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Germany invades Poland
German forces bomb Poland on land and from the air, using the "Blitzkreig" strategy.Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and rule Poland. World War II had begun. -
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WW2 Timeline
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Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
Britain and France had sworn to defend Poland. As a result when Poland were overun by the Germans the two countries were obliged to their promise and declare to join the war against Germany -
Germany invades Denmark and Norway.
On this day in 1940, German warships ports in Norway, deploying thousands of German troops and occupying Norway. At the same time, German forces occupy Copenhagen, among other cities. -
France surrenders to Germany
Hitler uses his blitzkrieg invasion on France on May 10, 1940. Within three weeks, a large part of the British force, accompanied by some of the French defenders, is pushed further and further to the English Channel and compelled to abandon the continent at Dunkirk. -
Italy enters war
The Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini had waited his time since meeting Hitler last time. He was determined to enter the war only if it was sure of being on the side of the victorious. The collapse of France now seemed imminent and many people believed that Britain would follow soon afterwards, resulting in Italy declaring war on France and Britain -
Battle of Britain
In the summer and autumn of 1940 the Royal Air Force (RAF) fought a long battle in defence of Britain against an superior German Luftwaffe.This air war, known as the Battle of Britain, officially lasted from 10 July to 31 October 1940. The battle began with German attacks on coastal convoys in an effort to draw RAF fighters into battle. -
Tripartite Pact
On this day in 1940, the Axis powers are formed as Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies with the agreement of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. The Pact provided for assistance if any country should attack one. -
Bulgaria joins the Axis.
Believing that the Germany had already taken over most of europe countries Bulgaria's King Boris is determined to tam with the winning side wanting more land and power -
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. -
The United States declares war on Japan
President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares war on Japan due to the American Fleet destroyed at the Pearl Harbour -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway, fought in June 1942, must be considered one of the most decisive battles of World War Two. The Battle of Midway effectively destroyed Japan’s naval strength when the Americans destroyed four of its aircraft carriers. -
The Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad.Historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the point of war in favor of the Allies. -
"Unconditional Surrender."
In a February 12, 1943 radio address, Roosevelt explained what he meant by unconditional surrender: "we mean no harm to the common people of the Axis nations. But we do mean to impose punishment and retribution upon their guilty, barbaric leaders" -
Italy forms armistice with Allies.
The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 by Walter Bedell Smith and Giuseppe Castellano, between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies of World War II -
D-Day
The Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944,Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. -
The Battle of Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a German offensive campaign launched through in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. -
Hitler commits suicide
On this day in 1945, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head in a bunker in Berlin -
Germany surrenders to the western Allies.
On this day in 1945, the German sign the unconditional surrender of all German forces, in northwestern France. -
Germany surrenders to the Soviets
On this day, the last of the German forces fighting at Stalingrad surrender -
Hiroshima Bombing
On August 6, 1945, during World War II (1939-45), an American bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city 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. -
Bombing of Nagaski
Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people.
