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Brief Outline of World War
II & Timeline
 World
War II, or the Second World War, was a global
military conflict from 1939 to 1945, which was fought between
the Allied powers of the United States, United Kingdom, and
Soviet Union against the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and
Japan, with their respective allies.World War II began in
Europe in 1939 with the German invasion of Poland, launching a
European war which merged with the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese
War which had been started by the Japanese in 1937. It
involved the mobilization of over 100 million military
personnel, making it the most widespread and largest war in
history, propelling the participants into a state of "total
war", which erased the distinction between civil and military
resources, as nations focused their entire economic, industrial,
and scientific capabilities toward winning (and ending) the war.
Over 60 million people, the majority of them civilians, were
killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.
The financial cost of the war is estimated at about a trillion
1944 U.S. dollars worldwide, making it the most costly war in
capital as well as lives.
The Allies were victorious, and from among
them emerged two superpowers: the United States
and the Soviet Union, the tension between
them setting the stage for the Cold War,
which lasted for the next 45 years. The United
Nations was formed in hopes of preventing
further international conflicts.
Timeline
 1939
- Hitler invades Poland on 1 September. Britain and France
declare war on Germany two days later.
1940
- Rationing starts in the UK.
- German 'Blitzkrieg' overwhelms Belgium, Holland and
France.
- Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
- British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk.
- British victory in Battle of Britain forces Hitler to
postpone invasion plans.
1941
- Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of
Russia.
- The Blitz continues against Britain's major cities.
- Allies take Tobruk in North Africa, and resist German
attacks.
- Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the US enters the war.
1942
- Germany suffers setbacks at Stalingrad and El Alamein.
- Singapore falls to the Japanese in February - around
25,000 prisoners taken.
- American naval victory at Battle of Midway, in June,
marks turning point in Pacific War.
- Mass murder of Jewish people at Auschwitz begins.
1943
- Surrender at Stalingrad marks Germany's first major
defeat.
- Allied victory in North Africa enables invasion of Italy
to be launched.
- Italy surrenders, but Germany takes over the battle.
- British and Indian forces fight Japanese in Burma.
1944
-
 Allies
land at Anzio and bomb monastery at Monte Cassino.
- Soviet offensive gathers pace in Eastern Europe.
- D Day: The Allied invasion of France. Paris is liberated
in August.
- Guam liberated by the US Okinawa, and Iwo Jima bombed.
1945
- Auschwitz liberated by Soviet troops.
- Russians reach Berlin: Hitler commits suicide and
Germany surrenders on 7 May.
- Truman becomes President of the US on Roosevelt's death,
and Attlee replaces Churchill.
- After atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, Japan surrenders on 14 August.
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