WORLD WAR 2 TIMELINE

By subhodeep98

  • Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France gave Germany an ultimatum to get out.

    Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France gave Germany an ultimatum to get out.
  • Period: to

    WORLD WAR TIMESPAN

  • Chamberlain sent Hitler an ultimatum hoping to withdraw German troops from Poland or war will be declared.

    Chamberlain sent Hitler an ultimatum hoping to withdraw German troops from Poland or war will be declared.

  • Germany ignored the ultimatum and Britain and France declared war on Germany. British troops were sent to France.

    Germany ignored the ultimatum and Britain and France declared war on Germany. British troops were sent to France.

  • South Africa declared war on Germany; Egypt broke off relations with Germany,

    South Africa declared war on Germany; Egypt broke off relations with Germany,

  • Russia's Red Army attacked Poland from the east

  • Poland surrendered to Germany.

  • Last Polish troops ceased fighting. Hitler launched his "Peace Offensive" but this was rejected by Neville Chamberlain

  • Russia's Red Army invaded Finland - the Winter War

  • Italy launched a counter-offensive in Albania against the Greeks. This was the first of 46 Italian attacks - all repulsed by the Greeks.

  • British and Australian forces captured Tobruk in North Africa.

  • First German units arrived in Tripoli.

  • Anthony Eden went to Athens to discuss the possibility of a German attack on Greece.

  • German and British forces clashed for the first time in the Western Desert.

  • Italy launched a major attack on the Greeks but to no avail.

  • Germany attacked Yugoslavia and Greece.British forces occupy Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

  • The start of the siege of Tobruk after the Germans failed to capture it.The Germans captured Zagreb.

  • Germany accepted the surrender of Belgrade.

  • The German invasion of Russia – Operation Barbarossa began.

  • The first German shell landed in Leningrad - the start of the 900 day siege.

  • The final phase of the German attack on Russia started - the attack on Moscow.

  • The Russian counter-attack in Moscow started.

  • The Japanese attacked the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour.

  • Britain and America declared war on Japan.

  • Germany declared war on America.

  • Japan started the attack to the philippines

  • The Japanese begun their campaign in the Dutch East Indies by attacking the islands of Tarakan and Manado.

  • Singapore surrendered to the Japanese on 'Black Sunday'.

  • Battle of Java Sea - an attempt by the Allies to stop the Japanese attacking Java. It failed.

  • America defeated the Japanese attempt to capture Midway Island.

  • The German advance in south Russia was held up at Stalingrad.

  • Operation Ring began at 08.00 with a massive artillery attack on the VI Army. The German troops in Stalingrad were hunted out unit by unit as laid down in Operation Ring.

  • The Germans destroyed the Russian 3rd Tank Army.

  • The German army in North Africa surrendered to the British and Americans.

  • Britain and America invaded Italy.

  • American/British forces land at Salerno.

  • The Japanese were driven out of the Gilbert Islands

  • Japan started 'Operation U-Go' - an attempt to push the Allies back to India by destroying the Allied bases at Imphal and Kohima.

  • The Allies dropped 1,250 tons of bombs on Cassino, Italy, at the start of a major offensive.

  • The Russian Army moves onto Rumanian soil for the first time.

  • The Americans started their break-out from Anzio beach.

  • The Americans started their drive to Rome.

  • Hitler ordered Kesselring to withdraw from Rome.

  • US forces trapped the German garrison at Cherbourg.

  • First Russian units get to Poland.

  • Japan ended its attempt to destroy Kohima and Imphal when the Japanese High Command called off the offensive.'Operation Goodwood' launched by British and Canadian forces to drive towards Caen.

  • 'The July Bomb Plot - the failed attempted to kill Hitler.

  • Japanese resistance on Leyte ended.

  • Hitler was informed that Antwerp cannot be retaken.

  • The end of the Battle of the Bulge - from now the German Army was on the retreat into Germany itself.

  • Start of the Battle of Iwo Jima - the US Navy began a 3 day bombardment of Iwo Jima.

  • US Marines landed on Iwo Jima

  • US Marines raise the US flag on the summit of Mount Suribachi.

  • The Russians captured Vienna. Belsen handed over to the British who entered the concentration camp on April 15th.

  • All resistance in the Ruhr is ended and 370,000 German prisoners were taken.

  • Hitler decided to stay in Berlin 'until the end'.

  • American and British troops met at Torgau, Germany.

  • Hitler committed suicide.

  • Berlin surrendered to the Russian Army.

  • Victory in Europe (VE) Day.

  • Japanese resistance on Okinawa ended.

  • First atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the 'Enola Gay'.

  • Second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki by 'Bockscar.

  • Japan surrendered. Victory in Japan (VJ) Day celebrated.

  • Start of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials.