Rise and Fall: The Turning Points of WWII

After WWI, Europe reels from the Treaty of Versailles. As economies collapse, extremists rise—Hitler gains power, Spain erupts in war, and Japan and Germany begin invading.

Germany blitzes Europe as France falls and Britain fights back in the skies. Hitler turns on Stalin, invading the USSR. Italy invades Greece, and Europe is plunged into total war.

Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, drawing in the U.S. Battles rage from Midway to North Africa. Singapore falls, Kokoda begins, and bombing escalates as the war becomes truly global.

The tide begins to turn: the Soviets win at Stalingrad, the Allies take Guadalcanal, and Rommel is pushed back at El Alamein. The Axis starts to falter under growing pressure.

Mussolini falls, the Allies land in Italy, and D-Day opens a new front. Leningrad is freed, Paris is liberated, and Nazi crimes are exposed as the Allies gain the upper hand.

Germany's final push at the Battle of the Bulge fails. The Allies take Berlin. In the Pacific, Japan fights on—until Hiroshima and Nagasaki end WWII with a devastating new force.