WW2 Timeline

  • Japanese invasion of Manchuria

    Japanese invasion of Manchuria
    When an explosion destroyed a section of a railway the Japanese's who owned said railway blamed Chinese nationalists and took the opportunity to fight back and invade Manchuria.
  • Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany

    Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
    Adolf Hitler became the chancellor by being appointed by Hindenburg after the 1932 elections.
  • German Anschluss of Austria

    German Anschluss of Austria
    The Anschluss or otherwise known as the Annexation of Austria, was simply Germany wanting to be united with Austria so that they could create what they thought of as a "Greater Germany".
  • Britain rearms and reassures Poland

    Britain rearms and reassures Poland
    On the last day of march, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made a statement that said that if the Polish government or their independence were ever to be threatened then Brittan would step in and help them. One of the reasons for this was because Poland was a vulnerable country as it shared a border with Nazi Germany.
  • Hitler invades Poland

    Hitler invades Poland
    The invasion of Poland was an attack from Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union. This attack which went on from the 1st of September until the 6th of October marked the beginning of World War 2.
  • Hitler invades Denmark and Norway

    Hitler invades Denmark and Norway
    When the attack happened both Denmark and Norway were neutral. Germany attacked them because it feared that France and Brittan had plans to occupy Norway. Germany invaded Denmark because it gave them access to the Baltic sea meaning they could better transport goods.
  • Italy enters war on side of Axis powers

    Italy enters war on side of Axis powers
    When WW1 ended Italy was unhappy with the outcome, they believed the treaty of Versailles was too harsh so they joined in with the war in hopes of getting its territories back.
  • France signs Armistice with Germany

    France signs Armistice with Germany
    France was forced to sign the armistice with Germany after they were invaded and defeated by Nazi forces. The armistice made it so that France was an occupied zone under German control. Adoff Hitler agreed to the armistice to try and prevent France from fighting its colonies.
  • Pearl Harbour

    Pearl Harbour
    Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in the United States without being provoked which caused many more Americans to become involved in the war in Europe until the United States eventually declared war on Japan.
  • Britain and US declare war on Japan

    Britain and US declare war on Japan
    USA declared war on Japan just one day after their attack at Pearl Harbor. Brittan declared war on Japan 9 hours prior to USA declaring war because of Japan's attacks on the British colonies of Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaya.
  • Battle of Midway

    Battle of Midway
    The Battle of Midway started on the 3rd of June and ended on the 6th, the battle was of almost entirely fought with aircraft. During the battle the USA destroyed many of Japan's best trained pilots.
  • Italy surrenders

    Italy surrenders
    Italy surrendered because a combination of factors, their city's were being bombed, and the majority of the country wanted to end the war.
  • Battle of the Bulge

    Battle of the Bulge
    The battle of the bulge, which was also known as Ardennes Offensive, took place from December 16th, 1944, to January 25th, 1945. The battle was a large German offensive campaign and was on the western front. The battle also happened between Belgium and Luxemburg.
  • Russians reach Berlin

    Russians reach Berlin
    When the Russians reached Berlin there was a battle called The Battle of Berlin which ended fighting on the Eastern Front and Europe. Since Hittler was gone and Germanys military was defeated the Soviette Union took possession of Berlin and worked to restore food the city's people.
  • Mussolini captured and executed

    Mussolini captured and executed
    Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci were captured by Italian soldiers as they were attempting to escape and run to Switzerland. The two were later shot in a public square in Milan.
  • Germany surrenders

    Germany surrenders
    After Hitlers suicide on April 30th Germany no longer had a leader to follow and collapsed. Many parts of the Germanys army had already surrendered and Germans only controlled a few parts of Germany. The Allies demanded the German army surrender completely and Germany had no choice but to agree.
  • Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima

    Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
    The atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima was the first deployed nuclear weapon and was estimated to have killed 80,000 people instantly and many more later from the radiation. The bomb was used to try and force Japan to surrender but Japan refused to.
  • Russia declares on Japan

    Russia declares on Japan
    When the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, they sent 1.6 million soldiers to Manchuria, an area in North-East China where Japan was waiting with around 1 million men. Japan was outnumbered and were forced to retreat but not before they had lost 80,000 men compared to the 8,000 that were lost by the Soviet Union.
  • Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki

    Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
    The US dropped a second atomic bomb just 3 days after bombing Hiroshima. The bomb was dropped right over the inner portion of Nagasaki and destroyed almost half of the city and killing approximately 35,000 people. The bombs caused Japan to surrender less than a month later.
  • Japanese surrender

    Japanese surrender
    Japan surrendered shortly after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when they realized that they were going to loose the war.