1939-1945 Timeline of World War 2

In some respects the Second World War has many similarities with the First World War. An aggressive German leader, pre-emptive attacks against France to knock them out of the war, waging war on two fronts and the entry of the US with their vast resources. Where it differs of course is the huge scale of the conflict both in terms of technology and global warfare. That and the systematic atrocities carried out in the holocaust.

The breaking of the Enigma code happened relatively early in the war in April 1940 and proved to be a crucial mechanism for identifying German plans.

At the start of the war German troops quickly occupied many countries. You can see from the timeline above that in a matter of months they can taken control of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Estonia, Latvia and Netherlands.

After the bombing of Perl Harbour by the Japanese the war outside Europe intensified. Non-European events are shown with green markers in the timeline.

Stalingrad was one of the key turning points in the war. Not only was it a significant defeat it also occupied and lost a large number of German troops. You can see from the Timeline that during and after Stalingrad the mood changed with events like Churchill’s “This is not the end… it’s the end of the beginning” speech and Goebbels declaring “Total War”.

Events at the end of the war in Europe happened very quickly. Within a few days Berlin had been captured and many of the German leaders were either dead or captured.

 

Books:

This is another great book by Max Hastings. He somehow finds new things to say and covers a lot of less familiar aspects of the war. For example, he describes the war in the East in great detail especially the fighting between China and Japan. He also covers the war in Yugoslavia with far more focus than other histories. All in all it’s a truly global account of the war.

 

 

In Ian Kershaw’s opinion WW2 wouldn’t have happened without Hitler. I’m not so sure I think the aftermath of the First World War and the political situation in Germany meant that a conflict was always likely. However without Hitler things would have certainly gone differently. This book goes into great detail about Hitler’s early life and rise to power and leaves you in no doubt about his capacity for evil.