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World War II (starting with Japan's invasion of Manchuria and ending with their formal surrender)
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Adolf Hitler is appointed as Chancellor of Germany by president Hindenburg. Shortly afterwards the Nazi party takes total control of Germany.
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Conflict starts between those loyal to the established Spanish government, the Republicans, and those who wanted to overthrow this government in favor of a fascist regime, the Nationalists. It begins with generals in the Spanish military expressing opposition to the elected government of Spain. The Republicans expressed communist ideals and were backed by the Soviet Union. The Nationalists were explicitly fascist and received report from the Nazis and Italians.
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The Wehrmacht's 8th Army marches into Austria to annex the nation. They are greeted positively by most Austrians and Austria and Germany merge into one nation.
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International agreement to cede parts of Czechoslovakia (German speaking regions known as Sudetenland) to Germany. This preceded a military takeover and annexation shortly thereafter.
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Spanish Civil War ends with Nazi-backed Francisco Franco's fascist regime taking power in Spain.
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Germany invades Poland from the West officially beginning World War II in Europe. The Soviets also invaded Poland from the East and the two naitons split the country roughly down the middle.
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German forces invade and occupy Denmark and Norway under the pretense of defending them against a Franco-British occupation. In actuality it established extensive naval bases for use by the German Kriegsmarine which had previously been restricted by Germany's limited coastline with the Atlantic.
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The German Luftwaffe begins intensive bombing raids over Britain and a large air battle ensues between the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe. Britain's use of RADAR allows the RAF to accurately target German aircraft and Germany is eventually forced to give up the campaign.
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Germany ivades the Soviet Union breaking the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-agression pact. In the first months Germany takes much of the European Soviet Union pushing the Red Army back to Leningrad, Stalingrad, and within miles of the Soviet capital of Moscow. However, the harsh Russian winter and staunch Soviet resistance at these major cities halts the German advance and in the following Spring the Soviets begin pushing the Germans back.
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Japan launches a preemptive surprise attack against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japanese aircraft make several bombing runs to attempt to cripple the US Navy's pacific fleet before the US officially enters the war. The attack directly leads to America's entry into the war.
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Simultaneously with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese began an attack on Wake Island. This was the first open conflict between American and Japanese forces and resulted with a Japanese takeover of the island.
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Japanese and American naval forces clash around Midway Atoll in the Pacific with the Japanese attempting to lure American aircraft carriers into a trap. The plan fails and the American Navy is able to deliver a significant, and irreparable blow to the Japanese Navy.
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Major battle in the North African theatre of the Western Front of World War II. German Afrika Korps led by Field Marshall Erwin Rommel attempted an offensive move against the British forces in North Africa and were forced into a stalemate. This is the first show that the Axis were beginning to lose the fight in North Africa due to the drain of also having to supply an overly ambitious war with the Soviets in Eastern Europe.
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The first major American offensive in the Pacific began on the island of Guadalcanal.
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The German 6th army attacks the Soviet city of Stalingrad and successfully pushed the Soviets almost entirely out. The Soviet hold onto narrow strips of land mainly on the West bank of the Volga river, but the Soviets successfully encircle the Axis forces' by attacking weaker Romanian and Hungarian forces defending the 6th army's flanks. The city was then besieged by Soviet forces with the German 6th army under orders not to attempt to break out but rather to hold the city.
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First successful Allied offensive on the Western Front of the European theatre. The British, led by Lieutenant-General Montgomery, successfully defeated Fieldmarshall Rommel's Afrika Korps and forced the Axis into a retreat in North Africa.
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German 6th army surrenders to Soviet forces after 5 months of being under siege. This is the first major Allied victory in an offensive move against the Nazis. This is the turning point for the war in Europe and puts the Germans on retreat for the rest of the war.
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American forces successfully take the island of Guadalcanal after a very bloody battle with Japanese forces. 31,000 of the 36,200 Japanese defenders are killed while only 7,100 of the American forces die.
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German offensive in the Eastern front which would result in one of the largest tank battle in history. Germany had been planning to use their large tank force to defeat the Soviets and impress the other Allies into possibly dropping out of the war. However, they did not anticipate how significant the Soviet resistance would be and wound up losing to the much larger Soviet tank force.
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The Allied invasion of Sicily which was the first military action on the Western Front of the European theatre since the evacuation of Dunkirk. British and American forces successfully launched the invasion force from North Africa and took over the island in eight days. This revealed Italy as the "soft underbelly of the Axis" (Churchill).
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Soviet forces retake the Ukrainian capital and third most important Soviet city.
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British, Canadian, and American forces (with support from other commonwealth nations and resistance fighters from occupied nations) land at Normandy in the first major attack on Hitler's Europe in the West. The troops landed at five different beaches and successfully established Allied footholds in Western Europe.
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The Polish resistance, with support of the Western Allies, attempted to overthrow German control of the Polish capital to reinstate a Polish government before the Soviets could retake Poland. It was an absolute failure which ended in the Nazis razing the ghettos fom which the uprising was staged.
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French resistance fighters with support from American troops take control of the French capital. The Nazi controlled Vichy puppet-government is exiled to Germany and a new French government, built from the resistance and government-in-exile, is formed.
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Soviet forces push into the Yugoslavian capital of Belgrade. With support of Bulgarian and Yugoslav partisans, the Soviets push the Germans out of Belgrade and the Yugoslav government is quickly reinstated. From this point until the end of the war, Yugoslav troops will bolster the Allied armies as one of the first countries to form a proper government after being liberated from Nazi occupation.
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The Germans began their last major offensive operation of the war. Thirteen divisions attempted to split the Allies in the West to try and force Britain and America to accept a peace treaty which would allow the Germans to focus on the Soviets in the East. The initial German assault was planned to take place under heavy snow cover, which had the desired effect of grounding almost all Allied aircraft, but also slowed the German advance because of poor road conditions.
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The Allied forces which had been successfully encircled during Operation Watch on the Rhein had reinforcements break through to them. Due to the German delay early on in the operation the Americans were able to hold out long enough for reinforcements to break the encirclement, resupply and bolster the troops that had been encircled, and then force the Germans back into retreat.
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Allied leaders Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Iosif Stalin meet in Yalta, Crimea to discuss what they would do to rebuild Europe. Europe is effectively divided between East and West and this division would draw the borders in Europe for the Cold War between NATO and the Warsaw Pact (with the exclusion of Yugoslavia and Albania who remain mostly neutral though communist).
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In four major bombing raids American and British bombers dropped more than 3,900 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on the city. Between 22,700 and 25,000 Germans are killed and it becomes a subject of propaganda in support of Germany's war effort. Even after the war it has been the subject of debate as to whether or not it was a justifiable act of war.
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Battle of Iwo Jima begins with an American assault on the islands. The Americans wanted to capture the airfields there to use as a staging ground for bombing raids against the Japanese mainland.
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American forces successfully take the islands of Iwo Jima after one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific. The volcanic nature of the islands meant that there was very little cover for the troops and the Japanese fought relentlessly to maintain control of the islands. In the end 6,821 Americans would be killed along with 18,844 Japanese.
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The largest amphibious assault in the Pacific theatre began on the Ryukyu islands of Okinawa. 183,000 American troops take part in the amphibious assault against a Japanese defening force of about 120,000 troops and around 40,000 Okinawans forced to fight for Japan as well. The attack is a success and American forces would continue to occupy Okinawa until 1972.
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Soviet forces begin the siege of the German capital. Soviet and Polish troops clash with the remnants of the Nazi army in the East, largely bolstered with Volkssturm volunteers (German citizens who fought alongside the professional army in Germany's final days and times of need). Hitler remains in the city hiding in his Führerbunker originally convinced that a counterrattack could still successfully repulse the Soviet attack and allow Germany to regroup and begin to push its enemies back.
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Adolf Hitler kills himself, either through cyanide pill or self-inflicted gun wound, along with his entire family and dog. This happens following the news of SS general Felix Steiner not launching an attack to reinforce German troops in Berlin, the Soviet army's advance into Berlin, and Mussolini's execution. His body was destroyed almost entirely by the remaining Nazi officials at the scene, although the Soviets claimed to have found some bone fragments which they believed to be his remains.
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The remaining German forces and Nazi officials in Berlin agree to an unconditional surrender to Soviet forces. The Soviet Union takes control of the German capital, and, despite continued resistance outside of Berlin, the Nazi government is officially destroyed.
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The German Instrument of Surrender is signed officially ending fighting in Europe between Germany and the Allies.
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A short, and mostly peaceful Allied operation to liberate Norway from Nazi occupation. 6,000 British troops liberate the nation with only 47 killed or injured.
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The Allied leaders of Harry S. Truman, Winston Churchill (later Clement Attlee), and Iosif Stalin meet in Potsdam, Germany to discuss how they would govern and punish defeated Germany.
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America drops the first nuclear weapon ever used in conflict on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in an attempt to force the Japanese to surrender. Between 90,000 or 166,000 were killed with a single device.
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America drops the second and last nuclear weapon ever used in conflict on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Between 60,000 or 80,000 are killed.
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Harry S. Truman is sworn into office as President of the United States.
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Japan agrees to surrender to the United States. This ends the war in the Pacific and World War II as a whole.
