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Hitler Takes over Czechoslovakia.
Hitler promised to leave Czechoslovakia.On this day, he goes against his promise and takes over all of Czechoslovakia. -
Roosevelt Writes to Hitler and Mussolini
President Franklin D. Roosevelt writes letters to both Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, requesting they promise not to attack a list of nations for at least ten years. Hitler would respond on behalf of the Italian leader and himself, assuring Roosevelt that he had nothing to fear. -
Nonagression Pact
Germany and the Soviet Union agree to a nonaggression pact leaving the Soviets free to strengthen their western frontier, and Hitler free to attack Poland. -
Germany invades Poland
When Hitler invaded Poland in September 1939, France and Britain declared war on Germany. After conquering Poland, Germany attacked France. France fell in June 1940, and soon the Nazis overran most of the rest of Europe and North Africa. Only Britain, led by Winston Churchill, was not defeated. -
Britain and France Go To War.
Britain and France declare war on Germany. Hitler invaded Poland, a country that Great Britain and France had just made a no holds barred treaty with saying that Poland would be protected should Germany ever invade. -
Congress Lifts Aid Embargo
Congress grants President Franklin D. Roosevelt's request to revise neutrality laws, to repeal an arms embargo so that munitions could be sold to Britain and France, and to prevent American ships from sailing into war zones. -
Germany Invades Low Countries
Adolf Hitler takes neutral Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg. -
Stalingrad
Four million troops came to the Russian border. Within one month, over two and half million Russians had been killed, wounded or captured. The Germans made tremendous advances into Russia. And then winter hit. The Germans were caught in uniforms that did not keep them warm, and it was a cold winter that year. Stalin, using sheer force of numbers, threw another two million soldiers at the Germans. -
D-Day
On D-Day, General Dwight Eisenhower led U.S. and Allied troops in an invasion of Normandy, France. The armies fought their way through France and Belgium and into Germany while Russian troops fought from the east. -
Germany Surrenders, Victory in Europe
Hitler's "thousand year reich" or the third reich ended, lasting only 12 years. Germany surrendered in a French schoolhouse that had acted as Eisenhower's headquarters. Americans celebrated Victory in Europe Day. FDR passed a few weeks prior and Harry S. Truman would see the US through the war. At this point, the end of the war was close in sight.
