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The Invasion of Poland
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign,[g] and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union, which marked the beginning of World War II. -
Great Britain and France Declare War on Nazi Germany
On 3 September 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany—two days after the German invasion of Poland. France also declared war on Germany later the same day. -
The Invasion of Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands & France
On 10 May 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Luxembourg was occupied that same day. The Netherlands surrendered on 15 May, Belgium on the 28th. -
The Battle & Great Escape at Dunkirk
From May 26 to June 4, over 338,000 British and French troops were safely evacuated from Dunkirk. Critical to this process was the British Royal Air Force, which intercepted German bombers above the beach. Together with the civilians who aided the Royal Navy, they saved countless lives. -
The Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain took place between July and October 1940. The Germans began by attacking coastal targets and British shipping operating in the English Channel. They launched their main offensive on 13 August. Attacks moved inland, concentrating on airfields and communications centres. -
Selective Service & Training Act
The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, created the country's first peacetime draft. With Europe already engulfed in World War II and Japan making threatening moves in the Pacific, Roosevelt wanted to strengthen the unprepared U.S. armed -
Lend Lease Assistance Act
Passed on March 11, 1941, this act set up a system that would allow the United States to lend or lease war supplies to any nation deemed "vital to the defense of the United States." -
The Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. At the time, the U.S. was a neutral country in World War II. The air raid on Pearl Harbor, which was launched from aircraft carriers, resulted in the U.S. entering the war on the side of the Allies on the day following the attack. The Japanese military leadership referred to the attack as the Hawaii Operation -
America Enters World War II
America's isolation from war ended on December 7, 1941, when Japan staged a surprise attack on American military installations in the Pacific. The most devastating strike came at Pearl Harbor, the Hawaiian naval base where much of the US Pacific Fleet was moored. -
Germany And Italy Declare War on the United States
On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. -
The Battle of the Coral Sea
Battle of the Coral Sea, (May 4–8, 1942) World War II naval and air engagement in which a U.S. fleet turned back a Japanese invasion force that had been heading for strategic Port Moresby in New Guinea. -
The Battle of Midway Island
By June 1942, PBY Catalinas and B-17s were stationed on Midway, along with 4,000 American personnel. The five-day battle, fought from June 3-7, 1942, encompassed an area the size of the contiguous United States. Japanese and American ships fought at ranges of 50-150 miles apart. -
The Invasion of North Africa
The North African Campaign of the Second World War started June 10th, 1940, when Fascist Italy declared war on Britain and France. It lasted until May 13th, 1943, when the last Axis troops in Africa surrendered in Tunisia, including the defeated Afrika Korps sent by Hitler to prop up his faltering Italian ally. -
The Invasion of Sicily & Italy
Allied invasion of Sicily, (July 9–August 17, 1943), during World War II, the invasion of the Italian island of Sicily by Allied forces. The conquest of Sicily took a little more than a month and it led directly to the fall of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and the surrender of the Italian government to the Allies. -
The D-Day Invasion of France
On June 6, 1944, the Allies launched the long-anticipated invasion of Normandy, France. Soldiers from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and other Allied nations faced Hitler's formidable Atlantic Wall as they landed on the beaches of Normandy. -
Nazi Concentration Camps Discovered
Images of what the Allies found when they liberated the first Nazi death camps towards the end of World War II brought the horror of the Holocaust to world attention. -
The Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge started on December 16, 1944, when German forces launched a surprise attack on Allied forces in the forested Ardennes region in Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. The battle lasted until January 16, 1945, after the Allied counteroffensive forced German troops to withdraw. -
The Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, also known as the Crimean Conference, was held from February 4-11, 1945, in a Russian resort town. Attending the conference were U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. -
V-E (Victory in Europe) Day
8 May 1945 – Victory in Europe Day (VE DAY) – is a day etched in the memory of everyone who witnessed it. After nearly six years of war Germany officially surrendered on 7 May 1945 and the conflict was finally over. -
The Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima
On 6 August, a Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima. Three days later, a Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki. Over the next two to four months, the effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000 to 166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000 to 80,000 people in Nagasaki; roughly half occurred on the first day.