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Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest battle of the Second World War. It was fought mainly against the German U-boats (submarines). The Allied navies wanted to get supply convoys across the Atlantic Ocean, while the German navy, mainly with U-boats, tried to cut off Great Britain. Over all, 2000 Allied ships were sunk, most by U-boats, with over 30 000 soldiers killed. Germany lost nearly 800 U-boats and 28 000 soldiers killed. -
Non-Agression Pack
Adolph Hitler decided to safeguard Germany from a possible attack by the USSR. In August 1939 Germany and the USSR signed the non-aggression pact, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The parties of the treaty agreed not to attack each other, and if one of them was attacked by a third country, the other was to uphold neutrality. -
German invasion of Poland.
Germans invade Poland using the Blitzkrieg tactic. They were not allowed to do that due to the Treaty of Versailles. At the same time, 62 German divisions supported by 1,300 aircrafts supported the invasion. -
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WW2 takes place
Germany is the catalyst of war. Hitler wants to get revenge, for the last war (WW1), where Germany has lost and had to agreee the Treaty of Versailles.In this timeline the war and the events will be explained and what happened during it. -
Britain and France declare war on the Nazi
Britain and France declare war on Hitler and Germany, because they have broken the rules of the Treaty of Versailles and invaded Poland. Also, they were afraid of Nazi army attacking. -
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Norway Campaign
Norway was a neutral country, but Hitler's Grand Admiral Erich Raeder was keen to take over Norwegian naval bases to provide the Germans with strategic positions from which to operate. Though Britain and France sent 12 000 troops to support Norwegians. Germany got control over the Norwegians, so the rest of Allies army had to move to Switzerland. -
German Invasion
Germany invade Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg using Blitzkrieg (lightning war used by Germans). -
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill becomes the new Prime Minister of Britain, who then eventually led the country to victory against Germany. -
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Britain get slodiers to Iceland
The strategic importance of Iceland prompted the British to garrison it in order to protect it from German occupation and to use it as a base for the Atlantic convoys. -
Britain and France get troops and soldiers to Belgium.
British and French army forces begin defensive preparations in Belgium in an effort to stave off the German advance. A long line of strategic defenses is contructed. This event then led to the Dunkirk evacuation, as Allied forces got pushed towards the sea by Germans. This was a good plan Belgium wasn't far away from France, so soldiers could get there easily. -
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The Dunkerque Evacuation
About 335,000 out of 400,000 Allied soldiers rescued from France by British, because Germans attacked and nearly had control over France, so Soldiers needed to be rescued from there. -
Italy declares war on France and Britain
Italy declares war on France and Britain, as they were allied with Germans. -
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Battle of Britain
Britain fought Germans in the series of air battles. This was a part of the invasion of Britain. German planes started bombing of London at night. The Germans gradually gave up hope of invading England, and the battle tapered off by the end of October. Then, battle in the air began, where most of the pilots were international from Poland and Czech. The battle took place on Britain's territitory, so if German planes were shot, the pilots would get killed and planes destroyed. -
War in Africa
At the same time the war was going on in Africa, conflict took place in North Africa, as a result of Italy’s aggression in that region in 1940 and 1941. One of the key places in North Africa was the port of Tobruk, Libya. It was changed between Germany and Britain, as they both wanted to have this important possesion. -
Nazi tanks enter Athens
Nazi tanks enter Greece, make British remove their forces from there. -
Germany attacks Russia
Germany attacks Russia. -
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Operation Barbarossa
According to the plan, German army was to split up and attack as a surprise at different parts of USSR at the same time. he final objective of Operation Barbarossa was to occupy the European part of the Soviet Union, where Soviet industry was suited, and to set up a barrier to fence off the Asian part. -
German soldiers get frozen in Russia.
German soldiers lacked winter clothing and equipment since Hitler had promised a quick summer and early autumn victory over the Red Army. The temperature on the Eastern Front went up to thirty degrees below zero. Hitler’s tanks and trucks were frozen by snow. This was one of the main causes of Germany's failure in Operation Barbarossa. -
Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor
Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbour, in the Naval Base of Hawaii. It was a surprise attack which led to declaration of war on Britain and the U.S by the Japanese.
The attack was a shock, however, there was no doubt that it had been planned for years. There were many strikes to follow after. -
Anglo-Soviet Treaty
A treaty between Britain and the Soviet Union, specifying that neither country could make peace with Germany or its allies without the consent of the other. -
D-Day
June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high-more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded. -
Nuclear bombing of Japan
American bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. The reason was thatUnited States wanted to force Japan's surrender qucker.