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Hitler executing his plan to unite all German speaking people.
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Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain, and Daladier met in Berlin and agreed to let Hitler take over Czechoslovakia. Hitler promised to keep peace in Czechoslovakia.
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Hitler goes against his promise to keep peace in Czechoslovakia and invades them.
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Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact which included secret clauses for the division of Poland.
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Hitler established a Norweigan base to break the Biritish naval nlockade on Germany.
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Hitler launched his Lightning War against Holland and Belgium. Rotterdam was bombed almost to extinction. Both countries were occupied.
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Neville Chamberlain resigned after pressure from Labour members for a more active prosecution of the war.
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Italy entered the war on the side of the Axis powers. Italy's motive for entering the war was the hope of rich pickings from the spoils of war.
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Hitler tried many bombings on London to destroy the morale of the British. The Royal Air Force defended the skies and ended Hitler's raids.
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This pact of mutual alliance was signed by Germany, Italy and Japan.
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German and Italian troops attacked Yugoslavia, Greece and the island of Crete.
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Hitler sent 3 million soldiers and 3,500 tanks into Russia. The Russians were taken by surprise as they had signed a treaty with Germany in 1939. Stalin immediately signed a mutual assistance treaty with Britain and launched an Eastern front battle that would claim 20 million casualties.
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The Japanese, who were already waging war against the Chinese, attacked the US pacific fleet at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, as a preliminary to taking British, French and Dutch colonies in South East Asia.
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The USA defeated the Japanese navy at the Battle of Midway. Following this victory, the US navy was able to push the Japanese back.
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The Russians won their first victory against Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad.
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Mussolini had been thrown out of office and the new government of Italy surrendered to the British and the USA. They then agreed to join the allies. The Germans took control of the Italian army, freed Mussolini from imprisonment and set him up as head of a puppet government in Northern Italy.
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The allies launched an attack on Germany's forces in Normandy, Western France. Thousands of transports carried an invasion army under the supreme command of general Eisenhower to the Normandy beaches.
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The Japanese generals refused to surrender. The US dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
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US General, Douglas MacArthur, accepted Japan's surrender thus formally ending the second world war.
