Germany invades Poland, sparking global war: Japan expands in Asia and Africa's colonies become key battlegrounds for power and resources.

In 1941, Hitler invaded the USSR. Operation Barbarossa stalls as winter hits and Soviet resistance, fuelled by propaganda, turns the tide.

In 1943, Germany fell at Stalingrad, its first major defeat. In the Pacific, Japan lost momentum after the US won at Guadalcanal.

In 1944, D-Day pierces the Atlantic Wall, as Operation Bagration crushes the Wehrmacht in the East. The fall of the Third Reich begins.