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                           - (12 Mar)                - Germany occupies and then annexes Austria in the ‘Anschluss’
                            - (28-30 Sept)          - ‘Munich Agreement’ cedes the Sudetenland to Germany
                            - (31 Mar)                - Britain guarantees territorial integrity of Poland
1939 AD             - (03 Sept)                - Britain declares war on Germany in response to the invasion of Poland
1940 AD             - (09 Apr)                 - Germany mounts surprise invasions of Norway and Denmark
                            - (10 May)                - Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the Coalition Government
                            - (10 May)                - German invasion of the low Countries and France begins
                            - (26 May)                - Thousands of Allied troops are evacuated from Dunkirk, France
                            - (30 Jun)                  - German forces occupy the Channel Islands
                            - (03 July)                 - French fleet in North Africa is destroyed by the Royal Navy
                            - (13 Aug)                 - Battle of Britain begins with heavy raids by the German Luftwaffe
                            - (02 Sept)                - ‘Destroyers for bases’ agreement gives Britain 50 US destroyers
                            - (07 Sept)                - ‘Blitz’ begins with a massive daylight raid by Luftwaffe
1941 AD           - (15 Apr)                  - 1000 people are killed in the Belfast Blitz
                            - (20 May)                - German troops invade Crete
                            - (24 May)                - HMS ‘Hood’ is sunk by the German battleship ‘Bismark’
                            - (12 Aug)                 - Anglo-American alliance is sealed with the Atlantic Charter
1942 AD              - (26 Jan)                  - First American troops arrive in Europe, landing in Belfast
                             - (15 Feb)                 - British colony of Singapore surrenders to Japanese forces
                            - (11 Mar)                 - Sir Stafford Cripps goes to India to offer post-war self government
                            - (30 May)                - Start of the RAF’s ‘thousand bomber raid’ on German cities
                            - (19 Aug)                 - ‘Dieppe Raid’ ends in disaster for the Allies
                            - (23 Oct-04 Nov)    - Decisive British victory over German forces at Battle El
                            - (Nov)                     - ‘Beveridge Report’ lays the foundations for the Welfare State
1943 AD             - (13 May)                - Axis siege of the island of Malta is lifted
                            - (16 May)                - ‘Dambusters Raid’ by RAF breaches two dams in the Ruhr Valley
                            - (23 May)                - Germany calls off the Battle of the Atlantic
                            - (10 Jul)                   - First Allied troops land in Europe as invasion of Sicily begins
1944 AD              - (May)                     - Butler Act creates free secondary education
                            - (18 May)                - Allies win the Battle of Monte Cassino after five months of fighting
                            - (06 June)                - Allied forces land in Normandy on D-Day, starting the liberation of France
                            - (22 June)                - Allies, defeat the Japanese at the Battles of Imphal and Kohima
                            - (25 Sept)                - Allied forces are defeated at the Battle of Arnhem
1945 AD              - (04 Feb)                - Allied leaders shape the post-war world at the Yalta Conference
                            - (15 Apr)                 - British troops liberate the concentration camps at Bergen-Belsen, Germany
                            - (08 May)                - Britain celebrates the end of war on Victory in Europe Day
                            - (26 Jul)                   - Labour wins the General Election by a landslide
                            - (15 Aug)                 - Victory over Japan Day marks the end of World War Tw0
                            - (24 Oct)                  - United Nations comes into existence with Britain as a founder member
1947 AD              - (01 Jan)                  - Britain’s coal industry is nationalised
                            - (15 Aug)                 - India gains independence from Britain
1948 AD              - (01 Jan)                  - Post-war immigration from the Commonwealth begins
                            - (05 Jul)                   - National Health Service is established
                            - (25 Jul)                    - Berlin Airlift begins after Soviet forces blockade the city
                            - (29 Jul)                    - Olympic Games opens at Wembly Stadium in London
1949 AD             - (18 Apr)                  - Republic of Ireland comes into being
                            - (08 Jun)                   - George Orwell’s Novel ‘ Nineteen Eighty Four’ is published
                            - (20 Feb)                  - Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden resigns over the ‘Appeasement’ of Italy