Timeline Of World War II
December 7, 1941:
- On this day the Japanese attacked the U.S. Naval Base (Pearl Harbor) and the U.S. and Britain declared war on Japan.
- On this day Germany declared war on the U.S.
- On this day Hitler, the leader of Germany, began a mass gassing of Jews at the Auschwitz Concentration camp.
- On this day German U-boats began sinking ships off the American Coast, this was part of Operation Drumbeat.
- On this day american citizens of Japanese descent were forced into " Relocation Camps " (a.k.a. Internment Camps). They did that to make sure that they wouldn't fight against the U.S.
- This day marked the turning point of World War II. The Japanese army was horribly defeated in " The Battle of Midway."
- On this day the " Red Army " began the siege on the German occupied city of Stalingrad.
- During this time Roosevelt and Churchill met at Casablanca, and they issued an unconditional surrender demand.
- On this day the British forces took over Tripoli.
- On this day the U.S. Air Force went on a daylight bombing campaign with an attack on Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
- On this day Germany's Sixth Army at Stalingrad surrenders to the Russians.
- Today also marked the turning point of the war in Europe.
- During this time The Battle of Kasserine Pass was fought in North Africa between the German and U.S. Forces.
- On this day The German Army recaptured the city of Kharkov.
- Today the remaining Axis troops in Africa surrendered to the Allies.
- On this day the U-boat operations in the North Atlantic were suspended due to steep losses.
- On this day the Nazis ordered the destruction of the Polish Ghettos.
- On this day the American Forces took over Palermo, Sicily.
- On this day Mussolini and The Fascists were overthrown.
- On this day an Allied bombing raid created a firestorm in Hamburg, Germany.
- On this day the Axis Forces withdrew from Sicily.
- On this day the German Army began to occupy Italy.
- On this day the Allies took over Naples.
- On this day the " Big Three " ( Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill ) met at Tehran.
- During this time the Soviets began a large offensive in Ukraine.
- On this day the Red Army advanced into Poland.
- On this day the Allied Forces landed at Anzio, Italy.
- On this day the Red Army broke a 900 day siege of Leningrad.
- On this day the American Forces invaded the city Kwajalein.
- On this day the 14th Army of Germany launched a counterattack on the city of Anzio.
- During this time the American Forces took over the city of Eniwetok.
- On this day the Red Army began an offensive on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
- On this day the Soviet troops recaptured the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol.
- On this day the German Forces in the Crimea surrendered.
- On this day the Allied Forces entered into the Italian city of Rome.
- This day is widely known as " D-Day."
- On this day the invasion of Europe began with the Allied landings in the French city of Normandy.
- On this day the Red Army advanced into the country of Finland.
- On this day the Germans began to drop V-1 against the city of London.
- On this day the American Marines invaded the island of Saipan.
- During this time the " Marianas Turkey Shoot " resulted in the destruction of over 200 Japanese air crafts.
- On this day the Red Army began a massive " Summer Offensive."
- On this day the American Forces began to liberate the city of Cherbourg.
- On this day the Soviet Forces recaptured the city of Minsk.
- On this day the Allied troops began to liberate the French city of Caen.
- On this day the American troops began to liberate ST Lo.
- On this day Hitler survived an assassination attempt.
- On this day the Soviet Forces began to liberate the Concentration Camp at Majdanek.
- During this time the Allied Forces broke-out of the Normandy encirclement in " Operation Cobra."
- On this day the Red Army recaptured the city of Brest-Litovsk.
- On this day the Polish Home Army began to revolt the Nazis in the city of Warsaw.
- On this day the Allies invaded Southern France.
- During this time the Soviet Forces invaded the country of Romania.
- On this day the French city of Paris was liberated.
- On this day the city of Brussels was liberated.
- On this day the city of Antwerp was liberated.
- On this day the Soviets and Finns sign a Peace Treaty.
- On this day the Red Army began to occupy the country of Estonia.
- On this day the Nazis crushed the revolt in Warsaw.
- Also, on this day the Allies advanced in to Germany.
- On this day the British invaded Greece.
- On this day the city of Belgrade, Yugoslavia fell to the Soviet Forces.
- During this time the U.S. Naval Forces destroyed the remnants of the Japanese Navy at the Battle of Leyte Gulf (the largest naval engagement in history).
- On this day President Roosevelt was elected to his fourth term as the U.S. President.
- On this day a Civil War erupted in Greece.
- Also, on this day the Japanese retreated in Burma.
- On this day the American Forces invaded the Philippine island of Mindoro.
- On this day the German Army launches an offensive on the Western Front in the " Battle of the Bulge."
- On this day Waffen SS executes 81 American Prisoners of War in the " Malmedy Massacre."
- On this day the American Forces invaded the Philippine island of Luzon.
- On this day the Battle of the Bulge ended, and as a result of that the Germans were defeated.
- On this day the Red Army began to liberate the city of Warsaw.
- On this day the German lines on the eastern front collapsed, and the full retreat began.
- On this day the country of Hungary signed the Armistice with the Allies.
- On this day the Soviets began to liberate Auschwitz.
- On this day the Red Army began to occupy the country of Lithuania.
- During this time Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill met at the Yalta Conference.
- During this time the Allied Forces incendiary raid created a firestorm in the city of Dresden.
- On this day the American Forces landed on the island of Iwo Jima.
- On this day the American Forces began to liberate the city of Manila in the Philippines.
- Also, on this day Finland declared war on Germany.
- On this day the Allies captured the city of Cologne.
- Also, on this day the Ludendorff Rail Bridge on the Rhine River was captured intact at Ramagen.
- On this day the city of Tokyo was firebombed.
- On this day the Japanese resistance on Iwo Jima ended.
- On this day the Allies took the city of Mandalay in Burma.
- On this day the Red Army began to liberate the city of Danzig.
- On this day the American Forces encircled the German Forces in the Ruhr.
- On this day President Roosevelt died of a stroke.
- Also, on this day Harry Truman became the President of the U.S.
- Also, on this day the Allies began to liberate the Belsen and Buchenwald Concentration Camps.
- On this day the Red Army launched the Berlin offensive.
- Also, on this day the Allies took the city of Nuremberg.
- On this day the German Forces in the Ruhr capitulated.
- On this day Mussolini was hanged by the Italian Partisans.
- Also, on this day the city of Venice fell to the Allied Forces.
- On this day the Dachau Concentration Camp was liberated.
- On this day Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun committed suicide in Chancellery Bunker.
- On this day all of the German Forces in Italy surrendered.
- On this day there was an unconditional surrender of all of the German Forces.
- This day is known as V.E. Day. ( Victory in Europe Day )
- On this day SS Reichfuhrer Heinrich Himmler committed suicide.
- On this day the Allies divided Germany into occupation zones.
- On this day the United Nations World Charter was signed in San Francisco.
- On this day the first U.S. atomic bomb was tested at Los Alamos, New Mexico.
- Also, on this day the Potsdam Conference began.
- On this day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
- On this day the Soviet Union declared war on Japan.
- On this day the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
- On this day there was an unconditional surrender of the Japanese Forces.
- This day is known as V.J. Day (Victory Over Japan Day).
- On this day the Japanese Delegation signed an instrument of surrender aboard Battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
- On this day the United Nations met for the first time in London.
- On this day Hermann Goring committed suicide.
- Also, on this day 11 other war criminals were hanged.