World War 2 timeline
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Soviet Union Launches Operation Little Saturn
The first stage — an attempt to cut off the German Army Group A in the Caucasus — had to be rapidly revised when General Erich von Manstein... Read more
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Theodor Seuss Geisel Joins the Army
In 1942, Geisel turned his energies to direct support of the U.S. war effort. First, he worked drawing posters for the Treasury Department and the... Read more
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Operation Iskra
Operation Iskra (Russian: Операция Искра, Operatsia Iskra; English translation - Operation Spark) was a Soviet military operation conducted by the... Read more
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Surviving German Forces, now Starving, Sick, and Low on Ammunition, Surrender at Stalingrad
The Germans inside the pocket retreated from the suburbs of Stalingrad to the city itself. The loss of the two airfields, at Pitomnik on 16 January... Read more
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Remaining Australian Forces Evacuated from Portuguese Timor Leaving Japanese to Occupy the Island
By the end of 1942, the chances of the Allies re-taking Timor were remote, as there were now 12,000 Japanese troops on the island and the commandos... Read more
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Joseph Goebbels Delivers His Sportpalast (Total War) Speech
Except for Hitler's most successful public meetings, I had never seen an audience so effectively roused to fanaticism. Back in his home, Goebbels... Read more
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Third Battle of Kharkov
The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of offensive operations on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South... Read more
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Germans Begin Deportations of Thessaloniki Jews
On March 15, 1943, the Germans began deporting the Jews from Thessaloniki. Every three days, freightcars crammed with an average of 2,000... Read more
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Allied Forces Begin Operation Strangle to Disrupt German Supply Routes in Italy
Operation Strangle was a series of air operations during the Italian Campaign of World War II by the United States Fifteenth and Twelfth Air Forces... Read more
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Battle of the Komandorski Islands
When dawn broke on the morning of March 26, the American task force was east of the International Date Line, (so it was actually March 27) 180... Read more
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Battle of Attu
The Battle of Attu took place May 11, 1943 – May 30, 1943 on Attu Island off of Alaska as part of the Aleutian Islands Campaign during the Pacific... Read more
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Battleship Mutsu Explosion
On Tuesday 8 June 1943 the Mutsu was moored at the Battleship Division 2 flagship buoy No.2 in the Hashirajima fleet anchorage approximately 3 km... Read more
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Battle of Kursk Begins
The Battle of Kursk refers to German and Soviet operations on the Eastern Front of World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk in July and... Read more
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Allied Invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) Begins
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis (Italy... Read more
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Allied Forces Make Seaborne Landings at Sicily
The strong wind also made matters difficult for the amphibious landings but also ensured the element of surprise as many of the defenders had... Read more
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Benito Mussolini Arrested after being Ousted by Grand Council of Fascism
Italy's position became more and more untenable. After the defeat at El Alamein in 1942 the Axis troops had to retreat to Tunisia where they were... Read more
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Italian Grand Council of Fascism Votes to Depose Mussolini
On 25 July 1943, a few weeks after the allied invasion of Sicily and bombing of Rome, the Italian Grand Council of Fascism voted to depose... Read more
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John F. Kennedy's Boat, the PT-109, is Sunk by the Amagiri
Conflicting statements have been made as to whether the destroyer captain had spotted and steered towards the boat; author Donovan, who interviewed... Read more
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Szczurowa Massacre
The massacre in Szczurowa was the murder of 93 Romani people (also known as Gypsies), including children, women and the elderly, by German Nazi... Read more
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First Phase of the Battle of Smolensk (1943)
After a day of probing, the goal of which was to determine whether German troops would choose to withdraw or not from the first set of trenches,... Read more
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Operation Cottage
Operation Cottage was a tactical maneuver during the Aleutian Islands campaign. In the operation, which took place on August 15, 1943, Allied... Read more
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First Quebec Conference is Held
The conference also established a new theatre of war in South East Asia, with Lord Mountbatten as commander, and reached an agreement to dissuade... Read more
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Second Stage of the Battle of Smolensk (1943)
By mid-August, the situation on the Eastern Front had changed as the Red Army started a general offensive, beginning with the Belgorod-Kharkov... Read more
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Lower Dnieper Offensive Begins
The Lower Dnieper Offensive (also known as the "Battle of the Lower Dnieper") of took place in 1943 during the Second World War. It was one of the... Read more
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Third Stage of the Battle of Smolensk (1943)
In the week from 7 September to 14 September, Soviet troops were once again reinforced and were preparing for another offensive. The next... Read more