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Japan seizes Manchuria
In 1931, the Japanese Kwangtung Army attacked Chinese troops in Manchuria in an event commonly known as the Manchurian Incident. Essentially, this was an attempt by the Japanese Empire to gain control over the whole province, in order to eventually encompass all of East Asia. This proved to be one of the causes of World War II. -
Munich Pact
The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders mainly inhabited by German speakers, for which a new territorial designation "Sudetenland" was coined. The agreement was signed in the early hours of 30 September 1938 (but dated 29 September) after being negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe, excluding the Soviet Union. -
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was Canada's longest military engagement of the Second World War, lasting from September 1939 to May 1945. This battle was bravely fought by the men and women of the Canadian Merchant Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force. More than 4,600 courageous service men and women lost their lives at sea. This Battle was clearly a battle at sea. -
Canada declares war on Germany
After Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, the United Kingdom and France declared war on September 3. To assert Canada's independence from the UK, as already established by the Statute of Westminster 1931, Canada's political leaders unnecessarily decided to seek the approval of the federal parliament to declare war. Parliament was not scheduled to return until October 2, but returned to session early on September 7 to consider the declaration of war.[ -
Fall of France
The Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries during the Second World War. In six weeks from 10 May 1940, German forces defeated Allied forces by mobile operations and conquered France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, bringing land operations on the Western Front to an end until 6 June 1944. Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940 and attempted an invasion of France. -
Miracle at Dunkirk
Dunkirk evacuation, (1940) in World War II, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and other Allied troops from the French seaport of Dunkirk to England. Naval vessels and hundreds of civilian boats were used in the evacuation, which began on May 27. When it ended on June 4, about 198,000 British and 140,000 French and Belgian troops had been saved. -
Pearl Harbor
In the early hours of 7 December (Hawaiian time), Japan launched a major surprise carrier-based air strike on Pearl Harbor without explicit warning, which crippled the U.S. Pacific Fleet, leaving eight American battleships out of action, 188 American aircraft destroyed, and 2,403 American citizens dead. -
Start of the war in Pacific Theater
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in the Pacific and East Asia. It was fought over a vast area that included the Pacific Ocean and islands, the South West Pacific, South-East Asia, and in China (including the 1945 Soviet–Japanese conflict). -
Invasion of Hong Kong
Forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the British Crown colony of Hong Kong. The attack was in violation of international law as Japan had not declared war against the British Empire. The Japanese attack was met with stiff resistance from the Hong Kong garrison, composed of local troops as well as British, Canadian and Indian units. Within a week the defenders abandoned the mainland and less than two weeks later, with their position on the island untenable, the colony surrendered. -
Dieppe Raid
During the Second World War, on 19 August 1942, the Allies launched a major raid on the small French coast port of Dieppe. Operation Jubilee was the first Canadian Army engagement in the European war, designed to test the Allies ability to launch amphibious assaults against Adolf Hitler's "Fortress Europe." The raid was a disaster: More than 900 Canadian soldiers were killed, and thousands more were wounded and taken prisoner. -
Allied troops land in Sicily
The invasion of Sicily was the logical conclusion of the North African adventure, since capturing the island meant regaining control of most of the Mediterranean. The Allies had a second goal: to force Germany to pull land and air forces away from the eastern front in order to defend its southern side, thereby easing the pressure on the USSR. -
Battle of Ortona
For the Canadians, Ortona was the bloodiest battle of the Italian Campaign to date. The once pisturesque ancient village on the Adriatic coast has been reduce to rubble. Canadian and German troops clash daily, in bitter, house-to-house fighting. Snipers, booby traps and land mines were a constant threat as every building gained brought about a terrible cost in blood. This Battle was known as the courtyard of hell. -
D-day
D-day resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. -
Nagasaki
The United States, at the order of President Harry S. Truman, dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, during the final stage of World War II. The United States had dropped the bombs with the consent of the United Kingdom as outlined in the Quebec Agreement. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history. -
V-J day
Victory over Japan Day, or VJ-Day, on 14 August 1945, marked the end of the war in the Pacific and the end of the Second World War. The surrender of Japan was observed across Canada with joy, and in some cases street riots.
