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Treaty Of Munich
Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier of France and Mussolini of Italy met in Munich and agreed that Hitler should have Czechoslovakia. The Czechs were not represented at the meeting. Hitler said his intentions were peaceful and signed a peace of paper declaring 'peace in our time'. -
Hitler Invades Czechoslovakia
Despite his promises of peaceful intentions, Hitler invades and occupies Czechoslovakia. Realizing no other country will come to their aid, Czechoslovakia is forced to surrender to Germany. -
Hitler Invades Poland
Prior to this, Hitler and Stalin sign a "non-aggression pact" which has secret clauses to divvy up Poland. Not long after, Hitler goes and invades Poland -
Britain and France Declare War on Germany
Britain and France declared war on Germany. Neville Chamberlain, a British statesman of the Conservative Party and a former "friend" of Hitler's broadcasted the announcement that the country was at war. -
Hitler Invades Denmark and Norway
Hitler invades the shores of Denmark and Norway to safeguard supply routes and secure a naval Blockade on Germany. -
Blitzkrieg
Hitler launches lightning war on Holland and Belgium, both countries were occupied and a major Dutch city, Rotterdam was bombed near to extinction. -
Operation Dynamo
British Commander in Cheif was forced to retreat from Dunkirk. Under fire, the troops waited to be taken off of the beaches and a call was made to all ship owners to come take the troops off of the beaches.Among the men who escaped the beach, 140,000 men were French and formed the Free French Army under general Charles de Gaulle. Other Allied forces withdrew to Britan. -
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Battle Of Britain
July Hitler sent his Luftwaffe bombers to attack British ports. His aim was also to assess the speed and quality of response by the RAF (Royal Air Force).Bombing raids were concentrated on RAF airfields. On September 7th the city of London was heavily bombed. Hitler wanted to dampen the hopes of the British people. A lot of these daytime bombings failed, so Hitler began a series of nightly bombing raids on London and other industrial cities. Thanks to the RAF, Oct. 31 the bombings subsided. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler sent 3 million soldiers and 3,500 tanks into Russia in spite of the peace agreement he signed with them. Surprised, Stalin signed a mutual assistance treaty with Britain and together they launched a battle that would claim 20 million casualties. The USA offered to lend the USSR arms, just like they had been doing with Britain, under a 'lend-lease' agreement. -
Pearl Harbor
Already at war with China, Japan attacked the US at Pearl Harbor. Their aim was to make headway in taking British, French, and Dutch colonies in South East Asia. The attack on Pearl Harbor forced the reluctant US to join the war a day prior to the attack. -
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Operation Torch
Under commander Eisenhower British and American forces pushed into Morocco and Algeria, which was previously controlled by the French. By doing so they started to close in on the Germans. By May 12, Allied forces defeated Axis forces and drove them out of North America. -
Operation Avalanche/ Operation Axis
Italy surrenders and Mussolini is deposed and Gen. Pietro Badoglio assumed power. Negotiations insued and Allied forces moved in. Meanwhile, German forces had been negotiating with Mussolini before he lost power and they planned to invade Italy. German forces moved in and the fight for control over Italian Naval forces began. Germans took control, freed Mussolini from imprisonment and set him up as head of a puppet government in Northern Italy. Allied forces were blocked. -
Rome Liberated From Axis Forces
Finally, months prior to Italy's surrender the US was able to liberate Rome from German forces. -
D-Day
The allies launched an attack on Germany’s forces in Normandy. The Germans had been fed false information about a landing near Calais, and rushed to Normandy but it was to late. For the allies it was essential to capture a port. -
Hitler Dies
In his bomb shelter Hitler, along with his mistress made wife, commit suicide by ingesting cyanide pills. Hitler also shot himself in the head after ingesting the pills. In his last will and testament, Hitler appointed Admiral Karl Donitz as head of state and Goebbels as chancellor. Hitler's death snowballed the Germans surrender. -
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Germany Surrenders
First, the German forces surrender in Itay. Then, German forces in north west Germany, Holland and Denmark surrender despite orders from Hitler's successor. Finally, on May 7th Admiral Donitz offers an unconditional surrender. -
Hiroshima
Japanese generals refuse to surrender, so the US drops an attomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. -
Surrender
On August 14, the Japanese unconditionally surrender. on September 2nd US General, Douglas MacArthur formally accepted Japan’s surrender ending the second world war. -
Nagasaki
Japan continues to refuse surrender, so the US drops another atomic bomb on Nagasaki. A day prior to this, Russia had declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria.
