World War 2 Events

  • German Anschluss with Austria?

    Hitler wanted to unify all German speaking people. He annexed Austria and wanted to liberate the German people from Czechoslovakia.
  • Treaty of Munich

    Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier of France, and Mussolini agreed Hitler should have the Sudetanland of Czechoslovakia.
  • Hitler invades Czechoslovakia

    Despite assurances given by Hitler in the Treaty of Munich he invaded Czechoslovakia.
  • Britain rearms and reassures Poland

    Britain began rearming and had a secret radar.
  • Russia and Germany sign pact?

    Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact which divided Poland.
  • "Phoney war"

    Months following Britain's declaration of war.
  • Hitler invades Poland

    Invaded Poland.
  • Britain and France declare war on

    Britain and France declare war on Germany.
  • Hitler invades Denmark and Norway

    Hitler invaded to safeguard supplies and naval blockades.
  • British rout Italians in N. Africa

    British forces led by General Wavell routed Italian forces in N. Africa.
  • Blitzkrieg

    War against Holland and Belgium.
  • Chamberlain resigns

    He resigned after pressure from Labour members and Churchill. became the head of wartime government. He supported Churchill. Bevin was given minister of labour and recruited factory and coal workers. Lord Beaverbrook, ramped up production of fighter aircraft.
  • Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo)

    British and France were forced to retreat to the beaches under fire. 338,000 men were rescued among them were troops under Charles de Gaulle.
  • Italy enters the war on the side of the Axis

    Italys motive was for rich pickings from the spoils of the war.
  • France signs armistice with Germany

    France wanted peace with Germany.
  • Battle of Britain

    Hitler trying to invade Britain.
  • Tripartite Pact

    Mutual alliance between Germany, Italy, and Japan.
  • Italy and Germany attack Yugoslavia

    Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete were attacked by Italian and German troops. Axis powers were led back to N. Africa by German field Marshall Erwin Rommel.
  • Hitler attacks Russia - Operation Barbarossa

    He sent many soldiers and supplies and took the Russians by surprise. 20 million casualties. US offered arms support to USSR.
  • Pearl Harbor

    Japanese attacked.
  • Britain and US declare war on Japan

    Declared war.
  • Japanese take Singapore

    Captured from the British taking 60,000 soldiers.
  • Battle of Midway

    Defeated Japanese
  • Allies in N. Africa

    Was to destroy German supplies and establishments.
  • Battle of Stalingrad

    Russians won 1st victory against Germany,
  • Allies push into N. Africa

    American & British forces under General Dwight Eisenhower landed in NW Africa and gained control of Algeria & French Morocco. Gradually got closer to the Germans
  • Battle of El Alamein

    Attack on German base.
  • Allies invade Sicily

    US &. British forces invade Sicily.
  • Allies take Sicily

    Allied. Troops won the island of Sicily.
  • Allies meet at Tehran

    A simultaneous squeeze was put on Germany after Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill met. Post war settlements. were discussed. Churchill did not trust Stalin; Roosevelt wanted to show the West would stand with Russia and backed their wish for a 2nd front in France. Churchill was trumped and the fate of post-war Eastern Europe was developed.
  • Axis surrender. N. Africa

    American and British forces defeated the Axis forces in N. Africa.
  • Italy surrenders

    New government of Italy surrendered to the US and Britain after Mussolini was thrown out of office. Italy joined the allies. The Italian Army was taken over by the Germans who freed Mussolini and gave him control of a puppet government in Northern Italy. This stopped any allied advancement through Italy.
  • Leningrad relieved

    Soviet Union lifted the siege of Leningrad.
  • Rome liberated

    Italy surrendered in September, but took to June for the allies to liberate Rome from Germany.
  • Japanese evicted from Burma

    General. Slim of Britain and the guerrilla-fighting Chindits evicted Japanese from Burma.
  • Battle of the Bulge

    Germans launched final defensive attack in Ardennes region of Belgium. But they were pushed back by the allies.
  • D-Day

    Allies attack German forces in Normandy, France. General Eisenhower commanded invasion on Normandy beaches. Germans thought the troops were going to land in Calais. Allies formed a solid bridgehead and was essential to capturing the port.
  • Paris liberated

    Liberated from Germans.
  • V2 Flying Bombs

    Three people in London killed by first V2 flying bombs.
  • Allies cross the Rhine

    While Soviet forces approached Berlin from the East the Allies crossed the Rhine.
  • Death of Roosevelt

    Roosevelt dies and Truman was his successor.
  • Russians reach Berlin

    Shortly ahead of the US forces, Russians reach Berlin.
  • Mussolini captured and executed

    Executed by Italian partisans.
  • Hitler commits suicide

    Committed suicide with his mistress/wife, Eva Braun in his bomb shelter.
  • German forces surrender

    German forces stationed in Italy surrender to the Allies.
  • German forces surrender

    German forces in Denmark, Holland, and NW Germany surrender on Luneburg Heath to Montgomery. Hitler nominated Admiral Donitz as his successor, and he attempted to surrender to Western allies but wished to continue the fight with Russia. The request was denied.
  • Donitz offers unconditional surrender

    Admiral Donitz, successor to Hitler, made an unconditional surrender to allies.
  • V.E. Day

    Europe victory was celebrated.
  • Churchill loses election

    Clement Attlee of the the Labor Party beat Churchill in the election. Labour Party promised great social reform, nationalization of coal and railways, and the birth of a welfare state. They gained 393 seats to 213 for Conservative party. The men and women of the armed forces did not wish to resume civilian life with the conditions present when they entered duty and the Labor Party promised a change thus a landslide victory for the LP happened.
  • Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima

    The US dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima because the Japanese generals would not surrender.
  • Russia declares war on Japan

    Russia invaded Japanese controlled Manchuria and declared war on Japan.
  • Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki

    The Japanese did not surrender after they were bombed so the US dropped another Atomic Bomb, this time on Nagasaki.
  • Japanese surrender

    WW2 ends when Japanese forces surrender unconditionally to the allies.
  • MacArthur accepts Japan's surrender

    WW2 was formally ended when Douglas MacArthur, US General accepted the Japanese surrender.