July 1st: The first German aircraft crosses the English Channel. The air war known as “Battle of Britain” begins. Britain wins this war because their air force was better than the German Luftwaffe.
September: the Luftwaffe begins the air raid in London, instead of attacking the RAF. This is known as “the Blitz”.
September 27th: The Three-Power pact between Germany, Italy and Japan, promising to help each other in a war against the USA and Europe.
November: President Roosevelt introduces the Lend-Lease scheme to Britain. The USA would supply Britain with vital supplies for free (food, fuel, equipment).
1941
June 22nd: Hitler launches Operation Barbarossa against the USSR. USSR unites the Allies.
July: Japan takes control of the French Indo-China and decides to challenge the USA.
September: Leningrad is under siege by the Germans. Germany takes control of Ukraine and the Crimea. German troops almost reach Moscow, and Stalin considered surrendering.
October: General Tojo becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
December 7th: Japan invades the American naval base at Pearl Harbour.
December 8th: the USA declares war on Japan.
December 11th: Hitler declares war on the USA.
1942
February: Allies begin intensive bombing in civilian targets in Germany.
May: the first Japanese defeat. Japan invades large areas of the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. The Midway Battle, where Americans destroy four Japanese carriers.
September: after heavy defeats by Soviet forces the Germans began their retreat from Ukraine.
1943
January: Roosevelt and Churchill meet and decide to bomb Germany instead of France.
January 31st: the German general Paulus surrenders and the USSR wins the Battle of Stalingrad.
January-February: Japanese evacuated Guadalcanal, a well-defended Japanese position in the Pacific. Japan admits that they cannot maintain the defensive ring of islands.
April: turning point of the Battle of the Atlantic. Improved convoy systems and the breaking of the Germans’ secret codes increased Allied effectiveness.
May: Germans are driven out of North Africa in operation Torch.
June: Americans begin submarine warfare against Japanese shipping.
July: allied troops land in Italy. On July 25th Mussolini resigns.
August: Japanese defeated in New Guinea by Australian forces.
September: Italy surrenders.
October 13th: Italy’s new leader declares war on Germany.
December: Yugoslav resistance fighters defeat the Italians in Yugoslavia and set up provisional government.
1944
January: German siege of Leningrad ends.
February: Bombing of Dresden, Germany, with 100.000 casualties.
March: German Admiral Donitz called off the U-boat campaign. The Allies won the Battle of the Atlantic.
June 6th: D-Day, Operation Overlord. Allied troops land in France at the beaches of Normandy and they begin their advance across France towards Germany.
August: the Russian Red Army makes the Germans retreat up to Poland.
August 25th: Allied troops retake Paris, which was under Nazi control.
September: France leaves the Axis alliance and enters the Allied alliance.
December: a major German counter-attack in Belgium disrupts the Allied advance.
1945
March: British and American forces take the island of Okinawa. Roosevelt dies and the new president is Harry Truman.
April and May: the Red Army reaches Berlin. Hitler commits suicide in his bunker.
May 2nd: German troops in Italy surrender.
May 8th: end of WWII in Europe.
July 17th: a bombing air raid on Tokyo by 1500 planes met no opposition.
July 30th: Japan rejects allied offer of armistice.
August 6th and 9th: atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima (6th) and Nagasaki (9th), ordered by the American President Harry Truman.
August 14th: Japan surrenders. End of WWII.
September 1939 to March 1940: the “Phoney War”. Britain and France had promised to defend Poland but did not. Hitler could easily take over it, and he was confident that they would rather agree to a peace deal than continue war.
1939 to 1944: Battle of the Atlantic, battle for control of the North Atlantic Ocean, which was vital for Britain because it was the link that brought supplies from Canada and the USA. In the early stages of the war, the German U-Boats had the upper hand, but as from 1941 Britain began to be more effective.
September 1942 to January 1943: battle of Stalingrad, won by the USSR with help from Britain and the USA.
July to August 1943: battle of Kursk, won by the USSR with help from Britain and the USA.
