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Kids learn about the timeline of World War II in history. Major events leading up to and during the war. Battles, alliances, and treaties.

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Before the official beginning of World War II, many countries acted in an aggressive and warlike manner. In Germany, Adolf Hitler opened the first concentration camps as early as 1933 and became the "Fuhrer" or sole dictator of Germany in 1934.

In 1935, Benito Mussolini rose to power and became dictator of Italy. Both rulers quickly started enlarging their territory by taking over smaller countries. Germany took over Austria and Czechoslovakia while Mussolini absorbed Ethiopia and Abyssinia. Meanwhile, In Asia, The Chinese and Japanese armies were at war. Japan signed a treaty with Germany, adding British and French to their list of enemies.

There were two sides in the war:

Allied Powers (including U.S., Britain, France, USSR, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Yugoslavia), and

Axis Powers (including Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria).

World war 2 started in September 1939 when Germany attacked Poland. But, the United States did not enter the war until after the Japanese bombed the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.

The Bloodiest Battles of World War II:

Battle of Stalingrad - From 23 August 1942 until 2 February 1943

Battle of Berlin - Fron 16 April until 2 May 1945

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World War two Timeline Timeline - World War 2 - History for Kids

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Before the official beginning of World War II, many countries acted in an aggressive and warlike manner. In Germany, Adolf Hitler opened the first concentration camps as early as 1933 and became the "Fuhrer" or sole dictator of Germany in 1934. In 1935, Benito Mussolini rose to power and became dictator of Italy.

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Kids learn about the biography of Anne Frank, Jewish girl who wrote about hiding from the Nazis in World War II.

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In 1933 the Nazi Party took control of the country of Germany. The Nazis hated Jewish people and tried to make life hard for them. Later, during World War II (1939-45), they...

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History >>World War 2 for Kids World War II in Europe began when Hitler's Nazi Germany attacked Poland.Germany had allies such as Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. These European countries were part of the Axis Powers.

The countries that fought against Germany and the Axis Powers in Europe were called the Allied Powers. The main Allied Powers in Europe were Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and France. Later the United States would help in defeating Hitler.

British Tank fighting in Europe
Source: U.S. Army Center of Military History

Leading up to War

When Germany lost World War I they were forced to sign theTreaty of Versailles. This treaty not only took land from Germany, but required that they pay huge amounts of money in reparations to countries they had fought. As a result, the German economy did very poorly. The citizens of Germany were not only humiliated that they had lost World War I, but they were also poor and struggling. It was during this time that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came into power. Hitler promised he would bring Germany back to power.

Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany in 1933. Soon he had made himself dictator. Hitler said the country needed more land or "living space". First Hitler took over the country of Austria. Next, he took part of Czechoslovakia. The other European countries didn't want war, so they didn't do anything. Finally, when Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the other countries knew he would not stop. France and Great Britain declared war on Germany and World War II had begun.

German Troops Invade Poland
Source: National Archives

The War

Prior to invading Poland, Germany had made a deal with the Soviet Union. After Poland was defeated, the country was divided up between Germany and the Soviet Union. Even though France and Great Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, there wasn't a lot of fighting at first.

It was in April of 1940 when Germany went on the attack again. On April 9, 1940 Germany invaded Norway and Denmark. Soon after that, they invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. On June 22, 1940 Germany signed an agreement that gave them control of the Northern half of France.

Up until this point in the war, the Soviet Union had been allied with Germany. However, on June 22, 1941 Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Now the Soviet Union was on the side of the Allies.

The United States Enters the War

The United States had stayed neutral during the war. They tried to help out the Allies, but did not want to enter the fighting. However, on December 7, 1941 Japan attacked the US at Pearl Harbor. The US became a major power within the Allies Alliance.

Three Fronts

By 1941 Germany had control over much of mainland Europe. They had tried to take over Great Britain in 1940 with the Battle of Britain, but failed. Germany's army was stretched thin and was fighting on three fronts:

1. Eastern or Russian Front

2. Mediterranean Front and Africa

3. Western Front (France and Great Britain)

Celebration when Paris was liberated from Germany
Photo by Jack Downey

The Allies Start to Fight Back

In 1942 and 1943 the Allies began to fight back. The British Air Force began to bomb Germany, taking the war to German soil. The Allies also took control of northern Africa and then launched an attack on Italy forcing southern Italy to surrender. At the same time, the Russians defeated the German army on the Eastern Front and started to push them back towards Germany.

End of World War II in Europe

On June 6, 1944 the Allies attacked the Germans on the Western Front. This day is often called D-Day or the Invasion of Normandy. The Allies defeated the Germans and pushed them out of France. Germany then counterattacked and a great battle, called the Battle of the Bulge, was fought. Hundreds of thousands of US troops held the Germans back and the German army was finally defeated.

On May 7, 1945 Germany surrendered to the Western Allies. The next day the Allies celebrated victory. May 8th is called V-E day or "Victory in Europe" day.

Interesting Facts

After World War II, Germany was split in half; the western half was controlled by the Western Allies and the eastern half by the Soviet Union.

Adolf Hitler committed suicide in a bunker on April 30, 1945 when he realized that Germany would lose the war.

Around 200,000 US soldiers lost their lives in battle in World War II in Europe.

United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower was Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. At one point he was in charge of over 5 million soldiers.

The war in the Eastern Front was called the Great Patriotic War by the people in the Soviet Union.

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Works Cited

History >>World War 2 for Kids

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Kids learn about the history of World War II in Europe. Germany attacks and conquers much of Europe, but Britain and USA fight back.

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Poland

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. This began World War II. The Germans used a new kind of attack. They called it blitzkrieg, or "lightning war." Blitzkrieg relied on fast-moving tanks and warplanes to shock the enemy into surrendering.

After this invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, and South Africa joined Britain on the side of the Allies. But no one could help when the Soviet Union attacked Poland on September 17. Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland between them. The Soviet Union also invaded Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland during 1939.

Scandinavia and the Low Countries

Between April and June 1940 the Germans took over Norway and Denmark. In May they moved into the Low Countries- Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

France

In mid-May 1940 the first German troops crossed into France. By June 14 the Germans had entered Paris, the French capital.

On June 22 France agreed to let Germans rule most of their country. However, many French people continued to fight the Germans. They were called the Free French. They took orders from Charles de Gaulle. De Gaulle's headquarters were in Britain.

As France was falling to the Germans, Italy declared war against France and Britain. On June 10, 1940, Italy entered the war as an Axis power.

Great Britain

Hitler's next target was the island of Great Britain. Starting in June 1940, German warplanes began bombing Britain. However, the British had a new invention called radar. Radar warned the British when German aircraft were nearing. British fighter airplanes shot down many attackers. This battle, called the Battle of Britain, was the world's first major battle fought in the air.

The Germans soon decided not to invade Britain. Instead, they dropped more bombs on London and other cities until May 1941.

The Atlantic Ocean

The British also fought the German navy. Early in the war, the Germans sank many of the supply ships that delivered food and weapons from North America. In 1943 the Allies began to use aircraft carriers to protect convoys, or groups, of supply ships. The number of supply ships reaching Britain then increased.

North Africa

In the autumn of 1940 the Italians invaded Egypt. They wanted to control the Suez Canal, which linked the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. However, the British drove the Italians back.

Then the German general Erwin Rommel led the Germans to victories in North Africa. In 1942 British forces finally stopped Rommel in two battles at El-Alamein, Egypt. By November 6 the British had driven the Germans from Egypt.

The Soviet Union

After conquering the countries on Germany's borders, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. The attack began on June 22, 1941. The Soviet Union joined the Allies soon afterward. The Soviets stopped the Germans on the edges of Moscow (the Soviet capital) and Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg).

In 1942 Hitler decided to take the Soviet city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd). The fight at Stalingrad was the largest single battle in World War II. About 1.9 million soldiers died on both sides. The Germans surrendered in January 1943. After Stalingrad, the Soviets gradually drove out the Germans.

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World War II started in 1939. By the time it ended in 1945, the war involved nearly every part of the world. The two sides that fought the war were called the Axis powers and...