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Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sign a treaty of cooperation on October 25; on November 1, the Rome-Berlin Axis is announced.
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Japan invades China, initiating World War II in the Pacific.
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Fascist Italy invades and annexes Albania.
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Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression agreement and a secret codicil dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence.
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Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe.
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Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
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Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway holds out until June 9.
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Italy enters the war. Italy invades southern France on June 21.
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Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.
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Japan bombs Pearl Harbor.
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The United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II. Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), and British Singapore. By April 1942, the Philippines, Indochina, and Singapore are under Japanese occupation.
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Nazi Germany and its Axis partners declare war on the United States.
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The Germans launch a massive tank offensive near Kursk in the Soviet Union. The Soviets blunt the attack within a week and begin an offensive initiative of their own.
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The Soviets launch a massive offensive in eastern Belorussia (Belarus), destroying the German Army Group Center and driving westward to the Vistula River across from Warsaw in central Poland by August 1.
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The Soviets launch their final offensive, encircling Berlin.
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Hitler commits suicide.
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Germany surrenders to the western Allies.
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The US launches two bombs to different cities of Japan, Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The Japanese surrender to them.
