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Japan Invades Manchuria
Essentially, this was an attempt by the Japanese Empire to gain control over the whole province, in order to eventually encompass all of East Asia. This proved to be one of the causes of World War II. -
Italy Invades Ethiopia
Ethiopia had valuable exports and at the time they were also forming a modern army with the help of several European powers, but was purchased with their own money. -
Germany Re-Occupies the Rhineland
The Rhineland is an area of Germany that borders France. It is of economic importance and militarily is still considered strategically significant. -
Spanish Civil War Start
The war ended with the victory of the conservative Nationalists, the overthrow of the democratic government, and the exile of thousands of left-leaning Spaniards, many of whom fled to refugee camps in Southern France. With the establishment of a dictatorship led by General Francisco Franco in the aftermath of the Civil War, all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of the Franco regime. -
Franco Becomes Dictator of Spain
Franco was a Spanish general, dictator and the leader of the Nationalist military rebellion in the Spanish Civil War, and totalitarian head of state of Spain, from October 1936 until his death in November 1975. -
Rome-Berlin Axis Pact
At their zenith in the midst of World War II, the Axis powers ruled empires that dominated large parts of Europe, Africa, East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, but the war ended with their total defeat and dissolution. -
Anshluss in Austria
A union of Germany and Austria to create a 'Greater Germany', any attempt at an Anschluss was banned by the Treaty of Versailles, but Hitler drove it through anyway on March 13 1938. -
Munich Agreements
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without the presence of Czechoslovakia. Today, it is widely regarded as a failed act of appeasement toward Nazi Germany. -
Spanish Civil War End
The war ended with the victory of the conservative Nationalists, the overthrow of the democratic government, and the exile of thousands of left-leaning Spaniards, many of whom fled to refugee camps in Southern France. With the establishment of a dictatorship led by General Francisco Franco in the aftermath of the Civil War, all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of the Franco regime. -
Hitler Renounces the Provisions of the Treaty of Versailles
Germany violated the treaty by occupying the rest of Czechoslovakia. -
Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact is Signed
Since fighting a two front war in World War I had split Germany's forces, it had weakened and undermined their offensive; thus, played a large role in Germany losing the First World War. Hitler was determined not to repeat the same mistakes. So, he planned ahead and made a pact with the Soviets - the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. -
Britain Signs a Pact with Poland
On August 25, two days after the Nazi-Soviet Pact, the Polish-British Common Defence Pact was signed. The treaty contained promises of mutual military assistance between the nations in the event either was attacked by another European country. -
Germany Invades Poland
German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west. As the Germans advanced, Polish forces withdrew from their forward bases of operation close to the Polish-German border to more established lines of defence to the east. After the mid-September Polish defeat in the Battle of the Bzura, the Germans gained an undisputed advantage. -
Britain and France Declare War on Germany
On 1 September 1939 Germany invaded Poland, and two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany because they had a treaty with Poland in which they had undertaken to help Poland if its independence was threatened by force. -
Hitler Invades France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phony War. -
Battle of Britain Start
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940. The objective of the campaign was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force, especially Fighter Command. -
Battle of Britain End
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940. The objective of the campaign was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force, especially Fighter Command. -
attack on pearl harbor
Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, killing more than 2,300 Americans. -
Hitler orders all Soviet Commissars to be shot
On 6th June 1941 Hitler issued his infamous Commissar Order, making it clear to his military commanders that the forthcoming invasion of Soviet Russia was to be different from other wars. -
V-day
On this day in 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. -
Japan Surenders
By the summer of 1945, the defeat of Japan was a foregone conclusion. The Japanese navy and air force were destroyed. The Allied naval blockade of Japan and intensive bombing of Japanese cities had left the country and its economy devastated.
