World War II Key Events

Invasion of Poland (1939)

• First cannon shot fired; Polish cavalry ineffectively charges German tanks.
• Hitler orders bombing of Warsaw; city surrounded.

German Offensive in Western Europe (1940)

• May 10, 1940: German offensive begins, heading for the coast.
• Paris occupied; Nazi emblem flies over the city.
• British forces leave equipment in retreat.

Battle of Britain

• German bombers attack cities like Coventry and London (The Blitz).
• British pilots defend valiantly.

Expansion in Asia and the Pacific

• Japan attacks U.S. and British colonies in Asia.
• December 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor attack leads to U.S. joining the war.
• Japan's rapid conquest in the Pacific.

German Invasion of the Soviet Union (1941)

• Operation Barbarossa; massive German invasion including Finnish, Romanian, Slovakian, and Hungarian troops.
• Key battles at Kiev, Smolensk, and Stalingrad.

North Africa Campaign

• Rommel's Afrika Korps fights British forces.
• Allies open a new front in North Africa.

Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943)

• Soviet counteroffensive traps German Sixth Army.
• Major turning point in the war.

Battle of Kursk (1943)

• Largest tank battle; Soviets defeat German offensive.
• Red Army begins pushing towards Germany.

Italian Campaign

• Allies land in Italy; German forces resist.

Normandy Landings (D-Day, 1944)

• Massive Allied invasion of France.
• Paratroopers and naval forces breach German defenses.

Allied Advancements

• Soviets push into Eastern Europe; Allies advance from the west.
• Failures of German offensives, like in the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge).

Fall of Germany (1945)

• Allies capture Germany; Hitler's demise.
• Soviets storm into Berlin.

War in the Pacific

• Battle of Iwo Jima: Allied forces gain strategic positions.
• Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki lead to Japanese surrender.

Aftermath and Atrocities

• Liberation of concentration camps, including Belsen.
• Exposure of Nazi brutality and the Holocaust.