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The Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan became known as the Axis. Italy joins this alliance in 1939.
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The Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany begins at 4:45 a.m. with the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) attacking several targets in Poland. The Luftwaffe launches air attacks against Kraków, Łódź, and Warsaw. By 8:00 a.m., troops of the German Army launched an attack near the Polish town of Mokra.
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The British government declares general mobilization of the British Armed Forces and begins evacuation plans in preparation of German air attacks.
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At 11:15 a.m., British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announces on BBC Radio that the deadline of the final British ultimatum for the withdrawal of German troops from Poland expired at 11:00am and that "consequently this nation is at war with Germany" and at 12:30pm the French Government delivers a similar final ultimatum; which expires at 3:00pm.
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Within hours of the British declaration of War, SS Athenia, a British cruise ship is torpedoed by the German submarine U-30. 112 passengers and crew members are killed.
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The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945. It was about the struggle during WWII between the Allies and Axis powers to control the supply route for the Allies across the Atlantic Ocean.
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The Phoney War was a phase early in World War II that was marked by a lack of major military operations by the Western Allies against the German Reich. The phase was in the months following Britain and France's declaration of war on Germany.
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To assert Canada's independence from the U.K., Canada's political leaders decided to seek the approval of the Canadian Parliament to declare war.
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The first Canadian troops arrive in Europe.
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The alliance of Germany, Italy, Japan during World War II was called the Axis. Japan joins this alliance in 1940.
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Hitler and Mussolini meet at the Brenner pass on the Austrian border. Mussolini agrees with Hitler that Italy will enter the war "at an opportune moment".
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Germans land in several Norwegian ports and take Oslo and Denmark surrenders.
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Germany invades Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
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The War Office made the decision to evacuate British forces on 25 May. In the nine days from 27 May-4 June, 338,226 men escaped, including 139,997 French, Polish and Belgian troops, together with a small number of Dutch soldiers, aboard 861 vessels (of which 243 were sunk during the operation). British Fighter Command lost 106 aircraft dogfighting over Dunkirk, and the Luftwaffe lost about 135. Between 30,000 and 40,000 French soldiers were left behind and forced to surrender to the Germans.
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Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom.
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The Franco-German armistice is signed.
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The Luftwaffe bombs the demilitarised British Channel Islands. In Guernsey, 33 are killed and 67 injured, in Jersey, 9 are killed and many are injured.
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The British attack and destroy the French navy, fearing that it would fall into German hands.
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The Battle of Britain begins with Luftwaffe raids on channel shipping.
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The German Luftwaffe started a massive bombing campaign, aimed at destroying harbours and shipping facilities in southern England.
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Germany invades the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa, a three-pronged operation aimed at Leningrad, Moscow, and the southern oil fields of the Caucasus.
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Japanese planes bombed the US naval base in Pearl Harbour, on the island of Hawaii, destroying half the fleet. Canada declares war on Japan.
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The United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and New Zealand declare war on Japan.
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Hong Kong surrenders to Japan and Canadian soldiers are defeated by the Japanese. All 1975 Canadians were either killed or taken prisoner by the Japanese. Of the 555 who perished, nearly half died as prisoners during the three and a half years they were imprisoned.
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The first American forces arrive in Europe landing in Northern Ireland.
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5,000 Canadian, 1,000 British and 50 Americans participate in raid on Dieppe, France. Canadians took 3,367 casualties including 907 killed
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In the Battle of the Barents Sea, the British win a strategic victory, leading Hitler to largely abandon the use of surface raiders in favor of U boats.
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The Italian government surrendered on September 3 1943 but the Germans immediately seized control.
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Canadian troops join British and Americans in Allied invasion of Normandy in northern France. They quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
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While the Allies invaded Germany from the west, the Soviet Union attacked from the east, facing certain defeat, Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies at the Western Allied Headquarters in Rheims, France at 2:41 a.m
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The United States dropped an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The destruction unleashed by the bomb had never been experienced before. Some 70 000 residents of Hiroshima were killed. Another 130 000 were wounded, many of them severely burned by radiation or injured by collapsing buildings.
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A second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki by the United States, killing 40 000 people.
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Emperor Hirohito of Japan, realizing the impact of the bombs the USA dropped in their country, issues a radio broadcast announcing Japan's surrender in the war.
