10 Key Dates in World War Two

World War Two was the biggest war ever fought – lasting close to six years in Europe, 80 million people were killed in the conflict.

The most important dates are really about context, and these would be different depending which country you’re from. However, a number of dates are clearly pivotal moments over the course of the entire war, and we’ve collected five from each of the European and Eastern theatres to put into a graphic.

The date for the start of the war is 1-3 September 1939 – when Germany invaded Poland and then France and Britain declared war on Germany.

Short film following the story of Ada, a young woman from London who becomes a land girl in coastal Lincolnshire during the Second World War.

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Did build up to World War Two only begin in the 20th Century, or was the century of violent imperial expansion before 1939 the ultimate cause of one of the deadliest conflicts marked in modern history?

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