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End of WW1
WWI was fought from 1914-1918 on every ocean and on almost every continent. Most of the fighting, however, took place in Europe. World War I was also known as the Great War. Over 15 million people died in WW1
WWI began on June 28, 1914, when a Serbian terrorist shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. Russia and France sided with Serbia, and Germany supported Austria-Hungary. -
Treaty of Versailles
Treaty History - WikipediaThe Treaty of Versailles is agreed and publicly published. The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. -
Nazi Party Formed
Nazi Party Timeline The National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi Party, grew into a mass movement and ruled Germany through totalitarian means from 1933 to 1945. Founded in 1919 as the German Workers' Party, the group promoted German pride and anti-Semitism. -
Hitler Officially Named Leader Of The Nazi Party
Nazism
Hitler received 543 votes for, and only one against during the party election. At the next party gathering on the July 29, 1921, Adolf Hitler was introduced as Führer of the Nazi Party, marking the first time that title was publicly used to address him. -
Joseph Stalin made General Secretary by Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union’s sole leader from 1924 until his death in 1953. One of the most controversial and enigmatic figures in Russian history, His introduction of the command principle and five-year plans aimed at boosting the country’s economy condemned the country to human losses of immense proportions. -
Benito Mussolini Becomes The New Priminister Of Italy
Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)
Mussolini was the founder of Fascism and leader of Italy from 1922 to 1943. He allied Italy with Nazi Germany and Japan in World War Two. -
Nazi's Try To Overthrow The German Government
The Beer Hall Putsch
The Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923, or the Munich Putsch, was Hitler’s attempt to overthrow the Weimar government of Ebert and establish a right wing nationalistic one in its place. -
Lenin (Soviet Union) dies
Vladimir-lenin-dies
Vladimir Lenin, the architect of the Bolshevik Revolution and the first leader of the Soviet Union, dies of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 54. -
Mein Kampf is published
VideoMein Kampf is a book by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology -
Japanese Invade Manchuria
InvasionThe Japanese invasion of Manchuria began on September 19, 1931, when Manchuria was invaded by the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan immediately following the Mukden Incident. The Japanese established a puppet state, called Manchukuo, and their occupation lasted until the end of World War II. -
German Government rejects the Treaty of Versailles
The German government announced it would no longer adhere to the treaty's military limitations, citing the Allies' violation of the treaty by failing to initiate military limitations on themselves as called for in the preamble of Part V of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Japan leaves League of Nations
GENEVA, Feb. 24, 1933 -- The Japanese delegation, defying world opinion, withdrew from the League of Nations Assembly today after the assembly had adopted a report blaming Japan for events in Manchuria.
The stunned international conclave, representing almost every nation on earth, sat in silence while the delegation, led by the dapper Yosuke Matsuoka, clad in black, walked from the hall -
Compulsory Military Conscription in Germany
In March 1935, under the government of Adolf Hitler, Germany violated the Treaty of Versailles by introducing compulsory military conscription in Germany and rebuilding the armed forces. This included a new Navy (Kriegsmarine), the first full armored divisions (Panzerwaffe), and an Air Force (Luftwaffe). -
Great Britain withdraws from the Treaty
The A.G.N.AGreat Britain effectively withdrew from the treaty with the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement.
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement (A.G.N.A) of June 18, 1935 was a bilateral agreement between the United Kingdom and German Reich regulating the size of the Kriegsmarine in relation to the Royal Navy. The A.G.N.A fixed a ratio whereby the total tonnage of the Kriegsmarine was to be 35% of the total tonnage of the Royal Navy on a permanent basis. -
The Spitfire's is Born.
The Birth Of A GreatMany pilots of the early Spitfires were unfamiliar with the plane’s innovative retractable undercarriage. As a result, many early accidents were due to the pilots forgetting to lower their wheels when landing. The Spitfire was the only plane to be continuously under construction throughout the Second World War. The aircraft would be vital during the Battle of Britain -
Germany violates the Treaty of Versailles
In March 1936, Hitler took what for him was a huge gamble - he ordered that his troops should openly re-enter the Rhineland thus breaking the terms of Versailles once again. He did order his generals that the military should retreat out of the Rhineland if the French showed the slightest hint of making a military stand against him. This did not occur. Over 32,000 soldiers and armed policemen crossed into the Rhineland -
Germany Again Violate The Treaty
Annexation of Austria 12 Mar - 10 Apr 1938Austria was Adolf Hitler's birth country, and was the first nation to be annexed by Hitler's Nazi Germany. -
Sudetenland
Sudetenland Crisis ExplainedHitler marched unopposed into the Sudetenland. He said that it was the start of a 1000-year German Reich. Previously Chamberlain had met Hitler at Berchtesgaden (15 September). Hitler promised him that this was the ‘last problem to be solved’. Chamberlain decided Hitler was ‘a man who can be relied upon’. He persuaded the Czechs to hand over the Sudetenland. -
Germany occupy Czechoslovakia
Czecheslovakia Invaded In March 1939, Germany violated the treaty further by occupying the rest of Czechoslovakia. -
WW11 Begins With The Invasion Of Poland
Invasion VideoAt 4.45 am on 1 September 1939 the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish garrison of the Westerplatte Fort, Danzig (modern-day Gdansk), in what was to become the first military engagement of World War Two. Simultaneously, 62 German divisions supported by 1,300 aircraft commenced the invasion of Poland. -
Battle of the Atlantic begins
The Battle of the AtlanticThe Battle of Atlantic lasted as long as WWII itself, 1939-1945, however, it was most significant from mid-1940 to the end of 1943. To survive the war against Hitler’s forces, Britain needed imports of food, fuel and raw materials from overseas -
Nazi's begin the deportation of Jews
The majority of people who were deported to labor and death camps were transported in cattle wagons.
Hitler believed that they were racially inferior and were in some sense 'contaminating' non-Jewish Germans and he wanted a Germany and a Europe without Jews -
Battle of Narvik
Battles of NarvikThe Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940 as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian city of Narvik as part of the Norwegian Campaign. Narvik provided an ice-free harbour in the North Atlantic for iron ore transported by the railway from Kiruna in Sweden. Both sides in the war had an interest in securing this iron supply for themselves and denying it to the enemy -
Winston Churchill Becomes The New Priminister Of Britain
Churchill becomes Prime MinisterOne of the most dramatic days in British history. The government was in disarray as Winston Churchill became PM and, on the continent, Germany ended the Phoney War by invading the Low Countries.He was greeted by cheering crowds outside Downing Street and his appointment was celebrated by the public -
Germany Invades the Low Countries
Germany invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, known collectively as the Low Countries. This attack took place as part of Germany's overall operational plan to attack France and the British troops in France. Faced with overwhelming forces, the Belgians, Dutch, and Luxembourgers quickly fell to the invading German army -
Dunkirk - The Land Battle for France
The Fall of FranceFor over six months the two armies had faced each other across the Franco-German border, but on 10 May the German offensive in the west began. After only ten days German tanks reached the Channel at Abbeville, splitting the Allied armies in two. All the Germans had to do to trap the BEF without any hope of escape was turn north and sweep along the almost undefended channel coast -
Dunkirk - The Land Battle
A pivotal day of the campaign. German tactical errors, counter attacks and many brave decisions made by Commander Lord Gort. On the North eastern flank of the Allied pocket the Belgian army came under heavy attack, and was close to collapse. On the coast the Germans were blockading Calais, and were only twenty miles from Dunkirk, the last port available to the Allies. Meanwhile much of the BEF was still on a line running north from Arras, still attempted to maintain what was left of the front. -
Dunkirk – Siege Of Lille
Siege Of LilleThe Siege involved the remaining 40,000 men of the once-formidable French First Army in a delaying action against seven German divisions (including three armoured divisions), which were attempting to cut off and destroy the Allied armies at Dunkirk. This was a splendid contribution to the escape of their more fortunate comrades of the BEF on the beaches at Dunkirk -
British Troops Evacuated At Dunkirk
Dunkirk With German forces approaching, nearly 200,000 British soldiers were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk by hundreds of naval and civilian vessels. Commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo. The code name came from the dynamo room in the naval headquarters below Dover Castle, It was in this room that British Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay planned the operation. -
Battle of Britain begins
BBC WebsiteThe Battle of Britain, literally "Air battle for Great Britain" is the name given to the Second World War air campaign waged by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940. The objective of the campaign was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF), especially Fighter Command -
Roosevelt Wins Third Term As US President
The United States presidential election of 1940 was the 39th quadrennial presidential election. The election was fought in the shadow of World War II (in Europe) as the United States was emerging from the Great Depression -
Battle of Leningrad
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation undertaken by the German Army Group North against Leningrad—historically and currently known as Saint Petersburg—in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. The siege started on 8 September 1941, when the last land connection to the city was severed -
Japan attacks Pearl Harbour on Ohau, Hawaii
The Pearl Harbor AttackThe attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. -
Germany and Italy Declare War On The US
War on the USAGermany and Italy have announced they are at war with the United States. America immediately responded by declaring war on the two Axis powers. Three days ago, US President Franklin Roosevelt announced America was at war with Japan, the third Axis power, following the surprise attack on its naval base at Pearl Harbor. -
Battle of Midway
An outnumbered American fleet defeated the powerful Japanese navy, bringing an end to the Japanese invasion in the Pacific. The battle is often cited as a critical turning point in World War II. The United States gained an advantage early on, when its intelligence service cracked the Japanese naval code and intercepted orders from Japanese commanders -
Germany Attack the Soviet Union (Operation Babarossa)
Operation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa was the largest invasion in the history of warfare. Over 4 million soldiers of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 1,800 mile front. The ambitious operation was driven by Adolf Hitler's persistent desire to conquer the Soviet territories. The German invasion of the Soviet Union caused a high rate of fatalities. 95% of all German Army casualties that occurred from 1941 to 1944 were in the USSR. -
The First Battle of El Alemaimn
Battle El AlameinIn the first Battle of El Alamein beginning on July 1st, 1942, German General Erwin Rommel tried in vain to attack the Allied defensive positions with his Afrika Corps (and Italian allies), yielding tremendous losses to his army forces as a result. The actions in this first campaign forced an end to fighting by July 22nd. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of StalingradThe German offensive to capture Stalingrad commenced in late summer 1942, and was supported by intensive Luftwaffe bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble. It is among the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with the higher estimates of combined casualties amounting to nearly two million. -
Second Battle of El Alemain
The Second Battle of El AlameinThe Second Battle of El Alamein took place over 20 days near the Egyptian coastal city of El Alamein, and the Allies' victory marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign. Commanded by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery. This Allied victory turned the tide in the North African Campaign and ended the Axis threat to Egypt and the Suez Canal. -
Opertain Torch
Operation Torch (initially called Operation Gymnast) was the British–American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942.The Soviet Union had pressed the U.S. and Britain to start operations in Europe and open a second front to reduce the pressure of German forces on the Soviet troops -
Battle of Kursk
Battle of KurskBattle of Kursk</a> Following their disastrous defeat at Stalingrad during the winter of 1942-43, the German armed forces launched a climactic offensive in the East known as Operation Citadel on July 4,1943. The climax of Operation Citadel, the Battle of Kursk, involved as many as 6,000 tanks, 4,000 aircraft and 2 million fighting men and is remembered as the greatest tank battle in history. -
Roosevelt, Churchill, & Chiang Kai Shek meet at the Cairo Conference
The Cairo Conference held in Cairo, Egypt, addressed the Allied position against Japan during World War II and made decisions about postwar Asia. President Franklin Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China attended. Soviet leader Stalin refused to attend the conference on the grounds that since Chiang was attending, it would cause a provocation between the Soviet Union and Japan -
Allies land in Italy (Operation Shingle)
Op ShingleThe Anzio invasion was recalled by General Lucas as one of the most complete surprises in military history.The Germans had already sent their regional reserves south to counter the Allied attacks on the Garigliano on 18 January, leaving one nine-mile stretch of beach at Anzio defended by a single company. The first Allied waves landed unopposed and moved rapidly inland. -
Normandy Landings
Normandy LandingsThe Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord. The landings were conducted in two phases: an airborne assault landing of 24,000 troops and an amphibious landing. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive launched through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, and France and Luxembourg on the Western Front towards the end of World War II. Germany suffered defeat and many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defenses of the Siegfried Line -
Battle of Berlin begins
Battle of BerlinThe Battle of Berlin by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II. The encirclement of Berlin occcured on the 20 April, Hitler's birthday, Soviet artillery of the 1st Belorussian Front began to shell Berlin and did not stop until the city surrendered: the weight of ordnance delivered by Soviet artillery during the battle was greater than the total tonnage dropped by Western Allied bombers on the city -
Battle of Okinawa
The battle of Okinawa, also known as Operation Iceberg, took place in April-June 1945. It was the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific theater of World War II. It also resulted in the largest casualties with over 100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000 casualties for the Allies. -
Benito Mussolini Killed
As the war ended in 1945, Mussolini tried to escape to Switzerland but was seized by Italian partisans, who shot him and then strung up his body in Milan for public display. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
News FlashHoled up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. -
Victory in Europe Day
VE DayGermany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler's dreams of a "1,000-year" Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not until 9 May 1945 -
America Drop The Atomic Bombs
Atomic BombThe atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan were conducted by the United States during the final stages of World War II in 1945. These two events represent the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date. American airmen dropped Little Boy on the city of Hiroshima on 6 August followed by Fat Man over Nagasaki on 9 August. Within the first four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki. -
VJ Day
Japan has surrendered to the Allies after almost six years of war.
There is joy and celebration around the world and 15 August has been declared Victory in Japan day. The Japanese Government had agreed to comply in full with the Potsdam declaration which demands the unconditional surrender of Japan. -
Nazi Party Outlawed
After Germany's defeat in World War II (1939-45), the Nazi Party was outlawed and many of its top officials were convicted of war crimes related to the murder of some 6 million European Jews during the Nazis' reign. -
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the Allied forces after World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany. The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, in 1945–46. Many of whom were sentenced to death -
Victoria Cross
Bromsgrove School VCThe Victoria Cross was awarded 182 times to 181 recipients for action in the Second World War. This is the Country’s highest award for valour. Sgt Nigel Gray Leakey a past pupil of Bromsgrove School won the VC on 19th may 1941 for his actions in the now Ethiopia. The medal is kept at Bromsgrove School
