Learn History: A Timeline of World War II

The timeline of World War II begins on September 1, 1939, with Germany's invasion of Poland.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU It ends six years and a day later with the formal surrender of Japan aboard the USS Missouri.http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/etc/history01.html  

World War II was a global conflict that involved most of the world's nations. It has been suggested that the cause of the conflict was "the instability created in Europe by the First World War."http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii The casualties of the war were estimated at 55 million people.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007314  

The key figures of World War II included Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Emperor Hirohito.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU The fighting involved the Allied Forces against the Axis Powers. The primary Allied nations were the United States, Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union and China.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/16380/Allied-Powers The main Axis nations were Germany, Japan and Italy.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007314 

Before the start of World War II (August 1939), the Soviet Union and Germany signed a non-aggression pact. The two countries made a clandestine agreement to invade and divide Poland. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU 

In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005070 In April 1940, Germany continued its aggression, invading Norway, France, Holland and Luxembourg.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU 

Winston Churchill was elected British Prime Minister on May 10, 1940. He is credited as the motivating factor behind Britain's staunch resistance to Nazi Germany's Blitzkrieg of London and England.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU  

Germany attacked Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on September 15, 1941.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU The Siege of Leningrad lasted 900 days.http://www.saint-petersburg.com/history/siege.asp On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, pulling the United States into the war.http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/ph-nyd3.htm President Franklin D. Roosevelt called it "a day that would live in infamy."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU The attack was important in the outcome of World War II because the United States dedicated large amounts of manpower and resources to the Allied Powers.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU  

In March 1942, Nazi Germany began the industrial-scale murder of Jews in extermination camps.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU Experts do not agree on the number of deaths, but estimate a number between 1,885,889 and 2,045,215.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007387 On April 18, 1942, the United States bombed Tokyo, Japan in Doolittle's Raid. Japan lost its naval superiority during the Battle of the Midway on June 4, 1942. During the Siege of Stalingrad, the German and Russian armies clashed. The conflict began on August 23, 1942, and ended on February 2, 1943. The German army suffered massive losses.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU 

On July 25, 1943, Benito Mussolini was ousted from power and arrested.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU The Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944.http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/faq.htm From February 19, 1945, through March 16, 1945, the Battle of Iwo Jima was fought in the Pacific Theater. President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, and was succeeded by Harry S. Truman.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU 

The Italian Resistance executed Mussolini on April 29, 1945.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU The next day, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin and Admiral Karl Doenitz was appointed as Hitler's successor.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4514765.stm On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered and V-E (Victory in Europe) Day ended the war in Europe.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU  

The United States bombed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Three days later, the U.S. bombed Nagasaki. The atomic bombs completely destroyed the Japanese cities. Japan ceased hostilities On August 14, 1945, V-J (Victory in Japan) Day, Japan ceased hostilities against the United States. The war officially ended with Japan's formal surrender the next month.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU 

1939

• September 1: Nazi Germany invades Poland, the culmination of a sequence of aggressive moves in Europe that ends any hope of a peaceful resolution with Germany.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaawyzF8YU 
• September 3: In reaction to the Germany invasion of Poland, Britain and France declare war on Germany.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005070 
• September 4: Japan declares neutrality in regards to the situation in Europe.http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FreePdfViewer.aspx?topic=Japan+Declares+Neutrality&img=41477179&terms=Japan&dpviewdate=09%2f04%2f07&firstvisit=true 
  
• September 5: The United States declares neutrality.http://www.pbs.org/thewar/at_war_timeline_1939.htm 
  
• September 6: South Africa declares war on Germany.http://ehistory.osu.edu/wwii/timeline.cfm 
• September 10: Canada declares war on Nazi Germany during World War II.http://ehistory.osu.edu/wwii/timeline.cfm 
• September 17: The Soviet Union invades Poland.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005070 
• September 18: Polish President Ignacy Moscicki leaves Poland and is interned in Romania.http://www.president.pl/en/about-poland/polish-presidents/ignacy-moscicki/ 
• September 21: The President of Romania, Armand Calinescu, is assassinated by the nationalistic Iron Guard.http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1939/9/22/over-the-wire-pbucharest-a-new-military/ 
• September 27: The remaining Polish Army capitulates to the Germans in Warsaw.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005070 
• September 28: Estonia signs a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union.http://www.estonica.org/en/Establishing_Soviet_military_bases_in_the_territory_of_the_Republic_of_Estonia_in_1939/ 
• October 5: Latvia signs a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union.http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/latvia/history/occupation-aspects/ 
• October 10: Lithuania signs a Mutual Assistance Pact with the Soviet Union.http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/23802/ 
• October 12: Under the watch of Adolf Eichmann, Jews from Austria and Czechoslovakia are deported to Poland.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005469 
• October 20: The first Jewish ghetto is established in Piotrkow.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shtetl/relations/timeline.html 
• October 27: Belgium declares neutrality.http://www.museumstuff.com/learn/topics/Timeline_of_World_War_II_%281939%29::sub::October_1939 
• October 27: Pope Pius XII condemns dictatorships.http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius12/P12SUMMI.HTM http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2008/10/23/israeli-cabinet-minister-ignites-debate-over-pope-piuss-holocaust-actions  
• November 5: 400,000 Warsaw Jews are ordered into a ghetto.http://ww2today.com/november-1939-the-germans-announce-a-jewish-ghetto-in-warsaw http://www.holocausteducationctr.org/clientuploads/curriculum/HHREC_Holocaust_Curriculum_Lesson4.pdf  
  
• November 23: Germany orders Jews to wear the Star of David.http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/chronology.html 
• November 28: Negotiations between the Soviet Union and Finland break down.http://www.indiana.edu/~league/1939.htm 
• November 30: The Soviet Union attacks Finland, the Winter War Battle begins.http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/timeline/factfiles/nonflash/a1138501.shtml 

1941

• December 7: The United States enters the war after the Japanese bombed the US naval base at Pearl Harbor.http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/ph-nyd3.htm 

1944

• June 6: The D-Day invasion of Europe take place as Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France.http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/faq.htm  
• June 22: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the GI Bill of Rights, authorizing a broad package of benefits for World War II veterans.http://www.gibill.va.gov/gi_bill_info/history.htm  
• July 20: Adolf Hitler is injured during an assassination attempt. A bomb detonates at his headquarters in the Rastenburg.http://www.biography.com/articles/Claus-Graf-Schenk-von-Stauffenberg-40655  
• August 25: French leader Charles de Gaulle enters Paris for the first time since 1940 as Paris was liberated from Nazi rule.http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/25/newsid_3520000/3520894.stm 
• December 16: Germany's last major offensive, the Battle of the Bulge, begins.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006178 
• December 17: The United States announces that effective January 2, 1945, 110,000 Japanese-Americans will be freed from internment camps built by the military, where they have been kept since 1942 as a reaction to the Pearl Harbor attack.http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/intern05.htm