World War II
1939
September 1
Hitler invaded Poland
Results
Beggining of World War II
Poland divided among Germany, the Soviet Union
Lithuania and Slovakia
Free City of Danzig anexed to Germany
Total casualties
Germany+Slovakia+Sovjet Union: 59,000
Poland: 199,700
September 3
Britain and France declared war on Germany
Britain and France had sworn to defend Poland. Honoring these obligations, the two countries sent ultimatums to Hitler demanding his withdrawal from Poland. Hitler declined to respond. On September 3, Prime Minister Chamberlain went to the airwaves to announce to the British people that a state of war existed between their country and Germany. Unfortunately Chamberlain's action was little help to the Poles. German troops advanced steadily. On September 17 Soviet forces under terms of a secret agreement with Germany marched into Poland from the East. Warsaw surrendered on September 27. By October 6, it was all over. Poland had ceased to exist as a country.
1940
May
Hitler invaded Denmark, Norway
Holland and Belgium
May 26
Battle of Dunkirk
Results
defence and evacuation of British and allied forces in Europe from 26 May – 4 June 1940
Casualties
Allies
11,000 dead
40,000 captured
50,000 vehicles (including tanks)
9 destroyers
200 marine vessels
177 aircraft
Germany
20,000–30,000 dead and wounded
100 tanks
240 aircraft
June 22
France surrended
Results
The French government was forced to
relocate to Bordeaux on 10 June
Paris was declared open city
Casualties
Germany
27,000 dead,
111,000 wounded
18,000 missing
France
92,000 dead
more than 200,000 wounded
July 10 - Oct 31
"Air" Battle of Britain
Results
Decisive British victory
Casualties
United Kingdom, Canada
544 aircrew (RAF Fighter Command),
718 (RAF Bomber Command),
280 (RAF Coastal Command) killed
422 aircrew wounded
1,663 aircraft destroyed
Germany, Italy
2,585 aircrew killed,
925 captured,
735 wounded
638 missing bodies
1,977 aircraft destroyed
Sept 22
Berlin Pact
or Tripartite Pact was a defensive military alliance
between Germany, Italy and Japan
Eventually joined by
Hungary (20 November 1940),
Romania (23 November 1940),
Bulgaria (1 March 1941) and
Yugoslavia (25 March 1941),
Slovakia (24 November 1940)
Croatia (15 June 1941)
December
North African Campaign
Results in allied victory:
Fall of the Italian Empire
Axis forces in North Africa retreat to Italy
Commencement of the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy
Casualties
Axies
42,281 killed
470,000 captured
3,400 missing
Allies
238,715 killed
8,978 wounded
6,528 missing
1941
June 22
Operation Barbarossa
Location
Belorussia
Ukraine
Lithuania
Estonia
Western Russia
Latvia
Results
German tactical success
They occupied significant territory
1.3 million km2
Caused significant losses to the Red Army
But failed to defeat the Soviet Union
Casualties
Axies armies
250,000 dead
25,000 missing
500,000 wounded
2,093 aircraft
2,758 tanks
Soviet armies
802.191 dead (at least)
3,000,000 wounded
3,300,000 POW
21,200 aircraft
20,500 battle tanks
December 7
Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
Results
Japanese major tactical victory
United States declares war on Japan
Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S.
U.S. declares war on Germany and on Italy
Casualties
US
2 battleships totally lost 2 sunk and recovered
3 battleships damaged 1 grounded
2 other ships sunk
3 cruisers damaged
3 destroyers damaged
3 other ships damaged
188 aircraft destroyed
159 aircraft damaged
2,403 killed
1,178 wounded
Japan
4 midget submarines sunk
1 midget submarine grounded
29 aircraft destroyed
64 killed
1 sailor captured
December 8
Britain and US declared war on Japan
Japan's allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the US, bringing the US fully into World War II
1942
June 4 - 6
Battle of Midway
Results
Decisive American victory
Casualties
US
1 carrier sunk
1 destroyer sunk
~150 aircraft destroyed
307 killed
Japan
4 carriers sunk
1 heavy cruiser sunk
1 heavy cruiser damaged
248 aircraft destroyed
3,057 killed
37 captured
August 23
Battle of Stalingrad began
A major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies (Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Italy) fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia.
Results
Decisive Soviet victory
Destruction of the German 6th Army
Axis powers lose strategic initiative on the Eastern Front
Casualties
Soviet Union
1,143,000 soldiers
16.728 artillery
4.431 tank
2,769 aircraft
Germany
740 000 killed or wounded,
110 000 POWs
October 23
Battle of El Alamein
Results
Decisive Allied victory
Casualties
Allies
13,560 men (4,810 killed or missing, 8,950 wounded)
332–c. 500 tanks
111 guns
77 British and 20 American aircraft
Axis
36,939 to 59,000 men (9,000 killed or missing, 15,000 wounded, 35,000 prisoners)
c. 500 tanks
254 guns
64 German and 20 Italian aircraft
1943
May 13
Axis forces surrended
North Africa
July
Allies invaded Sicily
Results
Allied victory
Casualties
Axis
Nazi Germany Germany:
~25,000 casualties (4,325 killed, 4,583 missing, 13,500 wounded and 5,532 captured
Kingdom of Italy :
189,578 casualties (4,678 killed, 36,072 missing, 32,500 wounded and 116,681 captured)
Allies
24,850 casualties (5,837 killed or missing,
15,683 wounded, 3,330 captured)
September 8
Italy surrended
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower publicly announces the surrender of Italy to the Allies. Germany reacted with Operation Axis, the Allies with Operation Avalanche.
November 28
Allies held Tehran Conference
Location
Soviet embassy, Tehran. Iran
Participants
The Big Three
Joseph Stalin (Premier: Soviet Union)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (President: United States)
Winston Churchill (Prime Minister: United Kingdom)
Outcome
Agreement to open a second front
against Nazi Germany by 1 May 1944
1944
June 6
Operation Overlord
(cod name for Battle of Normandy)
Code name for Battle of Normandy
Started with the Normandy landings (known as D-Day)
A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August.
"If the El-Alamein
battle was the end
of begginning,
then certainly the
D-day was t
he beginning of
the end."-
Winston Churchill
Results
Decisive Allied victory
Casualties
Allies
225,606 to 226,386 casualties
4,101 planes
~4,000 tanks
Germany
400,000 casualties to 530,000+ killed or captured
2,127 planes
~2,200–2,400 tanks and assault guns lost
Civilian deaths
11,000–19,000 killed in pre-invasion bombing
13,632–19,890 killed during invasion
Total: 25,000–39,000 killed
August 25
Liberation of Paris
Results
Allied victory
Capture and liberation of Paris
Paris made capital of the re-established French Republic
Casualties
Germany
3,200 dead
12,800 prisoners
France, US
1,730 dead
319 wounded
December
Battle of the Bulge
It was a surprize German attack which caught the Allied forces off guard. United States forces bore the highest casualties ever during the war.
Location
The Ardennes: Belgium, Luxembourg
Results
Allied victory, German operational failure
Casualties
Allies
90,908 killed, wounded,captured or missing
700-800+ tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns destroyed
647 aircraft lost
Germany
67,459– 125,000 killed, wounded, missing, captured
600-800+ tanks and assault guns destroyed
~800 aircraft lost
1945
April 29
Mussolini captured and executed
Dictator Benito Mussolini attempted to escape by hiding in a German convoy headed toward the Alps. Partisans stopped and searched the convoy at Dongo. They found and took him prisoner and he was executed on April 29, 1945.
April 30
Hitler committed suicide
May 8
Germany surrended
Hitler committed suicide and left Karl Dönitz to carry out the surrender of the Nazis which occured in spring of 1945, when the Soviets were approaching the German capital of Berlin from the east and the Western Allies were approaching it from the west. World War 2 ended on 8 May 1945 with the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers.
August 6 + 9
Atomic bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The US, with the consent of the United Kingdom as laid down in the Quebec Agreement, dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, during the final stage of World War II.
Casualties
Hiroshima:
20,000+ soldiers killed
70,000–146,000 civilians killed
Nagasaki:
39,000–80,000 killed
August 14
Japan surrended
Japan announced the surrender on August 15, and formally signed on September 2. This ended World War II. The Japanese navy and air force were destroyed.
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photo credit
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WORLD WAR II
Date:
1 Sept '39-
2 Sept '45
Location: Europe
Pacific,Atlantic,
S-E Asia,
Mediterranian,
North Africa,
China, Middle East
Involved 100
million people
from over 30
countries, no
distinction
between civilian
and military
resources.
Marked by mass
deaths of civilians:
Holocaust
11 million
All together an
estimated 50 to 85
million deaths.
Is the deadliest
conflict in human
history.
Strategic
bombing
of industrial
centres
1 million