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Germany invades Poland
German tanks and troop trucks rumbled across the Polish border. At the same time, German aircraft and artillery began a merciless bombing of Poland’s capital, Warsaw. -
Declaring war
France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. But poland fell some time before those nations could make any military responses -
French Surrendered
French leaders surrendered. German took control of the northern part of the country. They left the Southern part to a puppet government headed by Marshal Philippe Petain -
Night Bombing
To avoid the RAF’s attacks, the Germans gave up daylight raids in favor of night bombing. At sunset, the wail of sirens filled the air as Londoners flocked to the subways, which served as air-raid shelters -
Supplies
The President could lend or lease arms and other supplies to any country vital to the United. States. -
Hitler Invades the Soviet Union
Hitler could move ahead with Operation Barbarossa, his plan to invade the Soviet Union. Early in the morning of June 22, 1941, the roar of German tanks and aircraft announced the beginning of the invasion. The Soviet Union was not prepared for this attack. -
Oil cut
When the Japanese conquered French, Indochino, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in July 1941, Roosevelt cut off oil shipments to Japan. -
Pearl Harbor Attack
American sailors at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii awoke to the roar of explosives. A Japanese attack was underway! U.S. military leaders had known from a coded Japanese message that an attack might come. But they did not know when or where it would occur. -
The final solution
Their plan to annihilate the Jewish people. It is not known when the leaders of Nazi Germany definitively decided to implement the "Final Solution." The genocide, or mass destruction, of the Jews -
Taking over the Bataan Peninsula
After about three months of tough fighting, the Japanese took the Bataan Peninsula in April. Corregidor fell the following month. -
Americans Plan
American forces hidden beyond the horizon, Japanese begin their assault on the island. As the first Japanese planes got into the air, American planes swooped in to attack the Japanese fleet. Many Japanese planes were still on the decks of the aircraft carriers. The strategy was a success. American pilots destroyed 332 Japanese planes, all four aircraft carriers, and one support ship. Yamamoto ordered his crippled fleet to withdraw. By June 7, 1942, the battle was over. -
Battle of Guadalcanal
At dawn on August 7, 1942, several thousand U.S. Marines, with Australian support, landed on Guadalcanal and the neighboring island of Tulagi. The marines had little trouble seizing Guadalcanal airfield. But the battle for control of the island turned into a savage struggle as both sides poured in fresh troops. In February 1943, after six months of fighting on land and at sea, the Battle of Guadalcanal finally ended. After losing more than 24,000 of a force of 36,000 soldiers, the Japanese aband -
D-day
Known as D-Day. At dawn on that day, British, American, French, and Canadian troops fought their way onto a 60-mile stretch of beach in Normandy. -
German Attack
German tanks broke through weak American defenses along a 75-mile front in the Ardennes. The push into Allied lines gave the campaign its name—the Battle of the Bulge. Although caught off guard, the Allies eventually pushed the Germans back. The Germans had little choice but to retreat, since there were no reinforcements available. -
Yalta Conference
At Yalta, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin made important decisions regarding the future progress of the war and the postwar world. -
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Island of Okinawa
U.S. troops moved onto the island of Okinawa, only about 350 miles from southern Japan. The Japanese put up a desperate fight. -
Nazi Surrender
General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich from the German military. President Roosevelt, however, did not live to witness the long-awaited victory. -
First Atomic Bomb
The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a Japanese city of nearly 350,000 people. Between 70,000 and 80,000 people died in the attack. -
Second Atomic Bomb
A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, a city of 270,000. More than 70,000 people were killed immediately. Radiation fallout from the two explosions killed many more. -
End of War
The end of WWII finally came
