World War II

Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party

Jan 21, 1921

The party's leader since 1921, Adolf Hitler, was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg in 1933. Hitler rapidly established a totalitarian regime known as the Third Reich. Following the defeat of the Third Reich at the conclusion of World War II in Europe, the party was "completely and finally abolished and declared to be illegal" by the Allied occupying powers.

Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy

Mar 25, 1922

Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR)

Jan 1, 1929

Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China

Jan 1, 1931

Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany

Mar 21, 1933

How did Hitler Become chanceler

Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress

Jan 1, 1935

Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa

Jan 18, 1935

Militarist take control of Japanese Government

Mar 18, 1936

Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty

Mar 18, 1936

Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people

Mar 18, 1937

Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany

Mar 18, 1938

Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps

Mar 18, 1938

Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin

Mar 18, 1939

Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany

Sep 1, 1939

Battle of Britain

Mar 19, 1940

Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island

First time Peacetime Draft in US

Mar 19, 1940

Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades

Apr 11, 1941

USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans

Pearl Harbor

Apr 11, 1941

Dec. 7 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. 9p

Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter

Apr 11, 1941

Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia)

Apr 11, 1941

Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps

Apr 11, 1942

Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific

Apr 11, 1942

Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow

Apr 11, 1942

Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March

Apr 11, 1942

British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa

Apr 11, 1943

Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA

Apr 11, 1943

Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min.

Apr 11, 1943

D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies

Apr 11, 1944

Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces

Apr 12, 1944

Paris retaken by Allies Forces

Apr 12, 1944

US forces return to recapture the Philippines

Apr 12, 1945

FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President

Apr 12, 1945

V-E Day, war ends in Europe

Apr 12, 1945

First Atomic Bombs dropped

Apr 12, 1945

V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces

Apr 12, 1945

War Crimes Trials held in Nuremburg, Germany; Manila, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan.

Apr 11, 1946