-
German Anschluss with Austria
Hitler went ahead with his plan to unify all German speaking people -
treaty of munich
agreed that hitler can have some of the land -
britian rearms and reassures poland
britain has begun rearming -
russia and germany sign pact
Hitler and Stalin signed a non aggressive pact -
hitler invades czechoslovakia
he marched into czechoslovakia -
hitler invades poland
Hitler invades Poland -
Britain and France
'phoney war' -
Hitler invades Denmark and Norway
Hitler invaded and occupied Denmark and Norway to safeguard supply routes of Swedish ore -
British rout Italians in N. Africa
British rout Italians in N. Africa -
Blitzkrieg
Hitler launched his blitzkrieg (lightning war) against Holland and Belgium. -
Chamberlain resigns
Neville Chamberlain resigned after pressure from Labour members for a more active prosecution of the war and Winston Churchill became the new head of the wartime coalition government. -
Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo)
The British commander-in-chief, General Gort, had been forced to retreat to the coast at Dunkirk. -
Italy enter war on side of Axis powers
Italy’s motive for entering the war was the hope of rich pickings from the spoils of war. -
Tripartite Pact
This pact of mutual alliance was signed by Germany, Italy and Japan. -
Battle of Britain
During July Hitler sent his Luftwaffe bombers to attack British ports. His aim was also to assess the speed and quality of response -
Italy and Germany attack Yugoslavia
German and Italian troops attacked Yugoslavia, Greece and the island of Crete -
Hitler attacks Russia
Hitler sent 3 million soldiers and 3,500 tanks into Russia. -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese, who were already waging war against the Chinese, attacked the US pacific fleet at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii -
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. -
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 Rommell together with all its supplies and establishments in Egypt -
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. -
Battle of El Alamein
Montgomery attacked the German-Italian army in North Africa with a massive bombardment followed by an armoured attack -
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. -
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. -
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. -
Battle of the Bulge
Germany launched its final defensive through the Ardennes region of Belgium. -
D-Day
The allies launched an attack on Germany’s forces in Normandy, Western France -
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. -
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 nationalisation of the coal and railway industries and the creation of a welfare state. -
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.