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Hitler went ahead with his plans to unify all German speaking people. He annexed Austria then demanded the liberation of German people in the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
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Hitler Chamberlain Daladier of France and Mussolini of Italy met in Munich and agreed that Hitler should have the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia.
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despite the assurances given by hitler in the treaty of munich he marched into Czechoslovakia and occupied the country.
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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
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Hitler and Stalin signed a non aggression pact which included secret clauses for the division of Poland
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the months following Britain's declaration of war are referred to as the phoney war because Britain saw no military action
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Adolf Hitler invaded Poland
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Britain and France declared war on Germany
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Hitler invades 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
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Italian forces in north America were routed by the British led by general Wavell
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Hitler launched his blitzkrieg against Holland and Belgium
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Neville Chamberlain resigned after pressure from labor members for a more active prosecution of the war and Winston Churchill became the new head of the wartime coalition government
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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.
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Italy entered the war on the side of the Axis powers
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the French Marshall Petain signed an armistice with Germany taking France which had been devastated out of the war and into German occupation?
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during July Hitler sent his Luftwaffe bombers to attack British ports
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this pact of mutual alliance was signed by Germany Italy and japan
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German and italic troops attack Yugoslavia Greece and the island of Crete German field Marshall Erwin Rommel led the axis powers back to north America.
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hitler sent 3 million soldiers and 3,500 tanks to 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.
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The Japanese who were already waging war against the Chinese attacked the US pacific fleet at pearl harbor Hawaii as a preliminary to taking British French and Dutch colonies in south east Asia.
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British and the United States declared war on japan
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the Japanese captured Singapore from the British taking some 60,000 prisoners.
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The USA defeated the Japanese navy at the battle of midway. Following this victory the US navy was able to push the Japanese back.
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General Alexander was given a hard written directive from Churchill ordering that his main directive was to be the destruction of the German Italian army commanded by field Marshall Rommel together with all its supplies and establishments in Egypt and Libya.
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The Russians won their first victory against Germany at the battle of Stalingrad.
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British and America forces under the command of general Dwight Eisenhower landed in the NW of Africa and assumed control of French Morocco and Algeria
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Montgomery attacked the German Italian army in north Africa with a massive bombardment followed by an armored attack.
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British and US forces invade Sicily
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Stalin Roosevelt and Churchill met to co ordinate plans for a simultaneous squeeze on Germany.
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Mussolini had been thrown out of office and the new government of Italy surrendered to the British and the USA
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The siege of Leningrad was lifted by the soviet army.
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although Italy had surrendered in September it was only now that the allies were able to liberate Rome from the Germans.
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British forces under general slim with help from guerrelia fighting chindits led by orde wingate evicted the japanese from burma.
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Germany launched its final defensive through the Ardennes region of belgium. However they were beaten back by the allies.
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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.
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The french capital of paris was liberated from the germans.
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the first V2 flying bombs killed three people in london.
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The allies crossed the rhine white Soviet forces were approching Berlin from the East.
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President roosevelt died. He was succeeded by President Truman.
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The Russains reached Berlin shortly before the US forces
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Italin partisans captured Mussolini and executed him.
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The German leader Adolf Hitler commited suicide in his bombproof shelter together with his mistress,Eva Braun who he had at the last minute made his wife.
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German forces in italy surrendered to the Allies.
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German forces in north west Germany, Holland and Denmark surrendered to Montgomery on Luneburg Health. 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 report was refused.
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Hitlers successor admiral Donitz offered an uncoditianal surrender to the allies.
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Victory in Europe was Celebrated.
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Winston Churchill lost the election to Clement Atlee's Labour party. The Labour party promised sweeping social reforms including nationlism of the coal and railway industries and the creation of a welfare state.
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The japanese generals refused to surrender the US dropped an atomic bomb on the island of Hiroshima.
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Russia declared war on japan ond invaded japanese ruled manchuria.
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The US dropped an atomic bomb on the island of nagasaki as the japanese had not surrendered following Hiroshima.
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The japanese unconditionally surrendered to the allies ending the second world war.
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US General McArthur accepted Japans surrender thus formally ending the second World war.