The war in Europe began with the invasion of Poland Sept. 1, 1939. This map shows the German invasion of France in May 1940. The Fall of France only took 6 weeks. The world was stunned that a powerful country like France surrendered to the Nazi war machine in such a short time. Hitler's conquest of "Fortress Europe" was essentially complete.
The Fire bombing of Dresden, Germany
Kurt Vonnegut's impressions of the Dresden attack:
This pictures shows the German pavilion, at left, and the Soviet pavilion, on the right. The location is the 1937 World's Fair in Paris, France. The picture captures the intense rivalry between the Third Reich (Germany) and the Soviet Union (Russia).