W
orld War II began on September 1, 1939, when Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. The United States tried to remain neutral until a crushing blow at Pearl Harbor sent America overseas in all directions to fight against fascist regimes. The war cost millions of lives, resulted in the use of atomic bombs, mortified the world with the Holocaust, and proved democracy could triumph over the totalitarian state.
Timeline
Other: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
7 Dec 1941
Other: Japan surrenders
14 Aug 1945
Other: Wannsee Conference implements the Final Solution
Jan 1942
Other: Battle of Britain
Other: France surrenders to Nazi army
22 June 1940
Other: Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz
27 Jan 1945
Other: Formal Japanese surrender, V-J day
2 Sept 1945
Other: Battle of Iwo Jima
Other: U.S. forces invade Okinawa
1 Apr 1945
Other: Hitler commits suicide
30 Apr 1945
Other: First day of the Nuremberg Trials
20 Nov 1945
Other: Munich Conference
29 Sept 1938
Other: Hitler declares himself Fuhrer
2 Aug 1934
Other: Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”)
9 Nov 1938
Other: Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
23 Aug 1939
Other: Nazi Army invades Poland
1 Sept 1939
American Losses: Other Deaths in Service
113,842
American Losses: Battle Deaths
291,557
American Losses: Non-mortal Woundings
671,846
American Losses: Total Servicemembers (Worldwide)
16,112,566
American Losses: Total Casualties
1,077,245
Location
Manila, Philippines
Location
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Location
Moscow, Russia
Location
London, England
Location
Hiroshima, Japan
Location
Nagasaki, Japan
Other: V-E Day
8 May 1945
Other: U.S. Enters the War
8 Dec 1941
Location
Normandy, France
Other: Battle of Midway
Other: Battle of the Bulge
Other: D-Day Invasion of France
6 June 1944
Other: Battle of Leyte Gulf
Other: Battle of Stalingrad
Location
Okinawa, Japan
Location
Berlin, Germany
Other Facts
U.S. General, Europe
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Germany
Adolf Hitler
U.S. General, Pacific
General Douglas MacArthur
Great Britain, Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Italy
Benito Mussolini
U.S. President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin
