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Hitler Becomes Chancellor
President Paul von Hindenburg names Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Party as chancellor of Germany. His plan, embraced by much of the German population, was to do away with politics and make Germany a powerful, unified one-party state. -
Nuremberg Laws in effect against Jews
The laws excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having relations with persons of "German blood." Ancillary ordinances to the laws disenfranchised Jews and deprived them of most political rights. -
Italy into Ethiopia
Mussolini followed his policy when he invaded Ethiopia. The aim of invading Ethiopia was to boost Italian national prestige, which was wounded by Ethiopia's defeat of Italian forces at the Battle of Adowa in 1896 which saved Ethiopia from Italian colonization. -
Italy, Germany & Japan signed Anti-Comintern Pact, against Russia
Anti-Comintern Pact, agreement concluded first between Germany and Japan and then between Italy, against Soviet Union. The treaties were sought by Adolf Hitler. For propaganda purposes, Hitler and Benito Mussolini were able to present themselves as defenders of Western values against the threat of Soviet Communism. -
Anschluss - Germany takes over Austria with no fighting.
German troops crossed over the border into Austria. The armed forces were welcomed by many cheering German-Austrians that gave Nazi salutes, waved Nazi flags, and handed out flowers. -
Full invasion and takeover of Czechoslovakia.
March 15, 1939, during a meeting with Czech President Emil Hacha–a man considered weak Hitler threatened a bombing raid against Prague, the Czech capital, unless he obtained from Hacha free passage for German troops into Czech borders. He got it. That same day, German troops poured into Bohemia and Moravia. The two provinces offered no resistance, and they were quickly made a protectorate of Germany. By evening, Hitler made a triumphant entry into Prague. -
German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
Nazi Germany and Soviet Union signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. Soviet leader Stalin viewed the pact as a way to keep his nation on peaceful terms with Germany, while giving him time to build up the Soviet military. Hitler used the pact to make sure Germany was able to invade Poland unopposed. -
Germany invades Poland with Blitzkrieg warfare.
German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west.As the Wehrmacht advanced, Polish forces withdrew from their forward bases of operation close to the Polish–German border to more established lines of defence to the east.Polish forces then withdrew to the southeast where they prepared for a long defence of the Romanian Bridgehead and awaited expected support and relief from France and the United Kingdom. In the end their aid to Poland was very limited. -
Britain Declares war on Germany
Chamberlain said the British ambassador to Berlin had handed a final note to the German government saying unless it announced plans to withdraw from Poland, a state of war would exist between the two countries.
Similarly the French issued an ultimatum, which was presented in Berlin saying France would be at war unless withdrawal of troops was adhered to. -
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Battle of the Atlantic - Sept 3, 1939 - Duration of the war
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in WWII.At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade.The Battle of the Atlantic pitted U-boats against the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Navy, the United States Navy, and Allied merchant shipping.The convoys from North America & going to United Kingdom were protected by the British and Canadian navies and air forces. -
Canada declares war on Germany.
Canada declared war on Germany on 10 September. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King promised that only volunteers would serve overseas.
Canada was unprepared for war. The regular army of 4500 men, augmented by 51,000 partly-trained reservists, possessed virtually no modern equipment. The air force had fewer than 20 modern combat aircraft while the navy’s combat potential consisted of only six destroyers, the smallest class of ocean-going warships. It was a modest beginning. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a combat of WWII, when the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against the German Air Force attacks from the end of June 1940. It is described as the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces.
The primary objective of the Nazi German forces was to compel Britain to agree to a negotiated peace settlement. The air and sea blockade began with the Luftwaffe mainly targeting coastal shipping convoys, ports and shipping centres, such as Portsmouth. -
Invasion of Soviet Union
Hitler decided to attack the Soviet Union within the following year. On December 18, 1940, he signed Directive 21 (code-named Operation "Barbarossa"), the first operational order for the invasion of the Soviet Union. -
Pearl Harbour Attack
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. -
Japanese-Canadian Internment
The British Columbia Security Commission, carried out Japanese internment, was established. On 16 March, the first Japanese Canadians were transported from areas and brought to Hastings Park. More than 8,000 detainees moved through Hastings Parks, where women and children were housed in the Livestock Building. All property that could not be carried was taken into government custody. -
Battle of El Alamein
Axis positions near El Alamein, only 106 km from Alexandria, were dangerously close to the ports and cities of Egypt, the base facilities of the Commonwealth forces and the Suez Canal, and the Axis forces were too far from their base at Tripoli in Libya, to remain at El Alamein indefinitely, which led both sides to accumulate supplies for more offensives, against the constraints of time and distance. -
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Battle Of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad in the U.S.S.R. during WWII.It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with combined military and civilian casualties of nearly 2 million.Soviet forces surrounded and crushed an entire German army. -
Dieppe Raid
Objectives included seizing and holding a major port for a short period, proved that it was possible and gather intelligence. Upon retreat, the Allies also wanted to destroy coastal defenses, port structures and all strategic buildings. Allied fire support was grossly inadequate and the raiding force was largely trapped on the beach by obstacles and German fire. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The German offensive to capture Stalingrad began in August 1942. The fighting degenerated into house-to-house fighting, and both sides poured reinforcements into the city. By mid-November 1942, the Germans had pushed the Soviet defenders back at great cost into narrow zones along the west bank of the Volga River. -
Italian Campaign
Joint Allied Forces Headquarters was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, followed shortly thereafter in September by the invasion of the Italian mainland and the campaign on Italian soil until the surrender of the German Armed Forces in Italy in May 1945. -
D-Day
The Normandy landings or D-Day of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, and contributed to the Allied victory on the Western Front. -
Germany surrenders
the German High Command, in the person of General Alfred Jodl, signs the unconditional surrender of all German forces, East and West, at Reims, in northwestern France.Jodl radioed Grand Admiral Karl Donitz, with the terms. Donitz ordered him to sign. So with Russian General Ivan Susloparov and French General Francois Sevez signing as witnesses, signing for the Allied Expeditionary Force. -
Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima
The bomb was known as "Little Boy", a uranium gun-type bomb that exploded with about thirteen kilotons of force. At the time of the bombing, Hiroshima was home to 280,000-290,000 civilians as well as 43,000 soldiers. Between 90,000 and 166,000 people are believed to have died from the bomb in the four-month period following the explosion. -
Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki
A second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki 21-kiloton plutonium device known as "Fat Man.” On the day of the bombing, an estimated 263,000 were in Nagasaki, including 240,000 Japanese residents, 9,000 Japanese soldiers, and 400 prisoners of war.It is estimated that between 40,000 and 75,000 people died immediately following the atomic explosion, while another 60,000 people suffered severe injuries.
