World War II
From Wikislippy
World War II, or the Second World War (often abbreviated WWII or WW2), was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all of the great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis.
Contents |
Timeline
1939
- August 24, 1939 - German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and his Soviet counterpart Vyacheslav Molotov sign a non-aggression pact.
- September 1, 1939 - Germany invades Poland.
- September 3, 1939 - France and Britain declare war on Germany.
- September 10, 1939 - Canada declares war on Germany.
1940
- September 7, 1940 - The London Blitzkrieg begins. Nightly raids by the German Luftwaffe lay waste to the city.
1941
- March 11, 1941 - The U.S. Congress passes the Lend-Lease Act.
- June 22, 1941 - Adolf Hitler launches Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
- December 7, 1941 - Japanese forces bomb the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.
- December 8, 1941 - The U.S. joins WWII
1943
- February 2, 1943 - The German army is defeated at Stalingrad.
- September 8, 1943 - Italy signs an armistice with the Allies. The first fascist government of the 20th century becomes the first to surrender.
- November 28, 1943 - The Teheran Conference: Code name Eureka, it is the first time the three major Allied leaders meet. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill.
1944
- June 6, 1944 - Operation Overlord begins.
- June 23, 1943 - The Nazis grant permission to the International Red Cross to visit a concentration camp. They tour Theresienstadt, near Prague.
1945
- January 27, 1945 - The Liberation of Auschwitz. Soviet troops find 7,000 prisoners, most of whom are ill and dying.
- March 9, 1945 - The U.S. bombs Tokyo.
- April 30, 1945 - Hitler shoots himself in the head.
- May 7, 1945 - Berlin, Germany falls silent. The carnage comes to an end. The remaining German high command orders their soldiers to stop fighting.
- August 6, 1945 - The U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
- August 9, 1945 - The U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.
- November 20, 1945 - The Nuremburg trials open. Leaders of the Nazi regime are to be tried for war crimes. Of the 21 accused, 12 are sentenced to die.
The End
VE Day
Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day or VE Day) was May 7 and May 8, 1945, the dates when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. On April 30, Hitler committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin, and so the surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, President of Germany Karl Dönitz.
VJ Day
Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day, also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending World War II. The term has been applied to both the day on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made in the afternoon of August 15, 1945 (August 14 North American date), as well as the date the formal surrender ceremony was performed in Tokyo on September 2, 1945.
