Timeline of the Second World War
Allies / Axis Powers1. Britain / 1. Germany
2. France / 2. Italy
3. Soviet Union / 3. Japan
4. United States
September 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland (Western Betrayal) by Germany and Soviet Union (who then go after Finland)
Winter of 1939-1940: “Phony War” - No fighting takes place.
April 1940: Invasion of Denmark and Norway
May 1940: Invasion of Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium. (Chamberlain resigns and is replaced by Churchill).
Invasion of France (Blitzkrieg through Ardennes to the English Channel, splits Allies in 2 – Miracle at Dunkirk) Italy enters the war and France is conquered within one month. Paris and 2/3 of France are taken over directly by Germany.
A puppet state is created in southeastern France known as Vichy France.
July-October 1940: Operation Sea Lion (invasion of Britain) results in Battle of Britain as Germany tries to gain air superiority. Turn from bombing wartime factories and bases to bombing London (the Blitz). Fails for two reasons. Does not lower British morale (in fact the bombing of Buckingham Palace actually increased the people’s resolve) and failure to knock out wartime industries allowed Britain to continue the war.
1940: Italy invades Egypt from Libya beginning the North African campaign.
March 1941: Lend-Lease Agreement between Britain (Churchill) and America (Franklin Roosevelt) to supply them with military equipment. Break from US isolationism.
June 1941: Operation Barbarossa - Germany invades Soviet Union, goes back on the Non-aggression Pact that they signed.
December 7, 1941: Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. As part of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis, both Italy and Germany then declare war on the US.
July-November 1942: Battle of El Alamein halted Axis advance in Africa and kept them from occupying Egypt. Erwin Rommel (Desert Fox) had been very successful to that point, but was defeated by British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
1942-1943: Battle of Stalingrad. Turning point in the war for the Soviet Union whose troops are poorly equipped yet prove victorious.
July 1943: Invasion of Italy. Mussolini overthrown. Allies slowly creep north.
June 6, 1944: D-Day - Allied forces land in Normandy, France and begin their march to Berlin.
September 1944: Operation Market Garden - Allied airborne forces drop behind enemy lines in the Netherlands in an attempt to capture the Rhine River, which was the last barrier to invasion into Germany. The mission failed miserably as Allied forces could not hold onto the bridges long enough for armored support to arrive.
Dec. 1944-Jan. 1945: Battle of the Bulge - Germans counterattack through the Ardennes
April – May 1945: Battle of Berlin – Germans surrender
May 8, 1945: V-E Day
August 15, 1945: V-J Day