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Anschluss between Hitler and Austria
Adolf Hitler is praised after announcing the Anschluss (union) with Austria. Austria was now a nameless entity absorbed by Germany. It was not long before the Nazis soon began their typical ruthless policy of persecuting political dissidents and, of course, all Jewish citizens. They began a brutal crackdown on Austrian Jews, arresting them and publicly humiliating them. -
Treaty of Munich
Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier of France and Mussolini of Italy met in Munich and agreed that Hitler should have the Sudetanland of Czechoslovakia. The Czechs were not represented at the meeting and realising that no country would come to their aid were forced to surrender the Sudetenland to Germany. -
Hitler invades Czechoslovakia
Despite the assurances given by Hitler in the Treaty of Munich (Sept 1938), Hitler threatened a bombing raid against Prague, the Czech capital, unless he obtained from Hacha free passage for German troops into Czech borders. He got it. That same day, German troops poured into Bohemia and Moravia. The two provinces offered no resistance, and they were quickly made a protectorate of Germany. -
Hitler Invades Poland
The Invasion of Poland, known in Poland as the September Campaign or the 1939 Defensive War and in Germany as the Poland Campaign or Fall Weiss, was a joint invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, the Free City of Danzig, and a small Slovak contingent, that marked the beginning of World War II. -
Britain and France Declare War on Germany
Britain and France are at war with Germany following the invasion of Poland, two days prior. The Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, announced the British deadline for the withdrawal of German troops from Poland had expired. -
Blitzkreig on Holland and Belgium
Hitler launched his blitzkrieg (lightning war) against Holland and Belgium. This type of warfare made quick work as it limited the use of artillery, but used it with extreme precision. Rotterdam was also bombed. Both countries were then placed under German control. -
Dunkirk
The Battle of Dunkirk was a military operation that took place in Dunkirk, France. The battle was fought between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As part of the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defense and evacuation to Britain of British and other Allied forces in Europe. Fighting occurred everywhere from the beaches to the streets. -
Italy enter war on side of Axis powers
Benito Mussolini chose to ally Italy's forces with those of Adolf Hitler. Italy entered World War II on the Axis side as the defeat of France became apparent. Soon German and Italian armies were battling Allied troops on several fronts. Initially, the entry into the war appeared to be political opportunism which led to a lack of consistency in planning. This caused principal objectives and enemies being changed. -
Battle of Britain
A military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by the German Air Force. The primary objective of the Nazi German forces was to compel Britain to agree to a negotiated peace settlement. Nazi Germany proved unable to sustain daylight raids, but their continued night-bombing operations on Britain became known as the Blitz. -
Tripartite Pact
The Axis powers are formed as Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies with the signing of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. The Pact provided for mutual assistance should any of the signatories suffer attack by any nation not already involved in the war. This formalizing of the alliance was aimed directly at “neutral” America–designed to force the United States to think twice before venturing in on the side of the Allies. -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese launch a surprise attack on the US base of Pearl Harbor, killing many soldiers and leaving the area in rubble. The event plunged the US into WW2. The next day, US officially declared they were joining the war, on the side of the Allies. -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. Thanks in part to major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. The victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. -
Italy Surrenders
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower publicly announces the surrender of Italy to the Allies. Germany reacted with Operation Axis, the Allies with Operation Avalanche. They then agreed to join the allies. The Germans took control of the Italian army. This blocked any further allied advance through Italy. -
D-Day
The allies launched an attack on Germany’s forces in Normandy, Western France. Thousands of transports carried an invasion army under the supreme command of general Eisenhower to the Normandy beaches. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
The German leader, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bombproof shelter together with his mistress, Eva Braun, who he had, at the last minute, made his wife. The lose of the German leader quickly spread throughout the world with the Allies celebrating and the Axis powers worrying how they were going to win. German forces were crippled by the lose and lead to many surrenders on the battlefield. -
German forces surrender
German forces in Italy surrendered to the Allies. German forces in north west Germany, Holland and Denmark surrendered to Montgomery on Luneburg Heath. Admiral Donitz, whom Hitler had nominated as his successor, tried to reach agreement to surrender to the Western allies but to continue to fight the Russians. His request was refused. -
Donitz Offers Unconditional Surrender
Hitler’s successor, Admiral Donitz, offerred an unconditional surrender to the allies. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
The Japanese generals refused to surrender. The US dropped an atomic bomb on the island of Hiroshima.The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Two days later, another bomb was dropped on Nagasak, killing an estimated 40,000 people. -
Japanese Surrender
The Japanese unconditionally surrendered to the allies ending the second world war.US General, Douglas MacArthur, accepted Japan’s surrender thus formally ending the second world war.
