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World War 2 began. On one side were the Axis Powers, including Germany, Italy and Japan. On the other side were the Allies. They included Britain, France, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, the Soviet Union, China and the United States of America.
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Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
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The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east.
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Warsaw surrenders on September 27. The Polish government flees into exile via Romania. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between them.
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The Soviet Union invades Finland, initiating the so-called Winter War. The Finns sue for an armistice and have to cede the northern shores of Lake Lagoda and the small Finnish coastline on the Arctic Sea to the Soviet Union.
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Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway holds out until June 9.
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Germany attacks western Europe—France and the neutral Low Countries. Luxembourg is occupied on May 10; the Netherlands surrenders on May 14; and Belgium surrenders on May 28. On June 22, France signs an armistice agreement by which the Germans occupy the northern half of the country and the entire Atlantic coastline. In southern France, a collaborationist regime with its capital in Vichy is established.
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Italy enters the war. Italy invades southern France on June 21.
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The Soviet Union forces Romania to cede the eastern province of Bessarabia and the northern half of Bukovina to the Soviet Ukraine.
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Second Vienna Award: Germany and Italy arbitrate a decision on the division of the disputed province of Transylvania between Romania and Hungary. The loss of northern Transylvania forces Romanian King Carol to abdicate in favor of his son, Michael, and brings to power a dictatorship under General Ion Antonescu.
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The Italians invade British-controlled Egypt from Italian-controlled Libya.
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Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.
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Italy invades Greece from Albania
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Slovakia (November 23), Hungary (November 20), and Romania (November 22) join the Axis.
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The Germans send the Afrika Korps to North Africa to reinforce the faltering Italians.
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Bulgaria joins the Axis.
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Japan bombs Pearl Harbor.
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The United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II. Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), and British Singapore. By April 1942, the Philippines, Indochina, and Singapore are under Japanese occupation.
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British and US navies halt the Japanese naval advance in the central Pacific at Midway.
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US and British troops land at several points on the beaches of Algeria and Morocco in French North Africa. The failure of the Vichy French troops to defend against the invasion enables the Allies to move swiftly to the western border of Tunisia, and triggers the German occupation of southern France on November 11.
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Axis forces in Tunisia surrender to the Allies, ending the North African campaign.
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The Germans launch a massive tank offensive near Kursk in the Soviet Union. The Soviets blunt the attack within a week and begin an offensive initiative of their own.
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Having agreed in principle to unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II.
