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the beginning
Hitler invades Poland on September 1st. Britain and France declare war on September 3rd -
Blitzkrieg
German 'Blitzkrieg' overwhelms Belgium, Holland and France. The 'Blitz' of Britain's cities lasted throughout the war, saw the bombing of Buckingham Palace and the near-destruction of Coventry, and claimed some 40,000 civilian lives. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, lasting from July to September, was the first to be fought solely in the air. Germany lacked planes but had many pilots. In Britain, the situation was reversed, but - crucially - it also had radar. This, combined with the German decision to switch the attacks from airfields and factories to the major cities, enabled the RAF to squeak a narrow victory, maintain air superiority and ensure the - ultimately indefinite - postponement of the German invasion plans. -
Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia.
Hitler invaded Russia . Operation Barbarossa, as the invasion was called, began on 22 June. The initial advance was swift, with the fall of Sebastopol at the end of October, and Moscow coming under attack at the end of the year. -
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the US enters the war.
The Japanese, tired of American trade embargoes, mounted a surprise attack on the US Navy base of Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, on 7 December. -
Singapore falls to the Japanese
In the Pacific, the Japanese continued their expansion into Borneo, Java and Sumatra. The 'unassailable' British fortress of Singapore fell rapidly in February, with around 25,000 prisoners taken, many of whom would die in Japanese camps in the years to follow. -
Period: to
Mass murder of Jewish people at Auschwitz begins
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Surrender at Stalingrad marks Germany's first major defeat.
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Allied victory in North Africa enables invasion of Italy to be launched.
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British and Indian forces fight Japanese in Burma.
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D Day: The Allied invasion of France. Paris is liberated
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Russians reach Berlin: Hitler commits suicide and Germany surrenders.