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Adolf Hitler
The first name that comes to mind when you think about world war II is Adolf Hitler. His great public speaking skills and manipulation of propaganda allowed him to influence giant crowds of Germans. He persuaded the Germans to support the Nazi cause of domination and ethnic purity. Hilter was the leader of the Nazi party and the dictator of Germany. It was because of his strong influence that more than six million Jews died during the Holocaust. -
Hitler Invades Poland
The German-Soviet pact enabled Germany to have a portion of the land in Poland, because they could not rage war on each other. The Polish army didn't stand a chance, and they were defeated within a couple of weeks. German tanks and planes broke through the Polish defenses around Warsaw. This results in the encirclement and surrender of Warsaw by September 17. -
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World War II
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France and Britain Launch a Naval Blockade on Germany
Just hours after Germany's attack on Poland, one of the Royal Navy's battleships was attacked by one of Germany's. This lead the Royal Navy to assume that naval warfare had begun. France and Britain dispersed their own fleets to eradicate the German raiders and stop them from destroying their ships. -
France & Britain (followed by the Commonwealth) Declare War on Germany
ww2British Prime Minister Chamberlain grew suspicious of Hitler's actions and thought that some of his ambitious ideas could result in disaster. In March, he had declared that he supported Poland's independence, and if the need arose, that they would come to their aid if something happened. Germany invaded Poland, so Britain and France threatened them and said that if they didn't leave the Polish territory, they would declare war. Germany didn't listen, so France and Britain joined the war. -
Polish Commander Gives an Order to His Troops to Withdraw From Poland
The Polish Commander ordered his 100,000 troops to evacuate Poland and flee to Romania. If they would have stayed behind, they most likely would have been killed by the Germans. The Polish-Romanian Alliance kept them from being raged upon by the Romanians, and they allowed them to stay and make a safe haven there. -
The Soviet Union Invades Poland
The Soviet Union decides that the Polish government no longer exists, thanks to the German invasion. They decide to reap the benefits of the Hitler-Stalin Non-aggression pact, which allows them to invade and occupy Poland as well. The Polish army had started fleeing east, and they ran right into the Soviets. The Ribbentrop-Molotov Non-aggression Pact kept Poland from gaining the Soviet Union as an ally, and allowed the Soviets to acquire the eastern part of Poland. -
Warsaw Surrenders
There were a total of 140,000 Polish troops captured by Germany, so Warsaw begins to crack and surrenders. The Poles were only able to keep up their fight for 26 days. The Germans began terrorizing and executing the members of Poland's middle class and upper class. Thousands of them were relocated to the east, and the Germans settled into their vacated homes. -
Winter War Begins
The Winter War was a conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with the Soviet Union attacking Finland with three times as many troops and tanks. The fight ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty, which gave a couple portions of Finland to the Soviets, but let Finland retain its independence. During the war, the League of Nations thought that the war was illegal, so they expelled the Soviet Union from their organization. -
Neville Chamberlain:
Neville Chamberlain Neville Chamberlain became prime minister of the United Kingdom, on May 1937. Then a couple days later he became the leader of the conservative party. Chamberlain sat back and watched as Germany took over Austria, Sudetenland, and then later the rest of Czechoslovakia. He thought that Hitler and he had a mutual respect for each other but he thought wrong. Finally after Germany invaded Poland, he declared war on Germany. -
Germany Invades Denmark and Norway
The Germans enter Norwegian ports, including Oslo, and send their troops to occupy the rest of Norway. They do the same thing in Denmark, and take control of Copenhagen. Denmark surrenders immediately because they are convinced that there are too many germans to fight. Norway doesn't surrender until June 9, because they fought along side the British until the Germans attacked France, and then the British left to aid the French. -
Germany Attacks France and the Western European Countries
Germany begins to gain more territory when they take over Luxembourg. They get even more greedy and take over the Netherlands on May 14, and then Belgium on the 28th. On the 22nd, France signs an armstice which allows the Germans to take the northern part of France. -
Italy Enters the War
Italy entered the war on the Axis side, meaning that they were in allliance with Germany. Their primary motive was to get involved in the war to gain the riches that were lost in the battles. They most likely wanted more territory as well, and they knew that Germany could help them obtain some. Its impact helped spread war to the Mediterranian and Africa. -
Nazi Germany Loses the Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was one of the first major battles to be fought entirely in the air. Germany thought they could destroy the British airforce and gain control of southern Britain and the English Channel. The German airforce (Luftwaffe) was at a disadvantage because it wasn't properly trained or equipped. As a result, they loose the battle. -
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact
This was the pact that made the Axis alliance definate. It stated that if any of these countries were attacked by another country that wasn't already involved in the war, the other countries in the alliance had to come to their aid. The formation of this pact was to scare America into thinking twice about joining the Allies' side. -
Italy Invades Greece
Italy had already occupied Albania, and so they decide to lengthen their territory even more. Mussolini was convinced that he could beat the Greeks in the matter of a few weeks. After one week though, the Greeks pushed him and his army back into Albania, and they had to battle for their lives. A British attack weakened the Italian force even more, and Mussolini was humiliated. -
Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania Join the Axis Alliance
Hungary had relied on Italian and German trade to make it through the Great Depression. It was no surprise that Germany pressured them into joining the Axis alliance. Germany offered economic aid to Slovakia, and they couldn't deny joining them. Romania was offered military protection and Soviet territory by the Germans, so they joined too. -
Joseph Stalin
Joseph StalinHe first came about as a major politician when Tsar Nicholas II's Russian Empire was overthrown; He sided with Lenin. Lenin had him named Commissar of Nationalities. Stalin kept growing in power and then when Lenin’s health got bad he took his place as ruler. He killed anyone who he didn’t trust or if he thought they would get in his way of power. He made a non-aggression treaty with Nazi Germany. Hitler ignored the treaty after he conquered Western Europe and began to attack Russia. -
Bulgaria Joins the Axis Alliance
At the beginning of the war, Bulgaria had declared that it was neutral. However, when their king saw how much territory Germany was gaining, he decided that he wanted some of that action. He started believing that Hitler was on the winning side of the war, and he did wan't to be on the wrong side of a war again. He joined the Central Powers and lost in WWI, but now he will join the Axis alliance in the hope of a victory. -
Croatia Joins the Axis Alliance
Croatia was declared an independent state, and it was ironically sponsored by Italy and Germany. Germany and Italy annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hungary did the same to the northern parts of Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria occupied Macedonia. Germany and Italy divided Croatia into zones of influence, and that lead to Croatia having no choice but to join the alliance. -
The Axis Alliance (excluding Bulagaria) Attacks the Soviet Union
Hitler organizes a total of more than three million troops in three parallel offensive lines to invade Russia. Even though there is a pact between them, he still feels suspicious of them, especially when they invaded Romania. He grew paranoid and thought that their might have been a secret alliance between England and Russia, which would explain why England was holding out against them. Hitler launched Directive No. 21 Barbarossa and began to invade Russia. -
The Soviet Union Counterstrikes and Drives the Germans Away From Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was long and treacherous for Hitler's large army, and it didn't help when the Soviets struck back. Stalin had waited until he had more men than Hitler before he started to push the German army back. It took two days for the Soviets to gain back Moscow and a couple of nearby cities. Hitler ordered his army to stand strong along the front, but the Soviets pushed them back even further. -
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
The Japanese used torpedo and bomb carrying planes to target warships, aircraft, and military installations in Pearl Harbor. They did this because of the following reasons: 1.) They were afraid that America was going to get involved in the war, so tey decided to strike first. 2.) America did what they could to help stop Japanese expansion. 3.) America is partially to blame for the oil embargo that almost crippled Japan's army and navy. -
The United States Joins the War
It didn't take long for America to join the war after Pearl Harbor was bombed. Franklin D. Roosevelt had declared the day "a date which will live in infamy". He signed the declaration of war and got the U.S. government to convert to a war economy, so they were prepared to attack. -
Benito Mussolini
He was the prime minister of Italy. He also was a fascist, although not as bad as Hitler. He invaded Ethiopia and also what is now Somalia. Later when the Italian army started to go downhill he was arrested by King Emmanuel. Later the Germans came and rescued him. Hitler used him as a puppet for high power in the northern part of Italy. -
The Axis Alliance Declares War on the U.S.
Germany and Italy were the first nations to declare war on America, besides Japan. They were obligated to because of the tripartite pact. Since America declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy had no choice but to declare war on them in order to defend their ally. -
The British Bomb Koln (aka Cologne)
The city of Cologne was bombed by 262 different air raids by the Allies. Out of these 262, 31 times it was done by the Royal Air Force. This paarticular bombing was the first 1,000 bomber raid and it was called Operation Millennium. The British were hoping to damage German morale with this attack. -
Battle of Stalingrad
one of the most deadly battles of World War 2. It started with German air force bombing the Volga River and then Stalingrad. The Soviet Union made a counter attack and trapped the Germans in Stalingrad. The Germans starved and froze to death in the town. Their tanks were useless because they couldn’t go over or around all the rubble. Hitler was very upset that the Germans surrendered to the Soviet Union. -
The Soviet Union Counterattacks Again
The Soviets Attack the Germans again, and this time the are a lot more successful. They push through the Hungarian and Romainian lines and reach the German troops. They trap them within the city of Stalingrad. Hitler forbade the troops not to retreat or break through the Soviet defense, so they surrendered on January 30. -
Édouard Daladier
He became the prime minister of France in 1933. He was prime minister three times in a row. He never really wanted to join in the war if necessary but ended up doing so after joining up with Hitler. He made the French Communist Party illegal after signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In 1943 when the French defense collapsed fell fled with some other people of the government but then they were captured. He soon later was released. -
Allies Stop the Axis in Tunisia and End the North African campaign
In this case, the Allies involved include Britain, France, America, Poland and Greece. The Germans and Italians had won many of the battles in the beginning, but the Allies made an enormous comback and defeated them. This was mainly because they outnumbered them and more troops kept coming in. Over 230,000 Germans and Italians were taken as prisoners of war. -
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was the biggest tank battle of World War II. It was between the Soviets and the Germans, and it occured on the Eastern Front. It happened to be the last strategized German offensive that the Germans were able to launch in the east (Soviet Union). The Soviets won and that gave the Red Army the stratigizing initiative for the remainder of the war. -
The Allies Steal Sicily
This planned takeover of Sicily was codenamed Operation Husky. The beginning consisted of naval and airborne warfare, the last six weeks though was fought on land. It later launched the Italian Campaign, which was the Allies attempted takeover of Italy. -
The Fascist Grand Council gets rid of Benito Mussolini
During a vote of the Fascist Grand Council, Mussolini was defeated. This happened the day after he was arrested by the king. On September 12, he was rescued during the Gran Sasso raid by German forces. He was later executed by Italian partisans. -
The Badoglio Government Surrenders to the Allies
Pietro Badoglio was named the Prime Minister of Italy after the imprisonment of Mussolini. He signed an armistice with the Allies which threw Italy into chaos. Civil wars broke out and the fascists fought the partisans. Badoglio and the King fled Rome, which left the Italian army with no orders to follow. -
Arleigh Burke
He was a US commander of many destroyers. He’s most known for commanding destroyer Squadron 23 during the Bougainville operation in 1943. He was going to intercept the “Tokyo Express” when a boiler accident caused the squadron to lose 3 knots; They went form 34 knots to 31 knots. This situation got him the nickname “31-knot Burke” They were still able to fight, sinking multiple destroyers and killing the Japanese s commanding officer. -
The Soviet Union Liberates Kiev
Kiev was a home to approximately 160,000 Jews. The Germans had trapped some 60,000 of them and brutally murdered them. The Soviets had launched three different operations against the Germans, while the Germans only launched one. It resulted in a victory for the Soviets and the freedom of what was left of the Jews. -
Winstin Churchill
Winston Churchill was a growing politician in the United Kingdom. He was watching Hitler before anybody finally decided to take notice. He had spies in Germany way before the war began in 1939. Churchill became a memeber of the Military Coordinating Committee after five months in the war, he later resigned because he didn’t think that his government was strong enough. -
The Allies Liberate Rome
Rome happened to be one of the first Axis' Power's capitals to be liberated. It is deemed an enormous victory for the Allies. Hitler had orders his troops to withdrawl to the north-western part of Rome, he said, in order to preserve and not destroy Rome. This was one of the biggest successes for the Allies in the entire Italian campaign, but there was a total of 320,000 causalties during this campaign. -
Alfred Jodl
He was in world war one as a commander of an artillery battery. At the end of world war he was trying to decide whether or not to stay in the army. He made his decision and decided to stay. Jodl finally meet Hitler in 1923, although the 20’s they worked together. He signed the order for Hitler to invade Austria and then he led troops into Poland. Jodl was one of Hitler top military advisors. In 1944, he was present in the meeting room with Hitler, when there was a bomb planted. -
Allies Liberate France, Belgium and the Netherlands
The Battle for Paris was the last battle in the Battle for Normandy. It resulted in a victory for the Allies, and a heavy defeat for the Axis Powers. This liberation was the conclusion of the Allies' Operation Overlord. With the help of the Allies', they exiled the Vichy government and they fled to Sigmaringen, Germany. -
The Threat of Soviet Troops Causes the Romanians to Switch Sides in the War
The Romanians had spotted Soviet troops trying to cross the Prut River and they realized that they might have been on the wrong side of the war. They got rid of their Antonescu regime and got a new government. The new goverment signs an armistice and switches sides in the war. Their influence causes Bulgaria to surrender as well. -
Finland Leaves the Axis Alliance
Finland joined the Axis Alliance because it wanted to go to war against the Soviet Union. Its main objective was to gain back the territory it had lost during the Winter War. During some point in the war, the Soviet offensives came to a standstill. Marshall Mannerheim started having secret negotistions with the Soviets, and eventually the countries came up with the Moscow Armistice. -
Battle of the Bulge Ends in Failure for the Germans
This was one of the last major German offensives used to try and tear apart the Allies' alliance. Germany wanted to split apart the British and American Allied line. After that, they wanted to move in and destroy the four Allied armies. The strong resistance and the rough land they fought on were in the Allies' favor though. They used airstrikes to destroy the German forces and their supplies. Germany lost, and the war went downhill from there. -
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman became president on April 12, 1945 after the death of the later president. He had been vice president for only three months during Roosevelt’s fourth term, before Roosevelt pass away. When he first became vice president he wasn’t very much liked but finding out he was trustworthy gained him some respect. He was thrown into the Manhattan Project, which was organized by Roosevelt he chose to stick with the project. In the end he authorized the use of atomic bombs on japan. -
The Soviet Union Encircles Berlin
The Battle of Berlin was the big strategic offensive operation that the Soviets used to weaken Germany. They encircled the city first with thwo armies to the south and east, and one to the north. The German army there was ironically unequipped for the battle and it had been depleted from previous battles. The Soviets charged in and ravaged the city. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
When the Soviets charged into Berlin, Hitler realized that they were in trouble. It was too late to call for reinforcements, so he decided to take matters into his own hands and kill himself. His lover, Eva Braun, did the same and so did a bunch of his other followers. The defending army in Berlin soon gave up, and they surrendered on the 2nd of May. -
Germany Surrenders to the Allies
Gerneral Alfred Jodl is responsible for the signing of the treaty for all of his German forces. He had hoped to only sign to the surrender of his troops that were fighting the western Allies, but Dwight Eisenhower demanded that he make all of his troops retreat. He threatened that if he didn't, he would seal up the Western Front, and leave Germany to be torn apart by the angry Soviets. -
Germany Surrenders to the Soviet Union
Then Germans signed the treaty with the Soviets on the 8th, but it was tecnically the 9th in Moscow. Wilhelm Keitel didn't sign this one until nearly midnight and he made sure to sign it in the presence of General Georgi Zhukov. It took place in a former German Army Engineering School in Berlin. -
The U.S. Drops a Bomb on Hiroshima
Although Germany had surrendered and the war in Europe ceased to be anymore, the Pacific War was still going on. The U.S., United Kingdom and China demanded the surrender of Japan in the Potsdam Declaration. They had threatened them with "prompt and utter distruction", but Japan ignored this. The result was the Manhattan Project creating two nuclear bombs, and Harry Truman declaring that we drop them on Japan. -
The Soviet Union Declares War on Japan
Stalin had agreed during one of his conferences that he would go to war with Japan once the Germans surrendered. He stuck to his promise and declared it between the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He had no idea of the date of these bombings when he went to war, but he knew that they would happen soon and that it would significantly weaken Japan. -
The U.S. Bombs Nagasaki
The bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima was called Little Boy while the one dropped on Nagasaki was called Fat Man. There were a total of 90,000–166,000 people who died in Hiroshima and around 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki. Even in the months after the bombing, people were dying of radiation sickness and burns. -
Japan Finally Surrenders and Ends World War II
The bombing of Japan was a significant factor of its surrender, but the battle it had with the Soviets influenced it too. The Soviets had weakened their Kwantung Army and they had lost so many people in the bombing. The Japanese had no choice but to finally retreat. Considering all of the fatalities they had and the depletion of their supplies, they really had put up a fight to refuse to surrender for so long.
