The World Wars
A brief chronological reference
A personal study collection documenting the major events of the two World Wars. Intended as a reading reference, not a commentary or analysis.
First World War
1914 — 1918
- 1914Outbreak of war following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the cascade of alliance declarations across Europe.
- 1914First Battle of the Marne halts the German advance into France; trench warfare becomes established on the Western Front.
- 1915Gallipoli campaign opens; Italy enters the war on the Allied side.
- 1916Verdun and the Battle of the Somme produce casualties on an unprecedented scale.
- 1917United States enters the war; Russian Empire collapses and exits the conflict.
- 1918Allied counter-offensive breaks through German lines; Armistice signed on 11 November.
- 1919Treaty of Versailles formally concludes the war and establishes the League of Nations.
Second World War
1939 — 1945
- 1939Germany invades Poland; Britain and France declare war. The conflict begins in Europe.
- 1940Fall of France; Battle of Britain in the air; Italy enters the war.
- 1941Operation Barbarossa opens the Eastern Front; Japan attacks Pearl Harbor; the United States enters the war.
- 1942Stalingrad and Midway mark decisive turning points in Europe and the Pacific.
- 1943Allied landings in Italy; German defeat at Kursk; Allied advance in the Pacific.
- 1944Normandy landings in June open the Western Front; liberation of France and the Low Countries.
- 1945Yalta Conference; fall of Berlin in May; atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Japan surrenders on 2 September.
- 1945United Nations Charter signed in San Francisco; Nuremberg trials begin.