World War II Timeline By mlacayo Nov 11, 1918 End of WW1 Jan 19, 1919 Hitler joins the Nazi party Jan 19, 1921 Facist Party Established under Mussolini in Italy Jan 19, 1922 Establishment of USSR Jan 20, 1922 Mussolini takes over italy Jan 19, 1924 Death of Vladimir Lenin; control of USSR to joseph Stalin; deaths of 8-13 million russians Jan 19, 1928 US and 61 other contries sign Kellogg-Briand Pact Jan 19, 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria Jan 19, 1933 Roosevelt takes office Jan 19, 1933 Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany, establishing the Thrid Reich Jan 19, 1935 Hitler begins military buildup Jan 19, 1935 US begins passing Neutrality Acts Jan 19, 1936 Civil war begins in Spain under Francisco Franco Jan 20, 1936 German troops invade Rhineland May 19, 1936 Italian troops conquer Ethiopia Jul 19, 1937 Japan invades China Nov 5, 1937 Hitler announces secret plans for lebensraum Jan 19, 1938 Munich Agreement; Sudetenland to Germany Mar 12, 1938 Hitler takes Austria Jan 19, 1939 Non-agression pact; Germany and Russia; divide Poland Jan 20, 1939 Franco is sucessful in Spain Jan 20, 1939 Totalitarian government established in USSR Jan 21, 1939 Russian army into Finland (Finns surrender in three months) Mar 15, 1939 Czechoslovakia falls to hitler Sep 1, 1939 German invasion of Poland; blitzkrieg Apr 9, 1940 German invasion of Denmark and Norway May 19, 1940 Defeat of the Neatherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg by Germany May 22, 1940 British and French defeat Dunkirk Jun 19, 1940 Italy enters the war on the side of Germany and invades France Jun 22, 1940 France surrenders to Germany Aug 19, 1940 Plans for an invasion of Great Britian; beginning of the Battle of Britian