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Nazi invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland was by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contignent that initiated the start of World War II to Europe. -
Period: to
World War II
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Warsaw surrenders!
The city of Warsaw, capital of Poland, surrenders from the Soviet Union on September 27. The Polish government flees into exile via Romania. Germany and The Soviet Union divide Poland between them. -
Attempt to assassinate Hitler at Munich
Every year on November 8, Hitler and the veteran soldiers of the National Socialist Party would gather to show respect of the failed putsch of November 9, 1923. Hitler would usually start his speech at 8:30 but this time he started his speech half an hour earlier. He finished the speech at 9:07 and left the site. At 9:20 a bomb exploded and killed 9 people. Johann George Elser was tortured until he finally admitted into setting the bomb up to kill Hitler. -
British Prime Minister
On May 8th, the Labour Party demanded a debate on the Norweigan campaign and this turned into a vote of censure. At the end of the debate 30 Conservatives votes against Chamberlain and a further 60 abstained. Chamberlain resigned on May 10th, the same day that George VI appointed Winston Churchill as prime minister. -
Afrika Korps
First units of German Afrika Korps arrive in Africa. They were the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II. -
Sinking of Ships
The first tanker to go down was the Norness on January 14, 1942. Over the next seventeen days, German U-boats began to sink ships along the US coast. -
Greatest Tank Battle in History
On the Easter front, the battle of Kursk begins. The German offensive is launched against the Soviet held on Kursk. The Soviets have prepared extensive defenses and anticipate the German offensive. The Soviet launches a bombardment before the German forces are scheduled to begin attacking. -
Supreme Commander of Western Allied Forces
Dwight D.Eisenhower gets promoted to the highest rank in the American army. He was diplomatic, easy to work with and showed that he wouldn't get pushed around by his subordinates. -
The Russians liberate the Auschwitz death camp
Soviet forces approached the Auschwitz camp complex, the SS began evacuating Auschwitz and its satellite camps. Nearly 60,000 prisoners were forced to march west from the Auschwitz camp system to the city of Wodzislaw in the western part of Upper Silesia. On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz and liberated more than 7,000 remaining prisoners, who were mostly ill and dying. -
The first atomic bomb dropped on Japan
The Potsdam Proclamation, which demanded the surrender of the Emperor of Japan, was issued, but Japan rejected the Proclamation because they believed the Emperor to be a God. On the morning of August 6, 1945, the United States Army Air Forces dropped the first nuclear bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima.
