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Nazi Germany and Soviet Union Pact
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression agreement and a secret codicil dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence. -
Germany invaded Poland
Germany invaded Poland, the first step of the Nazi Germany to build an Empire in Europe. This was the start of the World War II. -
Great Britain and France declare war on Germany
Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. -
The Soviet Union invades Poland from the East
The Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939. On that day, sixteen days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west, the Soviet Union did so from the east. The invasion ended on 6 October 1939 with the two-way division and annexation of the entire Second Polish Republic by Germany and the Soviet Union. -
Germany invades Denmark and Norway
Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway holds out until June 9.
Later invades Belgium, Luxemburg and it takes part of the French territory. -
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.
The Tripartite Pact, also known as the Berlin Pact, was an agreement between Germany, Italy and Japan signed in Berlin on 27 September 1940 by, respectively, Adolf Hitler, Galeazzo Ciano and Saburō Kurusu. It was a defensive military alliance. -
Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria invade Yugoslavia.
Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria invade Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia surrenders on April 17. Germany and Bulgaria invade Greece in support of the Italians. Resistance in Greece ceases in early June 1941. -
Nazi Germany and its Axis partners (except Bulgaria) invade the Soviet Union.
Nazi Germany and its Axis partners (except Bulgaria) invade the Soviet Union. Finland, seeking redress for the territorial losses in the armistice concluding the Winter War, joins the Axis just before the invasion. The Germans quickly overrun the Baltic States and, joined by the Finns, lay siege to Leningrad (St. Petersburg) by September. In the center, the Germans capture Smolensk in early August and drive on Moscow by October. In the south, German and Romanian troops capture Kiev in September. -
Japan bombs US Pearl Harbor
The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a surprise devastating air attack against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqNY88Amuzw -
The United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II.
Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), and British Singapore. By April 1942, the Philippines, Indochina, and Singapore are under Japanese occupation. -
Battle of Midway
On this day in 1942, the Battle of Midway–one of the most decisive U.S. victories against Japan during World War II–begins. During the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown, to the previously invincible Japanese navy.
In six months of offensives prior to Midway, the Japanese had triumphed in lands throughout the Pacific, including Malaysia, Singapore, etc. -
German troops on their way to Stalingrad
Germany and her Axis partners launch a new offensive in the Soviet Union. German troops fight their way into Stalingrad (Volgograd) on the Volga River by mid-September and penetrate deep into the Caucasus after securing the Crimean Peninsula. -
The Battle of Kursk
The Germans launch a massive tank offensive near Kursk in the Soviet Union. The Soviets blunt the attack within a week and begin an offensive initiative of their own. -
Changes in the Fascist government
The Fascist Grand Council deposes Benito Mussolini, enabling Italian Marshall Pietro Badoglio to form a new government. -
The Badoglio government surrenders unconditionally to the Allies.
The Badoglio government surrenders unconditionally to the Allies. The Germans immediately seize control of Rome and northern Italy, establishing a puppet Fascist regime under Mussolini, who is freed from imprisonment by German commandos on September 12. -
Normandy landings
British and US troops successfully land on the Normandy beaches of France, opening a “Second Front” against the Germans. -
Allied troops reach Paris
Allied troops reach Paris. On August 25, Free French forces, supported by Allied troops, enter the French capital. By September, the Allies reach the German border; by December, virtually all of France, most of Belgium, and part of the southern Netherlands are liberated. -
Hitler commits suicide. Germany gives up on War
Der Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany, burrowed away in a refurbished air-raid shelter, consumes a cyanide capsule, then shoots himself with a pistol while he is with his wife, on this day in 1945.
After this, Germany gives up on War. -
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
In August 1945, during the final stage of the Second World War, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.
Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2rEhYS46EA -
End of the World War II
Having agreed in principle to unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II.
