History Of World War 2 By nikitall101 Sep 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland, starting World War 2 Germany invades Poland, Period: Sep 1, 1939 to Sep 2, 1945 World War 2 Sep 3, 1939 Britain and France declare war on Germany Apr 9, 1940 Germany invades Denmark and Norway May 10, 1940 Germany invades France, Belgium, and the Netherlands May 26, 1940 Evacuation begins of Allied troops from Dunkirk, France Jun 10, 1940 Italy declares war on France and Great Britain Jun 22, 1940 France surrenders to Germany Jul 10, 1940 Battle of Britain begins Sep 16, 1940 The United States begins its first peacetime draft Mar 11, 1941 U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease bill Apr 6, 1941 Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece May 24, 1941 The British ship Hood is sunk by Germany's Bismarck May 27, 1941 The Bismarck is sunk Jun 22, 1941 Germany invades the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) Jul 6, 1941 Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) shoot nearly 3,000 Jews at the Seventh Fort, one of the 19th-century fortifications surrounding Kovno Aug 3, 1941 Bishop Clemens August Graf von Galen of Muenster denounces the “euthanasia” killing program in a public sermon Aug 9, 1941 Atlantic Conference begins Sep 8, 1941 Siege of Leningrad begins Sep 28, 1941 Einsatzgruppen shoot about 34,000 Jews at Babi Yar, outside Kiev Nov 7, 1941 Einsatzgruppen round up 13,000 Jews from the Minsk ghetto and kill them in nearby Tuchinki (Tuchinka) Nov 30, 1941 Einsatzgruppen shoot 10,000 Jews from the Riga ghetto in the Rumbula Forest Dec 6, 1941 Soviet winter counteroffensive Dec 7, 1941 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor and the U.S. declares war the next day Dec 8, 1941 The first killing operations begin at Chelmno in occupied Poland Dec 11, 1941 Germany and Italy declare war on the United States; then the United States declares war on Germany and Italy Jan 16, 1942 Germans begin the mass deportation of more than 65,000 Jews from Lodz to the Chelmno killing center Jan 20, 1942 The Wannsee Conference Feb 19, 1942 Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9066, which allows the internment of Japanese Americans Apr 18, 1942 The Doolittle Raid on Japan Jun 3, 1942 The Battle of Midway begins Jul 1, 1942 First Battle of El Alamein begins Jul 6, 1942 Anne Frank and her family go into hiding Aug 2, 1942 Guadalcanal Campaign begins Aug 21, 1942 Battle of Stalingrad begins Oct 23, 1942 Second Battle of El Alamein begins Nov 8, 1942 The Allies invade North Africa (Operation Torch) Jan 14, 1943 Casablanca Conference begins Feb 2, 1943 The Germans surrender at Stalingrad, Soviet Union Apr 19, 1943 The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins Jul 5, 1943 Battle of Kursk begins Sep 3, 1943 Italy surrenders Nov 28, 1943 Tehran Conference begins Jan 27, 1944 After 900 days, the Siege of Leningrad is finally over Jun 6, 1944 D-Day Jun 19, 1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea Jul 20, 1944 Assassination attempt against Hitler fails Aug 4, 1944 Anne Frank and her family are discovered and arrested Aug 25, 1944 The Allies liberate Paris Oct 23, 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf begins Dec 16, 1944 Battle of the Bulge begins Feb 4, 1945 Yalta Conference begins Feb 13, 1945 Allies begin bombing Dresden Feb 19, 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima begins Apr 1, 1945 Battle of Okinawa Apr 12, 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt dies Apr 16, 1945 Battle of Berlin begins Apr 28, 1945 Mussolini is hanged by Italian partisans Apr 30, 1945 Adolf Hitler commits suicide May 7, 1945 Germany signs an unconditional surrender Jul 17, 1945 Potsdam Conference begins Aug 6, 1945 The United States drops the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan Aug 9, 1945 The United States drops a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan