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Invasion of Poland
Germany invaded Poland and thought that it would be a short victourius war. -
Britain declared war on Germany
Following Germany's invasion of Poland, Britain requested that Hitler withdraw his forces or else Britain would declare war on Germany. Germany refused and so war was declared. -
Battle of the Altlantic
The Altlantic ocean was so busy from getting goods to Europe.Britain were grtting lots of goods from America to supply Britain for the war. The Germans had the U-boats and three big battleships which were trying to stop Britain getting these goods. -
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Duration of WW2
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Battle of the Atlantic
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Dunkirk
The British Expedionary Force ( BEF) and its allies Belguim, France were pushed back towards the north sea as the germans Blitzkrieg strategy defeated the allies. The British devised a plan to evacuate as much of the allies armies as possible from Dunkirk.Then a defencive perimiter was set up and a armada of small ships crewed by volunteers, sailed from England and picked up the troops from the Beaches of Dunkirk. -
War in North Africa
The battle of North Africa happened because both Axis powers (Italy and Germany) as well as the British both needed the oil in Africa to sustain their war efforts. The battle lasted for three years. The British first fought against the Italians and when they were eventually defeated, the Germans came to help them. The fighting happened in Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The Britist stopped the German advance at El Alamein and eventually drove the Germans and Italians out of Africa. -
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North Africa Campaign
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The Battle of Britain
Following the fall of France. Germany looked to invade Britain and so the Battle of Britain began. It was mainly fought in the air. Hitler wanted control of the air before sending his troops across the channel and so ordered the Luftwaffa ( commanded by Field Marshell Goring) to defeat the RAF. The RAF won the Battle of Britain mainly beause it had better fighter planes eg the Hurricane and Spitfire and also was greatly helped by its secret weapon RADAR. -
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Battle of Britain
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The Blitz
The sustained barial bombing of Britian's cities by the German Luftwaffe. -
Germany launched Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Germany thought it would be a quick battle but didn't expect that they would still be fighting in winter and they were not pepared for severe winter conditions in Russia. The invasion stalled at Moscow, the Russians counterd attacked and drove the Germans back to Berlin. -
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Operation Barbarossa
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Pearl Harbour
The Japanease launched an attack on the American Pacific fleat anchored at Pearl Harbour in Hawai. The American fleat was badly damaged with lots of boats sunk and lots of airfields and aircraft destroyed. Fortunally the Americans aircraft carriars, which would be proved to be invaluble throught the war, were out at sea and therefore not damaged. This bought America into the war. -
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Bombing Campaign of Germany
Early in the war air raids were targeted on militar, industrial and oil storage sites. Later in 1942, initially the British and later with the American, saw hugh bombing raids on Germany cities. Most notably the dreadful destruction of Dresden when 1,250 Allied planes bombed the city from the 13 - 15 February 1945. -
Mussolini Deposed
Benito Mussolini, Italy's leader, is deposed. -
Invasion of Italy
The British and Americam armies under Generals Montgomery and Clark, invaded Italy (the "soft underbelly of Europe" - Churchill). This proved to be wrong as the conquest of Italy took longer and cost more lives than expected. -
Italy signs armiatice with the Allies
Italy was left leaderless and Germany invaded Ital, taking Rome in October 1943. Italy then declared war on Germany. -
D-Day
D-Day was the allies invasion of Europe. Early in the morning on the 6th june the allies commanded by Eisenhawer, landed on the beaches of Normandy. It was the biggest sea invasion in history. By the end of the day had gained a vital foot hold in France. Not many people were expecting the invasion. -
First V1 Rocket (Flying Bomb) fired at London
Germany lunched the first V1 Rocket against London. This new terrifying weapon was difficlt to shoot down as it travelled very fast. Germany fired over 9,000 at Britian until the lauch sites were captured by the Allies in October 1944 -
V2 Rocket Offensive Launched
Germany launched the first V2 rocket against the Allies. These rockets were more powerful than the V1 and could not be shot down. People could not take cover as the rockets were so fast they could not be seen and only when they exploded did you know where they hit Over 3,000 rockets were fired mainly at Antwerp and London. -
Mussolinis found dead hanging from a lampost!
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Hitler Dies
Adolf Hitler commited suicide by shooting himself in his Bunker in Berlin. His body was burned by his staff to stop the Russians parading it around. -
Victory in Europe Day
VE Day, the war ended in Europe with the surrender of Germany to the Allies. -
The dropping of the Atomic bombs.
The Americans dropped atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many people said it was revenge for Pearl Harbour. It eventually killed 100,000 people after the initial blast and radiation sickness. Other people argued that it saved a million lives (soliders and civilians) as it forced Japan to surrender and shorted the war. -
Victory in Japan
VJ Day when the Japanese surrendered to the Allies following the dropping of the atomic bombs.