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Germany invades Poland
Germany invades Poland in order to expands its territory. This resulted in the defeat of the Polish army within a week. German units broke through Polish defenses along the border and advanced on Warsaw in a massive encirclement of attack with more than 2000 tanks and 1000 planes. On September 27, 1939, Warsaw surrenders to the Germans after heavy shelling and bombing. -
Period: to
World War II
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Britain and France declare war on Germany
Britain and France declares war on Germany because Germany had a treaty with Poland which left them no choice but to help Poland if they attack. Britain spreads 13 tons of anti-Nazi propaganda leaflets. On 4th of September, Britain began bombing German ships. After 2 weeks, France begins an offensive against Germany's western border, however, the Germans mined the passage, stalling the French offensive. -
France surrenders to Germany
After the fall of Paris by the Germans, Marshal Henri Petain replaces Paul Reynaud as prime minister and announces his intention to sign an armistice with the Nazis. In order to boost the morale of the country during the invasion by the Nazis, Petain, also known as the military hero during World War I, was appointed vice premier of France. However, Petain arranged an armistice with the Nazis. -
Germany invades Russia (Operation Barbarossa)
Adolf Hitler launches his army eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet union. The three great army groups holds three million German soldiers with 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks. The army is then defeated in the Soviet territory. Also, the Germans had serious deficiencies. This was due to them underestimating the opponents, which caused the Germans lack of preparation. -
Japanese bomb the American fleet at Pearl Harbour
The American naval base at Pearl Harbor located in Hawaii, was attacked by hundreds of Japanese fighter planes. The Japanese manged to destroy 20 American naval vessels, and 300 airplanes. More than 2000 American soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and 1000 were wounded. A day after the assault, America declares war on Japan. Before America's declaration of war, both Japan and America had been wanting for a war for decades. -
Japanese bomb Darwin
on this day, Darwin was under attack by two Japanese air raids. The commander of the air raid was the commander of the bombing of Pearl Harbor 10 weeks earlier. This resulted in the death of 250 people, and injured more than 300 military personnel and civilians. A total of 188 planes attacked Darwin, destroying 20 military aircraft and eight ships. The Japanese invaded Darwin, although their target was Timor, because of the aid Darwin would have sent to Timor. -
First Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, The United States succeeds in defeating Japan in one of the major naval battles. The code breaking allowed the United States to counter Japan's ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, which inflicted permanent damage on the Japanese navy. The fleet engagement of between United States and Japan resulted from Japan's desire to sink the American aircraft carriers, which escaped the incident at Pearl Harbor -
Allies enter Berlin and Hitler commits suicide
Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. After a while, German unconditionally surrenders to the Allied forces. 2 years ago, German's 6th army fell into the trap set up by the Soviet Union, and was annihilated at the Battle of Stalingrad. Before he died, Hitler appointed Admiral Karl Donitz as the new head of the state and Goebbels as Chancellor. He then retired to private quarters with Braun, where he and Braun poisoned themselves. -
Japan rejects the Allied offer of armistice (peace)
Japan refuses to surrender in the war, because they didn't want peace with the Allies which lead them to reject the offer of an armistice. The Allies offered the Japanese with the Potsdam Declaration and said if they did not sign it, they would face "prompt and utter destruction". Even after all these, the Japanese refused to sign the armistice which made Japan go through 'utter destruction'. This resulted in the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. -
Japan unconditionally surrendered
In the end, the Japanese surrenders to the Allies. This was due to the Japanese navy and air force begin destroyed, and the intensive bombing of Japanese cites by the Allies. After the Hiroshima attack, a faction of Japan's supreme war council favored acceptance of the Potsdam declaration. However, the majority of them resisted unconditional surrender. Japanese Emperor Hirohito convened the supreme war council, which results in them backing the proposal of accepting the Potsdam Declaration.
