WWII Timeline

  • Invasion of Manchuria

    Invasion of Manchuria

    The Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria on September 18, 1931, immediately after the Mukden Incident. The puppet state of Manchukuo was founded by the Japanese at the end of the war in February 1932.
  • Munich Agreement

    Munich Agreement

    The Munich Agreement was a pact that Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy reached on September 30, 1938, at Munich.
  • Fall of Paris

    Fall of Paris

    Between 9 May and 22 June 1940, the Battle of France, a stunning German offensive on north-west Europe, captured and subjugated not only France but also Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
  • Battle of Britain

    Battle of Britain

    In the Second World War, the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy protected Britain from widespread attacks by the Luftwaffe, Nazi Germany's air force, during the Battle of Britain. It was the first significant military operation in which only air forces were used.
  • start of Operation Barbarossa

    start of Operation Barbarossa

    During the Second World War, on Sunday, June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies launched Operation Barbarossa, an invasion of the Soviet Union. With over 10 million combatants participating, it was the greatest land offensive in human history.
  • Pearl Harbor

    Pearl Harbor

    On Sunday, December 7, 1941, just before 8:00 a.m., the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service launched a surprise military attack against the United States against the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii.
  • Midway

    Midway

    World War II naval engagement, fought nearly completely with planes, in which the United States destroyed Japan's first-line carrier strength and most of its finest trained naval pilots
  • Stalingrad

    Stalingrad

    The Soviet Union successfully defended the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russia, during World War II from July 17, 1942, to February 2, 1943.
  • Invasion of Italy

    Invasion of Italy

    During the Italian campaign of World War II, the Allied amphibious landing on Italian territory began on September 3, 1943, and was known as the Allied invasion of Italy. Following the victorious Allied invasion of Sicily, General Sir Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group carried out the mission.
  • D-Day

    D-Day

    During World War II's Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy included landing operations and related airborne operations on Tuesday, June 6, 1944. It was the greatest seaborne invasion in history, known under the codename Operation Neptune and frequently referred to as D-Day.
  • Liberation of Paris

    Liberation of Paris

    The Battle of Paris was a World War II military operation that lasted from August 19, 1944, through August 25, 1944, when the German garrison was forced to surrender.
  • Iwo Jima

    Iwo Jima

    On February 19, 1945, U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima after months of naval and aerial bombardment. The Japanese defenders of the island were dug into bunkers deep within the volcanic rocks. The battle featured roughly 18,000 Japanese soldiers and 70,000 U.S. Marines.
  • Okinawa

    Okinawa

    The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army.
  • V-E Day

    V-E Day

    Victory in Europe Day commemorates the unconditional surrender of Germany's military forces to the Allies on May 8, 1945, which marked the formal end of World War II in Europe on the Eastern Front, with the last shots being fired on May 11.
  • Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. The aerial bombings together killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict.
  • VJ - Day

    VJ - Day

    Victory over Japan Day is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end.
  • Invasion of Poland

    Invasion of Poland

    was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union
  • Nuremberg Trials

    Nuremberg Trials

    The trial got underway on November 20 with 21 defendants showing up in front of the judge. After the inaugural International Military Tribunal, the US held 12 more trials in Nuremberg. A total of 199 people were tried; 161 were found guilty, and 37 received death sentences.