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The Second World War begins.
Germany under leader, Adolf Hitler, invades Poland with Blitzkrieg, resulting in Britain and France to declare war on his Nazi state in retaliation. -
USSR invades Poland after signing a non-aggression pact with Germany.
Two weeks after war began, the USSR invaded Poland from the east. USSR Leader Joseph Stalin signed a mutual non-aggression pact with Hitler, and secretly shared Poland between them. -
Germany raids multiple nations, including France.
In May 1940, Germany shocked the world by rapidly invading and defeating the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and a British Expeditionary Force that was aiding the French. Operations began May 10 with attacks on Holland and ended June 25, when France signed an armistice that divided the country into occupied and unoccupied zones. -
Air war above England begins
On July 10, an air war over England began, which British prime minister Winston Churchill termed the Battle of Britain. The German Luftwaffe was to knock out the Royal Air Force (RAF) in preparation for Operation Sealion, the proposed naval invasion of Britain, or force Churchill to seek a negotiated peace. Though it was a near-run thing, the defense mounted by the badly outmanned RAF led Hitler to abandon plans for the invasion; the Battle of Britain ended September 30. -
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The Holocaust
From 1941 to 1945, Jews were systematically murdered in the deadliest genocide in history, which was part of a broader aggregate of acts of oppression and killings of various ethnic and political groups in Europe. These people were sent to concentration camps, either to be killed immediately or worked under malnourishment.
About 11 million have perished. -
Axis Forces launch Operation Barbarossa; Germany betrays USSR.
Finally, on June 22, 1941, Germany and its allies launched Operation Barbarossa, a massive invasion of the Soviet Union from the Baltic shore in the north to the Black Sea in the South. The Soviets were caught by surprise. (The USSR knew Germany would attack eventually and had wargamed various scenarios but did not expect the invasion so soon.) -
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. US joins the war.
On December 7, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the US Naval Base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, using bombers, torpedo bombers and midget submarines. On December 8, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a speech, also known as the “Infamy Speech” to the American citizens, informing them that this happened while the US was in the midst of talks to keep peace. That same day, America entered into World War II. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
At Stalingrad two combatants fought a vicious, building-by-building, street-by-street battle from July 17, 1942, to February 2, 1943. In November 1942, the Soviets launched a two-prong counterattack that encircled and ultimately captured the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad. At any rate, the German offensive failed. From that point on, Soviet forces advanced westward, entering the German capital of Berlin in April 1945. -
Allies invade Italy
British forces under Montgomery and U.S. troops under Patton raced to capture the city of Messina; Patton won the race, but his men arrived just hours after the last German troops had been evacuated to the Italian mainland. Nearly 140,000 Italian troops surrendered on Sicily. The Fascist Grand Council forced Mussolini from power on July 25, 1943, and a new Italian government signed a secret armistice with the Allies on September 3. -
D-Day and Operation Dragoon: Allies reclaim France
On June 6, 1944, the Western Allies invaded France’s Normandy coast. Months of carefully planned deceptions had convinced Hitler the invasion would come at Calais, the closest point on the French coast to England. On August 15 a second invasion, Operation Dragoon, succeeded in southern France. Everywhere within that country, German infantry and armored units were in retreat. -
Atom bomb testing begins with Manhattan Project.
By the summer of 1945, Oppenheimer was ready to test the first bomb. On July 16, 1945, at Trinity Site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, scientists of the Manhattan Project readied themselves to watch the detonation of the world's first atomic bomb. -
US gives Japan the Potsdam Declaration.
The ultimatum called for Japan's armed forces to surrender, otherwise they would face "prompt and utter destruction." Japan, unfortunately, refused to surrender. -
Atom Bombs "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" drop on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders.
An American B-29 dropped a single atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, obliterating the town. When no Japanese surrender was forthcoming, a second bomb fell on Nagasaki. While the world was shocked by the high number of primarily civilian casualties and massive destruction wrought by a single explosive device, in fact far more Japanese had been killed in the firebombings that U.S. planes had been carrying out for months. On August 15, 1945, Japan formally surrendered. World War II was over.
