th army fighting there had been isolated from supply drops as Luftwaffe airfields near Stalingrad came under heavy fire from the 24th Soviet Tank Corps, leading to the abandonment of the airfield and more than 72 aircraft. -
D-Day landings in Normandy, France
The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, is the largest seaborne invasion in history, involving 10 Allied divisions, with at least 10,000 casualties suffered by the Allies. The operation began the liberation of of north-western Europe, contributing to Allied victory on the Western Front. -
War in Europe ends
After the deaths of Mussolini ending Italy's involvement in the war, Hitler committed suicide in his bunker on the 30th of April, appointing Karl Donitz as President of Germany and Joseph Goebbels as Chancellor of Germany. However, Goebbels committed suicide the following day, leaving Dontiz to order all remaining German forces to unconditionally surrender. -
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
The Allies prepared for what was anticipated to be a costly invasion of Japan by an air raid campaign that firebombed many cities and ultimately lead to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and later Nagasaki. Within the first 2-4 months of the bombings at least 90,000 people were killed in Hiroshima. -
Unconditional surrender of Japan
By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of executing major operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent. The United States demanded the surrender of Japan, the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction" (which would have been made possible by atomic bombs).
