WWII Timeline

1 September 1939 - Nazis invade Poland

• This is regarded as the act that started WWII
• Auschwitz concentration camps set up in Poland
• Began one week after Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was signed
• Picture Title: Auschwitz II

5 September 1939 - US declares neutrality

• Meant to keep the United States out of the war
• Limited aid the US was able to provide to Britain and France
• Repealed 1941 because of German sub attacks and Pearl Harbour
• Picture Title: USS Wainwright refuels

29 September 1939 - Nazis and Soviets divide Poland

• Poland was divided between Germany and the USSR from 1939-1945
• 21.4% of Poland's population died between 1939 and 1945
• 1941 Nazis overrun Soviet Poland after their initial USSR invasion
• After a few years the Red Army drives them out and accross Poland
• Picture Title: WWII Poland Map

28 March 1939 - Spanish Civil War ended

• Germany and Italy aided the Nationalist side
• The USSR aided the Republican side, along with idealistic
• Radicals from France and America who formed brigaids
• Hitler had used Spain as a testing ground for his new army
• Picture Title: Castell de Montjuic 1939

June 22 1940 - France signs an armistice with the Germans

• 05 June Nazis penetrate Somme River, begin moving south
• Nazis reach Paris on 14 June, abandoned by french government
• Armistice signed in Compiegne Forest, where Nazis signed in WWI
• 1/3 France governed by Vichy government, collaberating with Axis
• Picture Title: French News - Armistice - WWII

27 September 1940 - Tripartite Pact signed

• Tripartite (Axis) Pact signed by Germany, Italy and Japan
• Mutual assistance if attacked by a country not already at war
• Aimed at US to make them think twice about joining the Allies
• Picture Title: Axis Bomber Manufacturing

11 March 1941 - The Lend-Lease Act

• President Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act to help Britain with the war
• Gave the Chief Executive the power to:
• "sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of" :
• Military resources that the President deemed in the interest of US defense
• Picture Title: Eyes of the Fleet

17 April 1941 - Yugoslavia surrenders to the Nazis

• 27 March Yugoslav and British topple pro-Axis regime
• 06 April Hitler launched invasion
• Yugoslavia divided between 4 Axis powers
• Aggravated religious differences, Serbs especially brutialized
• Picture Title:  RAF Parachute Supplies over Yugoslavia

26 July 1941 - Freeze of Japanese assets in United States

• Roosevelt freezes Japanese assets in United States and suspends relations
• Done in retaliation of Japanese occupation of French Indo-China
• Japan lost access to 3/4 of its overseas trade and 88% of its imported oil
• Japan's oil reserve would last 3 years, or half that if they went to war
• Picture Title: Unknown

7 December 1941 - Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor

• The Japanese bombed the US Naval base at Pearl Harbour
• The US declared war on Japan, and thus America entered the war.
• The US oficially became an Allied power.
• Picture Title: PearlHarbour_Bombing_18

8/9 February 1942 - Japanese invade Singapore

• Singapore's defending garrison surrendered on 15 February 1942
• Japan invaded Malaya looking for an alternative source of matrials
• Picture Title: January 1942, HMS Exeter, Singapore

24 March 1942 - Nimitz appointed Commander and Chief Pacific Theatre

• Defeated the Japanese in the following major Battles:
• Battle of the Coral Sea, Battle of Midway, & the Solomon Islands Campaign
• Captured Saipan, Guam, and Tinian, and Peleliu, Angaur, and Ulithi
• Signed for US when Japan formally surrendered
• Picture Title: Unknown

10 April 1942 - Bataan Death March begins

• Allies surrender main Philippine island Luzon to the Japanese
• 75,000 Filipino and American troops captured
• Prisoners march 85 miles in 6 days, with only 1 meal the whole way
• U.S. General Douglas MacArthur liberated Luzon in 1945
• Picture Title: The March of Death

June 1942 - Mass murder of Jews by gassing begins at Auschwitz

• 3.5 million Jews died in the extermination camps
• Final Solution not just to kill Jews, but Gypsies and Soviet POWs
• The Slovakian government deported Jews to Auschwits
• Slovakians pay Germans to keep deported Jew's dependents, too
• Picture Title: Auschwitz - Gas Chamber

22 July 1942 - First deportations from Warsaw; Treblinka

• Deportations from Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps begin
• Treblinka concentration/extermination camp in Poland
• Thousands of Jews rounded up and deported every day
• 250,000 Jews gassed to death in the first seven weeks
• Picture Title: Site of Treblinka Camp 1

21 August 1942 - First major Japanese attack Guadalcanal

• U.S. Marines repulse first major Japanese ground attack on Guadalcanal
• Guadalcanal Campaign (Operation Watchtower) 07 Aug 1942 - 09 Feb 1943
• Captured Guadalcanal, Tulagi and Florida, and an air base (Henderson field)
• Marked the Allies switch from defensive to offensive in the Pacific Theatre
• Picture Title: Tenaru River, Guadalcanal, Circa 1942

31 December 1942 - Emperor Hirohito withdraws

• Emperor Hirohito gives permission to his troops to withdraw
• From Guadalcanal after 5 months of fighting against U.S. Forces
• 07 August 1942 to 09 February 1943
• Allies first major offensive against Japan
• Picture Title: Marines Wade in Flooded Camp, Guadalcanal

German surrender at Stalingrad in big defeat of Hitler's armies

• 2 February 1943 German surrender at Stalingrad, first big defeat of Hitler
• Hitler had previously declared "Surrender is out of the question."
• Summer 1942 Germans began assault on Stalingrad
• 19 November '42 USSR launch counteroffensive, turn battle in their favour
• Picture Title: Guards at Stalingrad have crossed the Dniepr!

7 May 1943 - Allies take Tunisia

• Axis had 20,000 troops in Tunisia, heavily reinforced by air
• Gen. K. Anderson started Allied offensive on 25 November 1942
• Axis had initial advantage, but Allies had more access to supplies
• After defeat 230,000 troops captured, Axis plans invasion of Sicily
• Picture Title: WWII Tunisia Camps

11 June 1943 - Himmler orders liquidation of Jewish ghettos in Poland

• Jewish people forcefully concentrated in the ghettos by Nazis
• The ghettos were burnt down so anyone hiding would burn to death
• 3.5 million Jews taken from ghettos, killed in extermination camps
• Picture Title: Warsaw Ghetto

6 June 1944 - D-Day Landings

• Allies landed on a 50-mile stretch of Normandy beach, France
• Allies had 160,000 troops, 5,000 ships, and 13,000 aircraft
• over 9,000 Allied troops were killed or wounded
• Gave the Allies their first strong foothold in Western-Europe
• Picture Title: Invasion Fleet en route to France on D-Day

7 May 1945 - Germans unconditional surrender to the Allied forces

• This surrender ended WWII, though fighting continued in the East for a day
• General Alfred Jodl signs for Germany in Reims, France
• Russian Gen. I. Susloparov, French Gen. F. Sevez signed as witnesses
• General Walter Bedell Smith signed for the Allied Expeditionary Force
• Picture Title: German Soldiers Surrendering

24 October 1945 - United Nations is officially born

• United Nations Charter was adopted and signed on 26 June 1945
• Principals first formulated at the San Francisco Conference, 25 April 1945 
• Conference attended by Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, and 50 other nations
• After WWII U.N. Security Council negotiated and maintained the peace
• Picture Title: United Nations Manhattan, NYC

The End