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Germany Elect Nazis
<ahref='http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/elect.htm' >Nazi Elections </a> -Germans elect Nazis making them the 2nd largest political party in Germany. -On election day September 14, 1930, the Nazis received 6,371,000 votes, over eighteen percent of the total, and were thus entitled to 107 seats in the German Reichstag. It was a stunning victory for Hitler. Overnight, the Nazi party went from the smallest to the second largest party in Germany. -
Hitler becomes Chancellor
<ahref='http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/named.htm' >Hitler Named Chancellor</a>-Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg. -How did it happen?The Reichstag rejected the program of the incumbent Chancellor, Franz von Papen, for a "government of national concentration." In response, von Papen resigned. Hitler asked President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint him chancellor, but the president refused. Now Hindenburg chose Hitler by recommendation of the Conservatives. itler took over making Nazi Germany a totalitarian dictatorship. -
Reichstag Burns Down
Reichstag Burns Down German Reichstag burns down. Four Communists are tried and executed for setting the fire.
-On his first day as chancellor, Hitler manipulated Hindenburg into dissolving the Reichstag and calling for the new elections he had wanted - to be held on March 5, 1933.
-At first glance, Hitler described the fire as a beacon from heaven. -
First Concentration Camp
Concentration CampsFirst Concentration Camp opened at Oranienburg outside Berlin:
The term concentration camp refers to a camp in which people are detained or confined, usually under harsh conditions and without regard to legal norms of arrest and imprisonment that are acceptable in a constitutional democracy. The first concentration camps in Germany were established soon after Hitler's appointment as chancellor in January 1933.he SS established larger camps in Oranienburg, north of Berlin. -
Enabling Act
<ahref='http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/enabling.htm' >Enabling Act</a>Enabling Act passed by the Reichstag allowing Hitler to assume dictatorial power. It was also to allow the powers of legislation to be taken away from the Reichstag and transferred to Hitler's cabinet for a period of four years. By July 14th Hitler had proclaimed a law stating that the Nazi Party was to be the only political party allowed in Germany. The Nazification of Germany was underway. All non-Nazi organizations were disbanded. -
Boycott
Boycott of Jewish BusinessesNazis Boycott of Jewish owned shops:
-On April 1, 1933, Hitler ordered a boycott of Jewish businesses. Also, many laws were made which robbed the Jews of many rights. On April 7, "The Law of the Restoration of the Civil Service" was introduced. All Jews holding such positions were dismissed. On April 22, Jews were prohibited from serving as patent lawyers and doctors. On April 25, only certain amount of Jews were in schools. On May 6, the Civil Service law was amended. -
Burning of Books
Book Burning
Nazis burn books in Germany:
On May 10, 1933 on the Opernplatz in Berlin, S.A. and Nazi youth groups burned around 20,000 books. Student groups throughout Germany also carried out their own book burnings on that day and in the following weeks. -
Nazi Party becomes the Official Party
Nazi Party•
Nazi party declared official party of Germany; all other parties banned. Nazi ideology stressed the failures of communism, liberalism, and democracy, and supported the "racial purity of the German people" and that of other Northwestern Europeans. Based on ideas of German racial superiority, it promoted territorial expansion, blamed the Jews for ills in Germany. -
Germany leaves from the League of Nations
German Chancellor Adolf Hitler withdraws Germany from the League of Nations. -
Germany and Poland
Germany and Poland sign a ten-year non-aggression pact. This was an international treaty between Nazi Germany and the Second Polish Republic signed on January 26, 1934. In it, both countries pledged to resolve their problems through bilateral negotiations and to forgo armed conflict for a period of ten years. It effectively normalized relations between Poland and Germany, which were previously strained by border disputes arising from the territorial settlement in the Treaty of Versailles. -
Death of Austrian Chancellor
Murder of Austrian ChancellorNazis murder Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss: On July 25, 1934 Austrian Nazis stormed into the office of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in Vienna, and shot him dead.
Adolf Hitler has of course been accused of plotting the assassination. -
"Night of Long Knives"
<ahref='http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/night_of_the_long_knives.htm' >Night of the Long Knives</a>The Night of the Long Knives, in June 1934, saw the wiping out of the SA's leadership and others who had angered Hitler in the recent past in Nazi Germany. Hitler orders the elimination of much of the political and military opposition within Germany, including SA Chief Ernst Rohm in what is known as the "Night of the Long Knives". More than a 1,000 people are assassinated and others are removed from positions of influence within the SA and Army. -
German President Hindenburg dies.
With the death of President Paul von Hindenburg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler assumes the office of Reich President as well. The Wehrmacht oath of allegiance is changed to be directly to Adolf Hitler. Only weeks after the Night of the Long Knives, 87-year-old President Hindenburg died. This meant that Adolf Hitler combined the titles President and Hitler, to call himself 'Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor'. On the same day, 2 August 1934, every soldier in the German army swore an oath to the new dictator. -
Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.
Hitler
Hitler combines the offices of president and chancellor and assumes the title of Führer. Hitler decided that he should succeed Hindenburg, but not as president, instead as Führer (supreme leader) of the German people. Although he was already called Führer by members of the Nazi Party and popularly by the German public, Hitler's actual government title at this time was simply Reich Chancellor of Germany -
Hitler violates the Treaty of Versailles
Hitler and WW2
Adolf Hitler denounces the disarmament clauses of the Versailles Treaty. He announces that Germany will introduce compulsory military service, thereby creating an army of 36 divisions. Germany also announces the existence of the Luftwaffe, which directly infringes upon the Treaty of Versailles, which forbids Germany to have an air force. -
German Jews stripped of rights by Nuremberg Race Laws:
The Nuremberg Race Laws-The Nuremberg Race Laws of 1935 deprived German Jews of their rights of citizenship, giving them the status of "subjects" in Hitler's Reich. The laws also made it forbidden for Jews to marry or have sexual relations with Aryans or to employ young Aryan women as household help.
-"The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor","The Law for the Protection of the Genetic Health" -
German Gestapo
German GestapoThe German Gestapo is placed above the law:
The Gestapo, or secret police, were Adolf Hitler's personal army, and, on a larger scale, terrorist political police force under the administration of the Schutzstaffel or SS. They were often called upon to investigate and deal with "all tendencies dangerous to the State." During the holocaust, they rounded up innumerable Jews, Homosexuals, Communists, and many other "political enemies," and sent them away to be executed. -
Occupation of Rhineland
Rhineland CrisisGerman troops occupy the Rhineland:
On March 7, 1936 German troops receive orders to move into the Rhineland. Strategically planned Hitler causes mass confusion in the French defense department because the French are unable to confer with British government officials. -
Civil War in Spain
July 18 - Civil war erupts in Spain. -
Hitler's War Plans
Hitler War PlansHitler reveals war plans during Hossbach Conference:
On November 5, 1937, Adolf Hitler held a secret conference in the Reich Chancellery during which he revealed his plans for the acquisition of Lebensraum, or living space, for the German people at the expense of other nations in Europe. The meeting has thus come to be known as the Hossbach Conference or Hossbach Memorandum. -
Anchluss
Germany and AustriaGermany announces 'Anschluss' (union) with Austria:
After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the First World War, the majority of the German speaking people in Austria wanted to unite with the new German Republic. This was forbidden by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Demands for the union (Anschluss) of Austria and Germany increased after Adolf Hitler became German Chancellor. Seyss-Inquart invited the German Army to occupy Austria and proclaimed union with Germany -
Appeasement
September 30 - British Prime Minister Chamberlain appeases Hitler at Munich -
German troops occupy the Sudetenland
Czech Crisis German troops occupy the Sudetenland:
The Germans in Czech mostly lived in the region of Sudetenland. In 1938, Hitler ordered his generals to start to make plans for the invasion of Czechoslovakia. He also ordered Henlein and his followers to start to create trouble in the Sudetenland. Hitler planned to use this chaos to put his army into the Sudetenland to restore law and order. -
Kristallnacht
KristallnachtA massive, coordinated attack on Jews throughout the German Reich on the night of November 9, 1938, into the next day, has come to be known as Kristallnacht or The Night of Broken Glass.The attack came after Herschel Grynszpan, a 17 year old Jew living in Paris, shot and killed a member of the German Embassy staff there in retaliation for the poor treatment his father and his family suffered at the hands of the Nazis in Germany. -
Hitler threatens Jews
Hitler's Speech- Hitler threatens Jews during Reichstag speech.
"[...]Today I will once more be a prophet: if the international Jewish financiers in and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be the Bolshevizing of the earth, and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!" Adolf Hitler - January 30, 1939 -
Invasion of Czechoslovakia
<a href='http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-czech.htm' >Invasion of Czech</a Nazis take over Czechoslovakia:
Following the Anschluss of Nazi Germany and Austria in March 1938, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's next ambition was annexation of Czechoslovakia. His pretext was alleged privations suffered by ethnic German populations living in Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland. Their incorporation into Nazi Germany would leave the rest of Czechoslovakia powerless to resist subsequent occupation. -
Pact of Steel
Italy and GermanyNazis sign 'Pact of Steel' with Italy:
Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 angered Mussolini because it was clear that Germany was carving out its own empire and Italy was not. Mussolini made it clear to Hitler that he expected Italy to have the Adriatic Sea as a sphere of influence.In May 1939, the Germans and Italians cemented their friendship with the Pact of Steel. This pact committed both countries to support the other if one of them became involved in a war. -
Nazi and Soivets
Nazi and Soviet Pactoviet Foreign Minister Molotov signs the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact, August 23, 1939. News of the Pact stunned the world and paved the way for the beginning of World War II with Hitler assured the Germans would not have to fight a war on two fronts. Stalin believed best way to deal with Germany was to form an anti-fascist alliance with countries in the west -
Invasion of Poland
Invasion of PolandSeptember 1, 1939 - Nazis invade Poland. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. From East Prussia and Germany in the north and Silesia and Slovakia in the south, German units, with more than 2,000 tanks and over 1,000 planes, broke through Polish defenses along the border and advanced on Warsaw in a massive encirclement attack. After heavy shelling and bombing, Warsaw surrendered to the Germans on September 27, 1939. -
Period: to
World War Two
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War on Germany
Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany. -
Britian and Germany
British Royal Air Force attacks the German Navy. -
Battle of the Atlantic
Battle of the AtlanticCanada declares war on Germany; Battle of the Atlantic begins. The Battle of the Atlantic describes the efforts to defeat attacks by the German navy on Allied shipping between America and Europe during WORLD WAR II. By that time German forces had sunk some 61.2 million tons, of which only a third could be replaced. I -
Division of Poland
PolandSeptember 29, 1939 - Nazis and Soviets divide up Poland.
To neutralize the possibility that the USSR would come to Poland's aid, Germany signed a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union on August 23, 1939. This was done in accordance with the Nazi-Soviet Pact in which the Nazis and Soviets had predetermined how they would divide up Poland. -
Nazi Euthanasia
Nazi In October of 1939 amid the turmoil of the outbreak of war Hitler ordered widespread "mercy killing" of the sick and disabled.Code named "Aktion T 4," the Nazi euthanasia program to eliminate "life unworthy of life" at first focused on newborns and very young children. Midwives and doctors were required to register children up to age three who showed symptoms of mental retardation, physical deformity, or other symptoms included on a questionnaire from the Reich Health Ministry. A decision on wh -
Assassination attempt on Hitler fails.
Fail Attempts Assassination attempt on Hitler fails.
Every year, on November 8, Hitler and the “veteran soldiers” of the National Socialist Party would gather to commemorate the failed putsch of November 9,1923. Hitler would usually begin his speech at 8:30 p.m., and would continue speaking until 10:00. On November 8, 1939, Hitler decided to begin his speech approximately half an hour earlier than usual. He finished at 9:07, and left the site. At 9:20, a bomb exploded and shook the beer hall. Hitler escaped. -
Germans Bomb Sacapa Flow
Germans bomb Scapa Flow naval base near Scotland. The Luftwaffe attacks the British Fleets anchorage at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. This raid causes the death of a British civilian, the first of the war.
The enemy air attack on Scapa. There was no U-boat activity until 20 March, when neutral casualties were reported off the North East coast. Attacks on East Coast shipping continue. -
Nazis invade Denmark and Norway.
Germany InvasionNazis invade Denmark and Norway:
On this day in history, the Germans launch an attack on both Norway and Denmark, becoming the second and third nation invaded and captured by Hitler.
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940 and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by German military forces. -
Nazi's Invasions
Nazis invade France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
In World War II, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, executed on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. In a flanking move that made the French Maginot Line irrelevant, the Germans attacked the low countries. The Netherlands surrendered in four days, after massive German attacks on Rotterdam. -
Holland surrenders to the Nazis.
Holland surrenders to the Nazis. -
Belgium surrenders to the Nazis.
Beligum and GermanyMay 28, 1940 - Belgium surrenders to the Nazis.
On this day in 1940, after 18 days of ceaseless German bombardment, the king of Belgium, having asked for an armistice, is given only unconditional surrender as an option and he took it. German forces had moved into Belgium on May 10, part of Hitler's initial western offensive. Despite some support by British forces, the Belgians were simply outnumbered and outgunned from the beginning. The first surrender of Belgium territory took place only one d -
Germans bomb Paris and Dunkirk evacuation ends.
DunkirkGermans bomb Paris; Dunkirk evacuation ends.
On June 4, 1940, the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk on the Belgian coast ends as German forces capture the beach port. The nine-day evacuation, the largest of its kind in history and an unexpected success, saved 338,000 Allied troops from capture by the Nazis. -
Germans enter Paris.
ParisOn this day in 1940, Parisians awaken to the sound of a German-accented voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8 p.m. that evening-as German troops enter and occupy Paris.German tanks rolled into Paris, 2 million Parisians had already fled, with good reason. In short order, the German Gestapo went to work: arrests, interrogations, and spying were the order of the day, as a gigantic swastika flew beneath the Arc de Triomphe. -
Hitler and Mussolini meet in Munich
June 18, 1940 - Hitler and Mussolini meet in Munich -
Hitler Tours Paris
Hitler tours ParisGermany's invasion of France culminated in France's surrender on June 22, 1940. The terms of the surrender called for all hostilities to cease on June 25. Shortly after this ceremony, Hitler summoned Albert Speer - his favorite architect - to join him at his headquarters in a small village in northern France. Upon arrival, Speer was informed by Hitler that he intended to take a tour of Paris in a few days and wanted the architect to accompany him. Speer remained in the village and joined Hitler -
German U-boats
- German U-boats attack merchant ships in the Atlantic. German U-Boats in the Battle of the Atlantic was the longest battle of the Second World War, beginning from the first day of hostilities and ending on the very last day of the war.
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Battle of Britain begins.
Battle of Britain begins: The Battle of the Atlantic was not about the most powerful navy; neither was it about glorious battles fought between battleships and submarines. But the Battle of the Atlantic was a commerce war waged by German U-Boats against Britain’s merchant marine. For nearly six years, Germany launched over 1,000 U-Boats into combat, in an attempt to isolate and blockade the British Isles, thereby forcing the British out of the war. It was a fight which nearly choked the shipping -
German Bombing on England
German bombing offensive against airfields and factories in England. -
Air Battles over Britian
August 15, 1940 - Air battles and daylight raids over Britain. By the start of what became known as the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe had 2,800 aircraft stationed in France, Belgium, Holland and Norway. This force outnumbered the RAF four to one. However, the British had the advantage of being closer to their airfields. the German airforce began its mass bomber attacks on British radar stations, aircraft factories and fighter airfields. -
Hitler declares a blockade of the British Isles.
Hitler declares a blockade of the British Isles. -
First German air raids on Central London
The Germans bombed London. The next day the RAF retaliated and bombed Berlin. And so began the "indiscriminate" bombing of cities that would continue throughout the war. -
Operation Sea Lion
Operation Sealion Hitler plans Operation Sea Lion (the invasion of Britain).
The projected invasion on Britain included: Army Group A (6 divisions) invading Kent via the areas near Ramsgate, Folkstone and Bexhill. Army Group A (4 divisions) invading Sussex and Hampshire via the area around Brighton and the Isle of Wight. Army Group B (3 divisions) invading Dorset via Lyme Bay. The whole plan relied on Germany having complete control of the English Channel, this meant that Germany had to have control of skies. -
German Blits
BlitzSeptember 7, 1940 - German Blitz against Britain begins.
Blitz, the German word for 'lightning', was applied by the British press to the tempest of heavy and frequent bombing raids carried out over Britain in 1940 and 1941. This concentrated direct bombing of industrial targets and civilian centres began on 7 September 1940, with heavy raids on London. -
German Air Raid
Massive German air raids on London, Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester.Hitler's intention was to break the morale of the British people so that they would pressure Churchill into negotiating. However, the bombing had the opposite effect, bringing the English people together to face a common enemy. -
Tripartite Axis
Tripartite (Axis) Pact signed by Germany, Italy and Japan.The Tripartite Pact, also called the Three-Power Pact, Axis Pact, Three-way Pact or Tripartite Treaty was a pact signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1940, which established the Axis Powers of World War II. The pact was signed by representatives of Germany (Adolf Hitler), Italy (foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano) and Japan (ambassador Saburo Kurusu). -
Germans in Romania
Germans in RomaniaGerman troops enter Romania. On this day in 1940, Hitler occupies Romania as part of his strategy of creating an unbroken Eastern front to menace the Soviet Union. -
Germans Air Raiding in London
Saint Paul's Cathedral stands gloriously in the distance amid the wreckage caused by the German fire-bombing of London. Sunday, December 29, 1940. -
Germany in North Africa
German General Erwin Rommel arrives in Tripoli, North Africa.
Adolf Hitler authorized German troops to enter the region to assist their ally in February 1941. Despite a naval victory over the Italians at the Battle of Cape Matapan (March 27-29, 1941), the British position in the region was weakening. -
'Afrika Korps'
North Africa
First units of German 'Afrika Korps' arrive in North Africa. The German Africa Corp was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II. The force was kept as a distinct formation and became the main German contribution to Panzer Army Africa which evolved into the German-Italian Panzer Army and Army Group Africa. -
Invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia
. On April 6, 1941, Hitler’s forces, in alliance with the Hungarians and the Bulgarians, invaded Yugoslavia and Greece. Hitler intervened in the war in this fashion to secure his southern flank in anticipation of the imminent invasion of the Soviet Union. The invasion of Yugoslavia by German, Hungarian and Bulgarian forces began a week and a half later (April 6), and the Yugoslav army lay down its arms on April 18. Germans invaded Greece and the Greek army could not arrest the onslaught, -
Yugoslavia Surrenders
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia surrenders to the Nazis. During World War II, representatives of Yugoslavia's various regions sign an armistice with Nazi Germany at Belgrade, ending 11 days of futile resistance against the invading German Wehrmacht. More than 300,000 Yugoslav officers and soldiers were taken prisoner. Only 200 Germans died in the conquest of Yugoslavia. On April 17, Yugoslavia surrendered and was divided. -
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Germany Attacks Tobruk
May 1, 1941 - German attack on Tobruk is repulsed.
The Siege of Tobruk was a lengthy confrontation between Axis and Allied forces in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II. -
Heavy German bombing of London
From 1940–1941, Germany used this weapon in its Blitz campaign against the UK. From 1940 onward, the intensity of the British bombing campaign against Germany became less restrictive, increasingly targeting industrial sites and eventually, civilian areas -
Germany attacks Soviet Union
Germany and Soivet Union Germany attacks Soviet Union as Operation Barbarossa begins.
Under the codename Operation "Barbarossa," Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 in the largest German military operation of World War II. -
The Final Solution
Final Solution- Göring instructs Heydrich to prepare for the Final Solution. The Nazis used the term “Final Solution” to refer to 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 was the culmination of a decade of increasingly severe discriminatory measures. -
Yellow Stars
September 1, 1941 - Nazis order Jews to wear yellow stars. The yellow star, inscribed with the word "Jude," has become a symbol of Nazi persecution. On September 1, 1941, issued badges to Jews within Germany as well as occupied and incorporated Poland. This badge was the yellow Star of David with the word "Jude" ("Jew") and worn on the left side of one's chest. -
Auschwitz
First experimental use of gas chambers at Auschwitz. The Auschwitz concentration camp complex was the largest of its kind established by the Nazi regime. It included three main camps, all of which deployed incarcerated prisoners at forced labor -
Kiev
September 19, 1941 - Nazis take Kiev.
The Battle of Kiev was the German name for the operation that resulted in a very large encirclement of Soviet troops in the vicinity of Kiev during World War II. -
Odessa
October 16, 1941 - Germans take Odessa. The Odessa massacre was the extermination of Jews in Odessa and surrounding towns in Transnistria during the autumn of 1941 and the winter of 1942 in a series of massacres and killings during the Holocaust by Romanian forces, under German control, encouragement and instruction. -
Kharkov
Germans take Kharkov. The 1st Battle of Kharkov so named by Wilhelm Keitel was the 1941 tactical Wehrmacht battle for the city of Kharkiv (Ukrainian SSR) during the final phase of Operation Barbarossa by the German 6th Army of the Army Group South on October 20, 1941. The First Battle of Kharkov was the 1941 battle for the city of Kharkov, in Ukraine, during World War II. -
Rostov
Germans take Rostov. Rostov-on-Don lies at the mouth of the Don River where it flows into the Sea of Azov, a part of the Black Sea. It was strategically placed and an important target for the NAZIs as the gateway to the Caucuses and the oil wealth that lay there. Any German advance into the Caucauses must first secure Rostov. -
Moscow
December 5, 1941German attack on Moscow is abandoned. The Battle for Moscow - the Germans code-named it 'Operation Typhoon' - started on October 2nd 1941. The capture of Moscow, Russia's capital, was seen as vital to the success of 'Operation Barbarossa'. Hitler believed that once the heart - Moscow - had been cut out of Russia, the whole nation would collapse. -
German Army
Hitler takes complete control of the German Army. The German Army furthered concepts pioneered during World War I, combining ground (Heer) and Air Force (Luftwaffe) assets into combined arms teams. Coupled with traditional war fighting methods such as encirclements and the "battle of annihilation", the German military managed many lightning quick victories in the first year of World War II, prompting foreign journalists to create a new word for what they witnessed: Blitzkrieg. -
Germany declares war on the Us
December 11, 1941 Hitler declares war on the United States. On December 7, 1941, while German armies were freezing before Moscow, Japan suddenly pushed the United States into the struggle by attacking the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Germany and Italy have announced they are at war with the United States. America immediately responded by declaring war on the two Axis powers. -
German U-Boats
Germans begin a U-boat offensive along east coast of USA. The Atlantic Ocean was a major strategic battle zone and when Germany declared war on the U.S., the East Coast of the United States offered easy pickings for German U-Boats. After a highly successful foray by five Type IX long-range U-boats, the offensive was maximized by the use of short-range Type VII U-boats, with increased fuel stores, replenished from supply U-boats called Milchkühe (milk cows) -
"Final Solution of the Jewish Question."
January 20, 1942 - SS Leader Heydrich holds the Wannsee Conference to coordinate the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." On January 20, 1942, Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler's second in command of the SS organization, convened a conference in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. At the meeting, 15 top Nazi bureaucrats and mem[bers of the SS met to coordinate the "Final Solution" in which the Nazis would attempt to exterminate the 11 million Jews of Europe and the Soviet Union. ](http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/wannsee2.htm) -
Stalingrad
[Stalingrad](=http://www.2worldwar2.com/stalingrad.htm)Massive German air raid on 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 (now Volgograd) in southwestern Russia -
The Execution of British Commandos
October 18, 1942 - Hitler orders the execution of all captured British commandos. The Commando Order was a secret order issued by Adolf Hitler on October 18, 1942 stating that all Allied commandos encountered by German forces in Europe and Africa should be killed immediately, even if in uniform or if they attempted to surrender (prompted by the success of the British Commandos). -
Vichy France
November 11, 1942 - Germans and Italians invade unoccupied Vichy France. On 11 November 1942, the Germans launched Operation Case Anton, occupying southern France, following the landing of the Allies in North Africa (Operation Torch). Although Vichy's "Armistice Army" was disbanded, thus diminishing Vichy's independence, the abolition of the line of demarcation in March 1943 made civil administration easier. -
Period: to
Casablanca conference
January 14-24 - Casablanca conference between Churchill and Roosevelt. During the conference, Roosevelt announces the war can end only with "unconditional German surrender." -
First bombing raid by Americans
January 27, 1943 - First bombing raid by Americans on Germany (at Wilhelmshaven). On this day, 8th Air Force bombers, dispatched from their bases in England, fly the first American bombing raid against the Germans, targeting the Wilhelmshaven port. Of 64 planes participating in the raid, 53 reached their target and managed to shoot down 22 German planes-and lost only three planes in return. -
German's Surrender
February 2, 1943 - Germans surrender at Stalingrad in the first big defeat of Hitler's armies. In hindsight the German surrender at Stalingrad has been hailed as one of, if not the most significant, major turning point of World War II. On November 19, 1942 General Zhukov struck, quickly overran ill equiped Romanian and Italian troops maintaining a defensive line to the north and completely encircled the German Sixth Army of 250,000 soldiers. It was the beginning of the end for the German forces -
Germany Withdraws
March 2, 1943 - Germans begin a withdrawal from Tunisia, Africa. -
Surrender in North Africa
May 13, 1943 - German and Italian troops surrender in North Africa. -
Air Raid on Hamburg
March 18, 1944 - British drop 3000 tons of bombs during an air raid on Hamburg, Germany. The 'Battle of Hamburg' cannot be won in a single night. It is estimated that at least 10,000 tons of bombs will have to be dropped to complete the process of elimination. To achieve the maximum effect of air bombardment, this city should be subjected to sustained attack. -
D-Day
June 6, 1944 - D-Day landings on the northern coast of France.
On June 6, 1944, a date known ever since as D-Day, a mighty armada crossed a narrow strip of sea from England to Normandy, France, and cracked the Nazi grip on western Europe. -
V-1 rocket attack on Britain
June 13, 1944 - First German V-1 rocket attack on Britain. On this day in 1944, Germany launches 10 of its new V1 rockets against Britain from a position near the Channel coast. They prove to be less than devastating. -
German surrender at Aachen
October 21, 1944 - Massive German surrender at Aachen, Germany. -
Period: to
Germany's Withdraws
Ardennes
January 1-17 - Germans withdraw from the Ardennes.. On 7 January 1945, Hitler agreed to withdraw forces from the Ardennes, including the SS panzer divisions, thus ending all offensive operations. -
Death of Adolf Hitler
April 30, 1945 - Adolf Hitler commits suicide. A well known theory states that on 30 April 1945 Adolf Hitler committed suicide by gunshot and cyanide poisoning. On this day in 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler's dreams of a "1,000-year" Reich. -
Suicide and Imprisonment
May 23, 1945 - SS-Reichsführer Himmler commits suicide; German High Command and Provisional Government imprisoned. Himmler: Shortly before the end of the war, as provisional leader of Germany he offered to surrender all of "Germany" to the Allies if he was spared from prosecution as a Nazi leader. Himmler committed suicide with cyanide when he became a captive of the British Army. -
Period: to
Atomic Bomb
August 6, 1945 - First atomic bomb dropped, on Hiroshima, Japan.
August 9, 1945 - Second atomic bomb dropped, on Nagasaki, Japan. -
United Nations
October 24, 1945 - United Nations is born. The United Nations Organisation has been formally inaugurated during a short ceremony at the US State Department in Washington.
