World War 2 timeline.

Sep 18, 1931

Japan invades Manchuria
Period: Oct 2, 1935 to May 5, 1936

Fascist Italy invades, conquers, and annexes Ethiopia.
Period: Oct 25, 1936 to Nov 1, 1936

Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sign a treaty of cooperation on October 25; on November 1, the Rome-Berlin Axis is announced.
Nov 25, 1936

Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement.
Jul 7, 1937

Japan invades China, initiating World War II in the Pacific.
Period: Mar 11, 1938 to Mar 13, 1938

Germany incorporates Austria in the Anschluss
Sep 29, 1938

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.
Period: Mar 14, 1939 to Mar 15, 1939

Under German pressure, the Slovaks declare their independence and form a Slovak Republic. The Germans occupy the rump Czech lands in violation of the Munich agreement, forming a Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
Mar 31, 1939

France and Great Britain guarantee the integrity of the borders of the Polish state.
Period: Apr 7, 1939 to Apr 15, 1939

Fascist Italy invades and annexes Albania.
Aug 23, 1939

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression agreement and a secret codicil dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence.
Sep 1, 1939

Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe.
Sep 3, 1939

Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
Sep 17, 1939

The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east.
Period: Sep 27, 1939 to Sep 29, 1939

Warsaw surrenders on September 27. The Polish government flees into exile via Romania. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between them.
Period: Nov 30, 1939 to Mar 12, 1940

The Soviet Union invades Finland, initiating the so-called Winter War. The Finns sue for an armistice and have to cede the northern shores of Lake Lagoda and the small Finnish coastline on the Arctic Sea to the Soviet Union.

Japan invades Manchuria

Fascist Italy invades, conquers, and annexes Ethiopia.

Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sign a treaty of cooperation on October 25; on November 1, the Rome-Berlin Axis is announced.

Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement.

Japan invades China, initiating World War II in the Pacific.

Germany incorporates Austria in the Anschluss

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.

Under German pressure, the Slovaks declare their independence and form a Slovak Republic. The Germans occupy the rump Czech lands in violation of the Munich agreement, forming a Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

France and Great Britain guarantee the integrity of the borders of the Polish state.

Fascist Italy invades and annexes Albania.

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression agreement and a secret codicil dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence.

Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe.

Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.

The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east.

Warsaw surrenders on September 27. The Polish government flees into exile via Romania. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between them.

The Soviet Union invades Finland, initiating the so-called Winter War. The Finns sue for an armistice and have to cede the northern shores of Lake Lagoda and the small Finnish coastline on the Arctic Sea to the Soviet Union.