World War 2
World War II Timeline
1939
1939
- September 1: Hitler invades Poland
- Britain and France declare war on Germany two days later
- German "blitzkrieg" overwhelms Belgium, Holland, France
- Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain
- British victory in Battle of Britain forces Hitler to postpone invasion plans
- Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa- the invasion of Russia
- The Blitz continues against Britain's major cities
- Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, US enters the war
- Germany suffers setbacks at Stalingrad and El Alamein
- Singapore falls to Japanese
- American naval victory at Battle of Midway, in June, marks turning point in Pacific War.
- Mass murder of Jewish people at Auschwitz begins
- Surrender at Stalingrad marks Germany's first major defeat
- Allied victory in North Africa enables invasion of Italy to be launched
- Italy surrenders, Germany takes over the battle
- British and Indian forces fight Japanese in Burma
- Soviet offensive gathers pace in Eastern Europe
- D-Day: The Allied invasion of France. Paris is liberated in August.
- Guam liberated by the US Okinawa, and Iwo Jima bombed.
- Auschwitz liberated by Soviet troops.
- Russians reach Berlin: Hitler commits suicide and Germany surrenders on 7 May.
- Truman becomes President of the US on Roosevelt's death, and Attlee replaces Churchill.
- After atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrenders on 14 August.