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Start of WWII
Hitler and Germany invade Poland, which led Britain and France to declare war on Hitler's Nazi state in retaliation. -
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Germany Invades Denmark and Norway
Germany takes control of Denmark and Norway. -
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Blitzkreig
Germany uses quick strikes called blitzkrieg, meaning lightning war, to take over much of western Europe including the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France. -
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain. -
Italy Enters War
Italy enters war as an Axis power under Mussolini. -
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Germany Launches Air Attacks on Britain
Germany launches an air attack on Great Britain. These attacks last until the end of October and are known as the Battle of Britain. -
Tripartite Pact
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact creating the Axis Alliance. -
Operation Barbarossa
Germany and the Axis Powers attack Russia with a huge force of over four million troops. -
Pearl Harbor
Surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.The attack led to the United States entry into World War II. -
Battle of Midway
The US Navy defeats the Japanese navy at the Battle of Midway. -
Italy surrenders to Allies
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D-Day and Normandy Invasion
The landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the invasion of German-occupied western Europe, led to the liberation of France from Nazi control, and contributed to an Allied victory in the war. -
Battle of the Bulge
Major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. -
Iwo Jima
Major battle in which the United States Armed Forces landed and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army. -
President Roosevelt Dies
He is succeeded by Harry Truman. -
Adolf Hitler commits suicide
He knows Germany has lost the war. -
Germany Surrenders to Allies
Germany signs the unconditional surrender of all German forces, East and West, at Reims, in northwestern France. -
Hiroshima
First bomb, uranium bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" is dropped on Hiroshima. Kills 166,000 people. -
Nagasaki
Second bomb nicknamed "Fat Boy" is dropped on Nagasaki. Kills 80,000 people. -
Japan surrenders to Allies
