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Invasion of Poland
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union; which marked the beginning of World War II. -
Great Britain and France declare war on Germany
The United Kingdom declared war on Germany on Sunday 3 September 1939, two days after Germany invaded Poland. France also declared war on Germany later the same day -
Battle of Dunkirk
The Battle of Dunkirk was fought around the French port of Dunkirk during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation of British and other Allied forces to Britain from 26 May to 4 June 1940. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe -
Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, just before 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941. -
America enters WW2
On December 7, 1941, Japanese carrier planes attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, knocking out over 200 planes and sinking or damaging eight battleships, the pride of the US Pacific fleet. The following day, Congress declared war on Imperial Japan. -
Battle of midway
The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place 4–7 June 1942, six months after the Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea -
Allies push into North Africa
Meanwhile, on 8 November 1942, the Allies had landed in French North Africa. The invasion force, codenamed Operation Torch, was commanded by General Dwight Eisenhower and included the British 1st Army. After their initial resistance, the Vichy French agreed to a ceasefire. -
Allies invade Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers -
Italy surrendered
The sorry tale of Italy's surrender in 1943 can easily, and with some justice, be reduced to simple essentials: on 25 July Mussolini's government 'practically evaporated -
Battle of Normandy
The Normandy campaign saw the Anglo-American armies inflict a decisive defeat on the German military machine. The British Army's role was pivotal, but victory came at a price. Between D-Day and the end of August some 83,000 British, Canadian and Polish troops became casualties, of whom almost 16,000 were killed. -
Paris liberated
The liberation of Paris was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. -
Hitler committed suicide
As Soviet troops entered the heart of Berlin, Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945, in his underground bunker. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict