-
Build Up to the War
1921 – Hitler becomes leader – ‘fuhrer’ – of the Nazi party.
1923 – Munich Putsch – an attempted seize at power by the Nazis.
1924 – Hitler imprisoned. Writes Mein Kampf.
1927 – First Nuremburg Rally.
1933 – Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. All political parties – except Nazi party – banned in Germany.
1935 – Significant army expansion by Germany.
1936 – Germany allies with Italy.
March 1939 – Germany invades Czechoslovakia -
The War
Denmark, Norway, and Belgium invaded and occupied by Germany.
January – Food rationing begins in Britain.
May – Churchill takes over from Chamberlain as Prime Minister of Britain; Evacuation of Dunkirk begins.
June – Mussolini declares war on France; Paris falls to Germany; France surrenders.
August – Battle of Britain begins. The Blitz terrorises Britain.
October – Hitler abandons plans to invade Britain. -
The War
February – Fighting begins in Northern Africa between Germany and the Allies.
April – Greece invaded and occupied by Germany.
May – Blitz ends.
June – Germany begins Operation Barbarossa: the attempted invasion of Russia.
September – Siege of Leningrad (now St Petersburg) began; Nazis capture Kiev.
October – Germany attacks Moscow.
December – Moscow fights back at Germany; Japan attacks Pearl Harbour; Britain and USA declare war on Japan; Germany declares war on USA. -
The War
January – Japan attacks Philippines.
February – Japan attacks Northern Australia.
June – Siege of Sebastopol.
August – Germany attacks Stalingrad.
October – Battle of El Alamein begins.
November – Russians fight back in Stalingrad. -
The War
Spring – Constant fighting for power in Russian cities.
May – Germany surrenders Northern Africa to Allies.
July – Rome suffers Allied bombing; Mussolini arrested.
August – Italy seeks armistice with Allies; Germany sends troops to Italy to prevent this.
September – USA and Britain invade Italy.
November – German troops leave Kiev. -
The War
January – Siege of Leningrad ends.
May – Sebastopol reclaimed by Russia.
June – Allied troops enter Rome; D-Day landings in Normandy.
July – An assassination plot by Claus von Stauffenberg comes closest of any attempts to killing Hitler. He survives.
August – German troops leave Paris.
September – Brussells liberated by Allies.
December – Battle of the Bulge begins. -
War Ends
May – Berlin surrenders to Russia; Germany surrenders; V-E Day.
September – Japan surrenders; V-J Day.
November – Nuremburg trials begin. -
The War
January – Battle of the Bulge ends; Germany begins what will ultimately be the final retreat; Russia liberates Budapest and Warsaw.
February-March – Battle of Iwo Jima.
March – Last bomb lands in Britain.
April – F. D. Roosevelt dies; Russian troops enter Vienna; British and American troops enter Germany; Mussolini executed; Hitler commits suicide.
August – Atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.