Poland Attacked: Sept. 1, 1939 Blitzkrieg

German Troops March into Warsaw

Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis, 1940 The Tripartite Pact

European Theater of Operations

The “Phony War” Ends: Spring, 1940

Dunkirk Evacuated June 4, 1940

France Surrenders June, 1940

A Divided France Henri Petain

Battle of Britain: July – August, 1940

The Atlantic Charter: August, FDR and Churchill approve the Atlantic Charter which supported self-determination, a new permanent system of general security (a new League of Nations), and the right of people to regain governments abolished by dictators.

Operation Barbarossa: June, 1941

3,000,000 German soldiers 3,400 tanks

The “Big Three” Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin

Axis Powers in 1942

WWII was fought on two fronts: In the Pacific: Japanese forces reached their height of power in In Europe, most of the fighting in 1942 was between the Soviets and the Germans, as the Soviets attempted to repel the Nazi invasion. All sides engaged in civilian bombing.

High tide for Axis ends in 1942, as US enters war and because the Soviets win at Stalingrad. Turning Point in the East: Stalingrad High tide for Axis ends in 1942, as US enters war and because the Soviets win at Stalingrad. Turning Point in the East: Stalingrad

Battle of Stalingrad: Winter of German ArmyRussian Army 1,011,500 men1,000,500 men 10,290 artillery guns 13,541 artillery guns 675 tanks894 tanks 1,216 planes1,115 planes

The North Africa Campaign: The Battle of El Alamein, 1942 The North Africa Campaign: The Battle of El Alamein, 1942 Gen. Ernst Rommel, The “Desert Fox” Gen. Montgomery (“Monty”)

Turning Point in North Africa: El Alamein: German forces out of N. Africa by May, 1943:Operation Torch Turning Point in North Africa: El Alamein: German forces out of N. Africa by May, 1943:Operation Torch

After N. Africa, Then to Italy:

The Allies Liberate Rome: June 5, 1944

Sicily was occupied in 1943, Mussolini removed from power, but Germans save him from mountaintop prison and return him to power in N. Italy, which is occupied by Germans until 1945.

Casablanca, January, 1943: FDR and Churchill agree to step up Pacific war, invade Sicily, increase pressure on Italy and insist on an unconditional surrender of Germany.

Teheran Conference, November, 1943: Allies agree to launch attacks from Russia on the east at the same time as US and Great Britain attack from west.

Gen. Eisenhower Gives the Orders for D-Day “Operation Overlord”

D-Day (June 6, 1944)

The largest invasion by sea in history, the Allies secured several beachheads on the Normandy Coast.

The Liberation of Paris: August 25, 1944

French Collaborators

The Battle of the Bulge: Hitler’s Last Offensive Dec. 16, 1944 to Jan. 28, 1945

The Americans reorganized, won the Battle of the Bulge and move towards Germany. Horrors of the Holocaust begin to be uncovered as the Allies and Soviets each advance towards Berlin.

Yalta: February, 1945 Stalin agreed that Poland would have free elections after the war and that the Soviets would attack Japan within three months of the collapse of Germany. Soviets receive territory in Manchuria and several islands; USSR agrees to join the United Nations on condition that she has three seats on the Security Council, along with USA, Britain, France and China.

Mussolini & His Mistress, Claretta Petacci Hung in Milan, 1945

US & Russian Soldiers Meet at the Elbe River: April 25, 1945

Hitler Commits Suicide April 30, 1945

V-E Day (May 8, 1945)

Pearl Harbor - Dec. 7, 1941

President Roosevelt Signs the US Declaration of War

Pacific Theater of Operations

Bataan Death March - April, ,000 prisoners [12,000 Americans] Marched 60 miles in the blazing heat to POW camps in the Philippines 76,000 prisoners [12,000 Americans] Marched 60 miles in the blazing heat to POW camps in the Philippines.

Allied Counter-Offensive: “Island-Hopping”

First U. S. Raids on Tokyo, 1942 Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle: First U. S. Raids on Tokyo, 1942

Battle of the Coral Sea: May 7-8, 1942

Battle of Midway Island: June 4-6, 1942

Turning Point in the Pacific: Midway

Japanese Kamikaze Planes: “The Divine Wind”

Approximately 2,800 Kamikaze attackers sunk 34 Navy ships, damaged 368 others, killed 4,900 sailors, and wounded over 4,800

US Marines, Iwo Jima [Feb. 19, 1945]

Potsdam Conference: July, 1945 Germany divided into four zones. Germany divided into four zones. Soviets to enter war against Japan. United Nations Created.

The Manhattan Project: Los Alamos, NM Dr. Robert Oppenheimer

Hiroshima – August 6, 1945

Nagasaki – August 9, 1945

V-J Day (September 2, 1945)

V-J Day in Times Square, NYC