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world war 2
Nazi Germany's World War II offensive continued with a German air force bombing raid that destroyed the Basque city of Guernica. The World War II timeline below details this event as well as other important events that took place from November 1, 1936, to July 7, 1937. -
world war 2
Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement. -
world war 2
Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and France sign the Munich agreement which forces the Czechoslovak Republic to cede the Sudetenland, including the key Czechoslovak military defense positions, to Nazi Germany. -
world war 2
On October 1, 1938, Adolf Hitler's army marched into the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, continuing Nazi Germany's aggressive World War II offensive. The World War II timeline below highlights this event as well as other important events that took place from September 15, 1938, to January 5, 1939. -
world war 2
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression agreement and a secret codicil dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence. -
world war 2
Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe. -
world war 2
Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. -
world war 2
The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east. -
world war 2
Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway holds out until June 9. -
world war 2
Germany attacks western Europe—France and the neutral Low Countries. Luxembourg is occupied on May 10; the Netherlands surrenders on May 14; and Belgium surrenders on May 28. On June 22, France signs an armistice agreement by which the Germans occupy the northern half of the country and the entire Atlantic coastline. In southern France, a collaborationist regime with its capital in Vichy is established. -
world war 2
The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany. -
world war 2
Nazi Germany and its Axis partners (except Bulgaria) invade the Soviet Union. Finland, seeking redress for the territorial losses in the armistice concluding the Winter War, joins the Axis just before the invasion. The Germans quickly overrun the Baltic States and, joined by the Finns, lay siege to Leningrad (St. Petersburg) by September. In the center, the Germans capture Smolensk in early August and drive on Moscow by October. In the south, German and Romanian troops capture Kiev (Kyiv) in Sep -
world war 2
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. -
world war 2
The United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II. Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), and British Singapore. By April 1942, the Philippines, Indochina, and Singapore are under Japanese occupation.