Major Events of WWII By lionheart May 19, 1939 Poland and France agree to provide each other with military assistance in the event that either is attacked May 19, 1939 Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop non aggression pact Aug 25, 1939 Great Britain and Poland form an alliance Sep 1, 1939 German forces invade Poland Sep 3, 1939 France and Great Britain declare war on Germany, WWII begins Period: Sep 3, 1939 to Aug 15, 1945 World War II Sep 28, 1939 One day after Poland surrenders to Germany, The Soviet Union and Germany split Poland between them Mar 12, 1940 Finland falls to the Soviet Army Apr 9, 1940 Denmark falls to German forces May 15, 1940 Holland surrenders to Germany May 28, 1940 Belgium falls to German forces Jun 4, 1940 The ten-day evacuation of over 338,000 Allied troops from France Jun 10, 1940 Italy joins WWII by declaring war on Great Britain and France Jun 10, 1940 Norway falls to German forces Jun 22, 1940 France signs an armistace with Germany, nearly all of France is German-occupied and conquered Period: Jul 10, 1940 to Oct 12, 1940 The Battle of Britain Sep 12, 1940 Italian forces invade Egypt Sep 27, 1940 Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact and become the Axis Powers Apr 17, 1941 Yugoslavia falls to German forces May 27, 1941 British naval forces sink one of Germany's largest battleships, the Bismarck Jun 22, 1941 Germany breaks its non-agression pact with the Soviet Union and invades its land Period: Sep 15, 1941 to Jan 27, 1944 The Axis lay siege on the Soviet city of Leningrad Dec 7, 1941 Japanese attack Pearl Harbor Dec 8, 1941 America and Great Britain declare war on Japan Dec 11, 1941 Germany declares war on America Apr 10, 1942 The six-day Bataan Death March of over 75,000 American and Filipino troops directed by the Japanese begins Jun 6, 1942 Japanese naval forces retreat at the Battle of Midway Period: Aug 19, 1942 to Feb 2, 1943 The Battle of Stalingrad Nov 4, 1942 The German Afrika Korps are defeated after the twelve day battle at El Alemein Feb 8, 1943 American forces capture the Japanese-controlled Island of Guadalcanal Apr 19, 1943 The ghetto in Wasaw, Poland is attacked by German troops May 12, 1943 The German Afrika Korps surrenders to the Allies Jul 10, 1943 American and British troops land on Italian Sicily Jul 25, 1943 Benito Mussolini is overthrown Aug 17, 1943 Allied forces take Sicily Feb 20, 1944 Allied bombing campaign of Germany begins Jun 6, 1944 D-Day -Operation Overlord- French liberation begins Aug 10, 1944 American forces recapture Guam, an American island, from Japan Aug 25, 1944 Allied forces liberate Paris, France Dec 26, 1944 The last German offensive at the Battle of Bastogne ends after 10 days Mar 16, 1945 After almost a month of vicious fighting, Americans take the Island of Iwo Jima Apr 1, 1945 American forces invade Okinawa, a main Japanese Island Period: Apr 1, 1945 to Jun 22, 1945 The Battle of Okinawa Apr 30, 1945 Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva commit suicide May 2, 1945 The Red Army takes the German capital of Berlin May 7, 1945 Germany surrenders to the Allies May 8, 1945 V-E Day, the war in Europe officially ends Jun 22, 1945 American forces take Okinawa Aug 6, 1945 The American bomber "The Enola Gay" drops "Little Boy", an atomic bomb, on Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb eventuallu kills more than 138, 661 civilians. Aug 9, 1945 An American bomber drops a second atomic bomb "Fat Man" on Nagasaki, Japan Aug 15, 1945 Japan surrenders- Victory in Japan (V-J) Day Sep 2, 1945 Japan formally surrenders, WWII ends
