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Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the Nazi Party
Hitler was elected Chancellor because he went along with the people's frustration with the limitations put on them by the Treaty Of Versailles. -
Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy
Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party -
Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR)
Stalin cruelty and terror to transform the Soviet Union from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. -
Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China
The Japanese Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria -
Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
Hitler was elected Chancellor because he went along with the people's frustration with the limitations put on them by the Treaty Of Versailles. -
Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa
An armed conflict that resulted in Ethiopia’s subjection to Italian rule -
Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress
Laws passed to limit U.S. involvement in future wars. -
Militarist take control of Japanese Government
Because of Japan's depression the Japanese people lost faith in the government and looked to the military. -
1936 Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty
the Rhineland was a demilitarized zone along the Rhine River in western Germany. -
Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people.
The Nanjing massacre, an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing, occurred over a period of six weeks starting on December 13, 1937 -
Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps
SS authorities had begun to exploit the labor of concentration camp prisoners for economic profit. -
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany
THe Munich Pact is thought of as a failed act of appeasement toward Germany. The purpose of the Pact was to decide the future of the Sudetenland. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin
Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact, surprising the world, given their opposed ideologies. The dictators were both playing to their own political needs. -
Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany
In response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on Germany -
1940 May 10 Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control
Nazis use lightning fast method of battle to take control of all these countries for their benefit. -
1940 July 10 Battle of Britain begins – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island
German and British air forces fought in the skies over the United Kingdom, locked in the largest sustained bombing campaign at that time. -
Period: to
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
The Germans attack through Luxembourg and the Ardennes Forest with tanks and infantry that burst through the French defensive lines and trap the British and French armies in the north. -
First time Peacetime Draft in US
President FDR signs the Selective Service Act, which requires all male between the ages of 26 and 35 to register for the military draft, beginning on October 16. -
1941 Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades - USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans
Nazi Germany got rid of the Pact by launching a massive attack on the Soviet positions in eastern Poland, which marked the beginning of the invasion of the Soviet Union. -
Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia)
The Japanese invaded French Indochina to prevent the Republic of China from importing arms and fuel through French Indochina. -
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a policy statement issued on 14 August 1941, that defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. -
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii attacked by Japanese Naval and Air forces, US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy declare war on the US - Dec. 9
Attack on Pearl Harbour was a surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. -
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
This was the forced relocation to camps in the center of the country. Sixty-two percent of the internees were United States citizens. -
Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March
U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese, the prisoners of war were forced to walk 65 miles to prison camps. -
Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific
the Battle of Midway was one of the most definate U.S. victories against Japan during World War II. During the four-day sea-and-air war, the outnumbered U.S. succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own. -
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow
The Battle of Stalingrad was a huge battle in of World War II in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia, on the eastern boundary of Europe. The Germans were defeated. -
1943 British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa
In this battle the Allies closed in on several thousand German and Italian soldiers in northern Tunisia and finally forced their surrender. -
Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA
Zoot Suit Riots were a series of racist attacks in Los Angeles, California, where Mexican American youths were attacked for wearing their "extravagant, unpatriotic zoot suits." -
Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min.
Benito Mussolini is voted out of power by his own Grand Council and arrested upon leaving a meeting with King Vittorio Emanuele, who tells Il Duce that the war is lost. -
D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies
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Paris retaken by Allied Forces
Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division. -
Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces
The last big German campaign of World War II was launched through the forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg, on the Western Front, towards the end of World War II, in the European theatre. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard.Germans suffered losses. -
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
The American and Filipinos came back to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines, during World War II. -
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
The American and Filipinos came back to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines, during World War II. -
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
The American and Filipinos came back to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines, during World War II. -
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
The American and Filipinos came back to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines, during World War II. -
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
The American and Filipino come back to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines, during World War II. -
FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President
President FDR passes away after four momentous terms in office, leaving Vice President Harry Truman in charge of a country still fighting the Second World War. -
V-E Day, war ends in Europe
Victory in Europe Day, also known as V-E Day, was the holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 to mark the acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's surrender of its armed forces -
First Atomic Bombs dropped
An American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. -
V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces
An official announcement of Japan’s surrender to the Allies is made public to the Japanese people. -
War Crimes Trials held in Nuremberg, Germany; Manila, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan.
People were tried for all the crimes they committed during the war.
