us history By tcw han Jan 30, 1921 1921, Jan. 30 Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party Jan 1, 1922 1922 Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy Jan 1, 1929 1929 Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR) Jan 1, 1931 1931 Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China Mar 21, 1933 1933, March 21 - Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany Jan 1, 1935 1935 Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress Jan 1, 1935 1935 Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa Jan 1, 1936 1936 Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty Jan 1, 1937 1937 Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people. Jan 1, 1938 1936 Militarist take control of Japanese Government Jan 1, 1938 1938 Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany Jan 1, 1938 1938 Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps Jan 1, 1939 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin Sep 1, 1939 1939 Sept 1st - Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany Jan 1, 1940 First time Peacetime Draft in US Jan 1, 1941 Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades -USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans Jan 1, 1941 Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter Jan 1, 1941 Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia) Jan 1, 1941 Dec. 7 Pearl Harbor in Hawaii attacked by Japanese Naval and Air forces, US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy declare war on the US - Dec. 9 Jan 1, 1942 Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March Jan 1, 1942 Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps Jan 1, 1942 June 4-7 Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific Jan 1, 1942 Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow Jan 1, 1943 1943 Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA Jan 1, 1943 1943 British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa Jul 1, 1943 1943 July - Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min. Jun 6, 1944 1944 June 6 - D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies Aug 1, 1944 1944 Aug. - Paris retaken by Allies Forces Dec 1, 1944 1944 Dec. Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces Jun 1, 1945 1945 Jan. – US forces return to recapture the Philippines Jan 1, 1946 War Crimes Trials