Belle Walston 1920-1946 World War 2 Timeline By bellewalston Apr 20, 1921 Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the Nazi Party Jan 4, 1922 Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy Jan 4, 1929 Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR) Jan 4, 1931 Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China Jan 4, 1933 Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany Apr 4, 1935 Neutrality Act passed by US Congress Jul 4, 1935 Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa May 4, 1936 Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty Jun 4, 1936 Militarist take control of Japanese Government Apr 4, 1937 Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people. Sep 6, 1938 Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany Dec 5, 1938 Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps Aug 23, 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin Sep 1, 1939 Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany Mar 30, 1940 Battle of Britain – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island Jul 20, 1940 Germany invades France and forces it to surrender Oct 21, 1940 First time Peacetime Draft in US Nov 18, 1940 Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control Feb 20, 1941 Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter Jul 13, 1941 Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades -USSR now joins England in fighting the Germans Jul 31, 1941 Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia) Dec 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor in Hawaii attacked by Japanese Naval and Air forces, US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy declare war on the US Jan 27, 1942 Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps May 23, 1942 Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific Jun 7, 1942 Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March Nov 18, 1942 Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow Jun 22, 1943 Zoot Suit Riots Jul 26, 1943 July - Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min Aug 31, 1943 British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa Jun 14, 1944 D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies Aug 11, 1944 Paris retaken by Allies Force Dec 16, 1944 Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces Jan 4, 1945 US forces return to recapture the Philippines Apr 16, 1945 FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President May 8, 1945 V-E Day, war ends in Europe Aug 14, 1945 V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces Aug 16, 1945 First Atomic Bombs dropped Dec 30, 1946 War Crimes Trials held in Nuremburg Germany; Manila, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan.
