-
Germany invades Poland
World War II begins as the Germans invade Poland with a three-front Blitzkrieg. They attack the Polish army with an overwhelming force of 1.5 million troops backed by tactical aircraft in the sky and mobile armor on the ground. -
The Battle of Britain begins
The Battle of Britain begins. Germany bombs Britain, and the British defend themselves from the air in what Winston Churchill would call their "finest hour." -
Tripartite Pact, also the Three-Power Pact, Axis Pact
This was a pact signed in Berlin, Germany and established the Axis Powers of World War II. The pact was signed by representatives of Nazi Germany (Adolf Hitler), Fascist Italy (foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano), and Imperial Japan (Japanese ambassador to Germany Saburō Kurusu). -
Lend-Lease Act
The U.S. Congress passes the Lend-Lease Act giving Roosevelt the authority to sell, transfer, or lease war goods to the government of any Allied country, thereby effectively ending American neutrality. -
Operation Barbarossa begins
Germany invades Russia, thereby beginning Operation Barbarossa, the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Over the course of the operation, about four million soldiers of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km (1,800 mi) front, the largest invasion in the history of warfare.The ambitious operation was driven by Adolf Hitler's persistent desire to conquer the Soviet territories as embodied in Generalplan Ost. -
The U.S. and Britain sign the Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter acted as clarification that America was supporting Britain in the war. Both America and Britain wanted to present their unity, regarding their mutual principles and hopes for the post-war world and the policies they agreed to follow once the Nazis had been defeated. A fundamental aim was to focus on the peace that would follow, and not specific American involvement and war strategy, although American involvement appeared increasingly likely. -
Japan attacks the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. There were simultaneous Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong. -
US and Allies declare
The Allies except the USSR declare war on Japan. -
Axis Powers declare war
Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S. -
Arcadia Conference
It brought together the top British and American military leaders in Washington. Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt and their aides had very candid conversations that led to a series of major decisions that shape the war effort in 1942-1943. The decision was made to invade North Africa in 1942, to send American bombers to bases in England, and for the British to strengthen their forces in the Pacific. -
Declaration of the United States
The Declaration by United Nations was a World War II document agreed on 1 January 1942 during the Arcadia Conference by 26 governments: the Allied "Big Four" (the US, the UK, the USSR, and China), nine American allies in Central America and the Caribbean, the four British Dominions, British India, and eight Allied governments-in-exile, for a total of twenty-six nations -
Conclusion of Arcadia Conference
The U.S. and Britain conclude the Arcadia Conference in Washington, DC. Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to establish a Combined Chiefs of Staff and to the make defeating Germany their first priority. Winning the war in Europe would come before winning the war in the Pacific. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea,was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway in the Pacific Theater of Operations was one of the most important naval battles of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, the United States Navy defeated an attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) inflicting irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet. It was Japan's first naval defeat since the Battle of Shimonoseki Straits in 1863. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in the southwestern Soviet Union. Marked by constant close quarters combat and disregard for military and civilian casualties, it is among the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. The heavy losses inflicted on the Wehrmacht make it arguably the most strategically decisive battle of the whole war. -
North African Campaign
When it became evident by mid-1942 that there could be no cross-channel attack in September, American planners acceded to a plan the British had been urging. This was to use the means that would be accumulated in England by the fall of 1942, plus additional forces from the United States, to invade North Africa, where, it was hoped, French forces might lend support to the operation. -
Tehran Conference
The main outcome of the Tehran Conference was the commitment to the opening of a second front against Nazi Germany by the Western Allies. The conference also addressed relations between the Allies and Turkey and Iran, operations in Yugoslavia and against Japan as well as the envisaged post-war settlement. A separate protocol signed at the conference pledged the Big Three's recognition of Iran's independence. -
Casablanca Conference
The conference agenda addressed the specifics of tactical procedure, allocation of resources and the broader issues of diplomatic policy. The debate and negotiations produced what was known as the “Casablanca Declaration,” and what is, perhaps, its most historically provocative statement of purpose, “unconditional surrender.” -
Germans surrender at Stalingrad
On this day, the last of the German forces fighting at Stalingrad surrender, despite Hitler's earlier declaration that "Surrender is out of the question. The troops will defend themselves to the last!" It is a significant turning point in the war against Germany. -
Washington/Trident Conference
The Trident Conference between the U.S. and Britain begins. Roosevelt and Churchill decide to delay the Allied invasion of France and in its place plan the Allied invasion of Italy. In Alaska, U.S. troops land on Attu in the Aleutian islands to retake it from the Japanese . -
Operation Husky
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis Powers (Italy and Nazi Germany). It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign. -
Quebec Conference
The First Quebec Conference (codenamed "QUADRANT") was a highly secret military conference held during World War II between the British, Canadian and United States governments.The allies agreed to begin discussions for the planning of the invasion of France, codenamed Overlord in a secret report by the Combined Chiefs of Staff. There were also discussions to increase the bombing offensive against Germany and continue the buildup of American forces in Britain prior to an invasion of France. -
D-Day
June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. -
Battle of the Phillipines Sea
The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a decisive naval battle of World War II which eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War. The battle was the last of five major "carrier-versus-carrier" engagements between American and Japanese naval forces. -
Plot of Assasination
On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The apparent purpose of the assassination attempt was to seize political control of Germany and its armed forces from the Nazi Party (including the SS) in order to obtain peace with the western Hitler then kills about 200 suspected plotters. U.S. troops make an amphibious assault on the Japanese -held island of Guam in the Marianas. -
Battle of Buldge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard and became the costliest battle in terms of casualties for the United States, whose forces bore the brunt of the attack. It also severely depleted Germany's war-making resources. -
Soviets liberate Auschwitz
Soviet troops liberate the Auschwitz and Birkenau freeing the survivors of the network of concentration camps—and finally revealing to the world the depth of the horrors perpetrated there. -
End of Battle of Buldge
In Western Europe, the Battle of the Bulge ends. Americans suffered some 75,000 casualties and the Germans lost 80,000 to l00,000. The Americans can recover from their military losses; the Germans cannot. Few people besides Hitler believe Germany can still win the war. -
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference between the U.S., Britain, and the USSR begins. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin discuss their plans for Europe after the war, and Stalin agrees to declare war on Japan. In the Pacific, the Allies finally retake Manila in the Philippines after three years of brutal Japanese occupation. -
Death of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide in a Berlin bunker as Soviet troops advance through the city. Nazi Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels is scheduled to become the new German Chancellor but he also kills himself -- after having his wife and six children killed. Karl Donitz is named as Hitler's successor. -
Germany Surrenders
Germany surrenders unconditionally. -
V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day, generally known as V-E Day or VE Day, was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 (7 May in Commonwealth realms) to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. It thus marked the end of World War II in Europe -
VJ Day
Victory over Japan Day (also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, V-J Day, or V-P Day) is a name chosen for the day on which Japan surrendered, in effect ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event. -
End of WWII
Japan signs the formal surrender agreement on board the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay. World War II, the most devastating war in human history, is over.
