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Invasion of Poland
Nazi Germany invades Poland to begin World War 2. Britain and France declare war on Germany. The Germans employed the tactic of Blitzkrieg, or lightning war, which meant they struck fast and hard at the enemy to take Poland in a matter of days. -
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Length of the War
Entirety of the War -
Winter War begins
The Soviet Union stages a false flag attack and invades Finland, beginning the WInter War, a war in which the Soviets would ultimately be successful in because they were fighting a vastly inferior enemy. -
Germany invades Norway and Denmark
German paratroopers land in several Norweigen port cities and take over without resistance. Britian prepares for their Norway calender. -
German invasion of the Low Countries and France begins
Germany begins it's blitizkreig of the Low Countries and of France. -
Operation Dynamo begins
Also known as the Evacuation of Dunkirk. 340,000 Allies soldiers were evacuated from a surrendounded position in France to England. Many boats of all kinds were used in the evacuation but much of the military's heavy equipment was left on the beach. -
Seige of Malta begins
Malta, controled by the British, was a major thorn in the side of the Axis. So they resolved to bomb and attack the island. -
France surrenders
After about a month of fighting, France surrenders to the invading Germans. A puppet government is set up in Vichy, and France would not see the light of democracy until Normandy. -
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Battle of Britain
Germany commences its air assult on Britain, and this was the only all air battle of the war. The aims of the Luftwaffe were to destroy Britain's major air defenses and gain air superiorty over the RAF, but they failed. -
Triparte Pact signed
Alliance between Germany, Italy, and Japan is finalized. The informal "Axis" is established. -
Germany invades Romania
Germany invades Romania to gain access to oil fields and to check the Soviets. -
Battle of Taranto
British torpedo bombers attack Itallian battleships at the port of Taranto. It is a defining moment in aerial warfare and the role of naval aviation in warfare. -
British troops land in Greece
British troops land in Greece to assist against the Italians. -
Greece surrenders
Germany captures Athens and Greece surrenders. -
Lead Lease is signed.
Lead Lease, signed by FDR, goes into effect, allowing nations fighting Germany or Japan to buy equipment from the United States. -
Battle of Crete
German paratroopers land in Crete with the intention of securing the island. -
Afrika Korps begin operations.
Rommel's Afrika Korps begins operations in North Africa. -
Operation Barbarossa begins.
Germany invades the Soviet Union in direct voilation of the Non-Aggression pact. The three pronged attack was aimed at Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad. -
Siege of Leningrad
The longest and most deadly siege of the war, it lasted 872 days from start to finish, and was hugely costly in terms of people, supplies, and munitions. -
Operation Typhoon begins
Attack on Moscow by the Germans begins. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The Japanese initaited a surprise attack an the Americans in an attempt to wipe out their Pacific Fleet before they entered the war. It was largely successful in the first wave that took out a majority of the communications and runways on the island, but unsuccessful in its second in that it missed the aircraft carriers that were out to sea on a training exercise. This act brought the full force of the US into the war, both in the Pacific and Europe. -
Japanese attacks
At the same time as Pearl Harbor, Japan launched attacks on various targets throughout the Pacific before anyone could respond. Thailand, Malaysia, Tarawa, the Phillipines and others. -
Japanese capture Wake
Japan captures Wake island from American forces. -
Battle of Midway
One of the most decisive battles in the Pacific Theater, it was Japan's first naval defeat in almost 100 years. The US was able to break the Japanese code and set an ambush that destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers and all but turned the tide for the Americans. -
Operation Braunscheig
An offensive by the Germans, it was intended to knock the soviets out of the war by capturing the oil fields in the south and taking the city of Stalingrad, giving the germans a resounding foothold and victory in southern USSR. -
Stalingrad
See Timespan -
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Stalingrad
As the Wehrmacht advanced through the USSR, the Soviets opted for the slash and burn retreat tactic. The Germans eventually made it to Stalingrad and captured the city, but as winter came, they were cut off from the rest of the German army. Hitler ordered the city to be held at all costs, a decision that would prove fatal and result in the turning of the eastern front. -
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Operation Torch
Operation Torch was one of the allies major victories in North Africa, where they convinced Vichy France to switch to their side after three days of hard fighting in North Africa -
Surrender at Tunisia
After months of fighting in Africa, the Allies finally had Rommel cornered. He had no choice but to flee back to Europe, taken the majority of his troops with him, but still had to surrender 275,000 and the remainder of Africa to the Allies. -
Battle of Kursk
The last Battle of German offensive on the eastern front, in a desperate attempt to counter-attack after losing Stalingrad. This proved unsuccessful as the Soviets countered and pushed the Germans back. -
Invasion of Sicily
The beginning of the Italian campaign, the allies sought to reach Germany through the 'soft underbelly' of Europe, as an invasion of France was not deemed feasible at the time. -
Operation Baytown
The Invasion of Mainland Italy, which would eventually lead to the capture of Rome and allow the allies to invade southern France to stretch the German lines even thinner. -
Battle of Narva Bridgehead
The soviet forces at Leningrad intiated their first attacks on the Germans in an attempt to break from the siege and drive the forces backward. -
D-Day
Operation overlord landed over 180,000 troops on the beaches of Normandy, marking the first time democratic forces had been in mainland Europe since the fall of Paris and France. -
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Allied forces sweep across Europe
So long as the Germans remained on the defensive, the Allies, under General George S Patton, moved relatively unimpeded across Europe toward Berlin. There were times when Patton grew angry with his superiors because the couldn't keep the supply lines open at the rate to keep his expansion going. -
Operation Dragoon
The allied invasion of southern France, the forces worked their way up through northern Italy to where they could close the Gothic Line and push the Germans back. -
V-2 Rocket
The first succesful V-2 rocket hits London, thus beginning the ane age of warfare, although it was too late in the war at this point for the
Germans to have success with it. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Last German offensive on the western front, the Wehrmacht attacked the advancing allies in the dead of winter in an effort to drive them back. While intially succesful, the allies were able to properly reinforce any divisions that had become surrounded and ended any hope the Germans still had of winning the war. -
Vistula-Oder Offensive
After driving Germany backwards, the Soviets initiated this offensive that would liberate much of Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe, and would set the foundations for invading the German homeland. -
V-E Day
The Nazis finally surrended thier armies after the successful campaign to reach Berlin by both the Soviets and the Americans. -
Hiroshima
The US dropped the first Nuclear weapon ever used in a war on the Japanese city of Hiroshima following the Japanese refusal to surrender after the Potsdam Ultimatum. -
Nagasaki
The US dropped its second and final nuclear bomb on the city of Nagasaki, three days after Hiroshima. Unbeknownest to the Japanese, the US would not have another bomb ready for up to seven months but they couldn't afford to see the complete obliteration of their cities. -
V-J Day
The official day when Japan signed the papers declaring their surrender to the US, effectively ending WWII's final theater and the war itself.