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Nazi invasion of Poland
German units, with more than 2,000 tanks and over 1,000 planes, broke through Polish defenses along the border and advanced on Warsaw in a massive encirclement attack -
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WWII Timeline
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Britain and France declare war on Germany.
Britain and France, standing by their guarantee of Poland's border, had declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939 -
Failed assassination attempt on Hitler
Every year, on November 8, Hitler and the “veteran soldiers” of the National Socialist Party would gather to commemorate the failed putsch of November 9,1923. Hitler would usually begin his speech at 8:30 p.m., and would continue speaking until 10:00. On November 8, 1939, Hitler decided to begin his speech approximately half an hour earlier than usual. He finished at 9:07, and left the site. At 9:20, a bomb exploded and shook the beer hall. Hitler escaped an assassination attempt. 9 were killed -
Tripartite (Axis) Pact signed by Germany, Italy and Japan
Axis powers are formed as Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies with the signing of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. The Pact provided for mutual assistance should any of the signatories suffer attack by any nation not already involved in the war. -
Stalingrad
On June 22, 1941, four million troops poured over the Russian border. Within one month, over two and half million Russians had been killed, wounded or captured. The Germans made tremendous advances into Russia – into portions of Moscow, Leningrad, and Stalingrad. -
Pearl Harbor
a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. -
British House of commons are informed of the mass Jew extermination
after all the secrecy, the British Foreign Secretary Eden tells the British House of Commons of mass executions of Jews by Nazis; U.S. declares those crimes will be avenged. -
Battle of the Barents Sea
Fought by Germany and British. Both lost only one ship -
D-Day
General Dwight Eisenhower led U.S. and Allied troops in an invasion of Normandy, France. The armies fought their way through France and Belgium and into Germany while Russian troops fought from the east. -
U.S drops atomic bomb in Japan
The Japanese fought on even after the war in Europe ended. Truman decided to use the newly developed atomic bomb to end the war quickly and prevent more U.S. casualties. The Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Killing about 78,000 people and injuring 100,000 more
