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D-Day
The allies launched an attack on Germany’s forces in Normandy, Western France. Thousands of transports carried an invasion army under the supreme command of general Eisenhower to the Normandy beaches. The Germans who had been fed false information about a landing near Calais, rushed troops to the area but were unable to prevent the allies from forming a solid bridgehead. For the allies it was essential to first capture a port. -
german anschulass with austria
hitler went with his plans and annexed ausrtia -
treaty of munich
hitler,chamberlin, Daladier of france and Mussolini meet in itlay and made a treaty thae made peace in their time -
hitler invades czecholslovika
hitler marched into czecholslovika -
Britain rearms and reassures Poland
Britain had begun re-arming and a highly secret radar early warning system was installed along the east coast. Conscription was introduced and assurances were given to Poland, who was being threatened by the Fuhrer. -
Russia and Germany sign pact
Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact which included secret clauses for the division of Poland. -
Britain and France declare war on
Britain and France declared war on Germany. Neville Chamberlain broadcast the announcement that the country was at war. -
Hitler invades Poland
Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. -
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 N. 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. Chamberlain gave Churchill his unreserved support. Ernest Bevin was made minister of labour and recruited workers for the factories and stepped up coal production. Lord Beaverbrook, minister of Aircraft Production increased production of fighter aircraft. -
Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo)
The British commander-in-chief, General Gort, had been forced to retreat to the coast at Dunkirk. The troops waited, under merciless fire, to be taken off the beaches. A call went out to all owners of sea-worthy vessels to travel to Dunkirk to take the troops off the beaches of Dunkirk. More than 338,000 men were rescued, among them some 140,000 French who would form the nucleus of the Free French army under a little known general, Charles de Gaulle. -
Battle of Britain
- During July Hitler sent his Luftwaffe bombers to attack British ports. His aim was also to assess the speed and quality of response by the RAF.
- During August the attacks on shipping continued but bombing raids were concentrated on RAF airfields.
- The Blitz –
- Night Bombing –
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France signs armistice with Germany
The French, Marshall Petain, signed anarmistice with Germany taking France, which had been devastated, out of the war and into German occupation. -
Britain and US declare war on Japan
Britain and the United States declared war on Japan. -
Hitler attacks Russia – Operation Barbarossa
Hitler sent 3 million soldiers and 3,500 tanks into Russia. The Russians were taken by surprise as they had signed a treaty with Germany in 1939. Stalin immediately signed a mutual assistance treaty with Britain and launched an Eastern front battle that would claim 20 million casualties. The USA, which had been supplying arms to Britain under a ‘Lend-Lease’ agreement, offered similar aid to USSR. -
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. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Russians won their first victory against Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad. -
Axis surrender N 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. They then agreed to join the allies. The Germans took control of the Italian army, freed Mussolini from imprisonment and set him up as head of a puppet government in Northern Italy. This blocked any further allied advance through Italy. -
Death of Roosevelt
President Roosevelt died. He was succeeded by President Truman. -
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 north west Germany, Holland and Denmark surrendered to Montgomery on Luneburg Heath. Admiral Donitz, whom Hitler had nominated as his successor, tried to reach agreement to surrender to the Western allies but to continue to fight the Russians. His request was refused. -
V.E. day
Victory in Europe was celebrated. -
Russia declares war on Japan
Russia declares war on Japan -
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
The US dropped an atomic bomb on the port of Nagasaki as the Japanese had not surrendered following Hiroshima. -
Japanese surrender
The Japanese unconditionally surrendered to the allies ending the second world war.