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Invasion of Poland
Without declaring war, Germany invades Poland. The coordinated air-and-land attack is conducted with such brutal efficiency that "blitzkrieg" becomes a feared offensive tactic. -
France and Great Britain enter the war
Honoring their treaty with Poland, France and Great Britain enter the war against Germany. -
Italy joins the war
Italy joins the war as an ally of Germany. -
Germans enter Paris
By the time German tanks rolled into Paris, 2 million Parisians had already fled, with good reason. In short order, the German Gestapo went to work: arrests, interrogations, and spying were the order of the day, as a gigantic swastika flew beneath the Arc de Triomphe. -
The Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain begins. The air war designed to destroy the RAF and ease the German invasion opens with the Luftwaffe outnumbering its opponent in operational aircraft: 2,669-to-704. -
The Italians invade Greece
On this day in 1940, Mussolini’s army, already occupying Albania, invades Greece in what will prove to be a disastrous military campaign for the Duce’s forces. -
"Barbarossa" plan
Unleashing its "Barbarossa" plan, Germany invades the Soviet Union without declaring war. Despite massing troops at the border, the Germans encounter little opposition. Hitler is now fighting a two-front war. -
USA joins WW2
The U.S. declares war on Japan. -
"Final Solution"
The Wannsee Conference in Germany establishes the "Final Solution" for Jews in Europe. The plan would attempt to exterminate an estimated 11 million people. -
First American forces arrive in Great Britain
The British (for the most part) were glad to see the American servicemen, there were complications and resentments. The British had been at war for over two years and were well used to going without and making due. When the Americans arrived their stomachs were full (and so were their pockets). -
Soviets begin an offensive against the Germans in Stalingrad
The Soviet Red Army under General Georgi Zhukov launches Operation Uranus, the great Soviet counteroffensive that turned the tide in the Battle of Stalingrad. -
The Battle of Kursk
The Soviets win the Battle of Kursk. It is the largest tank battle in history. The German Luftwaffe also loses the air war and dominion of Russian skies for the first time. -
The Allies enter Naples, Italy
The Allied Invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on 3 September 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group (comprising Lieutenant General Mark Clark's U.S. Fifth Army and General Bernard Montgomery's British Eighth Army) during the Second World War. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign. The main invasion force landed around Salerno on the western coast in Operation Avalanche, while two supporting operations took place -
Italy declares war on Germany
On this day in 1943, the government of Italy declares war on its former Axis partner Germany and joins the battle on the side of the Allies. -
D-day
The greatest invasion in history begins just after midnight as the first of 24,000 paratroopers -- flown over the Channel in more than 1,000 aircraft -- are dropped behind enemy lines in Normandy. More than 5,300 ships, carrying 176,000 men are streaming across the Channel. Allied commanders plan five coordinated landings along a 45-mile stretch of the Normandy coastline between the Cotentin Peninsula and the Orne River for Operation Overlord. It will be the bloodiest day in American history sin -
Soviet troops advance into Poland
The Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939. On that day, sixteen days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west, the Soviet Union did so from the east. The invasion ended on 6 October 1939 with the two-way division and annexation of the entire Second Polish Republic by Germany and the Soviet Union. -
Soviets reach Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European theatre of World War II. -
Hitler commits suicide
Russian troops fight their way into the Reichstag, the symbol of German power. Less than half a mile away, beneath the rubble, Adolf Hitler and his closest aides huddle in their bunker. That afternoon, Hitler names Admiral Karl Donitz to succeed him, then shoots himself in the mouth. -
VE Day
V-E Day is proclaimed as Victory in Europe is celebrated. -
United Nations
The name "United Nations", coined by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt was first used in the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942, during the Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their Governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.
