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Adolf Hitler directly violated the Treaty of Versailles by announcing the creation of a new German air force. A week later he began a military draft, that greatly expanded Germany's army.
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Germany signs a pact with Benito Mussolini of Italy in October. And in November they signed the Anti- Cominern Pact, which promised a common front against communism.
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Hitler's Germany forces invaded Poland, which ultimately began World War II. Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later.
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After waiting a full winter season, which was called the "phony war," Hitler used his innovative blitzkrieg or "lightning war." It used armored columns, called panzer divisions, that were supported by airplanes.
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This assult was through Luxembourg and the Ardennes Forest. Germans first broke through the weak French defense and then raced across northern France.
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France signed it with Germany. German armies than occupied about three-fifths of France.
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German planes bombed British air and naval bases, harbors, communication centers and war industries.
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Germany attacked before the winter weather could settle in. They rapidly advanced, capturing two million Russian soldiers.
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Japanese aircraft attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. This caused the U.S. to declare war on Japan.
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By the spring of 1942, Japan controlled almost all of Southeast Asia and much of the western Pacific.
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U.S defeated the Japanese navy and established naval superiority. US planes also attacked Japanese aircrafts.
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The worst battle of the war, the Soviets launched a counterattack on German troops. The Germans were surrounded and forced to surrender.
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British and American forces invaded French North Africa and forced the German and Italian troops to surrender.
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It was the greatest tank battle of World War II. Hitler used newly developed heavy tanks.
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There were many casualties.
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The Allied forces under the US general Dwight D. Eisenhower, fought against the Germans at Normandy in the history's greatest naval invasion.
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The Allies marched across the Rhine River and advanced into Germany. They moved north and linked with the Soviets.
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Hitler committed suicide two days after Mussolini was shot by Italian partisans, or resistance fighters.
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German commanders surrendered and the war in Europe was over.
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The war in Asia continued, so the US dropped two atomic bombs. One in Hiroshima and the other in Nagasaki. Thousands died directly and thousands more indirectly.
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The atomic bombs caused the Japanese emperor to force the military leaders to surrender unconditionally.
