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German invades Poland.
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Britain and France declare the war on Germany.
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The new South African government led by Jan Smuts declares war on Germany
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Sixteen days after Nazi Germany had invaded Poland from the west, the Russian Red Army attacks from the east.
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Polish lands are divided between the Soviet Union and Germany.
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Without a formal declaration of war, Russia’s Red Army invade Finland – the Winter War. The Soviet air force bomb the capital Helsinki, whilst 1,000,000 troops pour across the border.
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As a result of its invasion of Finland, Russia is expelled from the League of Nations.
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Rationing begins in the UK because of the extreme shortages.
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After almost 5 months of fighting, the Treaty of Moscow ends the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland.
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Germany invades Denmark and Norway. The war in the west starts and the so called Phoney War ends.
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Germany invades Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg. King George VI appoints Winston Churchill as British Prime Minister
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Churchill gives Bomber Command permission to bomb Berlin.
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Belgium surrenders to the Germans.
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French troops abandon Paris.
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France surrenders and is split into two. The north is governed by the Germans and the south becomes known as Vichy France under the control of Marshal Pétain.
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The Battle of Britain begins. With nearly 3,000 aircraft stationed in France, Belgium, Holland and Norway, the German Luftwaffe outnumber the RAF by four to one.
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The Battle of Britain ends, during which the RAF had lost almost 800 aircraft.
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Mussolini accepts Hitler’s offer of a German armoured division to support his Italian forces in North Africa.
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German and British forces clash for the first time in the Western Desert.
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Germany invades both Yugoslavia and Greece – Operation Marita.
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The German invasion of Russia – Operation Barbarossa begins. More than 4.5 million troops
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The final phase of the German attack on Russia starts.
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Italian forces surrender at Gondar and so ends Mussolini’s East African venture.
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Britain and America declare war on Japan.
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Germany declares war on America.
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Japanese forces start to attack the Philippines.
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Battle of Java Sea – a failed attempt by the Allies to stop the Japanese attacking Java.
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US forces defeat the Japanese in their attempt to capture Midway Island.
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The Battle of Stalingrad began. The German Army reaches the banks of the River Volga in Stalingrad.
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British forces attack the German army at El Alamein in North Africa.
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Cut off and surrounded by an entire Soviet Army Group, Friedrich Paulus, commander of the German VI Army at Stalingrad, refuses a generous Russian offer to surrender his forces. Hitler orders his general to hold position “to the last man standing.”
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Two Russian armies attack the Germans at Kharkov in the Ukraine.
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The Germans evacuate Tripoli in North Africa.
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General Paulus surrenders the southern group of the German VI Army at Stalingrad. Hitler is furious that his commander chose surrender over suicide.
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The Stalingrad Battle finishes.
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The Germans, led by Manstein, launch a counter-offensive against the Russians.
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The German army in North Africa surrender to the British and Americans.
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Mussolini is arrested.
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Italy signals the potential for a peace settlement with the Allies.
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German troops are forced out of Kiev.
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Russian troops recapture Novgorod.
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At the start of a new major offensive the Allies drop 1,250 tons of bombs on Cassino in Italy.
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The Crimea is cleared of German resistance and Sevastopol is retaken.
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D-Day. Allied forces land in Normandy.
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Paris is liberated by the Allies.
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Russian troops reach the border of Bulgaria.
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The start of the Battle of the Bulge.
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The Battle of the Bulge ends – from now on the German Army is on retreat into Germany itself.
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The bombing raids on the German city of Dresden start.
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The last bomb of the war falls on Britain.
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After 12 years as US president, Franklin D Roosevelt dies from a massive stroke.
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Battle of Berlin.
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Hitler decides to stay in Berlin ‘until the end’.
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With Soviet troops less than 500 metres from his Führerbunker, Adolf Hitler commits suicide. He shoots himself with his own pistol.
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Berlin surrenders to the Russian Army.
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The German VII Army surrenders.
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Victory in Europe (VE) Day.
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German forces in Czechoslovakia surrender.
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The first atomic bomb is dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by a US B29 Superfortress bomber, called the ‘Enola Gay’. It is estimated that 200,000 people die as a result.
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A second atomic bomb ‘Fat Man’ is dropped on the Japanese military port of Nagasaki by US Superfortress ‘Bockscar’; a further 200,000 deaths result.
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Japan surrenders. Victory in Japan (VJ) Day is celebrated.
