Second World War Timeline

Second World War

Second World War

Timeline of the major events

May 1940

Dec. 1941

Early 1939

Dunkirk evacuation

Pearl Harbor attack

Beginning of the war

July-Sept. 1940

6 June 1944

Sept. 1939

Batlle of Britain

D-Day

Beginning of the Batlle of the Atlantic

The outbreak

• Hitler was determined to conquer Poland;
• To do that, he signed the German-Soviet Nonagression Pact.
• After hearing about this agreement, Poland and Great-Britain signed a treaty of mutual assistence.
• Nonetheless, Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to start on the 1st of September.
• In response to the attack, Great-Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3rd.
• World War II had begun.

Second World War

Timeline of the major events

May 1940

Dec. 1941

Early 1939

Dunkirk evacuation

Pearl Harbor attack

Beginning of the war

July-Sept. 1940

6 June 1944

Sept. 1939

Batlle of Britain

D-Day

Beginning of the Batlle of the Atlantic

Battle of the Atlantic

• Longest continuous battle of the Second World War.

• Hours after Britain declared war on Germany, a German submarine torpedoed a british ship, beginning a batlle for control of the key shipping routes between North Africa and Europe.

• The outcame of the battle was a strategic victory for the Allies, after Germany surrendered.

• Although the important win, there were 72 thousand deaths for the Allies and 30 thousand for Germany.

Second World War

Timeline of the major events

May 1940

Dec. 1941

Early 1939

Dunkirk evacuation

Pearl Harbor attack

Beginning of the war

July-Sept. 1940

6 June 1944

Sept. 1939

Batlle of Britain

D-Day

Beginning of the Batlle of the Atlantic

Dunkirk evacuation

• The evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and other Allied troops from tbe French seaport of Dunkirk to England ended with more or less 350 thousand troops saved.
• The context of the Dunkirk evacuation was Germany's invasion of the Low Countries (Luxembourg, Belgium and The Netherlands) and Northern France in May 1940.
• The evacuation was considered a half-victory for the Allies:- On one hand, the evacuation was a miracle and saved thousands of troops;- On the other hand, almost all the artillery and equipment had been left behind.

Second World War

Timeline of the major events

May 1940

Dec. 1941

Early 1939

Dunkirk evacuation

Pearl Harbor attack

Beginning of the war

July-Sept. 1940

6 June 1944

Sept. 1939

Batlle of Britain

D-Day

Beginning of the Batlle of the Atlantic

Battle of Britain

• Was considered a successful defense of Great Britain against destructive air raids conducted by Luftwaffe (Germany Air Force).
• The victory for Luftwaffe would expose Great Britain to invasion by the German army, which was in possession of seaports in France only a few kilometers of the Briish Channel.
• The win of Royal Air Force had three consequences:- Blocked the German invasion of Great Britain;- Created conditions for extension of the war;- Created conditions for defeating Nazi Germany.

Second World War

Timeline of the major events

May 1940

Dec. 1941

Early 1939

Dunkirk evacuation

Pearl Harbor attack

Beginning of the war

July-Sept. 1940

6 June 1944

Sept. 1939

Batlle of Britain

D-Day

Beginning of the Batlle of the Atlantic

Pearl Harbor attack

• Surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Hawaii, by the Japanese, that recipitated the entry of the United States on the World War II.
• The day after the attack, Roosevelt delivered his famous Day of Infamy Speech, in which he called for a formal declaration of war on Japan.
• On December 11, 3 days after Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy declared war no the U.S. Later that day, the U.S. declared war back.
• The U.K. also declared war on Japan.

Second World War

Timeline of the major events

May 1940

Dec. 1941

Early 1939

Dunkirk evacuation

Pearl Harbor attack

Beginning of the war

July-Sept. 1940

6 June 1944

Sept. 1939

Batlle of Britain

D-Day

Beginning of the Batlle of the Atlantic

D-Day

• D-Day was the start of Allied operations which would ultimately liberate western Europe, defeat Nazi Germany and end the Second World War.
• Operation Overlord (commonçy known has "D-Day") was the largest seaborne invasion in history, deploying more than 160 thousand Allied troops.

Allied troops landed on the French coast

June 6

01

June 11

Allied overcome german resistence

02

August 25

Paris is liberated by the Allies

03

September

German troops are in their side of the border

04

Objectives of the attack

1. Destroy important American fleet units, thereby preventing the U.S. fleet from interfering with the conquest of the Dutch East Indies by Japan.
2. Buy time for Japan to consolidate its position and increase its naval strength.
3. Undermine American morale such that the U.S. government would seek for peace with Japan.