Timeline on WWII by Alis Aracena

The War Has Begun! (September 1, 1939)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 13:14:56 UTC

Germany attacked from the west, while the Soviets invaded from the east. Everywhere someone turned, Poland was surrounded. But Hitler's plan behind the nonaggression pact deemed unefficient because Britain and France immediately stepped it. It was too late for Germany to turn back. World War II had begun.

Dunkirk (May 10, 1940)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 13:18:17 UTC

The Allies were confident that the Maginot Line and Allied soldiers stationed along most of the French borer would be enough to defend France from the Germans. However, the Allies overpassed the fact the Germany would be dauntless enough to go through the heavy forest. That unprotected area, vulnerable to the French, became the pathway that almost ended with the Allies and gave Germany the victory. Germany encircled the Allies and closed in on them with the ocean serving as a wall. Hitler, wanting to be a micro-manager of every detaail, told his generals to stop the attack. This opened the opportunity for more than 350,000 Allied soldiers to be saved in boats.

France Surrenders (June 22, 1940)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 13:18:39 UTC

In the same railroad car where Germany officially surrendered after WWI, France signed its surrender documents. After only forty-to days of defensive fighting against the Germans, the French faced their loss. According to the surrender agreement, Germany could occupy more than half of France, which would be under the rule of Marshal Petain.

Operation Barbarossa (June 22, 1941)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 13:19:54 UTC

Having given up on the goal to defeat Britain, Hitler relocated his target on Russia, thus breaking the nonaggression pact. Hitler wanted to secure lebensraum and natural resoruces, but he failed to calculate the length of the battle and the weather to come. Although the attacked surprised the Russians, as they retreated, they burned everything that might have served the Germans as a regue. This proved critical because when the Russian cold winter arrived, most Germans died, unprepared for the extreme temperatures. When the Germans began recovering, they went into Stalingrad, unaware of the Russians hiding in the destroyed building. The Nazi were surrounded. The Soviet Union also received supplies from the U.S as well as from the factories that were saved before the German could destroy them.

Attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 13:20:51 UTC

Under the command of Hideki Tojo, Japanese troops attacked Pearl Harbor in an attempt to get rid of any American threats. Although Japan had bee very aggressive in Asia, he U.S had remained neutral. But Tojo concluded that if the American fleet was destroyed, then no major power would stop the Japanese expansion into Southeast Asia. The declaration of war from the Japanese took too long to reach the ambassador, therefore, the U.S received it after the attack. Although the Americans were caught by surpirse, ships were destroyed, and men were killed, the Amerian aircraft carriers were not in Pearl Harbor; these carriers that were not killed showed the failure in the Japanse attempt to weaken the U.S. These surviving carriers would play a critical role in defeating the Japanese later in WWII.

D-day (June 6, 1944)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 13:21:36 UTC

Under the code name Operation Overlord, the U.S and Britain began planning how to invade France. Since the Allies knew that this would be impossible to conceal from the Germans, they attempted to deceive them by crossing false information for the Germans to decode. The British even build fake military installations across from Calais in France so that the Germans would place all the troops along the French-Belgian border. Then, under the command of General Eisenhower, the Allies invaded France by way of Normandy. The Germans, aware of their certain defeat, kept fighting in hope of a disagreement among the Allies or some Naz rise that would save Germany. But the bombs and aircrafts overwhelmed German capacity.

Yalta Conference (February 1945)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 13:22:51 UTC

Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill met at the Crimea to determine the policies the would follow head since the Allied victory was now certain. This conference concluded that Germany would have to pay reparations, criminals brought to trial, German forces would be disarmed and disbanded, and Germany would be divided into occupations. This conference also settled that Russia would go fight Japan within three months after the war to secure Allied victory.

A Suicidal Nazi (April 30, 1945)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 13:23:11 UTC

Realizing that the Axis powers were clearly losing, Hitler, desperate, killed himself. He knew how Mussolini had been a laugh stock since hi body had been hung upside down in Milan in front of a gas station for people to see. The Nazi leader did not want to face that humbling fate. So he decided to commit suicide along with his wife and told his generals to burn the bodies.

V-E Day (May 8, 1945)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 13:23:40 UTC

Hitler's death was announced in German radio; the Germans had lost their leadyer. The Allies declared this day the end of the war in Europe when Germany completely surrendered. Although this was a day of celebration, the atrocities done to the Jews came to light, giving the Allies a hard reality to contemplate.

Atomic Bombs Dropped (August 6, 1945)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 13:24:09 UTC

With Germany down, the only enemy that remained was Japan. American and British troops advanced into Japan, but in fear of losing more lives an desiring to shorten the war, Turman ordered to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The blast killed around 70,000 people, and another 70,000 were injured. The Americans repeated their warning, and the Soviets declared war on Japan; but despite of this, the Japanese would not surrender. That's why on August 9, another bomb was dropped in Nagasaki.

The Battle of Britain (July 10, 1940)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 23:02:36 UTC

On this day, Germany began bombarding British airfields and radar stations. Hitler's plan was to do an amphibious attack on the British fleet, but for that, Germany had to first attack the British Royal Air Force to get rid of any obstacles. The Luftwaffe outnumbered the RAF, but the British, with Chruchill's encouraging words, kept fighting and never let their morale decline. British technique with radars and emergency parachute for pilots, allowed for Britain to continually fight and replace the planes with the pilots who had been parachuted out of the destroyed aircrafts. The Germans began to see their loss in the battle and finally gave up, giving Britain the victory.

The Holocaust (January 20, 1942)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 23:06:12 UTC

In many speeches and especially in his book (Mein Kampf), Hitler expressed his hatred toward the Jewish race. During the early stages of the war, Hitler sent the Jews to restrictive living places called ghettos (aka "death boxes"). When Germany began its invasion on Russia, Hitler commanded a designated group (called the SS) to eliminate all Soviet Jews. As the Germans started to examine the most efficient and fastest way to get rid of the Jews, they came up with gas chambers, were several people could be murdered at once. Near the end of the war, and as Germany grew despearte, the Germans would directly send the Jews to the gas chambers and overload them.

Italy Surrenders (September 1943)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 23:08:22 UTC

Dwight D. Eisenhower, an American General, led 160,000 men into Sicily. This invasion cost Mussolini the little support from the Italians that he still had left and turned some top-ranking members of his Fascist Party against him. Mussolini resigned and was imprisoned. Although Germany had surrendered, the Germans kept fighting in Italy until Germany itself had surrendered. The Germans rescued Mussolini from prison and made him puppet ruler of German-controlled areas in Italy until he was shot by some partisans.

V-J Day (September 2, 1945)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 23:10:33 UTC

After the U.S dropped the last atomic on Nagasaki, Japan officially surrenderred on what is now known as V-J Day. The surrender document was signed aboard the USS Missouri, which was anchored in Tokyo Bay. One of the greatest wars in history, World War II, had finally ended.

The United Nations (1945)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 23:22:26 UTC

At the San Francisco Conference in 1945, representatives of fifty nations organized the United Nations (UN). It purpose was to maintain international peace and security, as well as to cooperate in solving social, economic, and humanitarian problems worldwide. It could be compared to the previous League of Nations that had failed to maintain world peace. Although the UN, like the League of Nations, lacked authority to enforce actions, it had five permanent members that were in charge of taking more important decisions (U.S, Russia, China, Britain, and France). And unlike the League of Nations, the UN had one major power that the previous League had lacked: the United States.

Sacrificing Sudetenland (September 29, 1938)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 23:26:37 UTC

Hitler's victory over Austria was just the beginning of his many aspirations. Having come out successful as chancellor of Austria, his next target was Czechosovakia. Although the country had a strong economy and stable republican governemnt, Hitler stirred problems among the Germans living in Czechoslovakia. During this time, Hitler demanded Sudetenland become part of Nazi Germany. Churchill's predecessor, Neville Chamberlain (prime minister of Britain) met up with Hitler to try to solve the conflict. In the end, Chamberlain and Daladier (French prime minister) met at the Munich Conference to settle the crisis. Fooled by Hitler's promise that he would not seek more land, Sudetenland was handed over to Germany.

Chruchill's Predictions (March 15, 1939)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-14 23:28:17 UTC

The Germans marched into Prague (capital of Czechoslovakia), even after having been given Sudetenland. This proved Churchill right because he had said that the German's ambition would not stop. The now Nazi Czechoslovakia proved that Chamberlain's idea of appeasement with Germany was useless.

Nonaggression Pact (August 23, 1939)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-15 00:43:37 UTC

Germany and the Soviets signed a nonaggression pact that promised ten years of peace between both nations. The rivalry between Hitler and Stalin had not been kept secret from the world. Nazism and communism contradicted each other. Hence, this pact surprised the whole world. However, it was all part of Hitler's corrupt schemes. He meant for this pact to scare Britain and France and keep them away from his plans of invading Poland. Later, Germany would betray Russia, thus causing the Soviet Union to join the Allies. According to this pact, Germany and the Soviet Union would divide Poland if it were to be invaded.

Spanish Civil War (July 17, 1936-April 1, 1939)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-15 01:14:16 UTC

The Fascist movement in Spain started a revolt against the country's republican government. Hitler and Mussolini recognized that the Spanish Fascist leader, Francisco Franco, had a political philosophy similar to theirs. This prompted them to help in the war. This civil war was also considered a "dress rehearsal" for WWII, as Germany and Italy were able to try out the new weapons they had prepared against the Allies.

Anschluss Effected (March 13, 1938)

alisaracena29 — 2024-05-15 01:46:02 UTC

According to the Treaty of St. Germain, Austria was limited not to seek Anschluss (unification) with Germany. But Hitler decided to enlarge his empire by invading said country. To soothe an Austrian fear, Hitler promised independece. He took advantage of the fact that Mussolini was still helping Franco in the Spanish War, therefore Italy could not help Austria from the Germans. Hitler was able o convince the Austrians to make him chancellor of the country, making Austria Nazi.