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The Treaty of Versailles was used to punish Germany after WWI. This shamed the German people, and it set the scene that allowed Hitler to come to power.
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Hitler's troops cross the Rhine, violating the Treaty of Versailles. The French became nervous; they knew that Hitler was planning something. However, no countries did anything about this blatant violation of the treaty.
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HItler annexes Austria. The Austrian people welcomed Hitler and his military with open arms.
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The Munich Conference is held in Munich, Germnay. Roosevelt, Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain, and Daladier are all in attendance. The purpose of this conference was to prevent Hitler from taking aggressive military action in order to expand his Third Reich. To appease Hitler, the leaders granted him a portion of Czechoslovakia's territroy: the Sudetenland.
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Although Hitler already controlled the Sudetenland, he took control of the rest of Czechoslovakia. This directly violated the agreements reached in the Munich Conference.
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Hitler and Stalin sign a non-aggressive pact. The Nazis and Soviets planned to attack Poland at the same time and split it between themselves.
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Known as the "Phony War," this was the period of inaction after France and Great Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. Hitler used this time to plan his next attack on France.
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The Nazis invade Poland from the west while the Soviet Union attacks from the east. Poland fell quickly, and Great Britain and France declared war on Germany.
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The Sitzkrieg ends with the invasion of France by Germany. The French, anticipating an attack through the Rhineland, heavily fortified the French-German border. This line of fortifactions was known as the Maginot Line. The German army attacked through the Ardennes Forest, a move that no one was expecting. France fell one month later.
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The British Expeditionary Force is evacuated from Dunkirk, France to Great Britain after the rapid fall of France.
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The Germans tried to gain air superiority of Great Britain in order to launch an invasion of the island, but they are defeated by the RAF over the course of a few months. This was a major turning point in the war in Europe.
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Hitler breaks the Nazi-Soviet Non-Agression Pact and attacks the Soviet Union. This causes the Soviet Union to form an alliance with Great Britain.
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The Japanese attack the navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the United States is drawn into war. "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant."
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Japanese expansion was stopped for the first time by the navies of the United States and Australia.
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The Japanese Navy tried to lure several U.S. aircraft carriers into a trap, but the Japanese were defeated badly.
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The Allied Powers stop the combined German and Italian armies from advancing into Egypt. This was the turning point in Northern Africa.
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The Allies take control of Gudalcanal, an important base for the Japanese navy. This is the turning point in the Pacific.
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The Axis armies surrender to the Allies in North Africa.
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U.S. forces took control of Rome. Even though Italy had signed an armistice with the Allies, Germany still occupied most of the country; fighting still continued.
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The Allied powers storm the beaches of Normandy in northern France. The purpose of the invasion was to liberate the French from Nazi occupation and to open up a two-front war against Germany.
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This was the last major German offensive of WWII. The Nazis made major gains at first, but the Allies eventually overcame them.
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Nazi Germany surrenders. Hitler committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin; the surrender was authorized by his replacement.
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The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in order to make the Japanese surrender.
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A second atomic bomb is dropped on Japan.
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After two atomic bombs were dropped, the Empire of Japan surrenders to the United States. WWII was officially over.
