 Failure of appeasement  Sept Germany Invades Poland  Blitzkrieg- “Lightening War”  Britain & France declare war on Germany

 May 1940-Evacuation of Dunkirk Allies trapped w/ backs to the sea  Forced to escape mainland Europe across the English Channel

 June 1940-France falls  Northern France controlled by Germany  Vichy France- Puppet govt. set up in Southern France (Marshall Petain)

 German Blitzkrieg quickly overruns much of Europe & Northern Africa  Britain now stands alone against Germany

 The Battle of Britain- Summer May 1941 Germany’s devastating air bombardment of London Massive death & destruction Radar, Enigma machine, RAF pilots & leadership of Winston Churchill help English repel attack

 Germany invades USSR  Operation Barbarossa (Costly mistake) Russian cold & shortage of supplies help save USSR  1942-USSR defeats decisive Battle of Stalingrad

 90,000 German troops surrender  City was 99% destroyed  Germany on defensive for the rest of the war

 Lend Lease Act- US ships arms & supplies to allies w/out payment  Atlantic charter Aug  Churchill & Roosevelt meet secretly to discuss post WWII plans  Upheld free trade & self-determination  Plans for a United Nations after the war

 D-Day June 6, 1944  Allied troops land on Beaches of Normandy (France)  Allies liberate France & push towards Germany

American transport to the D-Day invasion. {Death day} American transport to the D-Day invasion. {Death day}

 Hitler’s last ditch offensive of the WWII  December 1944  The Ardennes Forest, Belgium  Germany now on the Run  Allies cross the Rhine into Germany March 1945

 April 1945 Mussolini caught escaping Italy with retreating Germans  Executed & hung in Milan town Square

 1945 Allied troops surround Berlin  Soviets from the East  British & US from West  April 30 Hitler commits suicide rather than surrender  May7, 1945 V-E Day – unconditional surrender of Germany