-
The outburst
Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe. -
Joining the Axis
Hungary (November 20), Romania (November 23), and Slovakia (November 24) join the Axis. -
Period: to
Holocaust
The Holocaust was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe, around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. -
Period: to
Invading Yugoslavia
Germany, Italy, and Hungary invaded Yugoslavia and, together with Bulgaria, dismembered it. Yugoslavia surrendered on April 17. Germany and Bulgaria invaded Greece in support of the Italians. Resistance in Greece ceased in early June 1941. -
Period: to
Invade the Soviet Union
Nazi Germany and its Axis partners (except Bulgaria) invade the Soviet Union. Finland also agreed to participate in the invasion. The Germans quickly overrun the Baltic states and, joined by the Finns, lay siege to Leningrad (St. Petersburg) by September. -
Pearl Harbor
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. -
Period: to
Peak of Germany
Germany and its Axis partners launched a new offensive in the Soviet Union. German troops fought their way into Stalingrad (Volgograd) on the Volga River by mid-September and penetrated deep into the Caucasus after securing the Crimean Peninsula. With German forces in North Africa having penetrated Egypt, Germany was at the height of its military success in World War II. -
Occuppying Hungary
Fearing Hungary’s intention to desert the Axis partnership, the Germans occupy Hungary and compel the regent, Admiral Miklos Horthy, to appoint a pro-German minister president. -
Hitler's suicide
Hitler commits suicide after realizing he will most definitely lose and be captured -
End of War
The German armed forces surrendered unconditionally in the west on May 7 and in the east on May 9, 1945, bringing an end World War II in Europe. -
Nagasaki
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.