WWII Timeline

German Invasion of Poland – 1 September 1939 to 6 October 1939

What Happened: Germany invaded Poland from the west on the pretences of a falsified Polish attack. The Soviet Union also invaded from the east and Poland was divvied up in accordance to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Result: Caused Britain to declare war on Germany and marked the beginning of WWII.

German Invasion of France – 10 May 1940 to 22 June 1940

What Happened: Germany invades the Netherlands and Belgium on her way to France. Maginot Line fails. Blitzkrieg warfare catches the French off guard.

Result: France surrenders and is split into the German-occupied north with a Vichy puppet state in the south.

Evacuation of Dunkirk – 26 May 1940 to 4 June 1940

What Happened: After being pushed back to the beaches by German troops, Hitler halted the German advance, and the Allies made an emergency evacuation of Dunkirk using any boat that could navigate the English Channel.

Result: Over 300 000 soldiers were saved.

Battle of Britain – 10 July 1940 to 31 October 1940

What Happened: The German Luftwaffe tried to wipe out the Royal Air Force to facilitate an invasion of Britain. British air bases and cities are bombed. Britain uses radar to receive early warning of German planes and launches many successful counter-offensives.

Result: Was the first loss for Germany and showed that Britain had the resolve to stay in the war. Made the Germans turn their attention to the east.

Italy Invades North Africa – August 1940

What Happened: Italy invades Egypt via Libya and is pushed back by the British, but keeps Libya thanks to German support.

Result: Showed that Italy was incapable of military victory without the help of the Germans.

Battle of the Atlantic – mid-1940 to 1943

What Happened: German U-Boats sunk merchant ships coming to Britain in an attempt to cut off their supplies. At first this hurts the British, but then they become successful in detecting and destroying U-Boats.

Result: Led to breakthroughs in anti-submarine warfare and is credited with getting the United States into the war.

Operation Barbarossa Commences – 22 June 1941

What Happened: Germans invade Eastern Europe and Western Russia in what was that largest military offensive in recorded history. The offensive is initially successful and the Germans gain much ground.

Result: The decision to invade the Soviet Union would lead to Germany’s downfall.

Atlantic Conference – 14 August 1941

What Happened: Churchill and Roosevelt met in Newfoundland and hammered the Atlantic Charter which established what a post-war World would look like. The prospect of a United Nations was also discussed.