World War II Timeline

1939

  • Hitler invades Poland on September 1 and Great Britain & France

declare war on Germany two days later.

1940

  • Rationalizing starts in the (UK) United Kingdom.

  • German 'Blitzkrieg' stuns Belgium, Holland and France.

  • Churchill becomes the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

  • British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk.

  • British victory in the Battle of Britain forces Hitler to postpone the invasion plans.

1941

  • Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of Russia.

  • The Blitzkrieg continues against Britain's major cities.

  • The Allies take Tobruk in North Africa, and evade German attacks.

  • Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the US enters the war.

1942

  • Germany suffers setbacks at Stalingrad and El Alamein.

  • Singapore falls to the Japanese in February - an estimation of 25,000 prisoners taken.

  • American naval victory at the Battle of Midway in June, this marks a turning point in the Pacific War.

  • The mass extermination of the Jews at Auschwitz begins.

1943

  • The surrender at Stalingrad sets Germany's first major defeat.

  • Allied victory in North Africa enables invasion of Italy to be launched.

  • Italy surrenders, but Germany takes over the battle.

  • British and Indian forces fight the Japanese in Burma.

1945

  • Auschwitz is liberated by Soviet troops.

  • Russia reach Berlin & Germany surrenders on May 7.

  • Truman becomes the president of the U.S after the death of Roosevelt & Attlee replaces Churchill.

  • After atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Japan surrender on August 14