-
German invasion of Poland-Beginning of World War II.
At 4:45 a.m., some 1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. -
Germany invaded France and captured Paris.
On 10 May 1940, Germany launched the invasion of France. Seven weeks later on 14 June 1940, the French capital of Paris fell and Germany now occupied France. -
Battle of Britain
On this day in 1940, the Germans begin the first in a long series of bombing raids against Great Britain, as the Battle of Britain, which will last three and a half months. -
German Invasion of Russia
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, which began on 22 June 1941. The operation was driven by Adolf Hitler's ideological desire to conquer the Soviet territories as outlined in his 1925 manifesto Mein Kampf. -
Japanese Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked -
United States Declares War on Japan
On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asks the House of Representatives for a declaration of war against Japan. -
Germany Declares War on United States
Adolf Hitler declares war on the United States, bringing America, which had been neutral, into the European conflict. -
Battle of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. Thanks in part to major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position -
Allied Invasion of Europe
American and other Allied troops landed in Normandy, France, on D-Day to begin the liberation of Western Europe. -
U.S Drops Atomic Bomb on Japan
The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) in 1945, forcing Japan to surrender and ending World War II.
