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France and great Britain guarantee the integrity of the borders of the Polish state
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1.5 million German soldier invade Poland, simultaneously bombing Polish airfields
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The Battle of Atlantic took place, becoming the longest continuous military campaign during WWII. In the middle of the battle was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's counter-blockade
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Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany
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1.1 million Jewish, Polish, Romani, and Soviet prisoners of war were killed
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Nazis invaded France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister.
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The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in the defeat of Nazi Germany
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Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact (a defensive military alliance).
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Germany and its allies launched Operation Barbarossa, a massive invasion of the Soviet Union from the Baltic shore in the north to the Black Sea in the South
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At Babi Yar Ravine (ditch where executed bodies lay), Jews were forced to walk to the ravines edge, where troops shot them.
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Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
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Hitler takes complete control of the German Army
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Declaration of the United Nations signed by 26 Allied nations
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British and US navies halt the Japanese naval advance in the central Pacific at Midway
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Germans began a drive toward Stalingrad in the USSR
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Germans surrender at Stalingrad in the first big defeat of Hitler's armies
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Italy surrenders to the Allies, however Germany helps Mussolini to escape and set up a government in Northern Italy.
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Large British air raid on Berlin
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D-day and the Normandy invasion. Allied forces invade France and push back the Germans.
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Paris is liberated from German control.
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Japanese attempted to balance the technological advantage of invading American forces (34 US ships sunk)
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The Germans launch a large attack in the Battle of the Bulge
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The US Third Army under General Patton crosses the Rhine River.
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US President Franklin Roosevelt dies. He is succeeded by President Harry Truman.
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Japan signed a surrender agreement on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay ending WWII