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German Anschluss with Austria
Hitler went ahead with his plans to unify all German speaking people. -
Treaty of Munich
Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier of France and Mussolini of Italy met in Munich and agreed that Hitler should have the Sudetanland of Czechoslovakia. -
Hitler invades Czechoslovakia
Despite the assurances given by Hitler in the Treaty of Munich, he marched into Czechoslovakia and occupied the country. -
Britain rearms and reassures Poland
Britain had begun re arming and a highly secret radar early warning system was installed along the east coast. -
Russia and Germany sign pact
Hitler and Stalin signed a non aggression pact which included secret clauses for the division of Poland. -
Phoney War
The months following Britain’s declaration of war are referred to as the phoney war because Britain saw no military action. -
Hitler invades Poland
Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. -
Britain and France declare war on
Britain and France declared war on Germany. -
Hitler invades Denmark and Norway
Hitler invaded and occupied Denmark and Norway to safeguard supply routes of Swedish ore and also to establish a Norwegian base from which to break the British naval blockade on Germany. -
British rout Italians in North Africa
Italian forces in North Africa were routed by the British led by General Wavell. -
Chamberlain resigns
Neville Chamberlain resigned after pressure from Labour members for a more active prosecution of the war and Winston Churchill became the new head of the wartime coalition government. -
Dunkirk
The British commander in chief, General Gort, had been forced to retreat to the coast at Dunkirk. -
Blitzkrieg
Hitler launched his blitzkrieg against Holland and Belgium. -
Italy enter war on side of Axis powers
Italy entered the war on the side of the Axis powers. -
France signs armistice with Germany
The French, Marshall Petain, signed an armistice with Germany taking France, which had been devastated, out of the war and into German occupation. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain comprised four phases During July Hitler sent his Luftwaffe bombers to attack British ports. -
Tripartite Pact
This pact of mutual alliance was signed by Germany, Italy and Japan. -
Italy and Germany attack Yugoslavia
German and Italian troops attacked Yugoslavia, Greece and the island of Crete. -
Hitler attacks Russia Operation Barbarossa
Hitler sent 3 million soldiers and 3,500 tanks into Russia. -
Pearl Harbor
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. -
Britain and US declare war on Japan
Britain and the United States declared war on Japan. -
Japanese take Singapore
The Japanese captured Singapore from the British, taking some 60,000 prisoners. -
Battle of Midway
The USA defeated the Japanese navy at the Battle of Midway. -
Allies in North Africa
General Alexander was given a hand written directive from Churchill ordering that his main directive was to be the destruction of the German-Italian army commanded by Field-Marshall Rommell together with all its supplies and establishments in Egypt and Libya. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Russians won their first victory against Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad. -
Allies push into North Africa
British and American forces under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower landed in the North West of Africa and assumed control of French Morocco and Algeria. -
Battle of El Alamein
Montgomery attacked the German Italian army in North Africa with a massive bombardment followed by an armoured attack. -
Allies invade Sicily
British and US forces invaded Sicily. -
Allies take Sicily
The allied troops had won the island of Sicily. -
Allies meet at Tehran
Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met to co ordinate plans for a simultaneous squeeze on Germany. -
Axis surrender North Africa
The British and American forces managed to defeat the Axis forces in North Africa -
Italy surrenders
Mussolini had been thrown out of office and the new government of Italy surrendered to the British and the USA. -
Japanese evicted from Burma
British forces under General Slim, with help from guerrilla-fighting Chindits led by Orde Wingate, evicted the Japanese from Burma. -
Battle of the Bulge
Germany launched its final defensive through the Ardennes region of Belgium. -
D-Day
The allies launched an attack on Germany’s forces in Normandy, Western France. -
Paris liberated
The French capital of Paris was liberated from the Germans. -
V2 Flying Bombs
The first V2 flying bombs killed three people in London. -
Russians reach Berlin
The Russians reached Berlin shortly before the US forces. -
Allies cross the Rhine
The Allies crossed the Rhine while Soviet forces were approaching Berlin from the East. -
Death of Roosevelt
President Roosevelt died. He was succeeded by President Truman. -
German forces surrender
German forces in north west Germany, Holland and Denmark surrendered to Montgomery on Luneburg Heath. -
Mussolini captured and executed
Italian partisans captured Mussolini and executed him. -
Hitler commits suicide
The German leader, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bombproof shelter together with his mistress, Eva Braun, who he had, at the last minute, made his wife. -
German forces surrender
German forces in Italy surrendered to the Allies. -
Donitz offers unconditional surrender
Hitler’s successor, Admiral Donitz, offerred an unconditional surrender to the allies. -
V.E. day
Victory in Europe was celebrated. -
Churchill loses election
Winston Churchill lost the election to Clement Atlee’s Labour Party. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
The Japanese generals refused to surrender. -
Russia declares war on Japan
Russia declared war on Japan and invaded Japanese ruled Manchuria. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
The US dropped an atomic bomb on the island of Nagasaki as the Japanese had not surrendered following Hiroshima. -
Japanese surrender
The Japanese unconditionally surrendered to the allies ending the second world war. -
MacArthur accepts Japan’s surrender
US General, Douglas MacArthur, accepted Japan’s surrender thus formally ending the second world war. -
Leningrad relieved
The siege of Leningrad was lifted by the Soviet army. -
Rome liberated
Although Italy had surrendered in September, it was only now that the allies were able to liberate Rome from the Germans.