World War II By KateMartin59 Period: Jan 1, 1920 to Dec 31, 1946 World War II May 1, 1928 Prices for industrial stocks doubled Dec 1, 1933 Hitler elected chancellor of Germany Jan 1, 1936 German-Italian "Axis" is formed Jan 1, 1937 Japan invades central China Jan 1, 1938 Hitler annexes Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia Apr 1, 1939 Hitler cancels German-Polish non-aggression act Sep 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland World War 2 starts! Sep 17, 1939 Russia invades Poland Oct 6, 1939 Poland surrenders Nov 30, 1939 Russia invades Finland May 10, 1940 WInston Chuchhill becomes Britains Prime Minister Jun 22, 1940 France surrenders Sep 27, 1940 Japan joins the axis Dec 7, 1941 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor U.S. is pulled into WW 2 Dec 19, 1941 Hitler makes himself military commander in cheif Jan 13, 1942 German boats sink ships along U.S. east coast Jun 4, 1942 Battle of Midway Jun 10, 1943 Allies invade Sicily Sep 3, 1943 Allies invade Italy's mainland Jan 16, 1944 Eisenhower becomes supreme commander of western allied forces Jun 6, 1944 D-Day Nov 14, 1944 B-29 bombers begin to bomb Tokyo from one of their islands Jan 27, 1945 Russians liberate Aushwitz death camp Mar 16, 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima ends Apr 11, 1945 Allies liberate Buchenwald death camp Apr 12, 1945 President Roosevelt dies Apr 25, 1945 American and Russian forces meet! Apr 29, 1945 Mussolini executed by Italian resistance Apr 30, 1945 Hitler committs suicide Jul 16, 1945 U.S. tests atomic bomb Aug 6, 1945 Hiroshima destroyed by atomic bomb Aug 8, 1945 Russia declares war on Japan Aug 14, 1945 Japan surrenders and WW2 ends.