September 1. World War II begins in Europe when Germany invades Poland. Warsaw capitulates September 27. Great Britian and France declare war September 3.

November. Russia attacks Finland, is expelled from the League of Nations.

Little activity after Poland falls (“Sitzkrieg”)

April. Germany invades Denmark and Norway.

May 10. Without warning German forces invade Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. German armies enter France within a few days. Italy declares war on France on June 10. France falls June 22, and the Vichy government coopertes with Nazi Germany.

May-June. Over 330,000 French and British troops evacuated from Dunkirk. The Battle of Britain, a fight for control of air space over the English Channel and Great Britain, begins. Success of the RAF leads to the Blitz of London.

The U.S. begins economic and miltary aid to Great Britain.

Germans invade Balkans, Yugoslavia surrenders. Germans enter Athens in April.

June 22. Germany invades the Soviet Union.

Concerning British support of Russia: "If Hitler invaded hell, I would make at least a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons."—Churchill.

FDR also agrees to aid Russia--$1B in Lend Lease goods authorized.

June. Italians defeated in East Africa. Germans arrive to bolster Italian forces.

August: Roosevelt and Churchill confer in Newfoundland, producing Atlantic Charter.

Dec 7—Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. Germany declares war on the U.S. on December 11.

Question after U.S. enters war is where and when to attack: across English Channel or at "soft underbelly." U.S. wants to go across early, feels that a North African invasion is "unsound."  Churchill concerned about British interests in the Suez, etc.

FDR orders Japanese to be moved to “relocation centers.”

April 9: Philippine Islands fall to Japan.

18 April. General Jimmy Doolittle leads a bombing raid on Tokyo with B-25 aircraft launched from the U.S.S. Hornet.

30 May. German city of Cologne attacked by over 1,000 bombers.

7-8 May The Battle of the Coral Sea stops the Japanese advance in the Pacific. First naval battle in which ships are out of sight of each other.

3-6 June. Battle of Midway. The 1st major Japanese defeat—they lose 4 carriers. Restores naval balance in Pacific, allows U.S. to take the offensive.

10 June. Villiage of Lidice, Czechoslovakia destroyed in retaliation for assassination of SS General Heydrich.

June - 13 Sept. German summer offensive in Russia eventually reaches Rostov, Stalingrad.

June, 1942, British disaster occurs in North Africa at the hands of Rommel. 33,000 surrender at Tobruk; 75,000 casualties during summer of 1942. But: Rommel's logistics problems are worsening. The Germans are vulnerable.

October 23-November 4. Decisive Battle of El Alamein, a great victory for Field Marshal Montgomery over Rommel, but Germans are not at their peak. The Suez is safe, the Mediterranean under British control.

Aug 7 - Feb 1943. Guadalcanal. 1st Major U.S. offensive of war.   

November 8.  Operation TORCH: U.S. forces under Eisenhower land in North Africa. Planning had begun in August, 1942. Tough going early on—Kasserine Pass defeat in February, 1943, is bad for U.S. troops, who are overrun. Coordination poor, plans confused, etc. Individual (green) soldiers fought well. Patton and Bradley moved up in command structure, dead wood tossed out. (See film, "Patton" )

19 November. Russian counteroffensive begins on the Stalingrad front.

January. Casablanca Conference—Churchill and FDR agree on goal of “unconditional surrender.” Critics will later claim it prolonged Axis resistance.

2 February. 20 German divisions surrender at Stalingrad. 600,000 men lost.

13 May. North African campaign formally ends as last German troops surrender. 250,000 Axis troops surrender. U.S. casualties 18,500.

11 July - 17 Aug: Allied invasion of Sicily. Month-long bombardment. Germans and Italians evacuate much equipment, defense not especially strong.

1943 July 24: Mussolini overthrown. Armistice with Italy reached September 3.

Sept 8: Salerno. OPERATION AVALANCHE. U.S. Fifth Army (General Mark Clark), VI Corps. Tough operation as U.S., Great Britain unable to consolidate beachheads. Kesselring counterattacks, allied positions desperate. Reinforcement, air, naval gunfire save beachhead. Italy looked easy, but was not. Took 8 months to get to Rome.

Nov 24: Tarawa in the Pacific secured by Marines. Costly battle.

November: FDR, Churchill, Chiang Kai-shek, Stalin pledge defeat of Japan and agree on invasion plans at Cairo and Tehran Conferences.

In the Pacific, U.S forces take the Marshall and Marianas Islands as part of the island-hopping campaign. MacArthur advances through Indonesia toward the Philippines.

In 1944 Germans lose 180,000 square miles in Russia.

Jan 22: Anzio. Follow-on invasion of Italy.

June 6: Operation Overlord. D-Day. The Allied invasion of Normandy is the largest and most complicated military operation ever conducted. Thousands of men, ships, planes take part, and hundreds of thousands of tons of equipment and supplies are moved across the Channel and ashore in the early days. (“The Longest Day”; “Saving Private Ryan.”)

August 15. Operation Dragoon—Allied invasion of Southern France to take pressure off the Normandy area.

August 25: Liberation of Paris led by General De Gaulle.

23-25 October. Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Pacific.

24 Nov. U.S. B-29s begin attacking Tokyo from Saipan.

Dec 16-26: Battle of the Bulge. Surpise attack catches American unaware, costs many U.S. casualties, but Germans lack supplies, cannot sustain offensive.

By January the Americans are in Luzon in the Philippines.

February. Yalta (Crimea) Agreement signed by FDR, Churchill, Stalin establishes basis for occupation of Germany, returns to Soviet Union lands taken by Germany and Japan.

19 February. Invasion of Iwo Jima.

1 April. Invasion of Okinawa

8 May. V-E Day. Germany surrenders.

Berlin-Potsdam Conference—Truman, Churchill, Atlee (after July 28), Stalin create council to prepare peace treaties and plan for postwar Germany. New German government will be created in 1949.

End of War in Japan:

• 6 August. Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
• 8 August. Russia declares war on Japan.
• 9 August. Nagasaki is bombed.
• 10 August. Japanese offer to surrender.

15 August. V-J Day—the war is over. Japan formally surrenders aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay in September. General MacArthur accepts the surrender on behalf of the Allies.