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Germany invades Poland
To regain lost territory and to finally rule Poland, Adolf Hitler had his German forces bombard Poland on land as well as the air. This commenced the beginning of the tragic World War II. The invasion of Poland began at 4:45am on September 1st, 1939. The Germans opened fire at Danzig. The invasion was carried out by 62 divisions and 1,300 aircraft. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
Two days before, German forces bombarded and attacked Poland. Britain and France vowed to defend Poland. Keeping their promise of defending Poland, Britain and France sent ultimatums to Adolf Hitler demanding him and his forces withdrawal from Poland. Hitler refused to respond.
Prime Minister Chamberlain, British Prime Minister, went to the airwaves on September 3rd, 1939 and announced to the British people that war existed between their home country and Germany. -
Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain
On this day, Churchill became the Britsih Prime Minister.
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was a British politician.
He was the First Lord of the Admiralty. He was called to take over Neville Chamberlain's place as the British Prime Minister, because he lost a confidence vote in the House of Commons.
Neville Chamberlain lost the support of countless members of his Conservative Party. He lost support after the British forces fell short to prevent the occupation of Norway from Germany. -
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Evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo)
By Winston Churchill, this evacuation was called a "miracle".
The Evacuation of Dunkirk was associated with the troops trapped on Dunkirk. It was the evacuation of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) and more allied troops from the French seaport of Dunkirk. Many naval vessels and many civilian boats were used for the evacuation that commenced on May 26th, 1940. The evacuation ended 9 days later, on June 4th, 1940. Around 198,000 British and 140,000 French and Belgian troops were saved. -
Italy enters war on side of Axis powers
During WWII, there were two major alliances called the Axis and Allies. The countries apart of the Axis were Germany, Italy and Japan. The Allied Powers were Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union.
On June 10th, 1940, and after, Italy fought aside the allies on the Axis side throughout World War II.
The typical purpose of the Allied Powers was to defeat the Axis Powers. -
France signs armistice with Germany
Only six weeks after Nazis began their invasion of Western Europe, the French Gorvernment signed an armistice with Nazi Germany on June 22nd, 1940.
An armistice is an agreement made by opposing sides in war to stop fighting for some time.
The two-thirds of northern France was under German occupation, and southern France would be left alone, but governed by the Vichy Government.
Northern France was under German occupation for four years, and Southern France was controlled by the Vichy Goverment. -
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Battle of Britain
The Royal Air Force (RAF) fought a lengthened battle defending Britain against German Luftwaffe (a term for an air force).
The Battle of Britain commenced on the 10th of July, 1940 and ended on October 31st, 1940. Germany began the battle by attacking coastal conveys trying to draw the RAF into combat.
This battle was the first major campaign fought wholly by air forces, and is also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing to this day. It marked the first defeat of Hitler's forces. -
Operation Sea Lion
After Germany defeated France in spring of 1940, Adolf Hitler then believed that Britain could be invaded if they didn't ask for peace.
Hitler offered Britain peace settlement, but Britain rejected his offer. He then wanted an invasion on Britain to prevent the British army recovery after they defeated France.
This was planned to go ahead by August 10th, 1940.
Operation Sea Lion never happened because there was cancellation and diversion of German and Italian forces for Operation Barbarossa. -
Tripartite Pact signed
On September 27th 1940 in Berlin, the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan), became allies with signing the Tripartite Pact. Those who signed the Tripartite Pact, supplied assistance if any of the countries were under attack from any country not yet involved in the war.
The pact was signed with an intention to force the U.S to remain out of the war that was going on. -
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Siege of Tobruk
The Siege of Tobruk started on April 10th, 1940, and ended on November 27th, 1940, lasting over 240 days. This siege happened in Tobruk, Libya. The countries that fought in the battle were Australia, The United Kingdom, Poland, Czechoslovakia, British India (these 5 countries were the Allies), Italy and Germany (these two were the Axis powers).
There was around 14,000 Australian troops, and 12,000 British and Indian troops during the siege in Tobruk.
Being the longest siege, saving North Africa -
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa got its name from the invasion of Russian by Nazi Germany on June 22nd, 1941, and was said to have appalling consequences for Russians.
Barbarossa was the largest military attack that occured during WWII.
On June 22nd, 1941, three army groups attacked Russia.
Germany assembled in total 117 army divisions to attack the excluding Romanian and Hungarian units.
Russia assembled in total 132 army divisions to defend their land, including 34 armoured divisions. -
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii, before 8am on December 7th, 1941.
The attack lasted for two hours and had an outcome of devastatign results. The Japanese had managed to destroy close to 20 American naval vessels, and including 8 battleships and over 300 airplanes.
During the bombing, over 2000 American soldiers and sailers died and an addition of 1000 wounded. -
Britain and U.S declare war on Japan
President Franklin Roosevelt asked Congress declaration of war against Japan in what is said to be his most memorable speech in his career.
Only the day before, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Roosevelt had a 10 minute speech about the attack on Pearl Harbor from the Japanese. Within 1 hour, he had declaration of war. Roosevelt signed the declaration at 4:10pm, he wore a black armband to symbolise mourning of those who died in the Pearl Harbor attack. -
Japan take Singapore
Since the 19th century, Singapore, an island at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula, had been apart of the British colony. When the Japanese troops occupied French Indochina, the Japanese telegraphed to Singapore to change from the British to the Japanese empire.
24,000 Japanese troops were transferred from Indochina to the Malay Peninsula, Japanese fighter pilots attacked Singapore, which killed 61 civilians.
It is considered one of the greatest military defeats of the British Empire. -
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Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was one of the most significant U.S victories against Japan during WWII. Throught the four day sea and air battle, the U.S Pacific Fleet outnumbered their opponent, succeeding to destroy four Japanese aircraft carriers and losing one of its own in the process. It completely destroyed Japan's naval strength when the four aircraft carriers were destroyed. -
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First Battle of El Alamein
The First Battle of El Alamein commenced on July 1st, 1942. This battle happened in Egypt around a town called El Alamein. The Allies (British, Australian, New Zealand, French, Indian and South African troops) and the Axis Powers (Italian and German troops) were involved in the battle.
It was a battle of the Western Desert Campaign. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad commenced on July 17th, 1942, and ended on February 2nd, 1943. It was a successful Soviet defence of the city of Stalingrad in the Soviet Union during WWII. The Soviet's victory was a tremendous humiliation for Adolf Hitler which had elevated the importance on the battle in Germany's opinion.
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle which involved Nazi Germany and its allies went up against the Soviet Union for control of the city called Stalingrad. -
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Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein commenced on October 23rd, 1942, and ended on November 4th, 1942. This battle was a turning point in the North African campaign.
This battle all happened around an Egyptian town called El Alamein.
Allies' (British, Australian, South African, French and Indian troops) and Axis' (German and Italian troops) were involved in this battle.
Allies had General Bernard Montgomery's 8th Army, which had 30th Corps, 13th Corps and 10th Corps. Axis had Field Marshal Erwin -
D-Day Landings
Just after midnight on June 6th, 1944, an Allied invasion upon Adolf Hitler's 'Fortress Europe' (a military propaganda term) arose.
Around 156,000 American, Canadian and British forces landed on five beaches across approximately a 80 kilometre stretch on the coast of France's Normandy region.
The D-Day Invasion was a very vital battle for the Allied forces. -
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Battle of the Bulge
Adolf Hitler convinced himself to believe that the alliance between France, Britain and America wasn't strong and if he attacked and defeated them, it would break up their alliance. A huge attack was ordered.
At the end of the battle that lasted from December 16th, 1944, through to January 25th, 1945, approximately 30,000 soldiers and 44,000 infantry forces were killed or captured from the German army, this outcome severely affected the army. They also lost an important amount of weapons. -
Mussolini captured and executed
On April 28th, 1945, Benito Mussolini (Italian fascist dictator) and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed as they were trying to flee Italy to the Swiss border.
Mussolini, his mistress and a few others fled but were stopped by Italian partisans on April 26th, 1945. On April 28th, 1945, Mussolini and his mistress were ordered against a wall and were shot at.
During July 1943, the Italian King had said that at the time, he was the most hated man in Italy. -
Hitler commits suicide
On April 30th, 1945, two days after Benito Mussolini was executed, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker under his headquarters in Berlin.
Hitler committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head.
Hitler had dreams of a "1000 year" Reich, but soon after Hitler committed suicide, German forces surrenedered to the Allied powers, then ending Hitler's dream.
Hitler only commited suicide after defeat of Germany was coming. -
German forces surrender
On May 7th, 1945, German forces signed an outright surrender at the Allied headquarters in Reims, France. This brought the end of six years of war Europe.
The German forces surrendered after Adolf Hitler commited suicide the month before on the 27th. -
V.E. Day
On May 8th. 1945, both the United States and Great Britain celebrated Victory in Europe Day (V.E. Day). Cities in the United States and Great Britain, also formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out banners and flags, celebrated in the defeat of the Nazi war.
This day was the day when German troops throguhout Europe to finally lay down their arms. Germans surrendered to the Soviet antagonists in Prague.
Surrender documents signed by Germans were signed in Berlin and eastern Germany. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
On August 6th, 1945, an American bomber, Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The blast which was equivalent to the power of 15,000 tons of TNT, killed 80,000 people instantly.
The United States became the very first and only country to use atomic weaponry during WWII. -
Soviet Union declares war on Japan
On August 8th, 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, unleashing over a million Soviet soldiers into Japanese occupied Manchuria in northeastern China.
The Soviet Foreign Minster Molotov told the Japanese Ambassador Sato that the Soviet Union declared war on the Japanese Empire, this was two hours before Manchuria got invaded.
The invasion formed a haven for the Chinese communist forces as they had been fighting the Japanese and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
On August 8th, 1945, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. This was also the second atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Japan. This resulted in Japan to fully surrender. -
Japanese surrender - End of WWII
On September 2nd, 1945, Japan ultimately surrenders to the Allies which brought the end of WWII.
In early August, 1945, the war reached a high intensity point when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were hit with atomic bombs. The Allies stated for Japan to surrender in the Potsdam Declaration (or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surender), and on August 15th, 1945, Japanese Emperor Hirohito accepted the terms. Japan formally surrendered on September 2nd, 1945. -
United Nations is born
On October 24th, 1945, 50 representatives of their countries came to San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organisations to create the United Nations Charter. This Charter was signed on June 26th, 1945, by the 50 representatives. The United Nations was formed to be an intergovernmental organisations to replace the unproductive League of Nations. The Charter is a foundational treaty of the UN. The United Nations finally came into existence on October 24th, 1945.