World War II Timeline

  • Germany invasion of Poland

    An invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak group that marked the start of World War II in Europe.
  • Germany invades Russia

    German's needed "living space."
  • Bombing of Pearl Harbor

    The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan.
  • Executive Order 9066 is issued

    Authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe certain areas as military zones.
    Eventually, EO 9066 cleared the way for the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps
  • Bataan Death March

    Forcible transfer, by the Imperial Japanese Army, of 76,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of prisoners.
  • Battle of Midway

    Is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II.
    The Japanese operation, like the earlier attack on Pearl Harbor, sought to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the Pacific
  • Invasion of Normandy

    The Invasion of Normandy was the invasion and establishment of Allied forces in Normandy, France, during Operation Overlord in World War II.
    It was the largest amphibious operation in history.
  • Battle of the Bulge

    German offensive launch towards the end of WWII
  • Truman becomes President

    Made some of the hardest decisions in his first week of presidency.
  • Germany surrenders

  • Potsdam Conference

    At the end of the conference, the three Heads of Government agreed on the following actions.
    All other issues were to be answered by the final peace conference to be called as soon as possible.
  • Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    Developed by the Manhattan Project.
    Ended World War II.
  • Japan Surrenders

    Brought WWII to a close.
  • Nuremburg Trials

    The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany.