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Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party
In 1921, Adolf Hitler, a German politician, led the Nazi party. The party was made up of a group of people who were against rival politicians and political parties, and people who did not fit the mold of the Aryan "master race" (blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pure Germans. Economic distress in Germany from World War 1 led people to trust Adolf Hitler and agree with his ideals. -
Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy
When Mussolini was first appointed Prime Minister of Italy, he ruled in a democratic and constitutional manner. This changed when he turned Italy into a one-party, totalitarian state, appointing himself as the sole leader. -
Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR)
Joseph Stalin was first the General Secretary of the Communist Party, but later became a Soviet dictator after Vladimir Lenin's death. -
Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China
Japan launched an attack on Manchuria, and after a few days, the Japanese armed forces had taken over many strategic points in the South of Manchuria. -
Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
In 1933, Hitler was appointed the Chancellor of Germany, which is the head of the German government. Many Germans thought that they had found a savior for their nation in Hitler. -
Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa
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Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress
Congress enacted a series of laws stating the U.S's neutrality in order to prevent foreign war. -
Militarist take control of Japanese Government
Extreme militarists used intimidation, assassination, and manipulation in order to gain control of the government in Japan. -
Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty
Contrary to the treaties of Versailles, Locarno, and his nonaggression agreement with Stalin and the USSR, Hitler led his German troops into Rhineland. -
Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people.
In the Chinese city of Nanjing, Imperial Japanese Army forces brutally murdered from 200,000-300,000 people, both soldiers and civilians. This tragic and horrific event is now recognised as the Nanking Massacre or the Rape of Nanking, since about 20,000-80,000 women were sexually assaulted. It took many decades for the city to recuperate and rebuild what was left over. -
Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps
Hitler began enacting Jewish registration of businesses and individuals in order to keep track of all the Jews. Hitler then placed them all in concentration, or labor, camps. -
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany
One of Hitler's demands as a leader was to reclaim Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovak government were hoping that Britain and France would help it resist German invasion, but British Prime Minister Chamberlain wanted to avoid war. On September 30, the Czechoslovak government chose submission over destruction after Germany annexed the Sudetenland. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin
This German-Soviet Nonaggression pact promised neutrality with one another, and was made only a few days before the beginning of World War 2. -
Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany
After the Nazis invaded Poland, Britain and France declare war on Germany. Britain dropped anti-Nazi pamphlets over Germany, and France began an offensive against Germany's western border. -
1940 May 10 Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control
After Britain violated Norwegian neutrality, Hitler enacted his plans to occupy Norway. His admirals persuaded him to occupy the nation, and persuaded him in doing so before the British occupied Norway's surrounding waters, thus cutting Germany from its major source of iron ore. -
Battle of Britain begins – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island
The Battle of Britain began when German and British air forces clashed in the skies over the United Kingdom. They were at war during the largest sustained bombing campaign ever seen until then. The Battle finished when Germany’s Luftwaffe was unable to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force. Britain won, and the decisive victory saved the country from the possibility of a ground invasion and occupation by German forces. -
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
After German forces started pressing French and British forces from the northeastern border, the French abandoned Paris, the capital. The French were moved southward. -
First time Peacetime Draft in US
The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was a peacetime draft that required all men from ages 21-36 to register to local draft boards. -
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades - USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the neutrality pact between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, was forgotten when the German force invaded Poland. The Russians decided to join the Allied forces to fight against the Germans. -
Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia)
France was defeated by the Germans in the colonial administration of French Indochina: now Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. -
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a joint declaration between Winston Churchill, the British Prime minister, and FDR. The charter described the U.S. and British war aims. -
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii attacked by Japanese Naval and Air forces, US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy declare war on the US
The Japanese military forces commit a surprising attack on the U.S. Pacific military base on the island of O'ahu in Hawaii. They sank 6 powerful military battleships, and killed more than three thousand soldiers. The next day, FDR asked Congress to declare war against Japan, and three days later, Italy and Germany declare war on the United States. -
Germany and Italy declare war on the US
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, FDR convinced Congress to declare war on Japan. Three days later, Italy and Germany declare war on the U.S. -
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow
The Russians were the victors at Stalingrad, and were able to save Moscow from Germany's brutal hands. -
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
After Pearl Harbor began the relocation of Japanese-American about 110,000 to 120,000 immigrants into internment (concentration) camps.These immigrants were supposed "terrorists" who were against the U.S., but were mostly just innocent families. They were left in terrible conditions. -
Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March
After the U.S. surrender of the Bataan peninsula on Luzon, the main island of the Philippines, the Japanese captured 75,000 Filipino and American troops, and forced them to walk 65 miles to prison camps. Those captured had to endure extreme heat, lack of food and water, and if they gave, couldn't keep going any longer, or stood up to the Japanese, they were brutally killed and left for dead. -
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Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific
The United States Navy, under Admirals Chester Nimitz, Frank Jack Fletcher, and Raymond A. Spruance decisively defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy under Admirals Isoroku. This occurred six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, -
British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa
British and U.S. military forces ended Germany's army and Italy's reign in North Africa. -
Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA
A conflict between American servicemen stationed in Southern California and Mexican-American youths in Los Angeles County, California, United States. -
Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Minister
Mussolini, Adolf Hitler's junior partner steps down as Prime Minister. -
D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies
The largest amphibious invasion in history by the Western Allies of World War II. The Allies they assaulted Normandy, located on the northern coast of France. The invaders were able to establish a beachhead as part of Operation Overlord after a successful "D-Day," the first day of the invasion. -
Paris retaken by Allies Forces
Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division after four years of Nazi occupation. German resistance was light, and General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the German garrison, defied an order by Adolf Hitler to blow up Paris’ landmarks and burn the city to the ground before its liberation. -
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Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces
The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was the last major German offensive campaign of World War II. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg, on the Western Front, towards the end of World War II, in the European theatre. -
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
The U.S. government decided to send troops back to reclaim the Phillipines. -
FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President
On April 12, 1945, while on vacation in Warm Springs, Georgia, Roosevelt suffered a massive stroke and died. His death marked a critical turning point in U.S. relations with the Soviet Union, as his successor, Harry S. Truman, decided to take a tougher stance with the Russians. -
V-E Day, war ends in Europe
Generally known as V-E Day, VE Day or simply V Day was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945. It marked the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. It also marked the end of World War II in Europe. -
First Atomic Bombs dropped
President Harry S. Truman was warned by some of his advisers that any attempt to invade Japan would result in horrific American casualties. He instead ordered a new weapon be used to bring the war to a speedy end. On August 6, 1945, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped a five-ton nuclear bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. -
V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces
Allied supreme commander General Douglas MacArthur, as well as the Japanese foreign minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, and the chief of staff of the Japanese army, Yoshijiro Umezu, signed the official Japanese surrender on the U.S. Navy battleship Missouri, ending World War II. -
War Crimes Trials held in Nuremberg, Germany; Manila, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan.
Twenty-four former Nazi officials were tried at a series of war crime trials of accused Nazi war criminals, conducted by a U.S., French, and Soviet military tribunal based in Nuremberg, Germany. When it ended one year later, half were sentenced to death by hanging.
