Failure of
appeasement
Sept. 1939-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 FrancePuppet 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 BritainSummer 1940- 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
1941- Germany
invades USSR
Operation
Barbarossa
(Costly mistake)
Russian cold & shortage
of supplies
help
save USSR
1942-USSR defeats
Germany @ 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. 1941
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
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