# World War II (1939-1945): Comprehensive Historical Notes
## Pre-War Period (1933-1939)
### Rise of Nazi Germany
- Hitler appointed Chancellor in 1933
- Remilitarization of Rhineland (1936)
- Anschluss with Austria (1938)
- Munich Agreement and annexation of Sudetenland (1938)
- Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (1939)
### Global Context
- Japanese invasion of Manchuria (1931)
- Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935)
- Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
- Chinese-Japanese War begins (1937)
- Policy of appeasement by Western powers
## Early War Period (1939-1941)
### European Theater
- German invasion of Poland (September 1, 1939)
- Britain and France declare war (September 3, 1939)
- Soviet invasion of Poland (September 17, 1939)
- Winter War: Soviet invasion of Finland (1939-1940)
- German invasion of Denmark and Norway (April 1940)
- Battle of France (May-June 1940)
- Battle of Britain (July-October 1940)
- The Blitz (September 1940-May 1941)
- German invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece (April 1941)
### North African Campaign
- Italian invasion of Egypt from Libya (1940)
- British counteroffensive (1940-1941)
- Arrival of Afrika Korps under Rommel (1941)
## Middle Period (1941-1943)
### Eastern Front
- Operation Barbarossa: German invasion of USSR (June 1941)
- Siege of Leningrad begins (September 1941)
- Battle of Moscow (October 1941-January 1942)
- Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942-February 1943)
- Battle of Kursk (July-August 1943)
### Pacific Theater
- Pearl Harbor attack (December 7, 1941)
- Fall of Singapore (February 1942)
- Battle of Midway (June 1942)
- Guadalcanal Campaign (1942-1943)
- Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942)
### Mediterranean Theater
- El Alamein Battles (1942)
- Operation Torch: Allied invasion of North Africa (November 1942)
- Italian Campaign begins (1943)
- Fall of Mussolini (July 1943)
## Late War Period (1943-1945)
### Western Front
- D-Day: Operation Overlord (June 6, 1944)
- Operation Market Garden (September 1944)
- Battle of the Bulge (December 1944-January 1945)
- Crossing of the Rhine (March 1945)
### Eastern Front
- Soviet counteroffensive
- Operation Bagration (June-August 1944)
- Warsaw Uprising (August-October 1944)
- Battle of Berlin (April-May 1945)
### Pacific Theater
- Island Hopping Campaign
- Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 1944)
- Iwo Jima (February-March 1945)
- Okinawa (April-June 1945)
- Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 1945)
## Key Military Technologies and Innovations
- Aircraft carriers
- Radar systems
- Jet aircraft (German Me 262)
- V-1 and V-2 rockets
- Code-breaking (Enigma machine)
- Nuclear weapons
- Improvements in tank warfare
## The Holocaust
- Nuremberg Laws (1935)
- Kristallnacht (1938)
- Establishment of ghettos
- Wannsee Conference (1942)
- Death camps and concentration camps
- Approximately 6 million Jews murdered
- Additional millions of others killed (Roma, Slavs, political prisoners)
## Home Fronts
### Economic Mobilization
- Women in workforce
- Rationing systems
- War bonds
- Industrial conversion to military production
### Social Impact
- Evacuation of children
- Civil defense measures
- Propaganda campaigns
- Changes in women's roles
- Internment of Japanese-Americans in US
## End of War and Aftermath
### European Theater
- German surrender (May 7, 1945)
- Division of Germany
- Nuremberg Trials
### Pacific Theater
- Japanese surrender (August 15, 1945)
- American occupation of Japan
- Tokyo War Crimes Trials
### Global Impact
- Formation of United Nations
- Beginning of Cold War
- Decolonization movements
- Economic reconstruction (Marshall Plan)
- Shift in global power to US and USSR
## Casualties and Costs
- Estimated 70-85 million total deaths
- Majority civilian casualties
- Massive economic costs
- Destruction of infrastructure
- Population displacement
- Psychological trauma
## Legacy
- Creation of international institutions
- Changes in warfare and military strategy
- Advances in technology and medicine
- Shifts in social structures and women's rights
- Holocaust awareness and human rights focus
- Cold War divisions
- Decolonization
