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September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland, triggering WWII. In response to this German aggression, Great Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany. Germany possessed overwhelming military superiority against Poland, demonstrating Germany’s ability to combine air power and armor into a new form of warfare -
On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland, and the last operational unit surrendered on October 6. Succeeding Poland’s defeat, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union divided the country in accordance with a secret clause in the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.
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May 1940 - June 14 1940, Germany invaded France, as Hitler ordered a conquest of the Low Countries to be executed as soon as possible, to stall the French and prevent Allied air power from threatening the vital German Ruhr Area. The main German assault went to the north through Luxembourg and bypassed the Maginot Line. Germany artillery, tanks, and dive bombers attacked the Maginot Line. German forces invaded Paris on June 14, and roughly a week later France signed an armistice with Germany.
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June 1940 - May 1941, Germany moved to gain air superiority over Great Britain was a prelude to an invasion. Despite months of air attacks, Germany was not able to destroy Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF). In fall of 1940, the invasion was indefinitely postponed, but the German bombing campaign continued until May 1941. The Germans ultimately halted the air attacks succeeding this because of their preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.
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December 7, 1941, Japanese rationalized an attack on Pearl Harbor as retribution for the military and economic support from the US to the Chinese republic, as well as for the economic sanctions that followed. Pearl Harbor was the most important American naval base in the Pacific, and home to the US fleet. -
The attack’s impact was not limited to the United States, as Hitler applauded the attack and declared war on the United States soon after - a maneuver historians believe was his greatest error in judgement.
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December 8, 1941 - September 1945, the United States declared war on Japan, and on December 11, Nazi Germany, Japan’s Axis ally declared war on the United States. A turning point came in June 1942 at this battle, seeing that it was the first time that Allied forces were able to make headway in the Pacific.
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In August 1945, the United States dropped multiple atomic bombs on Japanese the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As a result, approximately 120,000 civilians died. Japan formally surrendered in September 1945.
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July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943, was considered one of the greatest victories of their Great Patriotic War by Russians as Germans attempted to gain control of the city, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict among this time. The battle stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies.
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September 9, 1943, General Mark Clark’s US 5th Army began landing on the beaches south of Salerno, where they were met with stiff resistance. Simultaneously, the British 1st Airborne Division went ashore at Taranto on the ‘heel’ of Italy. By the end of September, the Allies were in Naples. -
Shortly before the Salerno and Taranto landings, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was overthrown, as the new Italian government surrendered to the Allies. Most of the Italian army was disarmed by the Germans, whose troops now manned key positions throughout Italy.
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June 6, 1944, an invasion of Normandy, France was once of the most important military operations to the western Allies’ success during WWII. Operation Overlord, also known as ‘D-Day’ marked the beginning of the end of German rule in France, attempting to overthrow Hitler’s Nazis. Two and a half years later Paris was liberated. -
December 16, 1944, Germany military launched the Battle of the Bulge, a last-ditch German military counter-offensive against Allied armies in the West. Adolf Hitler hoped that the counter-attack would surround the British and American armies, and stall the Allied offensive against Germany. The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German military offensive in western Europe. -
April 25, 1945 - May 9, 1945, Soviet forces began circling Berlin on April 25. That same day, Soviet Forces linked up with their American counterparts attacking from the west in central Germany. After heavy fighting, Society forces neared Hitler’s command bunker in central Berlin, as Hitler then committed suicide on April 30.
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Within days Berlin fell to the Soviets, and German forces surrendered unconditionally in the west on May 7 and in the east on May 9. Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day) was proclaimed on May 8, 1945, amid celebrations in London, Washington, Moscow, and Paris.
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August 6, 1945, the United States Army Air Force dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the initial explosion, and many more later from radiation exposure. Three days later, the United States dropped a bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Approximately 120,00 civilians were killed from the two blasts.