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Germany invades Poland. World War II begins
Historical Significance: This was the spark of the great World War II, this was the major event that led World War II to take place. The started off with this attack as it was the closest in order to dominate Europe which would later lead to the domination of the entire world. -
France and Great Britain declare war on Germany.
Cause and Effect: Nazi Germany's invasion on Sept. 1 led Britain and France to declare war on Germany because Poland had signed a new treaty with them promising military support if under attack. -
Germany invades and takes control of Denmark and Norway
Continuity and Change: Germany is constantly trying to dominate the countries surrounding it. Denmark immeidiately surrendered to the Nazi German attack as King Christian X convinced his army that they could not fight off German troops. Whereas Norway took on the defensive against the attack because it had thousands of British troops that could support them. But due to the attack on France, those troops had to leave Denmark which led to a defeat for Demark. Hitler then had 3 conquered nations. -
Germany uses quick strikes called blitzkrieg, meaning lightning war, to take over much of western Europe including the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France
Continuity and Change: This tactic was based on Alfred von Schlieffen’s ‘Schlieffen Plan’ in WWI but this time with new technologies such as light tanks and dive bombers to improve German army’s manoeuvrability.This attack was the most common attack used by Hitler against countries. -
Fall of France
HIstorical Signfiicance: This was known as one of the most remarkable military campaigns in History due to the defeat of the most powerful army in a mere six weeks. The humiliation of France was complete when Hitler insisted on signing the document of capitulation in the same railway carriage used when Germany had surrendered in 1918. -
Germany launches an air attack on Great Britain. The start of the battle of Britain
HIstorical Signficance: Britain now stood alone against the powerful Germany which had dominated Western Europe in less than two months. Winston Churchill still had hope and told the stubburn people and politicans who wanted to negotiate with Hitler. -
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact creating the Axis Alliance.
Historical Significance: The reason Italy joined the war along with Germany and Japan was due to their common interests which include the following:
(i) Imperialism based on military conquest and the overthrow of the post-World War I international order.
(ii) The destruction or neutralization of Soviet Communism. -
Germany and the Axis Powers attack Russia with a huge force of over four million troops.
HIstorical Significance: Also known as "Operation Barbarossa" was the largest operation of World War II. By invading Russia, Germany had just broken their German-Soviet Nonagression Pact in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. Around 3 million Nazi soldiers were sent to invade Russia -
TURNING POINT #1: The attack on Peral Harbor
This was a turning point because this was the main reason US took part in WW2. Allies now had another nation that would fight with them, this was a major threat to the Axis powers. Historical Significance: Until this event, US was neutral in the second World War. It wasn't until this event that US stepped up. There were more than 2,403 American soldiers and 68 civilians were killed and around 2,000 soldiers along with civilians wounded. -
TURNING POINT #2: The US Navy defeats the Japanese navy at the Battle of Midway.
This was a turning point because Japan, one of the Axis powers were now on the defensive once they had lost against the US which then allowsed the Allies to take on the offensive. Cause and Effect: The US was able to counter Japan's plan to destroy the few remaining carriers after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The interception of Japanese plan led the US to have a clear understanding upon the attack which allowed the US to maneuver their plan with ease. -
Allies invade and take the island of Sicily
Continuity and Change: Now that the US has stepped inside the horrific WWII, they are on a mission to eliminate Nazi Germany's control of land and this was one of the first things they took away from the axis powers because their defenses were weak and there were good chances of winning by this attack. The Allies are on a constant mission after US joined now to eliminate Axis powers. -
TURNING POINT #3: Battle of Stalingard
This is a turning point because this was the major battle that bled the German army dry in Russia. After this horrific defeat, Germany was on a full retreat. Historical Significance: This was the most significant battle of WWII because of millions of casualties and the obsession of the two leaders - Hitler and Stalin. Stalin wanted to defend this city at any cost because of the name of the city "Stalingrad", if he did not, it would be a humiliation to his name and Hitler wanted Humilitation. -
Italy surrenders to the Allies, however Germany helps Mussolini to escape and set up a government in Northern Italy
Continuity and Change: Allied forces keep pushing through the Axis power's territories but this time they have taken out the second Axis power out of thier position (Italy), The Axis powers are now slowly becoming weaker after losing an alliance along with territories in South Africa. -
D-day and the Normandy invasion. Allied forces invade France and push back the Germans.
Historical Significance: This attack was expected by the German troops but due to the bad weather, they believed that it will take place another day but the Allies surprised them with the attack by landing 150,000 troops in order to liberate France. They succeeded and liberated Paris from German control and now the Allies were on their strongest point. -
Adolf Hitler commits suicide
Historical Significance: He commited suicide because he knew Germany had lost the war and his hope to conquer the world was gone. All of his troops were either dead or were prisoned by the Allies. The leader of the Axis power was dead and this marked that Germany was out of the second World War. -
Germany surrenders to the Allies.
Historical Significance: Everyone knew that Nazi Germany had lost the battle after Hitler commited suicide. But on this date, Germany announced their defeat and this was the end for WWII. -
The United States drops the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan
Ethical Dimension: It was ethically wrong to drop an atomic bomb in a city filled with innocent civilians who have nothing to do with the war except that they were stuck in the middle fo the horrible battles. This killed some 129,000 people and the ones who escaped the bombing died after days of radiation exposure. -
Another atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.
Historical Perspective: According to the US, they were justified in dropping the secodn atomic bomb because they felt that they would save a lot of troops by having to drop an Atomic bomb rather than sending hundreds of thousands of soldiers to attack Japan. They had already lost more than 400,000 soldiers in the battles and it was the best move in order to save their military powers. -
Japan surrenders to US General Douglass MacArthur and the Allies
Cause and Effect: Japan was defensless, its navy and air force were destroyed. The intensive bombing of Japanese cities had left the country and the economy devastated. The were hopeless which led them to surrender.
