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Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, the father of Prince Charles and the grandfather of Prince Harry and Prince William.

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The attack on Pearl Harbor pulled the U.S. into World War II, changing the course of history. Learn about its causes and effects.

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How does a society go down the path to genocide? Learn about how the Holocaust happened, and how to recognize the signs so we can prevent it from happening again.

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Map of WWII

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WWII Soldiers

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WWII Soldiers

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Educational Videos for Students (Cartoons on Bullying, Leadership & More)

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Watch a World War 2 Documentary for Children. World War 2 for Kids in Elementary School Cartoon

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September 18, 1931
Japan invades Manchuria.

November 25, 1936
Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement.

March 11-13, 1938
Germany incorporates Austria in the Anschluss.

March 14-15, 1939
Under German pressure, the Slovaks declare their independence and form a Slovak Republic. The Germans occupy the rump Czech lands in violation of the Munich agreement, forming a Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

March 31, 1939
France and Great Britain guarantee the integrity of the borders of the Polish state.

April 7-15, 1939
Fascist Italy invades and annexes Albania.

September 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe.

September 3, 1939
Honoring their guarantee of Poland's borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.

September 17, 1939
The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east.

September 27-29, 1939
Warsaw surrenders on September 27. The Polish government flees into exile via Romania. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between them.

November 30, 1939-March 12, 1940
The Soviet Union invades Finland, initiating the so-called Winter War. The Finns sue for an armistice and have to cede the northern shores of Lake Lagoda and the small Finnish coastline on the Arctic Sea to the Soviet Union.

April 9, 1940-June 9, 1940
Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway holds out until June 9.

June 14, 1940-August 6, 1940
The Soviet Union occupies the Baltic States on June 14-18, engineering Communist coup d'états in each of them on July 14-15, and then annexing them as Soviet Republics on August 3-6.

July 10, 1940-October 31, 1940
The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany.

August 30, 1940
Second Vienna Award: Germany and Italy arbitrate a decision on the division of the disputed province of Transylvania between Romania and Hungary. The loss of northern Transylvania forces Romanian King Carol to abdicate in favor of his son, Michael, and brings to power a dictatorship under General Ion Antonescu.

September 27, 1940
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.

April 10, 1941
The leaders of the terrorist Ustasa movement proclaim the so-called Independent State of Croatia. Recognized immediately by Germany and Italy, the new state includes the province of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia joins the Axis powers formally on June 15, 1941.

December 6, 1941
A Soviet counteroffensive drives the Germans from the Moscow suburbs in chaotic retreat.

December 8, 1941
The United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II. Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), and British Singapore. By April 1942, the Philippines, Indochina, and Singapore are under Japanese occupation.

December 11-13, 1941
Nazi Germany and its Axis partners declare war on the United States.

May 30, 1942-May 1945
The British bomb Köln (Cologne), bringing the war home to Germany for the first time. Over the next three years Anglo-American bombing reduces urban Germany to rubble.

June 1942
British and US navies halt the Japanese naval advance in the central Pacific at Midway.

June 28, 1942-September 1942
Germany and her Axis partners launch a new offensive in the Soviet Union. German troops fight their way into Stalingrad (Volgograd) on the Volga River by mid-September and penetrate deep into the Caucasus after securing the Crimean Peninsula.

August-November 1942
US troops halt the Japanese island-hopping advance towards Australia at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

November 8, 1942
US and British troops land at several points on the beaches of Algeria and Morocco in French North Africa. The failure of the Vichy French troops to defend against the invasion enables the Allies to move swiftly to the western border of Tunisia, and triggers the German occupation of southern France on November 11.

November 23, 1942-February 2, 1943
Soviet troops counterattack, breaking through the Hungarian and Romanian lines northwest and southwest of Stalingrad and trapping the German Sixth Army in the city. Forbidden by Hitler to retreat or try to break out of the Soviet ring, the survivors of the Sixth Army surrender on January 30 and February 2, 1943.

May 13, 1943
Axis forces in Tunisia surrender to the Allies, ending the North African campaign.

July 5, 1943
The Germans launch a massive tank offensive near Kursk in the Soviet Union. The Soviets blunt the attack within a week and begin an offensive initiative of their own.

July 10, 1943
US and British troops land on Sicily. By mid-August, the Allies control Sicily.

July 25, 1943
The Fascist Grand Council deposes Benito Mussolini, enabling Italian marshall Pietro Badoglio to form a new government.

September 8, 1943
The Badoglio government surrenders unconditionally to the Allies. The Germans immediately seize control of Rome and northern Italy, establishing a puppet Fascist regime under Mussolini, who is freed from imprisonment by German commandos on September 12.

September 9, 1943
Allied troops land on the beaches of Salerno near Naples.

November 6, 1943
Soviet troops liberate Kiev.

January 22, 1944
Allied troops land successfully near Anzio, just south of Rome.

June 4, 1944
Allied troops liberate Rome. Within six weeks, Anglo-American bombers could hit targets in eastern Germany for the first time.

June 22, 1944
The Soviets launch a massive offensive in eastern Belorussia (Belarus), destroying the German Army Group Center and driving westward to the Vistula River across from Warsaw in central Poland by August 1.

August 1, 1944-October 5, 1944
The non-communist underground Home Army rises up against the Germans in an effort to liberate Warsaw before the arrival of Soviet troops. The Soviet advance halts on the east bank of the Vistula. On October 5, the Germans accept the surrender of the remnants of the Home Army forces fighting in Warsaw.

August 15, 1944
Allied forces land in southern France near Nice and advance rapidly towards the Rhine River to the northeast.

August 20-25, 1944
Allied troops reach Paris. On August 25, Free French forces, supported by Allied troops, enter the French capital. By September, the Allies reach the German border; by December, virtually all of France, most of Belgium, and part of the southern Netherlands are liberated.

August 23, 1944
The appearance of Soviet troops on the Prut River induces the Romanian opposition to overthrow the Antonescu regime. The new government concludes an armistice and immediately switches sides in the war. The Romanian turnaround compels Bulgaria to surrender on September 8, and the Germans to evacuate Greece, Albania, and southern Yugoslavia in October.

August 29, 1944-October 28, 1944
Under the leadership of the Slovak National Council, consisting of both Communists and non-Communists, underground Slovak resistance units rise against the Germans and the indigenous fascist Slovak regime. In late October, the Germans capture Banská Bystrica, the headquarters of the uprising, and put an end to organized resistance.

September 12, 1944
Finland concludes an armistice with the Soviet Union, leaving the Axis partnership.

October 15, 1944
The Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross movement carries out a coup d'état with German support to prevent the Hungarian government from pursuing negotiations for surrender to the Soviets.

October 20, 1944
US troops land in the Philippines.

January 12, 1945
The Soviets launch a new offensive, liberating Warsaw and Krakow in January, capturing Budapest after a two-month siege on February 13, driving the Germans and their Hungarian collaborators out of Hungary in early April, forcing the surrender of Slovakia with the capture of Bratislava on April 4, and capturing Vienna on April 13.

April 16, 1945
The Soviets launch their final offensive, encircling Berlin.

April 1945
Partisan units, led by Yugoslav Communist leader Josip Tito, capture Zagreb and topple the Ustasa regime. The top Ustasa leaders flee to Italy and Austria.

April 30, 1945
Hitler commits suicide.

May 7, 1945
Germany surrenders to the western Allies.

May 9, 1945
Germany surrenders to the Soviets.

May 1945
Allied troops conquer Okinawa, the last island stop before the Japanese islands.

August 6, 1945
The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

August 8, 1945
The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria.

August 9, 1945
The United States drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

September 2, 1945
Having agreed in principle to unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II.

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September 18, 1931 Japan invades Manchuria. November 25, 1936 Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement. March 11-13, 1938 Germany incorporates Austria in the Anschluss. March 14-15, 1939 Under German pressure, the Slovaks declare their independence and form a Slovak Republic.

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These links describe the United States's involvement in the Great War, or World War II.

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How Kids Helped Win WWII | Get in the Scrap!

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During World War II, students planted Victory Gardens, helped their families by not wasting food, and collected materials used for production in defense plants.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ku2BYMLkH4

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Interesting facts, images and videos about World War II for primary school children to use in topic-work.

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BrainPOP - Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology

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DK Learning: Make every lesson your best yet

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DK's uniquely visual approach engages students, enhancing their learning experience

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In September 1939, Britain entered into what would become the world's most devastating war to date. Learn all about the events that changed the lives of millions in our World War 2 facts....
World War 2 facts

1. World War 2 was a battle between two groups of countries

- the " Allies" and the " Axis ". The major Allied Powers were Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States. The major Axis Powers were Germany, Italy and Japan.

(AD)

2. Before World War 2 began, Germany was ruled by a man named Adolf Hitler

Together with the Nazi Party, he wanted Germany to rule Europe. To gain more land and power, on 1 September 1939 German troops invaded Poland. After Hitler refused to stop the invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany - World War II had begun.

3. During the course of the war, German forces advanced through Europe

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Second World War primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

4. Millions of Germans were imprisoned and killed because they didn't fit the image of the 'perfect' German

Hitler wanted to create what he thought was the "best" and strongest race - and to the Nazi Party, this excluded certain groups, such as Jews, Gypsies and those with physical and mental disabilities. In an attempt to eliminate a "racial enemy" outside of Germany, such groups were also persecuted in the countries invaded by German forces.

5. The group most heavily targeted by the Nazis were the Jews

Around six million Jewish people were killed during World War 2 in one of history's most terrible events - the Holocaust. Racist in his views, Hitler blamed Jewish people for Germany losing World War I and claimed they were dangerous to German people and society.

6. Around the same time that Germany fought for power in Europe, Japan wanted to control Asia and the Pacific

In 1937 (before World War 2 had officially begun) under Emperor Hirohito, Japan attacked China, bringing the two nations into years of conflict.

7. The US didn't join the war until 1941, when Japan attacked the United States

- at their Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On 8 December 1941 (the very next day), the US declared War on Japan and, in turn, its German allies.

8. Some countries remained 'neutral' in World War 2

Such countries were Spain, Sweden and Switzerland - who chose not to join either side.

9. The Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945

In 1944, an Allied army crossed from Britain to free France from Nazi rule. One year later, Allied armies invaded Germany, forcing the Germans to surrender. After nuclear attacks on Japan's major cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan also surrendered to Allied forces in August the same year. World War 2 had ended.

Did you know we have a FREE downloadable Anne Frank primary resource? Perfect for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike, the resource introduces children to the young girl whose tragic tale from WWII became a story of hope.

10. Around 64 million people died in World War 2

- that's more than the entire population of the United Kingdom.

*Yugoslavia was a country established in 1918 in south-east Europe, which included modern-day Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

*USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union) was a former country which included modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Estonia, as well as other socialist states.

What did you think of our World War 2 facts? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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In September 1939, Britain entered into what would become the world's most devastating war to date. Learn all about the events that changed the lives of millions in our World War 2 facts.... - the " Allies" and the " Axis ". The major Allied Powers were Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States.

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Kids learn about World War II in history. Educational articles for teachers, students, and schools including WWII battles, leaders, generals, countries, Allied vs. Axis powers, Europe, Germany, Hitler, Holocaust, atomic bomb, daily life, weapons, and causes.