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Germany invaded Poland, setting off war in Europe. The Soviet Union also invaded Poland and the Baltic nations. (German Blitzkrieg)
At 4:45 a.m. on September 1, the invasion began. Nazi diplomats and propagandists scrambled to head off hostilities with the Western powers, but on September 2 Britain and France demanded that Germany withdraw by September 3 or face war. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-invade-poland -
Germany invaded France and captured Paris.
By the time German tanks rolled into Paris, 2 million Parisians had already fled, with good reason. In short order, the German Gestapo went to work: arrests, interrogations, and spying were the order of the day, as a gigantic swastika flew beneath the Arc de Triomphe. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-enter-paris -
Germany bombed London, and the Battle of Britain began.
n the summer and fall of 1940, German and British air forces clashed in the skies over the United Kingdom, locked in the largest sustained bombing campaign to that date. A significant turning point of World War II, the Battle of Britain ended when Germany’s Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force despite months of targeting Britain’s air bases, military posts and, ultimately, its civilian population. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-britain -
The United States gave Britain war supplies and old naval warships in return for military bases in Bermuda and the Caribbean (Lend Lease).
Proposed in late 1940 and passed in March 1941, the Lend-Lease Act was the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. It authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials for which Congress appropriated money to “the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States.” http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/lend-lease-act -
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
ust before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor -
After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Germany declared war on the United States. The United States declared war on Japan and Germany.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor surprised even Germany. Although Hitler had made an oral agreement with his Axis partner Japan that Germany would join a war against the United States, he was uncertain as to how the war would be engaged. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor answered that question. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germany-declares-war-on-the-united-states -
The United States was victorious over Japan in the Battle of Midway. This victory was the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. Thanks in part to major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway -
Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union defeated Germany at Stalingrad, marking the turning point of the war in Eastern Europe.
The Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942-Feb. 2, 1943), was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in the U.S.S.R. during World War II. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad -
American and other Allied troops landed in Normandy, France, on D-Day to begin the liberation of Western Europe.
Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day -
The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) in 1945, forcing Japan to surrender and ending World War II.
Aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Japan formally surrenders to the Allies, bringing an end to World War II. By the summer of 1945, the defeat of Japan was a foregone conclusion. The Japanese navy and air force were destroyed. The Allied naval blockade of Japan and intensive bombing of Japanese cities had left the country and its economy devastated. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/japan-surrenders
