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German Anschluss with Austria
Hitler invades home country. Believes it should belong to Germany -
treaty of munich
Hitler, chamberlain Daladier of France and Mussolini of Italy met in Munich and agreed that Hitler should have the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia -
Britain rearms and reassures poland
Britain begun rearming and highly secret radar early warning system was installed along the east coast. conscription was introduced and assurances were given to Poland, who was being threatened by the Fuher -
Russia and germany sign pact
Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact which included secret clauses for the division of Poland -
Hitler invades Poland
Hitler invades Poland -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
chamberlain broadcast the announcement that the country was at was -
'Phoney war'
Britain saw no military action -
Germany invades Czechoslovakia
German invasion of Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia -
Hitler invades Denmark and Norway
invades Denmark and Norway -
British rout Italians in N. Africa
Italian forces in North Africa were routed by the British led by General Wavell. -
Blitzkrieg
lightning war against Holland and Belgium. Rotterdam was bombed almost to extinction. both occupied -
Chaberlain resigns
chamberlain resigns after union pressure -
Dunkirk
the British was forced to retreat to the coast of Dunkirk. waited to be taken off the beaches -
Italy enter war on side of axis
motive fro entertaining the war was the hope of rich pickings from the spoils of war -
France signs armistice with germany
Germany took france... devastated out of the war and into german occupation -
Period: to
the battle of britain
The Battle of Britain comprised four phases:
1. During 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
2. continued but bombing raids were concentrated on RAF airfields 3. The Blitz –
4. Night Bombing –
The RAF defended the skies and by October 31 the raids had ceased. -
Tripartite Pact
This pact of mutual alliance was signed by Germany, Italy and Japan. -
Italy and Germany attack Yugoslavia
German and Italian troops attacked Yugoslavia, Greece and the island of Crete. German field Marshall Erwin Rommel led the axis powers back to North Africa. -
Hitler attacks Russia – Operation Barbarossa
Hitler sent 3 million soldiers and 3,500 tanks into Russia. They were taken by surprise because they had signed a treaty with Germany in 1939. Stalin signed an assistance treaty with Britain. The U.S. offered similar assistance (supplying arms) to the USSR like they did with Britain. -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese, who were already waging war against the Chinese, attacked the US pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a preliminary to taking British, French and Dutch colonies in South East Asia. -
Britain and US declare war on Japan
Britain and the United States declared war on Japan. -
Japanese take Singapore
The Japanese captured Singapore from the British, taking some 60,000 prisoners. -
Battle of Midway
The USA defeated the Japanese navy at the Battle of Midway. Following this victory, the US navy was able to push the Japanese back. -
Allies in N. Africa
General Alexander was given a hand-written directive from Churchill ordering that his main directive was to be the destruction of the German-Italian army commanded by Field-Marshall Rommel together with all its supplies and establishments in Egypt and Libya. As soon as sufficient material had been built up, Alexander handed the campaign over to General Montgomery. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Russians won their first victory against Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad. -
Allies push into N. Africa
British and American forces under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower landed in the NW of Africa and assumed control of French Morocco and Algeria. They gradually closed in on the Germans. -
Battle of El Alamein
Montgomery attacked the German-Italian army in North Africa with a massive bombardment followed by an armored attack. He then proceeded to chase the routed enemy some 1500 miles across the desert. -
Allies invade Sicily
British and US forces invaded Sicily. -
Allies take Sicily
The allied troops had won the island of Sicily. -
Allies meet at Tehran
Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met to co-ordinate plans for a simultaneous squeeze on Germany. They also discussed post war settlements. Churchill mistrusted Stalin; Roosevelt anxious to show that the West would not stand against Russia, went along with Stalin’s wishes for a second front in France and no diversions further east. Churchill was over-ruled and the fate of post-war Eastern Europe was thus decided. -
Axis surrender N Africa
The British and American forces managed to defeat the Axis forces in North Africa -
Italy surrenders
Mussolini had been thrown out of office and the new government of Italy surrendered to the British and the USA. They then agreed to join the allies. The Germans took control of the Italian army, freed Mussolini from imprisonment and set him up as head of a puppet government in Northern Italy. This blocked any further allied advance through Italy. -
Leningrad relieved
The siege of Leningrad was lifted by the Soviet army. -
Rome liberated
Although Italy had surrendered in September, it was only now that the allies were able to liberate Rome from the Germans. -
Japanese evicted from Burma
British forces under General Slim, with help from guerrilla-fighting Chindits led by Orde Wingate, evicted the Japanese from Burma. -
Battle of the Bulge
Germany launched its final defensive through the Ardennes region of Belgium. However, they were beaten back by the allies. -
D-Day
The allies launched an attack on Germany’s forces in Normandy, Western France. Thousands of transports carried an invasion army under the supreme command of general Eisenhower to the Normandy beaches. The Germans who had been fed false information about a landing near Calais, rushed troops to the area but were unable to prevent the allies from forming a solid bridgehead. For the allies it was essential to first capture a port. -
Paris liberated
The French capital of Paris was liberated from the Germans. -
V2 Flying Bombs
The first V2 flying bombs killed three people in London. -
Allies cross the Rhine
The Allies crossed the Rhine while Soviet forces were approaching Berlin from the East. -
Death of Roosevelt
President Roosevelt died. He was succeeded by President Truman. -
Russians reach Berlin
The Russians reached Berlin shortly before the US forces. -
Mussolini captured and executed
Italian partisans captured Mussolini and executed him. -
Hitler commits suicide
The German leader, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bombproof shelter together with his mistress, Eva Braun, who he had, at the last minute, made his wife. -
German forces surrender
German forces in Italy surrendered to the Allies. -
German forces surrender
German forces in north west Germany, Holland and Denmark surrendered to Montgomery on Luneburg Heath. Admiral Donitz, whom Hitler had nominated as his successor, tried to reach agreement to surrender to the Western allies but to continue to fight the Russians. His request was refused. -
Donitz offers unconditional surrender
Hitler’s successor, Admiral Donitz, offerred an unconditional surrender to the allies. -
V.E. day
Victory in Europe was celebrated. -
Churchill loses election
Winston Churchill lost the election to Clement Atlee’s Labour Party. The Labour party promised sweeping social reforms including nationalization of the coal and railway industries and the creation of a welfare state. The Labour party gained 393 seats to the Conservatives 213. It was generally accepted that the landslide victory for Labour was due to the men and women of the armed services who did not want to resume civilian life under the conditions that they had before they entered service.? -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
The Japanese generals refused to surrender. The US dropped an atomic bomb on the island of Hiroshima. -
Russia declares war on Japan
Russia declared war on Japan and invaded Japanese-ruled Manchuria. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
The US dropped an atomic bomb on the island of Nagasaki as the Japanese had not surrendered following Hiroshima. -
Japanese surrender
The Japanese unconditionally surrendered to the allies ending the second world war. -
MacArthur accepts Japan’s surrender
US General, Douglas MacArthur, accepted Japan’s surrender thus formally ending the second world war.