ww2

By CrawfordT16

  • The Treaty of Versailles is signed.

    June 28th, 1919 – The Treaty of Versailles is signed.

  • Adolf Hitler is designated as the leader of the National Socialist Party which would later become the Nazi Party.

  • The Beer Hall Putsch occurs resulting in Adolf Hitler being placed in jail. (Putsch is German for coup)

  • The League of Nations admits Germany.

  • The German people elect Adolf Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany. He then proceeds to scrap democracy. Germany and Japan then leave the League of Nations during 1933.

  • The German-Italian Axis is formed and Germany enters the demilitarized Rhine region

  • Japan invades Manchuria after already occupying Manchuria

  • Adolf Hitler annexes Western Czechoslovakia and Austria.

  • Czechoslovakia surrenders to Germany under pressure of an imminent invasion

  • Adolf Hitler cancels the German-Polish non-aggression pact and the Britian-German naval agreement. Italy invades Albania in this

  • Adolf Hitler cancels the German-Polish non-aggression pact and the Britian-German naval agreement. Italy invades Albania in this month

  • The Soviet Union and Germany sign a non-aggression pact. In secret they agree to invade Poland and then share it. The German navy then sails to the Atlantic ocean to prepare for war.

  • Germany invades Poland which officially signals the start of World War 2

  • Great Britain and France officially declare war on Germany.

  • The United States declares a limited national emergency.

  • The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east.

  • Poland initially surrenders

  • The Soviet Union invades Finland

  • British Intelligence decodes the first German Enigma messages

  • The Soviet war against Finland ends. Hitler starts to believe that the Russian army is not effective.

  • Denmark and Norway are invaded by Germany

  • The British army lands in Narvik, Norway to leave just 10 days later

  • France, The Netherlands (Holland), Luxemburg, and Belgium are invaded by Nazi Germany. Winston Churchill takes over as the UK prime minister

  • German army forces reach the English Channel.

  • The Dunkirk evacuation of French and British forces begins. More than 338,000 soldiers would be rescued between May 27th and June 4th, 1940.

  • Siege of Malta

  • Norway surrenders to Germany

  • Italy declares war on Great Britian and France.

  • Germany takes Paris

  • Soviet soldiers invade Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia

  • France surrenders to Germany

  • The Soviet government annexes the eastern regions of Romania

  • Germany invades the British Channel islands

  • The Battle of Britain commences (air campaign).

  • The German Luftwaffe loses 76 aircraft in one day

  • British night bombers bomb Berlin for the first time.

  • Italy invades British-held Egypt from Libya commencing the beginning of the North African campaign.

  • Japan officially joins The Axis Powers

  • Germany occupies Romania (an ally) which is the sole source of oil for the country due to the threat posed by the Soviet Union

  • Italy invades Greece from Albania but gets stopped two times

  • The Italian fleet is sunk by UK carrier aircraft in Taranto

  • Hungary and Romania join The Axis

  • The German Afrika Korps and Rommel are sent to help Italy in North Africa.

  • Bulgaria joins The Axis stretching the Axis-Russian border from the Black Sea to the Baltic

  • German forces led by Rommel attack Britian in North Africa.

  • British troops augment Greece to prepare for German invasion

  • Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece. (Battle of Greece)

  • Japan and the Soviet Union sign non-aggression pact after a number of military clashes.

  • Yugoslavia surrenders. British forces evacuate from the Greek mainland to Crete

  • German troops occupy Athens

  • The Allies capture U-boat U-110 with the Enigma settings tables

  • Crete is invaded by German paratroopers. (Battle of Crete)

  • British forces in Crete surrender

  • Operation Battleaxe

  • – Great Britian invades French controlled Syria and Lebanon

  • Germany invades Russia. Due to the Hitler order of “maximum cruelty” against civilians, Russian resistance is significant.

  • The German army takes Smolensk, which is just just 220 miles from Moscow.

  • The German Luftwaffe bombs Moscow

  • Japan invades French Indo-China (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia of today)

  • Adolph Hitler is very eager to take Ukraine prior to Moscow due to resource needs. As a result, he orders his army group Center’s advance to Moscow stopped and then transfers significant resources to the North and South Groups

  • German, Hermann Goering orders the SS to prepare “the final solution” which results in the murdering of millions of European Jews resulting in what is now known as the Holocaust

  • German siege of Leningrad commences.

  • German forces occupy Kiev and reach the Crimea.

  • German Operation Typhoon begins (final German attack towards Moscow).

  • The Soviet government leaves Moscow, the Germans occupy Odessa

  • German forces occupy Kharkov.

  • German forces reach 27km from Moscow, but get stopped by fierce Soviet resistance.

  • At temperatures of -34C (-29F) and below, a Soviet counter attack near Moscow begins. Moscow is saved, and the Germans are pushed back.

  • The Japanese Navy attacks Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, and the Phillipines. As a result, the United States joins the war. This results in a significant turning point in the war with Russia remaining in the fight and the United States now joining both front