WORLD WAR 2 TIMELINE

MARCH 12, 1938

• Annexation of Austria
• Hitler practically walks into Austria
• On March 13, it is part of Germany
• The previous leader Wilhelm Miklas is arrested and put in jail

SEPTEMBER 30,1938

• Munich Agreement
• The British, French, and Italian leaders
• Gather together to give the Sudetenland to Germany
• The Czechs, who owned the Sudetenland were not invited

AUGUST 23,1939

• Non-Aggression Pact
• Germany allies it self with the Soviet Union
• They agree to split Poland after Its taken over
• This allowed Hitler to focus on the western front

SEPTEMBER 1, 1939

• Hitler along with 1.5 million troops invade Poland
• Blitzkrieg, or lightning war, is used for the first time
• In 28 days, Poland falls to Germany
• Shortly after the invasion, France and Britain declare war

JUNE 4, 1940

• Rescue at Dunkirk, Fall of France (5/10/1940-6/22/1940)
• Germany invades France using blitzkrieg on
• 220,000 French troops were rescued by British Ships
• at different ports throughout France
• 336,000 troops were rescued at the Port of Dunkirk alone

JULY 10, 1940

• Battle of Britain
• Royal Air Force and Luftwaffe lock over Britain
• Germany loses, despite the bombings of British bases and outposts

DECEMBER 7, 1941

• Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in an attempt to cripple the American Navy
• Over 20 ships destroyed, 200 aircraft destroyed, and 3000 casualties
• Took over 2 hours
• America declares war on December 8,1941

JULY 17, 1942- FEBURARY 2, 1943

• Operation Barbarossa
• Germans invade USSR, despite pact
• Hitler attacks Stalingrad, Leningrad and Moscow
• He, however, did not plan for winter and gave up
• He blockaded the cities for almost a year, neither side surrendering

NOVEMBER 1942

• Operation Torch
• First joint attack, UK and US
• The plan was to go through North Africa and up into Italy
• This created an new warfront protecting "The Soft Underbelly"
• Africa->Sicily->Italy->Germany

JULY 10,1943

• Sicily is invaded
• Mussolini is arrested on July 24, 1943
• They reach mainland, Italy on September 9, 1943
• 734,000 casualties total

JUNE 6, 1944

• D-Day
• 156,000 allies plan to hit 5 beaches in France
• Largest invasion ever in history
• 4,000 Allies dead
• Liberation of Paris in August of 1944

OCTOBER 23-26, 1944

• Battle of Leyte Gulf
• Largest naval battle of war
• Took place in Waters by the Phillipines
• US wanted to isolate Japenese

FEBRUARY 19- MARCH 26, 1945

• Battle of Iwo Jima
• Japan vs United States
• US battled against a tough oppenent
• Japanese fought to the last man

APRIL- JUNE 1945

• Battle of Okinawa
• Hardest battle yet and not even Japan mainland
• Proved we needed to pull out the big guns

ATOMIC BOMBS

• The final step against Japan
• Three targets, the one with the best conditions was picked
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed
• Japan surrenders shortly after Nagasaki
• Radiation lingers for many years and affects many

APRIL/ maY 1944

• Russia vs Germany
• Russians outnumber Germans greatly
• It was a race to Berlin
• 80,000 Russian and 150,000 German casualties
• Hitler kills him and his new wife when defeat is imminent