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Germany Invades Poland
Germany invaded Poland, using 'blitzkrieg' tactics to bombard and plow through the Polish army. Germany did this because they wanted more territory and believed that Britain and France would not go to war if Poland was invaded. Although the Polish army was 1 million strong, they made several costly mistakes and Hitler and the Nazis comfortably invaded the nation. Any hopes Poles had of a Soviet response were shattered when the Germans and Soviets signed the Ribbentrop-Molotov Nonagression Pact. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
Britain and France declare war on Germany because German troops failed to withdraw from Britain's ally, Poland, by the announced British deadline. France soon followed suit and when the Germans didn't withdraw by the French deadline, they too declared war. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain broadcast the declaration of war around the nation explaining "this country is at war with Germany." -
Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain
Winston Churchill replaces Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister after Chamberlain's resignation following the loss of a vote of confidence in the House of Commons. Churchill, well known for his military leadership ability was immediately appointed as the new Prime Minister. Within days he had formed an all-party coalition and had become popular around the nation. On the 13th of May, declared he had nothing to offer but "blood, toil, tears and sweat" in the position of Prime Minister. -
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Evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo)
The Dunkirk evacuation was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between the 26th of May and the 4th of June 1940. The evacuation was necessary when a large number of Belgian, British and French troops were surrounded by the German army during the Battle of France. When it was complete, British Prime Minister labelled it a 'miracle of deliverance.' -
Italy enters war on side of Axis powers
After withstanding war for almost a year the dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini declares war on France and Great Britain, effectively joining the Axis. After the decleration Italian troops were officially movilized in France on the 20th of June. In response to this, the Allies swiftly detained all Italians between the ages of 16 and 70 in London. -
France signs armistice with Germany
At 18:36 the Armistice of 22 June 1940 was signed near Compiegne, France, by officials of Nazi Germany and the French Third Republic. It came into effect after midnight on 25 June. The Armistice was signed as a result of Germany's major victory in the Battle of France which ended on the 21st of June. The location, Compiegne, was extremely significant because it was the location for Germany's surrender to end World War 1, so Hitler purposely made this the place to sign for sentimental value. -
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Battle of Britain
The Batlle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England, was a combat of WW2 when the RAF defended the UK against the German Air Force attacks from June 1940. It is considered the first major campaign fought in its entirety by air forces. The attacks consisted of several large-scale night attacks and the purpose of the attacks was to convince Britain to agree to negotiate a peace settlement. The RAF held off the Germans and Germany suffered its first major loss during WW2. -
Tripartite Pact signed
The Tripartite Pact, also known as the Berlin Pact, was an agreement between Germany, Japan and Italy signed in Berlin by Joachim von Ribbentrop, Saburo Kurusu and Galeazzo Ciano. It was a military alliance that was eventually joined by Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Slovakia. The Pact was directed primarily at the United States as its practical effects were limited seeing as though Italy and Germany and Japan were on opposite sides of the world. -
Tripartite Pact signed
The Tripartite Pact, also known as the Berlin Pact, was an agreement between Germany, Japan and Italy signed in Berlin by Joachim von Ribbentrop, Saburo Kurusu and Galeazzo Ciano. It was a military alliance that was eventually joined by Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Slovakia. The Pact was directed primarily at the United States as its practical effects were limited seeing as though Italy and Germany and Japan were on opposite sides of the world. -
Operation Sea Lion
Operation Sea Lion was a code name for a proposed invasion of the UK during the Battle of Britain. After the Battle of France, the Nazis expected the British to seek a peace agreement, and an invasion was seen as a last resort if other options failed, such as the Battle of Britain. For the invasion to work, the Nazis needed both air and naval superiority, but neither of these goals were achieved and 'Sea Lion' was postponed indefinitely on 17 September 1940 -
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Siege of Tobruk
The Siege of Tobruk lasted 241 days in 1941 and involved Axis forces and the British Western Desert Force. The Siege of Tobruk was triggered after the British retreated to the Egyptian border during Operation Sonnenblume, leading to an Axis siege on Tobruk. It began on the 10th of April when the port was attacked by a force under Erwin Rommel. By occupying Tobruk the Allies deprived the Axis of a supply port and the siege diverted Axis troops from the frontier. -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for a Nazi Germany invasion of the Soviet Union, which began on the 22nd of June. Operation Barbarossa was driven by Adolf Hitler's ideology to destroy the Soviet Union, which he outlined in his 1925 book Mein Kampf. Between 4-5 million Axis personnel invaded the Soviet Union, making it the largest invasion force in the history of warfare. The Germans had some success but were pushed back when they reached Moscow and the operation eventually failed. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the US naval base at Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 141. After the attack, the United States entered into WW2. During the attack, four battleships were sunk, three cruisers and three destroyers were either damaged or sank. Overall 188 US aircraft were destroyed, 2403 Americans were killed and 1178 were wounded.The Japanese casualties were far less, only 64 servicemen were killed. -
Britain and US declare war on Japan
On December 8, 1941, the United States Congress declared war on the Empire of Japan as a response to the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was created an hour after the Infamy Speech delivered by Us President Franklin Roosevelt. Japan's allies, Germany and Italy then declared war on the United States, completing the process for the inclusion of the US into WW2. The United Kingdom also declared war on Japan following Japanese attacks on Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong. -
Japan take Singapore
The Battle of Singapore, also known as the Fall of Singapore featured the invasion on British stronghold Singapore by the Empire of Japan. Singapore was the major British military base in Asia and was the keystone of British imperial defence. The battle lasted for 7 days during February and the Japanese had a resounding victory. It resulted in the capture of 80,000 British, Indian and Australian troops as prisoners of war. Winston Churchill labelled the failure as "the worst disaster". -
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Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of WW2. The United States Navy decisively defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy near Midway Atoll. The US inflicted devastating damage on the Japanese fleet that proved irreparable. It has been labelled as "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare." This victory is widely considered a turning point in the Pacific War. -
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First Battle of El Alamein
The First Battle of El Alamein was a battle fought in Egypt between Axis Forces, Germany and Italy, of the Panzer Army Africa led by Erwin Rommel, nicknamed "The Desert Fox" and the Allied forces from Britain, British India, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The British were successful and prevented a second advance by the Axis forces into Egypt. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of WW2 in which the Nazis and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. The battle was marked by fierce close quarters combat and direct attacks on civilians through air raids. It is regarded as one of the largest battles in the history of warfare with around 2 million people wounded, killed or captured. Due to German overconfidence the operation was a complete failure. -
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Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein was a decisive battle of WW2 that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The Allies were made up of mostly UK, Indian, Palestinian, Australian, New Zealand and South African fighters and were victorious, turning the tide in the North African Campaign and ended the Axis threat to Egypt. The victory was the first big success for the Allies against the Axis since Operation Crusader in 1941. -
D-Day Landings
The Normandy landings, often referred to as D-Day, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy during WW2. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history and it began with the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe, contributing to the Allied victory on the Western Front. The landing consisted of the arrival of 24,000 American, British and Canadian troops. Casualties on D-Day are estimated to be around 15,000 across both sides. -
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The Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign of WW2.The offensive was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Belgium and France on the Western Front. It caught the Allied forces completely off guard. During the Battle the American forces bore the brunt of the attack and lost their highest number of casualties from any operation during the war. The Germans also lost significant numbers that were never replenished. Eventaully the Allied forces won. -
Mussolini captured and executed
As World War 2 came to an end in Europe Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini attempted to flee Italy but was captured along the Swiss border with his mistress, Claretta Petacci by local partisans. The following afternoon the two were shot. The bodies of the two were taken to Milian and large angry crowds insulted and physically abused the corps. Mussolini and his mistress were killed just two days before Adolf Hitler comitted suicide. -
Hitler commits suicide
Two days after the death of Mussolini and nearing the end of the war, Adolf Hitler committed suicide by gunshot, ending any Nazi hopes of winning the war. Hitler's wife Eva Braun also committed suicide with him by taking cyanide. After their deaths, their bodies were doused in petrol and set alight in the Reich Chancellery garden outside his bunker in Berlin. -
German forces surrender
On the 7th of May 1945, German leader Karl Donitz authorised the complete and total surrender of all German forces, ending Germany's involvement in WW2. In the early morning on May 7 in Reims, France, German General Alfred Jodl signed the unconditional surrender documents. -
V.E. Day
Victory in Europe Day was the public holiday celebrated on May 8th 1945 or May 7th in Commonwealth countries. The day marks the Allies formal acceptance of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender, in turn ending WW2 in Europe. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
As WW2 drew to a close, the United States delivered a final terrible blow on Japan when they became the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry when they dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945, President Harry S. Truman gave the all clear for American bomber Enola Gay to drop a five-ton bomb over Hiroshima. A blast the equaivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT destroyed the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. -
Soviet Union declares war on Japan
On the 8th of August 1945, the Soviets declared war on Japan and the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945 began. To begin with the Soviets invaded the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. When they successfully overan the Japanese they continued on throughout Asia and rapidly defeated Japan's Kwantung Army, which aided the Japanese surrender and termination of WW2. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
On the 9th of August the United States dropped a second consecutive bomb on Japan, this time on the city of Nagasaki. As a result the Japanese unconditionally surrendered from WW2. The second atomic bomb killed between 60,000 to 80,000 people. Another atomic bomb was ready soon after but it was found to be unnecessary. -
Japanese surrender - End of WW2
On the 2nd of September 1945, the Japanese formally signed to surrender and bring to an end the hostilities of WW2. Imperial Japan had already announced the surrender on August 15 to the Allies but a special signing ceremony was held on September 2, aboard the US Navy battleship USS Missouri. -
United Nations is born
On the 24th of October 1945 the United Nations Charter which was signed on June 26, 1945, became effective and enforceable. The principles of the UN were first formulated in San Francisco by American President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. It was attended by 50 other nations. During the meeting a structure was laid out for a new international organization that would help keep peace, prevent war and maintain human rights.