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Germany invades Poland
On september 1st 1939 Hitler breaks the treaty of Versailles by marching his german army into poland. Specifically Poland, eastern Germany and the free city of Danzig. Thus subsequently leading to the beginning of WWII. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
In response to Hitlers invasion of Poland, britain initially responded by the dropping of anti-nazi progoganda leaflets-13 tonnes of them all over Germany. -
Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain
Following the resignation of his predecessor Nevielle Chamberlin, Churchill is called upon to replace him. Known for his leadership abilities he was easily suited for the job. When standing alone against Germany. Churchill promised that his country and the world that the british would never surrender. -
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Evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo)
Evacuation of Dunkirk or more commonly known as 'Operation Dynamo' was the evacuation of allied soliders from the beaches of Dunkirk, France, May 27th to the 4th of June 1940. This was due to the fact that german troops had cut off British, Belgain and French soliders causing them to flee during the battle of France. -
Italy enters war on Axis powers
As a fascist himself, mussolini and hitler had common ground together. The pair had similar plans being that their empire to extend all over eastern Europe. The partneship between the two came after the defeat of france became apparent . In june of 1940 Italy then joined the war sideing with the axis powers. Furthermore, they both shared a deep hatred towards communists and a fear that the soviet union would spread its contagion. -
France signs armistice with Germany
At around 18:36 local time the armistice was signed between germany and france in the region of Compiegne in France by military officials of the Nazi party and junior representitives from the French Third Republic. The signing of the armistice essentialy allowed german occupation zones in northen and western France that surrounded all English channel and atlantic ocean ports. -
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Battle of Britain
In order for hitler to occupy britain he must firstly gain air superiority. This subsequently lead to the battle of Britain. The battle comprised of the Lufftwaffe (Nazi) and the Royal air force (RAF). The Lufftwaffe lauched a large scake attack on britain. However, the RAF were resiliant and held up in the skies. The odd thing about this battle was that all fighting occured over the skies above britain. This indicated to hitler that britain will never give up. By october 1940, the RAF had won -
Tripartie Pact signed
The pact which was signed in berlin comprised of three nations. Germany, Japan and Italy. The pact enstilled mutual assistance between the nations should any of them suffer from an attack by any nation not alredy in the war. Moreover, the pact was directed at the so called 'nuetral' america in an effort for them to think twice before venturing in on the side of the allies. -
Operation Sea Lion
'Operation Sea Lion' the name give given by hitler was for the planned Invasion of Great Britain in 1940. The plan consisted of four conditions, elimanation of the RAF, clearing of English channel mines and laying german mines, the emplacing of artiliries along the english channel, preventing the royal navy interfeering wih landings. If all these conditions were met, the fall of Great Britain would be likely. -
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Seige of Tobruk
Between april and august 1941 around 14,000 Australian soliders were besieged in Tobruk by a german-italian army commanded by General Erwin Rommell. The seige took place in eastern Libya. Tobruk was a small libyan town with a sheltered deep water harbor. Thus giving a key naval base. -
Operation Barbossa
'Operation Barbossa' was a code name for hitlers launched attack on the Soviet Union. In barbossas opening month the germans had dug deep into the soviet union. Germany had enclosed large soviet forces at Minsk and Smolensk. Though the cold harsh soviet winter took the nazis by suprise draining thme by the time they reached Moscow. And thus a soviet counter attack was launched pushing the germans to where they started. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
On the 7th of december 1941 hundreds of japanese planes attacked the american naval pearl harbor which was situated in hawaii. 8 battleships, 300 planes were destroyed and nearly 2000 soliders were left dead. The following day FDR declared war on Japan -
Britain and US declare war on Japan
On december 8th 1941 FDR request and recieves a declaration of war against japan following the pear harbour attacks. Within an hour the president had his declaration of war, with only one dissenting vote, from a pacifist in the house. FDR signed the declarartion at 4:10pm. -
Japan take Singapore
On febuary 15th 1942 singapore a strategic british stronghold fell to the hands of the japanese. On feb 8 5,000 japanese soliders landed in singapore. The british were outnumbered. This subsequently le to the fall of singapore. Poor communication between military and civilians only enhanced the deterioation of the british defence. This therefor allowed the japanes to expand their empire in south east asia. -
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Battle of Midway
After the Pearl harbor attacks the US defeated the japanese in what could be called the most decisive battles WWII. The battle covered an extensive area over the north pacific ocean. The japanese's ultimate aim for this battle was to sink the american aircraft carrier that had missed the japanese bombardment in pearl harbour. After cracking a japanese code the US positioned themselves in a strategic position. The victory of the battle led the US into an offensive position. -
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First Battle of El Alamein
Auchinlek decided to retreat his men 100 miles east to El Alamein follwing axis advancment. El alamein was a small railway town on the egyptian coast. Auchinlek chose the location due to the qattora depression to the south. Having failed to defeat Rommell, Auchinlek was relieved in August and replaced as commander in-chief. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
The battle of Stalingrad (July 17 1942- Febuary 2 1943) was the succesful soviet defense of the city Stalingrad. It is considered by russians to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. Their aim was to stop the oncoming german advancement into tge soviet union and marked the key turning point of the war. However, the battle was one of the bloodiest in history with over 2 million people dead. -
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Second Battle of El Alamein
The second battle of El Alamein was Rommells second attempt to take the strategic towns position. Though a mix of australian, british and indian soliders withstood the enslaught of rommells army. Thus led to rommell having to retreat to tunisia. -
D-Day landings
The battle of Normandy which lasted from june 6 1944 to august 1944 resulted in the liberation of western europe from nazi occupation. The normandy landings were to some the begining of the end. On june 6th anxious british, american and canadian soliders fled onto the beach of omaha, utah ect not knowing what awaited them. A total of 156,000 troops collected along the 50 miles beach. By late august all of northern france was liberated. -
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Battle of the Bulge
In december 1944, adolf hitler attemped to split the allied armies in the north west of europe. As germans drove deeper into the ardennes in an effort to secure vital bridgeheads, the allied line took an apperance of a large bulge, this gives the rise to the battles name. American units fought desperate battles to stop the german advance at st-vith, elsvorn ridge. The outcome resulted in a heavy defeat for the germans pushing hitlers army far back. -
Mussolini captured and executed
Mussolini and his wife were captured at the swiss border as guards were able to foresee their plans. In an attempt to pass the guards he disquised himself in a lufftwaffe coat and helmet in the hope of sneeking into austria. However, he was spotted by partisians (communists) and shot. Their bodies were transported to milan for them to be on public display. -
Hitler commits suicide
With the end of WWII immenent and soviet soliders nearing his underground bunker nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, shot himself in the head. This is most likely after swallowing a cyanide tablet. Furthermore, his new wife Eva Braun also killed herself by swallowing a cyanide tablet as well as Hitler. Hitler and his wife ended their lives at 3:30 pm on April 30th, 1945. With the death of their leader soliders would feel inclined to surrender. -
German forces surrender
Before the his suicide, Hitler appointed admiral Karl Danitz to be his successor, giving him orders to continue fighting, though hitler was unaware that german soliders had just begun to surrender. On the day before his death, german troops in Holland, Denmark and northwest Germany surrendered to British field Marshall Montgomery. On may 7th the germans signed the surrender agreement in the French city of Reims. The cessation of fighting took place on 11:01pm may 8th. -
V.E. Day
V.E. day or more commonly known as victory in Europe day was a day celebrated by Great Britain, the US and other European countires following the defeat of the Nazi PARTY. On this day 13,000 British POW's were released back to the UK. Moreover, the Russians took two millions german prisoners. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
On august 6th 1945, an American B-25 bomber dropped the worlds first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Immediately, after impact almost 90% of the city was wiped out instantly with 80,000 people dead. Following the initial impact radiation exposure later killed thousands more people. Additionally the bomb dropped over Hiroshima was named by the US "Little boy". -
Soviet Union declares war on Japan
On 8th August, 1945 the soviet union officialy declares war on japan by sending over one million troops pouring into Manchuria-china (Though was controlled by Japan) 700,000 keen Japanese troops were sent to defend this territory. After a heavy defeat, Japanese Emperor Hirohito plead to his war council to surrender. In doing so the members began to waver. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
At around 11:01 local time on 9 august,1945 the US deployed their B-25 again though this time it was over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The bomb (which was dropped by parachute) was believd to have exploded 500 meters above the ground thus annihilating the whole city which was situated on the japanese island of Kyushu. This extent of damge the bomb created is yet unkown though it is understood over 700,000 lives were lost. -
Japanese surrender-End of WWII
The Japanese surrendered on September 2nd 1945 to General MacArthur on board an American battleship, Missouri, in Tokyo bay at 9am on 2nd of September 1945 marking the official end of WWII. Moreover, a second Japanese surrender occurred in Singapore, which was accepted by Lord Louis Mountbatten. Thus ending the Japanese occupation of south east Asia. -
United Nations is born
The UN was born as a means of better orbirating international conflict and negotiating peace that was provided for by the old league nations. The original UN declaration was signed in January 1942 as a formal act of opposition to Germany, Italy and Japan. The UN is still running and operating to this day.