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August 1939

Germany signs non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union

Meant to keep Britain from entering a war

Agree to split Poland among themselves

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September 1939

German blitzkrieg overruns Poland

Quick German victory

Britain & France declare war on Germany

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May 1940

Hitler’s army moves through the Ardennes and around the Maginot Line

Reach France’s Northern coast in 10 days & France surrenders

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Summer of 1940 – May 1941

German Luftwaffe makes nightly bomb raids over Great Britain

New technology (Enigma, Radar) allow British RAF to hold off Germany and prove Hitler can be stopped

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June 1941

Germany breaks non-aggression pact & invades the Soviet Union

Soviet Union uses Scorched Earth Policy and holds back Germany at Leningrad

Germany moves on to Moscow and Stalingrad

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August 1942 – February 1943

Germany wanted to seize oil fields and capture Stalingrad

German troops surrender to the Soviet Union due to starvation and cold

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December 7, 1941

Japanese surprise attack on the US in retaliation for cutting off their oil supply

19 American ships sunk or damaged

More than 2,300 Americans killed & the US enters the war

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Invasion is June 6, 1944

Troops land in France to push into Germany

Largest land and sea attack in history

Leads to the eventual liberation of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg

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The Battle of Berlin begins in April 1945

Hitler commits suicide that month

Germany surrenders in May

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June 4, 1942

Japan targeted Midway to get the whole US fleet to the island.

US attack on Japanese aircraft carriers and was successful

Turning point of the war in the Pacific

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August 1942 – February 1943

Allies attacked Japanese airbase in Solomon Islands

Battle turned into a savage struggle & ended with more than 24,000 dead

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February – June 1945

Brutal fighting over small islands close to Japan

Extremely high casualties on both sides

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August 6 & 9th, 1945

President Truman informed an invasion of Japan might cost a million lives

Dropping the bomb would be the quickest possible end to war

Approximately 140,000+ Japanese civilians died in the atomic bombs

Radiation fallout killed more. Led to Japanese surrender

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August 14, 1945

New York City's Times Square, depicts a jubilant sailor kissing a woman passionately

symbolize the joy and relief felt by Americans

Japan's surrender and the end of World War II