World War 2 - Military, Invasions, and Land Control: The Fight Against Germany and Italy
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Resulted in Italian occupation of Ethiopia, completing their goals of controlling the Horn of Africa.
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After World War 1, Allied troops set up a demilitarized zone west of the Rhine river in Germany (Demilitarized for Germany, not for Allied troops.) German troops entered the land
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Spanish republican government and allies defeat the nationalist rebels and allies. Government supported by Italy, Portugal, and Germany, rebels supported by Soviet Union, France, and Mexico.
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Germany finishes occupation of Austria the same day.
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Proclaimed after Germany, Hungary, and Poland invade parts of Czechoslovakia. Ended when the rest of Czechoslovakia was partitioned.
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Germany is allowed to annex Sudetenland
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Followed by the German annexation of the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Hitler said it was his last territorial demand he must make in Europe, but of course that wasn't true.
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Hungary is given Southern Slovakia and Southern Carpathian Rus. At the same time, Poland was given Zaolzie, a mainly Polish part of Czechoslovakia.
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Name given to all the Atlantic Ocean naval battles in the War.
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Ossewabrandwag was a group of people in South Africa, many of these Dutch Boers, who resisted and strongly opposed the South African declaration against Germany. They were a guerilla warfare group and gave the Union of South Africa trouble until they were suppressed.
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Nazi Germany gave Slovakia 2 choices: Either declare independence immediately and become a Nazi client state or become occupied under Hungary. Slovakia chose the former. Ended when the Soviet Union captured Bratislava and all Slovakian territory was now Soviet.
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Germany's second step in taking over Czechoslovakia. The rest became Polish, Hungarian, or Slovakian.
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Lasted 3 days before total Hungarian occupation.
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Founded the day after Germany occupies the territory. Ended when Germany surrendered to the allies. It couldn't surrender itself as it was completely governed by Germany.
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Italy occupies Albania over the course of 5 days.
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Formalized the Rome-Berlin Axis that was signed in 1936 between Germany and Italy.
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Sparked World War 2. Nazis occupied Western Poland, and the Soviet Union occupied the East. The Allies decided that if they didn't take action, Hitler was just going to keep invading countries - which he did anyway.
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May 15 was when the last German forces surrendered.
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Resulted in Slovak occupation of territories disputed. Moved the border to what it was in 1920, which was in its favor, only the border was now Germany-Slovakia instead of Poland-Czechoslovakia.
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On the second day of World War 2 in Europe, The Free City of Danzig was occupied by Germans.
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First French offensive of the war. The French only managed to mobilize their army, seeing that Poland was defeated so quickly and that they couldn't be saved. German troops stopped the offensive.
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Soviet Union occupies Eastern Poland
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The Soviet Union wanted to annex Finland as they did the Baltic nations, but failed, and all they got were some land concessions.
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A relatively large chunk of occupied Finland was turned into a puppet state. Dismantled one day before the Winter War ended, and was turned into a Soviet SSR. The new SSR would be incorporated into the Russian SSR in 1956.
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During the war, Switzerland was completely surrounded by Axis at some points in time. Switzerland got hit with several bombs by accident during World War 2, being caught up in the war that raged around them when the Allies came to liberate occupied lands.
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Founded in 1940 after the Winter War. Most of its lands would be occupied by Finland after Nazi Germany invaded. Incorporated into Russian SSR in 1956.
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German occupation of Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrendered immediately, but Norway was a bit more stubborn.
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To prevent German occupation of Danish colonies, Britain occupies the Faroe Islands on this date.
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Former Danish Colony. Britain feared Germany would take over Iceland as well, so the British took control first.
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Germany occupies Luxembourg.
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Germany occupies the Netherlands. The Netherlands were stubborn to surrender, contrary to Denmark, who almost immediately surrendered.
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Germany occupies Belgium
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Germany occupies northern and western France. Southeastern France becomes a Nazi nation known as Vichy France.
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Fought over the port of Dunkirk. Most of the Allied forces manage to escape France.
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Failed invasion of British Sudan by Italy.
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Naval warfare in the Mediterranean Sea.
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Italy occupies Corsia, Monaco, and portions of the French Alps.
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Malta was an allied-owned strategically important archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. Italy wanted to control this island desperately, but failed to siege the islands into submission. The siege lasted 2 and a half years.
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Over the course of these days, the Soviet Union occupies Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia respectively. Estonia was the only one to put up a fight in a battle on the 21st that lasted several hours. The USSR won.
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Axis ally after France fell to the Axis in June 1940.
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Soviet Ultimatum sent to Romania wanting these territories, and Romania gives in.
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German air raids on Britain in preparation for an invasion of Britain that never came.
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Italy occupies British Somaliland.
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Romania loses Northern Transylvania to Hungary. Romania is forced to join the Axis powers.
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Gives Bulgaria territory lost in Second Balkan War.
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German bombings of Britain. Ended in a German strategic failure.
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Italian troops advance into Egypt. They didn't occupy all of Egypt, nor did they intend to.
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French West Africa became a part of Vichy France when France surrendered to Germany in 1940. THe olly part of the campaign that wasn't part of Operation Torch was the Battle of Dakar, from September 23-25, 1940. No combat was seen there after Operation Torch.
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Italian successful attempt to direct Allied resources to a different areas, specifically North Africa, where the resources were desperately needed.
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Free French liberation of their former Gabon colony from Vichy France.
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The first part of this war is before Germany interfered with the conflict and overwhelmed Greece. Greece occupies parts of Southern Albania and the war comes to a stalemate. Then, when Germany joins in, Greece is forced to surrender within a few weeks.
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British troops recapture occupied regions of Egypt and take part of Cyrenaica.
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From after the invasion of Somaliland to the last stand of Italian forces in their colony.
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German and Italian troops reoccupy all of Libya except one city that they siege.
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Germany, Italy, and Hungary invade Yugoslavia. Some forces are sent through Romania and Bulgaria as well. Yugoslavia is occupied. Independent State of Croatia created. Germany occupies an area surrounding Belgrade.
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Germany joins the Greco-Italian War and overwhelms Greece.
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To prevent it from possible German occupation, American troops occupy the island of Greenland. Occupation would be continued until 1945, when it would be returned to Denmark.
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Established as a puppet state of Nazi Germany and Italy when Yugoslavia was invaded.
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Axis troops siege Tobruk, an Allied-occupied city in Libya. The siege is broken.
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Bulgaria didn't use their military to occupy their land portion, but got the land anyway.
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Germany establishes a direct occupation of the Belgrade area, because there was an important railroad in the area that Germany wanted to make sure nothing happened to.
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Bulgaria didn't invade Greece, but did take over territory immediately after Greece capitulated.
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British re-occupy Iraq, which was given independence after World War 1 in 1932.
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Resulted in British occupation of French Syria/Lebanon, which had been in control of Vichy France. The colony was given to Free France, which was the government-in-exile that slowly regained some of its colonies and eventually, all its land.
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First part of the Axis invasion of the USSR. Spans from the time Germany launched troops over the border to where a standstill was achieved in early December. Axis troops fail to reach the so-called A-A line. It was Germany's attempt to overwhelm the Soviet Union and repopulate the land with Germans. The campaign was not yet a failure.
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To relieve pressure from Britain, American troops take over the island of Iceland on this date.
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Finnish occupation of the region.
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The uprising was a failure. The main uprising was suppressed in 6 weeks, but continued at a much lower level until December.
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Finland declares war on the USSR after Germany invaded them. Soviet Union occupies Petsamo in the peace treaty. Finland re-occupies its lost territories during the Winter War plus some other territory (especially around Leningrad) but all this comes to an end in 1944. Many German troops were sent to Finland to help open a new war front.
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The Soviet Union occupied Northern Iran and the British occupied the South. This opened up the Persian Gulf so that supplies could be transferred to the Soviet Union.
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Lasted nearly 2 and a half years. Nazi troops siege the Soviet city of Leningrad (St. Petersburg today) The Red Army refuses to surrender their city. The siege is finally lifted in late January. Nearly 800,000 citizens died in that siege alone, double the amount of Americans who died in the war. The USSR had an incredibly high cost of men who died in the war, a toll that still shows today.
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Partisan resistance in Yugoslavia. Germany defeats the rebels.
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Another very bloody battle, with roughly 1.5 million casualties. The USSR begins a series of counter-offensives in the coming months.
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Operation Barbarossa comes to an end. After the German standstill, the trend of the rest of the Eastern front is a slow Soviet advance deep into German territory, all the way to Berlin.
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City of Sevastopol sieged. Several Soviet attempts to save the city failed and it was eventually captured.
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Successful Allied offensive in North Africa.
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After Italian East Africa was occupied by the Allies, a guerilla war was existent in the area until Italy surrendered to the allies in September 1943.
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Soviet troops advance on German lines near Moscow. German troops will never again near Moscow.
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Free France captures this island back from Vichy France. No Vichy forces were on the island - just civilians. No casualties were inflicted on either side.
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Partisans withdraw from the area of Eastern Bosnia when the Germans come to fight.
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German naval operation in World War 2. German victory. Took place in the English Channel.
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Air battle in the English Channel and North Sea. German victory.
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British amphibious raid on the St. Nazaire port in France. The port is rendered useless for the rest of the war.
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Partisans withdraw into the Zelengora mountains to escape the Axis forces.
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British forces wanted to capture the island of Madagascar to secure their trade routes to India due to the possibility of (Yes, I'm going to say it in the timeline that's against Germany and Italy, not:) Japan blocking their routes. The British also didn't want Japan using the ports on the island. The island is established under the Free French government.
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Consisted of several battles that concluded the Western Desert campaign. Pushed the Axis forces back to Tripolitania.
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The goal was occupation of Southern Russia, especially the oil-rich fields of Azerbaijan. German troops did capture some territory but never crossed the Caucasus. The invading army is pushed back out of the Kurban area.
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The Allies wanted to take a port for a short period of time to test a landing on the port. The attack failed.
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Now Volgograd. The Soviet Union destroys the German 6th army. This battle turns the Axis offensive in the Caucasus around. It also began on my birthday!
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Disastrous Allied landing near Tobruk, Libya.
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Paired with the Western Desert campaign. Pushed the Axis powers back to Tunisia - French North Africa had been held by Axis forces since French surrender. Sool all of Africa had been liberated by the Allied forces.
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Axis victory. The allies failed to capture Tunisia before the the Nazis could establish a defensive position there.
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The final Axis troops in North Africa are expelled from the land. Africa would see no more combat.
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Free French forces capture the island of Réunion.
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Vichy France was established when France surrendered to the Axis in 1940, consisting of southern France and most of their former colonies. Free France took back many of these colonies after this time.
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In the Greek resistance, Allied support began to turn to one group more than the other, resulting in conflict. Ended in a peace treaty between the two, but it wasn't over.
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Partisans have heavy losses, Chetnik forces defeated, Axis failure to achieve goals of eliminating Partisans from West Bosnia and the Neretva River. The operation ends sometime in mid-to-late March.
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Successful German offensive. Soviet lines were overstretched from their past gains and Germany was able to advance back into the area.
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This is the South American colony, not Guinea in Africa.
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Failed revolt against German forces in the Warsaw Ghetto.
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Axis failure to destroy Partisan forces; Partisans are experts at escaping, even when encirclement is attempted. Turning point for the war in Yugoslavia.
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Soviets regain territory along a 1,200 mile stretch of the warfront.
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Allies occupy the island of Sicily. Mussolini's empire collapses. Italy is soon to surrender.
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Last time that Kharkov 'changes hands' during World War 2. Soviet liberators push German forces past the Dnieper River, setting the stage for the Battle of Kiev.
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Germany's heavy resistance makes the offensive hard on the Soviet advancers, but with the territorial gains made, the Soviet Union prepares for the liberation of Belarus. (First battle of Smolensk was when Germany occupied the region. Now the Soviets are back for revenge!)
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Defeated Jewish uprising in Nazi-occupied Poland (General Government of the Occupied Polish Territories
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Includes the liberation of Kiev. Soviets reclaim parts of Central Ukraine, Kiev, and the Donets Basin.
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Aligned with Operation Avalanche. Allied victory.
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After the Italian government collapses, Italy surrenders. Germany and the Allies would race to occupy Italian lands.
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Axis victory. Germany occupies the Dodecanese Islands that were Italian occupied until Italy surrendered.
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Germany invades the now-Allied Italy. Germany disarms over a million Italian soldiers.
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When Italy surrendered, it was a race between Germany and the Axis to occupy formerly Italian lands (mostly in the Italian peninsula). This was the Allied offensive.
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Naples resistance movements capture Naples.
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Bombings on Berlin, the German capital.
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Soviet forces retake most of Ukrainian SSR, plus they enter Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Eastern Poland.
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Siege of Leningrad is lifted. Capture of Novgorod by Soviet forces.
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German defensive victory. One of the few German victories after the tides turned against them. Soviet-German front.
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Nazi Germany orders occupation of Hungary after Budapest, its capital fell to the Allies
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Allied air assault on German forces in Italy in an attempt to get them to withdraw so that the Allies could beat the very weakened and almost beaten Italy without dealing with the Nazis. It was inconclusive, not achieving its goal, but doing significant damage.
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Soviet forces recapture Crimea
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Invasion of Romania fails at first, but then the Soviets come back for Round 2 against the Nazis and capture nearly all of Romania. Romania changes sides.
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German failure to destroy Partisan headquarters and kill their leader.
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The name given to many different offensives and campaigns from the D-Day landing to early May 1945.
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The start of the campaign was the D-Day landing on June 6, 1944. When the German forces were pushed past the Seine River in August, the campaign was considered successful. Paris was liberated on the 25th of August.
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Soviets re-occupy Eastern Poland and Ukraine.
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Red Army retakes all of the Byelorussian SSR and gains a foothold in Eastern Poland. All of former Russian land before the German invasion is almost liberated
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Finnish victory.
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Both sides win. Soviets capture the main Viborg Bay islands.
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Polish resistance rises up to fight. Resistance fails.
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Successful Allied invasion of Southern France.
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Exactly what it sounds like. Successful allied advance.
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Slovakian resistance groups rise up against the Nazi government. The revolt failed, and it resulted in total Nazi occupation of Slovakia (which was formerly just a protectorate).
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American occupation of Lorraine.
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Erased German occupations remaining on the coast of the English Channel. Dates are rough estimates.
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One day after Soviet forces enter the country, Bulgaria, who hadn't used their military hardly at all to aid the Axis, turned sides and began fighting Germany after a government overthrow. The new government easily drives Axis units out of the country.
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Soviet forces re-occupy most of the Baltic states. Some of Latvia and Estonian islands are still German occupied.
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Soviet troops liberate Belgrade, all of German Serbia, and other surrounding regions. Partisans, who had captured half of Yugoslavia, also helped with the offensive.
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Allies occupy certain Dutch cities. Some of the Netherlands aren't liberated until Germany surrendered.
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San Marino, who hadn't participated in WW2 at all, is invaded by Germany and then captured by the Allies. (I find it funny that Germany invaded San Marino, but Italy never did!)
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After Finland joins the Allies in 1944, Finland forces out German troops in Lapland to their occupation zone of Norway.
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When the Romanian oil fields were captured, there was no reason to occupy Greece, as the sole purpose of occupation was to keep British bombers out of the country. Therefore Germans evacuated. They would have fully left Greece by the end of the month.
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Greek government returns to Athens 4 days later. British forces are liberating Greece. Conflict between the Monarchists and Communists soon erupts.
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USSR and Romania invade Hungary. Offensive ends when Budapest is captured. This disabled Germany's last ally in Europe and greatly sped up the end of the war. Note that the surrendered allies of Germany don't fall under Allied occupation immediately: they just become direct German occupation zones (Finland excluded). The same was true when Italy surrendered.
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Many dates on this timeline have been combined like this because these battles weren't major, yet had to be put in, so they were combined together. German troops are still falling back further and further.
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Albanian communists will soon take over the rest of Albania.
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Greek Government victory. The country leans closer to the American side of the Cold War.
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Germany, knowing that the war is lost if they don't take desperate measures, plans a counteroffensive on Allied lines that, if successful, would make the Allies sign a peace treaty in the Axis' favor. It failed, and Germany could no longer stop the Allied advance.The Allied advance is delayed by 5-6 weeks.
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Last major German offensive of the war. Germany failed to stop the Allied lines. This was a continuation of the Battle of the Bulge.
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Majority of Poland occupied by Soviet forces.
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Most of East Prussia liberated by Poland. USSR occupies some surrounding areas.
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Necessary operations to occupy territory to prevent a German counterattack on the push to Berlin. Delayed the advance to Berlin by 2 months.
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An offensive that delayed the advance to Berlin. At this point the Soviets were more focused on liberating land for postwar control than they were defeating Germany. Occupied Pomerania and West Prussia.
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Last major German offensive of World War 2. German attempt in Western Hungary to secure oil fields and prevent a march on Vienna. German failure.
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Vienna captured by Soviets.
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Fall of Nazi Germany is near.
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Allied offensive in Western Hungary to secure oil fields. Success.
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Final offensive up the Italian Peninsula. Axis forces in Italy surrender and the Italian Social Republic collapses.
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3 final battles of WWII (Western front) take place. Germany is officially beaten.
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German defenses fail and Berlin is taken by Soviet forces. Many German units begin fighting Westward to surrender to the Allies instead, to whom they expected kinder treatment than to the Soviets.
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Not a major battle, but it was the last battle of World War 2 in Europe so I had to put it in. The battle was between the Independent State of Croatia and Yugoslav Partisans, lasting until 17 days after the German surrender.
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Germany, almost having all its lands completely occupied, surrenders its forces.
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Last major military operation of World War 2. Prague (Czechoslovakia) is occupied.
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Britain returns the Faroe Islands to Denmark, their former owner.
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Allied powers agree to a split plan of Austria. Vienna was split up as well, similar to how Berlin was. The rest of the country was also divided similarly to Germany until 1955.
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After pressure from the USSR to Czechoslovakia, a treaty is signed between the two and Czechoslovakia gives up their far eastern territory.
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The treaty punished Germany for the war, but this treaty involved the repayment to the Soviet Union and determined Poland's new borders. The USSR got much of Poland's former eastern land, but Poland got lots more land east and north of their former controls.
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France establishes the Saar Protectorate aside from the normal French-occupied zone of Germany. It ended at the beginning of 1957, when it was incorporated into West Germany.
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Major conflict of the Civil War. Greek government defeats the Communist rebellion.
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Italy has its own timeline piece due to the fact that its territories came into effect later in time. Hungary's borders were restored to those they had at the beginning of 1938. Finland's borders were restored to that of after the winter war, plus the cession of Pestamo in the northern areas. Romania was given the borders of Jan. 1, 1941, with the exception of Northern Translyvania which was given back to them. Bulgaria kept pre-WW2 territory except that they got Southern Dobruja from Romania.
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The treaty required Italy to pay war reparations. It also gave land to Yugoslavia, Greece (Dodecanese Islands), France, China (Italian concession that had been held there since the Boxer Rebellion in 1901), independence of Italian colonies, and the creation of the Free Territory of Trieste.
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Would last until 1954, in the area of the city of Trieste, when it was split between Yugoslavia and Italy.
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The Western Allies of World War 2 (The UK, France, and the US) combine their occupation zones in Germany to make a West German state. The east of Germany becomes Soviet.
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The Soviet occupation zone of Germany becomes a nation in the so-called Communist Bloc or Eastern Bloc, a Soviet collection of nations in Eastern Europe.
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Italian Somaliland becomes a UN trust territory under Italian rule.
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The British and French occupation zones in Libya combine to make the new republic.
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"As provided by Annex XI of the Treaty, upon the recommendation of the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 390 (V) of 2 December 1950, Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia on 11 September 1952." Paragraph came from Wikipedia, extremely helpful during this article as they are extremely accurate when it comes to historical, past matters. Thanks Wikipedia!
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Allied powers agree that Austria will be a neutral nation (not Soviet or American influenced) and won't be divided up like Germany was.
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As planned, on this date, British and Italian Somaliland are combined to make the new republic.