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Japan invades Manchuria
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Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement.
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Japan invades China, initiating World War II in the Pacific.
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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.
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Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe.
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The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany.
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Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
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British and US navies halt the Japanese naval advance in the central Pacific at Midway.
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The Germans launch a final offensive in the west, known as the Battle of the Bulge, in an attempt to re-conquer Belgium and split the Allied forces along the German border. By January 1, 1945, the Germans are in retreat.
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The Soviets launch their final offensive, encircling Berlin.
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Hitler commits suicide.
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The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
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The United States drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
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Having agreed in principle to unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II.
