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Hitler invades poland
Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. -
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WW2
Start to Finish -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
Britain and France declared war on Germany. -
Period: to
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 -
Blitzkrieg
Hitler launched his blitzkrieg (lightning war) against Holland and Belgium. -
Dunkirk
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. -
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The Battle of Britain
Four main phases:
1. Luftwaffe bombers attack British ports
2. Bombing continued but concentrated attacks on airfields
3. The Blitz – From September 7th the city of London was heavily bombed. Hitler hoped to destroy the morale of the British people
4. Night Bombing – With the failure of daylight bombing raids Hitler began a series of nightly bombing raids on London and other important industrial cities. -
Italy enters war on the side of the Axis powers
Italy entered the war on the side of the Axis powers. Italy’s motive for entering the war was the hope of rich pickings from the spoils of war. -
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. -
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
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. -
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. Following this victory, the US navy was able to push the Japanese back. -
Allies push into N. Africa
British and American forces under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower landed in the NW of Africa and assumed control of French Morocco and Algeria. They gradually closed in on the Germans. -
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 -
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Allies Invade and take Sicily
July-British and US forces invaded Sicily.
August-The allied troops had won the island of Sicily. -
Italy surrenders
Mussolini had been thrown out of office and the new government of Italy surrendered to the British and the USA. -
Allies meet at Tehran
Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met to co-ordinate plans for a simultaneous squeeze on Germany. -
Leningrad is relieved
The siege of Leningrad was lifted by the Soviet army. -
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. -
Battle of Bulge
Germany launched its final defensive through the Ardennes region of Belgium. However, they were beaten back by the allies. -
Death of Rosevelt
President Roosevelt died. He was succeeded by President Truman. -
Russians reach Berlin
The Russians reached Berlin shortly before the US forces. -
Mussolini was 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. -
German forces surrender
May 2-German forces in Italy surrendered to the Allies.
May 7-Hitler’s successor, Admiral Donitz, offerred an unconditional surrender to the allies. -
V.E. day
Victory in Europe was celebrated -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
The Japanese generals refused to surrender. The US dropped an atomic bomb on the island of Hiroshima. -
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.
