World War II Timeline and Special Investigation d Map

1. The Battle of Britain

1.1. Hitler thought that an invasion to Britain could succeed only if Germany gained control of the air. At the beginning of August 1940, the Luftwaffe (German air force) bombed British air force and naval bases, harbors, communication centers, and war industries. The British fought back with determination , supported by an effective radar system that gave them a warning of German attacks. Nevertheless, the British air force suffered critical losses. In September, Britain attack Berlin. Hitler instead of bombing military targets, the Luftwaffe began massive bombing of British cities. The British were able to rebuild their air strength quickly. Soon, the British air force was inflicting major losses on Luftwaffe bombers. Hitler postponed the invasion of Britain.

2. Japan at War

2.1. Japanese aircraft attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, apan now declared the creation of a "community" of nations: the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Japanese policy was now largely dictated by Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō who in the course of the war became a virtual military dictator, The attack on Pearl Harbor unified American opinion about becoming involved in the war.The United States joined with European nations and Nationalist China in a combined effort to defeat Japan.

3. The Allies Advance

3.1. The entry of the United States into the war created, the Grand Alliance,he three major Allies— Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union—agreed to stress military operations and to ignore political differences, At the beginning of 1943, the Allies agreed to fight until the Axis Powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—surrendered unconditionally, which required the Axis nations to surrender. This cemented the Grand Alliance by making it nearly impossible for Hitler to divide his foes.

4. The European Theater

4.1. German forces broke through the British defenses in Egypt and advanced toward Alexandria. A reinforced German offensive in the Soviet Union led to the capture of the entire Crimea in the spring of 1942. However, by the fall of 1942, the war had turned against the Germans.

5. The Tide Turns

5.1. In North Africa, British forces stopped General Erwin Rommel's troops in the summer of 1942. During November 1942, British and American forces invaded French’s North Africa. They forced the German and Italian troops there to surrender in May 1943.

6. Spielvogel, J. J. (2006). World history: Modern times. New York, NY: Glencoe, McGraw-Hill. Chapter 17, Lesson 2, 3, 5

7. Europe at War

7.1. Hitler confused Europe with the speed of the German attack on Poland. He used the blitzkrieg, or "lightning war," called panzer divisions, that was in support by airplanes and in the sky. The blitzkrieg was very quick passing through Polish lines and they got Poland weak so they can entered. Within four weeks, Poland surrendered. On September 28, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland.

8. Hitler's Early Victories

8.1. Hitler make a move to attack on April 9, 1940, with another blitzkrieg against Denmark and Norway. A month later, hitler launched an attack on the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. German panzer divisions broke through weak French defensive positions there and raced across northern France. Allies forces were taken by surprise. When Germany was about to attack, France had a defense system, called the “Maginot” Line, on its border with Germany. This was made of concrete and steel was a fort armed with heavy artillery. With the Maginot line, the Germans splitted the Allied armies, trapping French troops and the entire British army on the beaches of Dunkirk. The French signed an armistice on June 22, 1940. Germany occupied three-fifths of France territory. Germany the control of western and central Europe, but Britain was not defeated , after Dunkirk attack, the British resolve heightened. The British people were the stirring speeches of Winston Churchill, who was the prime minister in May 1940. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounced the aggressors, but the United States followed a strict policy of isolationism. United States was preventing going to the war because they had been drawn into World War I due to economic involvement in Europe, and they wanted to prevent a recurrence. Roosevelt was convinced that the neutrality acts actually encouraged

9. The Asian Theater

9.1. The manhattan project was the development of the nuclear bomb. The reason why Hiroshima was bombed is that the top priority for President Truman was to end the war as quickly as possible to avoid more conflicts for the USA.

10. Attack on the Soviet Union

10.1. Hitler became convinced that Britain was remaining in the war only because it expected Soviet support, Britain’s last hope would be eliminated the invasion was scheduled for the spring of 1941, the failure of Mussolini’s invasion of Greece in 1940 had exposed Hitler’s southern flank to British air bases in Greece. To secure his Balkan flank, Hitler seized both Greece and Yugoslavia in April. Hitler invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 . For the first time in the war, German armies had been stopped. A counterattack in December 1941 by a Soviet army came as an ominous ending to the year for the Germans.