World War 2

WW2 began on 1 September 1939 when Germany attacked Poland resulting in France and Britain engaging in combat against Germany. On 17 September the Soviet Union intervened in Poland which led to it becoming a country with disputed command between the Germans and the Soviets. 

In April 1940 Germany attacked Norway and took control over Denmark and in May 1940 they invaded Belgium and the Netherlands. Later on the Nazis would manage to cross into France by defeating French soldiers and destroying the defensive barrier using their tanks and planes. This lead to British Soldiers being taken from Dunkirk and Southern French Soldiers would stage a strong line of defence. Further on Germany and Italy would create the pact of steel proclaiming war on France and Britain on June 10.

On 14 June 1940 the Nazis travelled into Paris, resulting in France being partitioned into 2 zones. One controlled by the Nazis and the other under leadership by Philippe Petain - a former French commander in World War one. Hitler then decided to attack Britain as it benefitted from not sharing a border with France.

In September 1940 German planes began bombarding Britain until May 1941 this was known as the Blitz which consisted of night attacks on London and other production hubs in Britain resulting in a high number of deaths. The Royal Air Force (RAF) managed to trounce the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) which resulted in Hitler delaying his invasion plan and Winston Churchill obtaining important aid from the USA under the Lend-Lease act of 1941.

In June 1941 Hitler instructed an attack on the Soviet Union known as Operation Barbarossa. Despite the Soviet Union having a higher number of tanks and aircrafts than Germany their flight technology was outdated. The Nazis were able to travel by 200 miles of Moscow by mid july. Disputes then occurred between Hitler and his commanders which meant he postponed the next German approach in the Soviet Union until October, when it was obstructed by a Soviet counterattack and difficult winter weather.

On December 7 1941 the Japanese launched an assault on Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, on the next day the US congress proclaimed war on Japan which would mean Germany and the axis powers would respond by proclaiming war on the US. In 1942 US won the Battle of Midway which was an important moment in the war, the allies also managed to win battles against Japanese soldiers on the Solomon Islands between August 1942 and February 1943. In 1943 Allied forces made a counteroffensive against Japan on Japanese occupied islands, which resulted in victory for them as they were near their aim of attacking mainland Japan.

In 1943 in Northern Africa, British and American forces managed to overcome Italian and German soldiers. The allies then carried out an attack on Sicily and Italy resulting in Mussolini's regime collapsing. In November 1942 the Soviet Union made a counterattack which helped finish the battle of Stalingrad, with winter coming along and a low supply of food and medicine, German soldiers decided to leave the country.

On 6 June 1944 known as D-Day. The allied forces carried out a huge attack on Europe where 156000 British, Canadian and American soldiers were deployed on the beaches of Normandy, France. Hitler responded by using additional troops into the West of Europe. Soviet Soldiers then went into Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania. Hitler then ordered his soldiers to push out the British and Americans away from Germany in the Battle of Bulge between December 1944 and January 1945, which was the final crucial German attack of the war. 

From 1945 the allies made an attack of Germany until they relinquished their involvement in the war on the 8th May, in which Hitler had commited suicide earlier on April 30 in Berlin. 

At the Potsdam Conference in July-August 1945 , Harry S. Truman, Churchill and Stalin met to to talk about the current war with Japan and the future of Germany. They decided that Germany would be split into 4 occupation areas after the war in which they would be commanded by UK, US, Soviet Union and France. On the topic of Eastern Europe's future Truman and Churchill agreed to Stalin's plan for the region.

Due to the high number of deaths in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and concerns over a larger land attack on Japan, meant Truman would approve the use of 2 atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima - 6 August and Nagasaki - 9 August. On 15 August the government of Japan made a statement announcing their accede to the terms of the Potsdam declaration and on September 2 US General Douglas MacArthur accepted the surrender of Japan.