Escalating Agression: Multiple conflicts started to appear

Democracy weakness: Democracy was seen as a weak policy and dictatorships started to be more hostile.

Alliances: As a major conflict was being predicted, the countries started arranging themselves into groups in case of War.

Human rights: Genocides and human rights violations being seen as major crimes, leading to more efforts being put into them.

Peace Establishment: Germany was denazified and United Nations was created.

Due to the invasion of Poland, Great Britain and France declared the war on Germany. Phony war starts, a period of time in which GB and France declared the war to Germany but no war happened untill April, 1940.

Hitler had been wanting to invade Poland since early 1939, but Poland was protected by France and Great Britain, and possibly the Soviet Union. There were secret negotiations with the Soviet Union to make the nonagression pact and insure the division of Poland after the invasion.

The Red Army invaded Poland from the East.

Hitler and Joseph Stalin agreed on the final division of poland.

With the Poland invasion and division, the Soviet Union wanted to push its border with Finland on the Karelian Isthmus to protect Leningrad from possible German attacks.

The Soviets wanted several Finnish islands along with a naval base at Hanko. In exchange, they would give them Soviet land. Finland refused, so the Soviet Union decided to start an attack, starting the Russo-Finnish War (winter war).

Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to secure the transport of Swedish iron. Denmark surrendered quickly. In Norway, British forces helped to resist the attack, but Germany used elite troops and defeated them. Germany took full control of Norway, gaining key resources and a strategic position in the North Sea.

The evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and other Allied troops from the French seaport of Dunkirk to England due to the invasions. Vessels and many boats were used to evacuate. It ended up saving 198 thousand British and 140 thousand French and Belgian troops.

Germany invaded France, Belgium and netherlands in May 1940 using fast attacks called Blitzkrieg. German tanks went through the Ardennes Forest, surprising the Allies. France and Britain were not able to stop the German advance. France surrendered in June 1940, and Germany occupied most of the country.

When France was about to fall, Italy joined the war on Germany’s side, hoping to get territories.

The Tripartite Pact was an agreement made by Italy, Japan and Germany. It consisted of a defense alliance between the countries involved, and avoided making the United States enter the war.

Called Operation Barbarossa, the Soviet Union invasion was a complete failure. The German troops were not able to defeat the Soviet forces. The cold was very significant in this conflict, because it hardened the advance of the German troops.

Germany and its allies surrounded Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). The city was cut off from supplies, causing extreme hunger and suffering. Over a million civilians died during the siege. Despite this, the city never surrendered.

900 days later, the soviets won and the Operation Barbarossa ended.

German forces reached the city's outskirts, threatening the Soviet capital. At first, they advanced quickly and seemed close to victory. But bad weather, Soviet defense, and logistics problems slowed them down. In December, the Soviets pushed them back, saving Moscow.

Japan attacked a naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack damaged many ships and airplanes and killed many people. They intended to avoid US interfering Japan's conquests in West Asia, but it led to them entering the war.

Due to the Pearl Harbour Attack, USA seems forced to enter the war and make a response to Japan's attacks.

Singapore was the primary British base in the pacific and was considered very strong, but Japan forced them to surrender easily using a strong strategy.

Air-sea battle fought between Japan and the Allies. Japan wanted to get Port Moresby in New Guinea, a key strategic point, but the Allies stopped and weakened them.

An important battle between the US and Japan in the Pacific. The US had broken Japan codes and prepared an ambush near Midway Island. They sank four Japanese aircraft carriers. After this, Japan was more vulnerable.

German and Italian against British, Australian, New Zealander, South African and Indian Forces in Egypt. It was an important battle won by the Allies. The first battle ended in a stalemate, but the second one was decisive.

The conflict began when Germany launched an attack on Stalingrad. The objective was to seize it because of its industrial power and location near oil fields. The Soviets refused to surrender, turning the ruins into strong defensive positions. The battle quickly became one of the bloodiest in history.

The Soviets managed to defend Stalingrad from the Germans. The Soviets stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union, worsening the situation for them.

The Allies needed to transport troops and supplies from North America to Europe. Germany tried to stop this using submarines to sink Allied ships.

The Allies used convoys to defend against German attacks. Over time, they developed better weapons, sonar, and radar technology. They also decoded German codes, which helped them to avoid the submarines. In 1943, the Allies started to win, this was a very important event that contributed to the Allies victory.

After Mussolini was removed from power in July, Italy surrendered and signed an armistice.

This shocked Germany, who occupied Italy to try to stop Allied advances.

On September 8, 1943, Italy signed an armistice. In response, Germany quickly occupied northern and central Italy to stop the Allies from advancing. They rescued Mussolini and made him lead a puppet state in the north. The Allies then had to fight German forces in Italy until 1945.

A conference between Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, to discuss the opening of a second front in Western Europe.

The Allies landed near Rome, to break through the German defenses, the Gustav Line. They wanted to surprise the Germans and gain territory quickly, but the Germans surrounded them and a fight occurred. The Allies won and liberated Rome in June.

Landing of US, British and Canadian forces in Normandy. The operation faced strong German defenses but succeeded in securing the beachheads. This made possible the liberation of France.

Thanks to the Normandy Invasion, northern France was liberated. Then, the troops advanced to Germany liberating eventually all of France.

The operation consisted of a Nazi pursuit in France, a failed attempt to get into Germany.

Germany tried a counterattack to split Allied forces. Even though Germany had an initial advantage, the Allies were capable of containing it and finally won, weakening Germany.

It was a major World War II conference of the Allied leaders Franklin D.Roosvelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, who gathered to organize how to defeat Germany.

When Soviet soldiers entered Berlin, Hitler killed himself on April 30, 1945, in his underground bunker. People still argue about how he died, but most believe he shot himself. His wife, Eva Braun, also ended her life. As Hitler wanted, their bodies were burned and buried

After Hitler’s death, the Allies insisted in an unconditional surrender, which was signed at Reims on May 7, 1945, ending German participation in WW2.

American bombing raids on these Japanese cities that marked the first use of atomic weapons in war. Many people died due to the explosion and many more due to the radiation later.

Due to the bombing raids, Japan had no other option than surrendering, ending WW2.