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World War II Timeline

  • Japanese Invasion of China

    Japanese Invasion of China
    The Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria because China announced policy of resistance from Japan immediately following the Mukden Incident.
  • Germany's Invasion of Poland

    Germany's Invasion of Poland
    Germany invades Poland because Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced and To Hitler, the conquest of Poland would bring Lebensraum, or “living space,” for the German people. Resulting in WWII in Europe.
  • Germany Blitzkrieg

    Germany Blitzkrieg
    A method of warfare, whereby an attacking force spearheaded by a dense concentration of armoured and motorized or mechanized infantry formations with close air support, breaks through the opponent's line of defense by short, fast, powerful attacks and then dislocates the defenders, using speed and surprise to encircle them causing unbalance to the enemy by making it difficult for it to respond to the continuously changing front and defeating it.
  • Period: to

    WWII Timeline

    World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier.
  • Fall of Paris

    Fall of Paris
    The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries during the Second World War. Beginning on 10 May 1940, the battle defeated primarily French forces.
  • Pearl Harbor

    Pearl Harbor
    Japan bombs pearl Harbor. Surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, in the United States Territory of Hawaii so they would not interfere, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.
  • Bataan Death March

    Bataan Death March
    The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer from Saisaih Pt. and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war which began on April 9, 1942, after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II.
  • Battle of Midway

    Battle of Midway
    The Battle of Midway was a crucial and decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The operation, like the earlier attack on Pearl Harbor, sought to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the Pacific, thereby giving Japan a free hand in establishing its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Japanese hoped another demoralizing defeat would force the U.S. to capitulate in the Pacific War and thus ensure Japanese dominance in the Pacific. Luring the American air
  • Battle of Stalingrad

    Battle of Stalingrad
    The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia, on the eastern boundary of Europe.
  • D-Day

    D-Day
    The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, and contributed to the Allied victory on the Western Front.
  • Battle of Iwo Jima

    Battle of Iwo Jima
    The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the U.S. Marines landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.
  • Batlle of Okinawa

    Batlle of Okinawa
    Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign (April 1—June 22, 1945) involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan. By the end of the 82-day campaign, Japan had lost more than 77,000 soldiers and the Allies had suffered more than 65,000 casualties—including 14,000 dead.
  • VE Day

    VE Day
    Victory in Europe Day, generally known as V-E Day, VE Day or simply V Day was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 (7 May in Commonwealth realms) to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces.
  • Dropping of the Atomic Bombs

    Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
    President Harry S. Truman, warned by some of his advisers that any attempt to invade Japan would result in horrific American casualties, ordered that the new weapon be used to bring the war to a speedy end. On August 6, 1945, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped a five-ton bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
  • VJ Day

    VJ Day
    On August 15, 1945, news of the surrender was announced to the world. This sparked spontaneous celebrations over the final ending of World War II. On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was held in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri. At the time, President Truman declared September 2 to be VJ Day.