World War II By crainboltforbes17 Sep 18, 1931 Japan invades Manchuria Nov 8, 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) is elected president of the United States Jan 30, 1933 Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. Jul 14, 1933 Nazi Party declared Germany's only political party. Aug 19, 1934 Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany. Oct 2, 1935 Italy invades Ethiopia Mar 7, 1936 German troops occupy the Rhineland. Nov 25, 1936 Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact Jul 7, 1937 Japan invades China Sep 30, 1938 British Prime Minister Chamberlain appeases Hitler at Munich Oct 15, 1938 German troops occupy the Sudetenland Sep 1, 1939 Nazis invade Poland Sep 3, 1939 Great Britain and France declare war on Germany Sep 17, 1939 The Soviet Union invades Poland Nov 30, 1939 The Soviet Union invades Finland Jun 10, 1940 Italy invades southern France Mar 11, 1941 President Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act Dec 7, 1941 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor Dec 8, 1941 The United States declares war on Japan Jun 4, 1944 Allied troops liberate Rome Jun 6, 1944 D-Day landings on the northern coast of France. Aug 20, 1944 Allied troops reach Paris Jan 26, 1945 Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz Apr 30, 1945 Adolf Hitler commits suicide May 8, 1945 V-E (Victory in Europe) Day May 9, 1945 Germany surrenders to the Soviets Aug 6, 1945 First atomic bomb dropped, on Hiroshima, Japan. Aug 9, 1945 Second atomic bomb dropped, on Nagasaki, Japan Sep 2, 1945 V-J (Victory over Japan) Day. Nov 20, 1945 Nuremberg war crimes trials begin