-
Invasions of Poland by USSR and Germany, beginning World War II.
-
1940 - Germany invades Denmark, Norway, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg. All fall within weeks.
-
British armored forces attack Italian forces in North Africa. This campaign escalates and continues for nearly three years.
-
1940 - Battle of Britain. Germany suffers its first defeat in the skies over England, and abandons invasion plans.
-
1941 - December 7, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacks the US Pacific Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. US enters the war, opening the Pacific Theatre.
-
1942 - Battle of Stalingrad. Germany's entire Sixth Army is lost, and the war begins turning in favor of the Allies.
-
1942 - June 4-7, Battle of Midway. The US Navy sinks four Japanese aircraft carriers in the fight that proves to be the turning point in the Pacific war.
-
1944 - June 6, the Allied Expeditionary Force under Dwight Eisenhower lands on the coast of northern France on what will later be called "D-Day". The "Second Front" that Stalin has been demanding for three years is now open.
-
1945 - April 30, Hitler commits suicide, shortly before the fall of Berlin and surrender of German forces in Europe.
-
1945 - USA develops the atomic bomb, and successfully uses it in August to force the surrender of Japan.
