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Treaty of Versailles
Arguably the primary instigating event for WWII was the signing of The Treaty of Versailles, which was signed at the end of WWI. The terms of the treaty were especially punitive for Germany, who lost land, was put in debt, and received military restrictions. -
world war 2 begins
Europe is flooded with fascist leaders while poverty rampages the world, Adolf Hitler rises as the leader of Germany and invades Poland, officially marking the beginning of WWII. -
Canada declares war on germany
Although Canada had more autonomy in it's military involvement than in 1914, we declared war on Germany along with Brittan and France. This decision was met with a grim resolve, in contrast to the excitement which had ensued the commencement of WW1. (Canada: our oldest good neighbor, 1946) -
Canadian industry after Dunkirk evacuation
In 1940 the British had to evacuate troops from Dunkirk, France because of German advancements. They successfully evacuated 338,226 British and French troops but lost 64,000 vehicles. Canada immediately amped up it's production of military equipment, supplying 800,000 military transport vehicles and 1,700,000 small arms, among other equipment. (Cartwright, 2024) -
Royal Canadian Airforce fights in Brittan
The Nazi army was planning on invading Brittan after its successful plight in France, so Brittan began war preparations with help from Canada. Germany commenced fighting in the air above the British channels, leading to "The Blitz", when Germany began heavily bombing London for 57 nights. Eventually, Germany retreated due to heavy losses and bombings of Berlin. -
Invasion of Sicily
Canada invaded Sicily with "Operation Husky" and were greeted with hoards of surrendering Italians, but the German opposition continued to fight in Italy for many years, with many victories, which defined Canada as a respectable military force. 26,254 Canadians died fighting in Italy. -
D-day
When France was occupied by Germans, the allied countries planned an amphibious invasion of Normandy, which successfully brought 326,000 troops onto the Normandy beaches. These troops worked to take over France, and their efforts are often seen as the beginning of the end of WWII. -
Germany surrenders
After the loss of France, Hitlers suicide and other major German losses, the new German leader (Donitz) opened negotiations with the allied forces. Initially, Donitz asked for a partial surrender so that he could send the German forces to eastern Berlin to fight Russian forces, but eventually conceded and accepted a full surrender. -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Before the war, American scientists were concerned about atomic bomb research happening in Germany, so began their own research and development. By May 1945, the first tests were being conducted in New Mexico. Japan had been an increasingly threatening enemy, even after allied victory in Europe. Instead of continuing conventional bombing of Japan, the U.S. decided to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, than afterwards dropped another one on Nagasaki. A total of 214,000 people died. (Tibbets, 2014) -
End of World War 2
After the second atomic bomb was dropped Japan leader Hirohito aired a speech in August 1945 announcing that Japan would accept the allies demands, although they only signed a surrender document a month later.
World War ii had immense impacts for everyone at the time, and we still see the impacts in Canada today, in our economy, societal norms, technology, etc. Despite our victory, it's important to remember that no one really won the war, which had a total of 85 million deaths worldwide.