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Japan Invades Manchuria
The Imperial Japanese Empire invades Manchuria, an area of Eastern China, marking the first major conflict leading up to the Second World War. -
Signing of the Munich Agreement
Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and France sign the Munich Agreement that forces the Czech Republic to cede the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. -
German Invasion of Poland
Germany invades Poland, signaling the start of WWII -
British and French declaration of war on Germany
Honoring their guarantee of Poland's borders, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany -
Soviet Invasion of Poland
As Germany attacks from the west, the Soviet Union invades Poland from the east. -
Hitler's Invasion of France
Hitler makes his advance on Paris, using Blitzkrieg military strategies, a method using fast and mobile armored and mechanized troops to cover immense ground in lightning-fast time, hence the name "lightning war" -
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Miracle at Dunkirk
The Miracle at Dunkirk was an operation consisting of the evacuation of over 340,000 allied troops surrounded at the small French port town of Dunkirk. -
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Battle of Britain
The first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces, the Battle of Britain consisted of air dogfights, and bombing campaigns on British soil. -
Signing of the Tripartite Pact
The treaty between Germany, Japan, and Italy which formed the Axis Powers. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler invades the Soviet Union in an attempt to annex Russia into Hitler's growing Reich. -
Japanese Bombing of Pearl Harbour
The Japanese, in an attempt to cripple the United State's Pacific fleet, launch a surprise attack on the island's naval base. Bringing the United States into the war -
America enters the war
Shortly after Pearl Harbor, the United States declares war on the Axis Powers -
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle that took place in the Pacific Theatre of WWII, where U.S naval forces defeated an attacking Japanese fleet, resulting in devastating losses for the Japanese -
Dieppe Raid
The Raid on Dieppe was an Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in Northern France. It was a complete disaster resulting in over half the Allied invasion force being killed, wounded, or captured. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of WWII where Germany and the Soviet Union fought over control of the town, resulting in over 2.2 million casualties. Making it the bloodiest battle in history -
D-Day
American, British, and Canadian troops land on the beaches of Normandy, opening up a second front and signaling the beginning of the end of the Second World War -
Battle of the Bulge
As a last-ditch attempt, German forces launch one last counteroffensive in the west in an attempt to reconquer Belgium and split the invading Allied army in two. By January, the Germans are in retreat. -
Allied Troops Conquer Okinawa
The last main island before the Japanese mainland, Okinawa acts as an airbase in order to start bombing campaigns on Japanese Soil -
Hitler Commits Suicide
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German Surrender
The unconditional surrender of German troops to American leadership, marking the end of war in Europe -
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United States Drops Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marks to this day the only time nuclear weapons have ever been utilized during war. -
Japanese Surrender
The Japanese Surrender formally marks the end of the Second World War and six years of bloodshed.