World War II

  • 1921, Jan. 30

    1921, Jan. 30
    Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party
  • Period: to

    World War II

  • 1922

    1922
    Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy
  • 1929

    1929
    Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR)
  • 1932

    1932
    Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China
  • 1933

    1933
    Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
  • 1935

    1935
    Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress
  • 1935 Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa

    1935 Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa
  • 1936 Militarist take control of Japanese Government

    1936 Militarist take control of Japanese Government
  • Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty

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

  • Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany

  • Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps

  • Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin

  • Sept 1st - Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany

  • May 10 Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control

  • July 14 - 22 Germany invades France and forces it to surrender

  • 1940 July 10

    Battle of Britain begins – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island
  • 1940 Sept 16 - First time Peacetime Draft in US

    First time Peacetime Draft in US
  • 1940 July 14 - 22

    Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
  • 1941

    Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
  • 1941

    Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades - USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans
  • 1941

    Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia)
  • 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. 9
  • 1942

    Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March
  • 1942

    Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
  • 1942, June 4-7

    Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific
  • 1943

    British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa
  • 1943

    Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA
  • 1943

    July - Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min.
  • 1944

    June 6 - D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies
  • 1944

    Dec. Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces
  • 1944

    Aug. - Paris retaken by Allies Forces
  • 1945 Jan.

    – US forces return to recapture the Philippines
  • 1945 April 16th -

    FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President
  • 1945 May 8th -

    V-E Day, war ends in Europe
  • 1945 Aug. -

    First Atomic Bombs dropped
  • 1945 Aug. 14th –

    V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces
  • 1946

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