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Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace settlement document signing that Germany was made to do at the end of WW1. The Treaty stated that Germany was to take responsibility for causing the war and they were made to pay hefty reparation fees, which resulted in Germany going through poverty and depression. -
Hitler Invades Poland
Germany invaded Poland, breaking their peace agreement. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. The Germans attacked with more than 2,000 tanks and over 1,000 planes, broke through Polish defences along the border and advanced on Warsaw in a massive encirclement attack. After heavy shelling and bombing, Warsaw surrendered to the Germans on September 27, 1939. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
After Hitler went back on his word to Britain about saying he would be peaceful and not invade Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Both France and Britain gave Germany a deadline to withdraw their troops from Poland by, but Germany refused and so war was imminent. -
Dunkirk Evacuation - 27th May - 9th June 1940
The Dunkirk Evacuation, also known as The Miracle of Dunkirk, was the rescue mission that saved nearly 340,000 allied troops that would have surely perished. The Germans had them surrounded and there would have been no hope if it had not been for the Dunkirk Evacuation mission. -
Battle of Britain - 10th July - 31st October 1940
Hitler was planning on invading Britain and he tried to get his German air force to overwhelm the British RAF. The Battle of Britain was what stopped the German invasion of Britain and it was the largest aerial battle to date and was also the first major campaign fought entirely by air forces. -
Tripartite Pact
Axis powers are formed as Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies with the signing of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. The Pact provided for mutual assistance should any of the signatories suffer an attack by any nation not already involved in the war. This act was aimed directly at "neutral" America--designed to force the United States to think twice before venturing in on the side of the Allies. -
Hitler attacks Russia - Operation Barbarossa
This was the biggest invasion in the history of warfare. Adolf Hitler launched his armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union: 3 great army groups with over 3 million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and 3000 tanks smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory. Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in WWII, for its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a war against a coalition possessing emmensely superior resources. -
Pearl Harbour attack
Early in the morning on Sunday December 7, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise torpedo attack on the US Naval Base Pearl Harbour in Hawaii. Close to 360 Japanese planes attacked about 33 American ships on the orders of Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. America sustained a loss of 170 aircrafts that morning as well as18 ships. 3,700 Americans lost their lives in one day. -
Britain and US declare war on Japan
The UK declared war on Japan nine hours before the US did, due to Japanese attacks on Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong, and also due to Winston Churchill's promise to declare war "within the hour" of a Japanese attack on the US. US President Roosevelt later addressed his nation via radio. FDR signed the declaration at 4:10 p.m. -
Battle of Midway - 4-7th June, 1942
The Battle of Midway was fought in the Pacific in June 1942. It was a battle between the US and Japanese navies. It was a turning point in the Pacific war because US planes destroyed three Japanese aircraft carriers. From that point on, the US had the upper hand in the Pacific. -
Battle of El Alamein
British Empire forces defeated German forces at El Alamein, in Egypt. By November, the Germans were retreating in North Africa and in May 1943, they were forced to surrender. The Battle of El Alamein went down as an Allied victory and proved turning point against German control of any part of the African continent, a position never recovered by the Axis for the duration of the war. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The battle of Stalingrad was a brutal, five-month battle between German and Soviet forces for the important industrial city of Stalingrad that resulted in the deaths of almost 2 million people. The battle involved very destructive air raids by the German Luftwaffe and bloody urban street fighting. On 2nd February 1943, despite direct orders from Hitler forbidding it, Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrendered the German forces to the Red Army. In July 1943, in the battle of Kursk, the biggest ta -
D-Day
Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on 5 beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. -
Mussolini captured and executed - April 1945
In May 1938, Mussolini promised to fight alongside Adolf Hitler in any war against the democracies of the world. His armies, however, poorly led and ill-prepared for war, were defeated quickly by Allied forces. Italian resistance to his dictatorship led to his fall from power and to his death; Mussolini was overthrown in 1943, and in April 1945, Italian insurgents captured, murdered and mutilated his body—a disgraceful end for a man who considered himself to be the savior of the Italian nation. -
Hitler commits suicide
When warned by officers that the Russians were close, Adolf Hitler burrowed away in a refurbished air-raid shelter, consumes a cyanide capsule then shoots himself with a pistol. At his side were Eva Braun, whom he married only two days before their double suicide, and his dog. It is believed that both he and his wife swallowed cyanide capsules (which had been tested for their efficacy on his "beloved" dog and her pups). -
German forces surrender
On May 7, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Reims, France, to take effect the following day, ending the European conflict of World War II. -
V.E. Day
V. E Day or ‘Victory in Europe’ Day marks the formal celebration of the Allies' victory in Europe during World War. VE Day officially announced the end of World War II n Europe. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
The United States of America becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Though the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II, many historians argue that it also ignited the Cold War. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
Only 3 days later, Nagasaki suffered the same fate as Hiroshima on 9th August 1945. The bombing of Nagasaki on August 9th was the last major act of World War II and within days the Japanese had surrendered. -
Japanese surrender
On Aug 28, the occupation of Japan by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers began. The surrender ceremony was held on the 2 September 1945, over two weeks after accepting the Allies terms, Japan formally surrendered. The ceremonies, less than half an hour long, took place on board the battleship USS Missouri, anchored with other US and British ships in Tokyo Bay. Officials from the Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, thereby ending the hostilities.
