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Germany Re-Occupies the Rhineland
The Rhineland is an area of Germany that borders France. It is of economic importance and militarily is still considered strategically significant. -
Invasion of Poland
The German invasion of Poland was a primer on how Hitler intended to wage war–what would become the “blitzkrieg” strategy. This was characterized by extensive bombing early on to destroy the enemy’s air capacity, railroads, communication lines, and munitions dumps, followed by a massive land invasion with overwhelming numbers of troops, tanks, and artillery. -
War is declared
Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. They become known as the major allied powers. -
Hitler Invades France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phony War. -
Italy declares war on France and Great Britain
After withholding formal allegiance to either side in the battle between Germany and the Allies, Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy, declares war on France and Great Britain. -
Start of Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940. -
The Sinking of Reuben James
The Reuben James, the first U.S. vessel destroyed by enemy fire in World War II, lost more than 100 of its crew. It was attacked and destroyed by a German U-boat. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, killing more than 2,300 Americans. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Germany attacks the industrial center of the Soviet Union. Germany lost. It was the largest battle on the Eastern Front and was marked by brutality and disregard for military and civilian casualties. It is among the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with the higher estimates of combined casualties amounting to nearly 2 million. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the name given to the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942. Operation Torch was the first time the British and Americans had jointly worked on an invasion plan together. -
D-Day
More than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline, to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. -
Germany Surrenders
The final battles of the European Theatre of World War II as well as the German surrender to the Western Allies and the Soviet Union took place in late April and early May 1945. Generally ended the war. -
VE-Day!
Marked the formal end of the war in Europe.Both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. -
Roosevelt's Death
Severe stroke killing him. -
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
Following a firebombing campaign that destroyed many Japanese cities, the Allies prepared for a costly invasion of Japan. -
Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki
This is the last nuclear bombing before the Japanese surrender. On 15 August, six days after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan announced its surrender to the Allies, signing the Instrument of Surrender on 2 September, officially ending World War II. -
Japan Surrenders
Japan formally surrenders to the Allies, bringing an end to World War II. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge (also known as the Ardennes Offensive and the Von Rundstedt Offensive to the Germans) (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945 was a major German offensive die Ardennenoffensive, launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name Bataille des Ardennes, and France and Luxembourg on the Western Front. -
Battle of Bastogne
The Siege of Bastogne was an engagement between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. -
Roosevelt's Death
