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Invasion of Poland
On September 1, 1939, Germany invade Poland. Then the Soviet Union invade Poland on 17. The Wehrmacht attacks from the west and Stalin’s troops attack from the east. No one expected Hitler to win this first battle so quickly, not even Hitler himself. The World War II is beginning from this invasion. -
Period: to
1939-1945
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Germany attacks France
On June 22, 1940, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, start by Germany and France. The north and west parts of France is controlled by Germany. In southern France, a collaborationist regime under General Pétain is established. Called Vichy France, its capital is the town of Vichy. -
Battle of Britain begins
On July 10, 1940, the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) fight for the control of the skies, in a battle known as the Battle of Britain. Hitler calls off the invasion in September. This is Hitler’s first defeat and an important win for Britain. -
Hitler sends the Afrika korps to North Africa
On April 1941, Hitler sends the German Afrika korps and General Erwin Rommel to help the Italians. Because Italian troops enter Egypt from the Italian colony of Libya but the British win back the lost Egyptian territory and the trade routes. Finally, Rommel recaptures the territory lost by the Italians. -
Operation Barbarossa begins
On June 22, 1941, Hitler launches an invasion of the Soviet Union in direct violation of the Non-Aggression pact. Called Operation Barbarossa, but this code name is used by only Axis side. The reason of invasion is that Hitler needs the land for cereal production and the oil wells for fuel. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, Japanese Navy Air Service launches a surprise attack on the United State Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. In response to the attack, the following day the USA declares war on Japan. Germany and Italy declare war on the USA three days later. -
US and Britain troops land on the beaches of Algeria and Morocco
On November 8, 1942, the Operation Torch is started. US and Britain troops land on the beaches of Algeria and Morocco. The American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, commanding the operation, planned a three-pronged attack on Casablanca, Oran and Algiers then a rapid move on Tunis. This Allied victory mark a turning point for both the African and Pacific fronts. -
Allied troops land on the beaches of Salerno
On September 9, the Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno. This operation was part of the Allied invasion of Italy. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but the Allies landed in an area defended by German troops. -
D-Day
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allied forces, led by US General Dwight D. Eisenhower land on five beaches in Normandy, northern France. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied France and later western Europe and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. -
Paris liberated by the Allies
The Liberation of Paris was a military battle that took place from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. The liberation began when the French Forces of the Interior staged an uprising against the German garrison upon the approach of the US Third Army. -
Hitler commits suicide
On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun commit suicide in his bunker under his headquarters. In accordance with his prior written and verbal instructions, that afternoon their remains were carried up the stairs through the bunker's emergency exit, doused in petrol, and set alight in the Reich Chancellery garden outside the bunker. On May 7, 1945, the German government surrenders. -
Dropping of first atomic bomb on Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb named Little Boy on Hiroshima. A second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only uses of nuclear weapons in armed conflict. -
Japan formally surrenders
The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito on August 15, 1945 and formally signed on September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close. Both dates are known as V-J Day. Together with the British Empire and China, the United States called for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945.
