FDR and World War II

Hitler Becomes Chancellor

Jan 30, 1933

Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.

FDR and World War II

Period: Jan 30, 1933 to Sep 2, 1945

Mussolini Invades Ethiopia

Oct 3, 1935

Italy, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, invades Ethiopia.

Neutrality Act

May 1, 1937

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the 1937 Neutrality Act, which bans travel on belligerent ships, forbids the arming of American merchant ships trading with belligerents, and issues an arms embargo with warring nations.

Japan Defeats China

Jul 7, 1937

The Japanese defeat Chinese forces in a clash near Peking, taking control of North China.

Roosevelt Limits Ships to Asia

Sep 14, 1937

President Franklin D. Roosevelt forbids U.S. ships from carrying arms to China or Japan.

Roosevelt Quarantines War

Oct 5, 1937

In response to Japanese action in China, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers a speech in which he calls for peace-loving nations to act together to "quarantine" aggressors to protect the world from the "disease" of war.

Attack on the Panay

Dec 12, 1937

Japanese warplanes dive-bomb the American gunboat Panay in the Yangtze River in China. Japan apologizes and pays reparations for the lives lost.

U.S. Against Japan

Feb 1, 1938

In the United States, popular support for American action against Japan far exceeds support for action against Nazi Germany.

Mussolini Joins Hitler

May 14, 1938

In a speech in Rome, Benito Mussolini, fascist leader of Italy, promises to fight the democracies alongside Adolf Hitler's should war break out.

Naval Expansion Act

May 17, 1938

The U.S. Congress passes the Naval Expansion Act giving President Franklin D. Roosevelt one billion dollars to enlarge the navy.

Hitler Aims for Sudetenland

Sep 12, 1938

Adolf Hitler is poised to invade and conquer the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.

Hitler Promises Peace

Sep 29, 1938

Adolf Hitler, in return for the Sudetenland, promises to leave the rest of Czechoslovakia alone.

Kristallnacht

Nov 10, 1938

During the German Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), 7500 Jewish businesses are looted, 191 synagogues are set afire, nearly 100 Jews are killed, and tens of thousands are sent to concentration camps.

Hitler Annexes Czechoslovakia

Mar 15, 1939

Adolf Hitler reneges on the promise made in September of 1938 and takes all of Czechoslovakia.

Germany Invades Poland

Sep 1, 1939

German troops invade Poland on the ground while Hitler's air force bombs Polish cities from the sky.

Britain and France Declare War

Sep 3, 1939

Britain and France declare war on Germany honoring their commitment to Poland.President Franklin D. Roosevelt invokes the Neutrality Act but notes, "Even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or his conscience."

Italy Attacks France

Jun 10, 1940

Benito Mussolini's Italian forces attack France from the south.