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World War 1
World War One begins. This is the start of a war that was supposedly to end all wars. It included the nations of France, Russia, British Empire, Germany and the US.
World War One was one of the first wars to experience modern warfare with the addition of long range artillery, machineguns, airplanes and utter death & destruction
Fact: Hitler served as a dispatcher in World War 1 and reached the rank of corporal and earned the Iron Cross for Bravery. -
World War One Ends
World War One ends, 8 million were killed, 7 million were permanently disabled, and 15 million were seriously injured and the land around them scarred from battle. -
German Workers' Party established
This was the predecessor to the Nazi Party and is led by Anton Drexler. At first this party only has 60 members when it becomes the Nazi party it will have 8.5 million members. -
Armistice of Versailles
A treaty is signed between the main powers of the Allies and Germany as a peace treaty. Germany has to pay back a substantial debt and many countries stake claims to land around the world. Fact: This is how Australia came into possession of New Guinea. -
Rise of The Nazi Party
Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi party and disregards the Treaty of Versailles and wants to help rebuild the German economy and their way of life, but also to make it a fascist state and to 'purify' the German race to make it perfect. -
coup d'état (Beer Hall Putsch)
Hitler and the Nazi Party try to take control of Germany where Gustav Ritter von Kahr (a German right-wing conservative politician) was giving a speech to 600 people. Ultimately they fail and Hitler and many other Nazi's are put in prison. -
Joseph Stalin In Power
Joseph Stalin becomes head of the Communist party after V.I. Lenin dies in 1924 and gains full power in 1928; even before WW2 Joseph Stalin was responsible for millions of deaths due to his strict policies. Fact: Lenins dying wish was for Joseph Stalin to be removed from the Communist party, but this was suppressed. -
Mussolini comes to power
Benito Mussolini "IlDuce" (the leader) rules over Italy making it a Totalitarian country. He will be one of Hitler’s biggest Allies in WW2 -
The Stock Market Crashes
The day known as "Black Tuesday" signified when the Wall Street Stock Market crashed losing of 30 billion dollars and many people become unemployed. The Great Depression followed the Wall Street Crash plummeting the world in chaos. -
Reichstag Fire
A fire was started at the Reichstag (Germany’s parliament house). Hitler blames the fire on the Communists and the next day Hitler convinces Hindenburg to sign an Emergency Decree for the Defence of the People and State. 4000 arrested, but only five including the leader of the Communist party were executed. -
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States and is also re-elected in 1936 and servers as President until his death in 1945. -
Nazi State
Hitler becomes the Fuhrer of Germany after being appointed Chancellor and making Germany a single party dictatorship based on the totalitarian ideology. Hitler wants to create a third Reich and a fascist state. -
Japan joins the Axis
After the invasion of China in 1937 Emperor Hirohito who also has a similar government compared to Italy and Germany and decides to join the Axis, part of his choice was influenced after Japan felt un honoured after World War one. Fact: Japan was one of the five leagues’ in the League of Nations (Allies from World War 1) -
Poland Backed up
Britain and France pledge to come to the aid of Poland if it is invaded by the Germans after the Germans previously invaded countries such as Prague and Czechoslovakia on the 15th of March 1939 -
A mutual agreement
Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler make a pact that provides for the partition of Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union. Fact: Stalin only wanted to be photographed on his left side as he believed the right side of his face looked ugly. -
Poland in Ruins
Following a 'Blitzkrieg' (lightning war) attack on Poland Britain and France declare war on Germany. But the destruction in Poland is already dealt, and in one week Poland surrenders. Millions of Jews, handicapped, homosexual and black people are now in danger from the Germans -
The Phoney War
As Britain and France declare war on Germany, they are readying up their troops, cities and people to prepare for war. Many drills and rationing effects take place, as well as curfews and education. Many volunteer units are made including 'Dad's Army' a home defence unit that grows to over a million in size. Fact: 1 million coffins were ordered for air raid, only 60 thousand were used -
Winston Chruchil for Prime Minister
Winston Churchill becomes Britain’s Prime Minister after the previous Prime Minister Chamberlain steps down. Even before World War 2 was declared Winston warned the government about the threat that Hitler was to Europe and this was only really recognised after the invasions of the countries around Germany e.g. Poland. Fact: Winston was a reporter in the Boer War but was captured; he escaped and became a war hero. -
Battle of Dunkirk
The Battle of Dunkirk was a massive retreat across France as Germany pushes deeper into France. A total of 340,000 soldiers were saved from the beaches of Dunkirk and transported to England. Over 1000 ships from warships to cabin cruisers, civilians and military transported boats soldiers from one side of the Channel to the other. The boats stopped coming 4th of June 1940 leaving many stranded to become POW’s -
Italy Enters the War
Italy attacks France, but this is a humiliating defeat with the loss of 5,000 of their soldiers while only inflicting eight casualties on the French. Although Italy was very strong in the sense of manpower and production, they lacked morale and wanting to fight. -
Battle of Britain
After the fall of France Britain was the only remaining force on the Allied force left. Hitler commissioned Reichmarschall Goering to attack Britain from the air. Britain had 700 fighters whereas Germany had 2000. But Britain had a new addition of radar which helped detect enemy aircraft coming over the channel. During this time Britain suffered many bombings especially on Britain were 40% of the city was burnt. Ultimately the Germans were defeated due to loss of aircraft and failed bombings. -
Sinking of the Bismark
The Bismarck was presented to be the greatest threat to the Allies at the time. Over the course of a week the hunting of the Bismarck ensued in the Atlantic Ocean. The HMAS Hood was destroyed and only three of its crew survived. A torpedo from an airplane damaged the Bismarck’s rudder making it immobile, three battle ships then attacked the Bismarck and eventually leading to its demise. The crew had to scuttle the ship and only 155 of its crew survived. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler wanted to eradicate the threat of Communism and by doing so had to invade Russia. Even though Hitler had a pact with Stalin the invasion commenced. A 'Blitzkrieg' strategy was used and close to the end of October the German forces were nearly at the gates of Moscow. Many pockets of Soviet troops became trapped and were forced to either fight to the death or surrender. -
Nazi Massacres
After the invasion of Russia the Germans began to execute many of their prisoners and Jews in the area. In two days a total of 33,771 Jews were executed and buried in mass graves in Babi Yar. In 1941 600,000 Jews were killed in Russia alone and over 3 million soviet prisoners of the 3.8 million that were captured in 1941 died in captivity. -
Pearl Harbour
A month before six Japanese aircraft carriers sailed to the pacific in preparation for the attack. On an early morning on the 7th of December the attack commenced. Torpedo bombers and fighters attacked the airfields and ships destroying or crippling ships. 3 ships were lost and the day after America declared war on the Japanese Empire and later Germany and Italy.Fact The oil from the battleships that were sunk is still leeking out of the sunken ships -
Battle of the Coral Sea
A naval battle in the Coral Sea between Australia and New Guinea, The Allies of the battle (Australia and America) were defending Port Moresby from being invaded by sea from the Japanese. The Japanese wanted to occupy Port Moresby and by doing so cut off America from Australia. Ultimately the battle was won by the Allies, although they lost more ships then the Japanese, the Japanese were forced to push back and recall their invasion fleet. -
Kokoda Trail
Australia was under threat from the Japanese and after the bombing of Darwin they had to take action. Australian and US troops landed at New Guinea to defend Port Moseby. The Allies (mostly Australian) defended the Kokoda trail 95km long and prevented the Japanese who outnumbered them three to one from getting to the south side of New Guinea with the loss of 2850 troops compared to the Japanese loss of 12000 troops. This was the first second time the Japanese were beaten on land rasing morale. -
El Alamein
Two battles took place. First Battle of El Alamein (July 1 – July 27, 1942) the advance of Axis troops on Alexandria was blunted by the Allies, when the German troops tried to outflank the allied position. At the Second Battle of El Alamein (October 23 – November 11, 1942) Allied forces broke the Axis line and forced them all the way back to Tunisia. -
Battle for Stalingrad
After the invasion of Russia in 1941 Russia was on its last legs. Stalingrad was the last line of defence, but the Russians were determined to keep it, Russians fought to the death and engaged in 'rat warfare' when soldiers fought in buildings and factories in close quarters. Eventually the winter proved too cold for the Germans and no progress was made so the Germans retreated across Russia, pursued by millions of angry Russians. This was a turning point of the war -
The Battle of Kursk
As the Germans still had control of a large portion of Russia, but there were still pockets of Russian forces throughout Russia. Kursk was an important railway hub that was still controlled in a pocket by Russians, but it could be used to transport supplies around Russia. Hitler waited for too long to avoid winter and the Russians prepared. By the end of the offensive the Germans only covered 20km and the majority of their panzer divisions were damaged. -
Invasion of Sicily
Operation Husky involved Allied troops invading Sicily in July which involved large scale air and sea landings. Sicily was a key target as it later allowed allied forces to cross into Axis Italy. It was a long fight to reach the other side, but on the 17 of August General Patton (US) reached Messina a town on the edge of Sicily next to Italy as the Germans and Italians had a large scale retreat across Sicily into Italy. -
Invasion of Italy
Two divisions of the British 8th army cross into the mainland of Italy and soon invasions all around Italy were conducted by the Allies. and soon Italy becomes split in two, one half controlled by the Axis the other controlled by the Allies. But the Italians were tiresome of war and had no interest in fighting at the start of the war and many Italians surrender to the Allies. -
Fall of Rome
After the invasion of Sicily in 1943 the allies had made extensive progress across Italy. Since the Italians lacked the spirit to fight mass surrenders were common. Benito Mussolini was eventually arrested, but freed by German paratroopers and when he tried to flee for the second time he was found and killed by partisans. The invasion of Italy was bloody, but in the end Italy had been knocked out of the war and Mussolini the father of Fascism dead. -
D-Day
D-day stood for Deliverance Day and was the largest Allied invasion of WW2. The invasion involved allied Paratroopers being dropped into France to clear towns and roads while the main invasion would involve beach landings on five different beaches. Over all the invasion was a success although there were many casualties from various beaches, the most being the Omaha beach which had US troops attacking it. After the first landings reinforcements were able to land at abundance. -
Operation Market Garden
Holland was captured early on during the war by the Germans. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery devised a plan that could end the war by Christmas. If paratroopers could capture the bridges throughout Holland then they could transport troops and tanks into Germany quickly. Unfortunately the Germans were able to destroy and hold the bridges across Holland forcing the allies to retreat. The war was still to go on for another year. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Germans were thought to of been unable to launch another offensive, but Hitler needed to re capture lost territory in France. The objective was to capture crossings over the River Meuse and then Antwerp. Even though the German progress looked promising at the start, Allied troops were able to eventually hold their ground. This prevented the Germans from continuing their assault and forcing them to retreat into Germany. -
The Battle for Iwo Jima
US Marines landed on Iwo Jima to try and capture the airfields on the island that would allow them to attack Japan. The Japanese had tunnelled into Mount Suribachi with artillery firing down onto the US troops. Eventually the US Marines were able to overrun the Japanese positions, but few prisoners were taken due to mass suicide by the Japanese. A famous monument was based of the Marines who captured Mount Suribachi and raised an American flag on top of it. This was the final major battle of WW2 -
The Reichstag Burns (again)
After fierce fighting throughout Germany, the Germans were finally pushed back to Berlin and encircled by US and Russian troops. It was gruesome fighting as the Russians wanted to beat the US to Berlin (and they did). The Reichstag was under siege by the Russians and was nearly destroyed by bombing raids, but in the 30th of April a Russian flag was raised at the top of the Reichstag after fierce fighting between Russian and German troops. -
HItlers Death
Hitler was holed up in a bunker in Berlin with the few soldiers left in Berlin. Hitler married his long-time mistress Eva Braun in the bunker. Hitler then went to his study with Eva Braun were she poisoned herself and Hitler shot himself with his own pistol. Their bodies were burnt to stop the Soviets from parading their dead bodies. -
Hiroshima and Nakasaki
The secret develpment of 'The Manhattan Project' led to the creation of the atomic bomb. The first bomb to be dropped was on Hiroshima which was called "Little Boy" caused the most devastation anyone had ever seen with one bomb. Everything within a one kilometre radius melted,even humans as the temperature approached 3000 degrees celcius. Nagaskai was hit by a larger more powerful bomb known as the "Fat Man". Some 120000 people died by these bombs dropping and more from the radiation years later -
Japan Surrenders
Japan admits unconditional defeat on board the USS Missouri even though they wanted to fight on, but they could not risk another bomb attack. Japan was humiliated by its defeat, but reluctantly signed the papers dictating their surrender. Although communication was poor and many still believed the war was still on. Fact: the last person to surrender in WW2 was Hiroo Onoda who surrendered in 1974 after keeping his post for 30 years; he was relieved by his previous commander. -
The Aftermath
110 million people served in armed forces in WW2
The Soviet Union suffered the most deaths of civilians and soldiers combined at 23,100,000 deaths.
The country that had the most civilian deaths were the Chinese due to mistreatment by the Japanese (16.2 million deaths)
A total of 2.5% of the world’s population died over 60 million people.
559 cemeteries that have been commissioned for those who lost their lives in WW2 "War... War never changes" Quote from "Fallout 3"
