WW2 By Dmaqu 1939 Germany invades Poland, starting World War II. 1940 The Battle of Britain begins. 1940 Germany invades France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. 1941 Germany invades the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa). 1941 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into the war. 1942 The Battle of Stalingrad begins. 1942 The Battle of Midway, a turning point in the Pacific Theater. 1943 The Allies invade Italy. 1944 D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy. 1944 The Battle of the Bulge. 1945 Hitler commits suicide. 1945 Germany surrenders (V-E Day). 1945 The United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 1945 The liberation of concentration camps. 1945 The Battle of Berlin. 1945 The United Nations is founded. 1945 Japan surrenders (V-J Day), ending World War II. 1945 The Yalta Conference. 1946 The Nuremberg Trials begin. 1947 The Marshall Plan is announced to aid European recovery.