WWII Timeline

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Overview

The Second World War was one of the deadliest and most devastating wars in recorded history. In the 1920s and 1930s Germany was recovering from the confusion and destruction caused by the First World War which ended in 1918. Germany had many problems with creating a stable government and economy, but in the late 1920s and 1930s one political party became dominant. This was the National Socialist party, and since 1921 this party was led by Adolf Hitler. Hitler and the National Socialist party (Nazis) were very influential among the Germans because they promised to bring Germany out of the turmoil that they found themselves in. They especially appealed to the many Germans who felt that the Treaty of Versailles (the treaty of German surrender at the end of World War I) was unfair and unjust. The National Socialists began ignoring the prohibitions placed on them by the Treaty of Versailles by raising a big army, making motorized airplanes, and as part of their plan to take back land they thought was traditionally theirs, the German army invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Fearing that the strengthened Germany would soon take over more countries, Britain, France, and Canada soon declared war on Germany. Japan soon joined sides with Germany, along with Italy. The United States had maintained a position of neutrality, but heavily funded the United Kingdom, France, Poland, and China (the Allies) in their fight against Germany, Japan and Italy (the Axis powers). On December 7, 1941 Japan bombed the unsuspecting U.S. naval port at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This brought the United States fully into the war.

There were three main fighting areas, called fronts or theaters; the European continent, Asia, and the African continent. After the United States joined the war fighting continued for four more years, ending in September 1945. The most memorable events of World War II include the horrific treatment and genocide that the Germans inflicted upon the Jews and other people they believed were inferior, the development and use of the first ballistic missiles by the German army, the development of the jet engine, the complete destruction and annihilation of many ancient European cities, the creation and use of two atomic bombs, and worst of all the millions of civilian and military deaths. Many repercussions of the Second World War are seen today. The division of Germany into two nations for almost 40 years came as a direct result of the Allied powers controlling the defeated Germany. Improvements in air transportation, computer technology, and many other sciences grew out of the need to provide better equipment and services to the armies. Even the greatest human feat of men flying safely to the moon, walking on it, and returning safely to the earth was a by product of the many German engineers and scientists who helped the United States after the war. The Second World War also became the topic of countless books, movies, board games, and video games.

World War II was definitely a major event in the history of our planet. As you browse through the remainder of this site, you will hopefully learn about many of the events that shape our understanding of the War, and therefore influence our comprehension of the present and mold our perception of the future. You will see that the events that are chosen to represent the past can paint various and often different pictures of history.