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Japan attacks Manchuria
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria began on September 18, 1931, when the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria immediately following the Mukden Incident. The Japanese established a puppet state called Manchukuo, and their occupation lasted until the end of World War II. -
Germany and Japan leave League of Nations
On October 14, 1933, Germany renounced its role in the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments, for its complete withdrawal from the League of Nations a week later. The act freed Germany to rearm as it pleased, ostensibly because the rest of the world refused to come down to their level of military preparedness. -
US Neutrality Acts
On August 31, 1935, Congress passed the first Neutrality Act prohibiting the export of “arms, ammunition, and implements of war” from the United States to foreign nations at war and requiring arms manufacturers in the United States to apply for an export license. -
Japan attacks China
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Germany takes Austria
On March 12, 1938, German troops march into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation for the Third Reich. -
Munich Peace Conference
On 29 September 1938 the Munich Conference was called. Here Hitler met with representatives of the heads of state from France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. An agreement was reached that Hitler could annex the Sudetenland provided he promised not to invade anywhere else. All four countries signed the agreement: Adolf Hitler (Germany), Neville Chamberlain (UK), Edouard Daladier (France), and Benito Mussolini (Italy). -
Germany Takes Czechoslovakia
On this day, Hitler’s forces invade and occupy Czechoslovakia–a nation sacrificed on the altar of the Munich Pact, which was a vain attempt to prevent Germany’s imperial aims. -
Non-Aggression Pact
The pact contained a secret agreement in which the Soviets and Germans agreed how they would later divide up Eastern Europe. The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact fell apart in June 1941, when Nazi forces invaded the Soviet Union. -
Germany Invades Poland
Simultaneously, the German Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. -
France Falls to the Germans
German forces advanced into neutral Holland, with parachutists capturing strategic bridges and landing at airfields around The Hague. By 12 May, German forces were on the outskirts of Rotterdam, and Holland surrendered on 14 May. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the Second World War defence of the United Kingdom by the Royal Air Force against an onslaught by the German Air Force which began at the end of June 1940.