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Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party. This move will show it's effects later, and they will be devastating for most.
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Benito Mussolini is appointed Prime Minister of Italy. Mussolini was an ally of Hitler during Worl War II and was a contributor and creator of Fascism.
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Josef Stalin was the sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR). He started out as the general secretary of the Communist Party, a role not highly important, but after the death of Lenin, he worked his way up to the lead position.
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Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China. Japan was a small land with few resources and saw China as a large powerful country with an abundance of resources.
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Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany. After the Great War, Germany was at a loss of direction and felt hopeless. Hitler took advantage of the weak state of the country and made his way to the top. His plan was to make Germany a powerful, one-party country.
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Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress. After the mistake entry of the U.S. into World War I, the president decided to declare and prevent the U.S. from entering the forming war in Europe.
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Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa. Italy was successful in occupying Ethiopia, but they did not surrender to Italian forces. This battle proved that the League of Nations was a failure because both Ethiopia and Italy belonged to it.
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Militarists take control of Japanese Government.
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Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty. After losing World War I, one of Germany's punishments was that they had to demilitarize Rhineland. Hitler made Germany go aganist their promise by sending troops into Rhineland.
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Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people. This was a six-week long fight that occured after Japan captured China capital, Nanjing. It was a brutal killing of Chinese civilians and unarmed soliders that led to disagreements and hatred between the countries.
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Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany. The British and French prime ministers signed the agreement with Hitler that avoided the start of a war.
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Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps. This began the Holocaust, which was the dreadful treatment of most Jews due to Hitler's rule and power.
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Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin was started by Hitler so he wouldn't make the same mistake that Germany had done in the first World War.
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Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany. Although Britain and France declared the war, they did not have any advantage as to the fact that Germany caused the first casualty.
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Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control (Belgium and Luxembourg: May 10, 1940)
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Germany invades France and forces it to surrender. After being defeated, France signed an armistice with Germany which divided France into three-fifths German control and the rest under French government.
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Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island. Germans had been targeting Britain’s air bases, military posts, and civilians in hopes of getting control over the Royal Air Force, but could not succeed, which led to a British victory.
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First time Peacetime Draft in US was the first response to Hitler's rule in Europe.
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Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia) in order to stop China from importing arms and fuel.
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Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades USSR which joins England in fighting the Germans. Stalin was not prepared for an invasion from Germany and the breaking of the pact showed how untrustworthy Hitler was.
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Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter which was between Britain and the U.S.
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Hawaii's Pearl Harbor is attacked by Japanese Naval and Air forces. This took the US by surprise and they declare war on Japan while Germany and Italy declare war on the US. Dec. 7-9
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Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps. U.S. was afraid that any Japanese people were spies or would attack them after another Japanese attack, so they confined their country's Japanese citizens.
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Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March. The march was a 70-mile forced march by American and Filipino prisoners by Japanese forces.
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Battle of Midway was another turning point of the war in the Pacific. Japan attacked the U.S. at Midway atoll in hopes of overtaking U.S.'s base. June 4-7
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Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad and save Moscow. This was a turing point in the war and hurt Germany's stride.
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British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa.
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Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles, CA occured between white sailors and Marines and Latino youths who wore Zoot Suits. These suits were very big and baggy and were wasteful of the limited materials during the war.
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Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Minister. Both the Allied and Germans wanted to invade Italy.
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D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies brought the beginning of the end of World War II. It marked the start of Western Europe being free from Nazi control.
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Paris was retaken by Allies Forces which showed that Hitler was losing power.
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Battle of the Bulge was the last offensive of German Forces. They were trying to push Allied forces west from northern France and into northwestern Belguim. They succeeded in causing American troops to retreat and killing many Americans and civilians.
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US forces return to recapture the Philippines.
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FDR dies from stroke after coming back from a meeting in the Soviet Union. Harry S. Truman becomes President.
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V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day), war ends in Europe after German forces in Italy surrender.
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The first Atomic Bombs were used. U.S. dropped the bombs on Hiroshima, Japan: immediately killing 80,000 people. Thousands more died in the following weeks due to wounds and radiation poisoning.
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V-J (Victory over Japan) Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces and ends World War II.
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War Crimes Trials held in Nuremberg, Germany; Manila, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan.
