Timeline: Germany Top 10 Events During WWII

1 CE

The Holocaust

The genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered around six million Jews across German-occupied Europe, around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population.

2

Invasion of Poland

Initiating World War II in Europe. German forces broke through Polish defenses along the border and quickly advanced on Warsaw, the Polish capital.

3

Battle of Britain

Demonstrated the courage and resilience of the country's military and its people and allowed them to remain free from Nazi occupation

4

Adolf Hitler commits suicide

Died on 4/30/45. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied Forces

5

The Treaty of Versailles

Signed signed on June 28, 1919 at the Palace of Versailles in Paris at the end of World War I. It held Germany responsible for starting the war and imposed harsh penalties in terms of loss of territory, massive reparations payments and demilitarization

6

Invasion of Soviet Union

Hitler & Stalin signed Non Aggression Pact, promising not to attack each other. But Hitler broke the Pact and invaded the Soviet Union

7

Hitler Annexing Austria

German troops march into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation for the Third Reich

8

Battle of the Bulge

Germany's last attempt to push through Allied troops

9

Hitler sending troops to the Rhineland

Adolf Hitler sent over 20,000 troops back into the Rhineland, an area that was supposed to remain a demilitarized zone according to the Treaty of Versailles.

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