-
Hitler Supports Japan
German Chancellor Adolf Hitler announces support for Japan. -
U.S. Against Japan
In the United States, popular support for American action against Japan far exceeds support for action against Nazi Germany. -
Anschluss
German Chancellor Adolf Hitler declares Austria part of the Third Reich. -
Hermann Goering Warns Jews
Hermann Goering, marshal of the Third Reich and Hitler's second in charge, warns all Jews to leave Austria. -
U.S. Recognizes Austria
The United States grants recognition to the new Austrian government. -
Mussolini Joins Hitler
In a speech in Rome, Benito Mussolini, fascist leader of Italy, promises to fight the democracies alongside Adolf Hitler's should war break out. -
Naval Expansion Act
The U.S. Congress passes the Naval Expansion Act giving President Franklin D. Roosevelt one billion dollars to enlarge the navy. -
Kristallnacht
During the German Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), 7500 Jewish businesses are looted, 191 synagogues are set afire, nearly 100 Jews are killed, and tens of thousands are sent to concentration camps. -
Period: to
World War II
-
Hitler Annexes Czechoslovakia
Adolf Hitler reneges on the promise made in September of 1938 and takes all of Czechoslovakia. -
Roosevelt Writes Hitler and Mussolini
President Franklin D. Roosevelt writes letters to both Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, requesting they promise not to attack a list of nations for at least ten years. Hitler would respond on behalf of the Italian leader and himself, assuring Roosevelt that he had nothing to fear. -
Senate Blocks Aid to Allies
A group of U.S. Senators block the President's request for permission to offer economic aid to Britain and France in case of war. -
A group of U.S. Senators block the President's request for permission to offer economic aid to Britain and France in case of war.
Passenger ship St. Louis, containing 907 Jewish refugees, begins its journey back to Europe after the United States refuses to grant it permission to dock. -
Stalin and Hitler Sign Nonaggression Pact
Germany and the Soviet Union agree to a nonaggression pact leaving the Soviets free to strengthen their western frontier, and Hitler free to attack Poland. -
Germany Invades Poland
German troops invade Poland on the ground while Hitler's air force bombs Polish cities from the sky. -
Britain and France Declare War
Britain and France declare war on Germany honoring their commitment to Poland.President Franklin D. Roosevelt invokes the Neutrality Act but notes, "Even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or his conscience." -
Congress Lifts Aid Embargo
Congress grants President Franklin D. Roosevelt's request to revise neutrality laws, to repeal an arms embargo so that munitions could be sold to Britain and France, and to prevent American ships from sailing into war zones. -
Hitler Defeats France
Britain forces retreat from France and Adolf Hitler's armies defeat French forces. -
Fleet Moved to Pearl Harbor
President Franklin D. Roosevelt moves the United States Pacific Fleet base from San Diego, California to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. -
France Surrenders
France, crushed, surrenders to Germany and signs an armistice. Great Britain now stands alone against the Axis powers. -
U.S. Withholds Gas from Japan
The United States orders gasoline withheld from Japan sparking protest from the Japanese government. -
Congress Enacts Draft
Congress appropriates $16 billion for defense needs, and enacts the first peacetime draft in American history. -
Japan Joins Axis
Responding to the embargoes imposed by the United States, Japan joins the German-Italian coalition. -
Roosevelt Reelected for Third Term
In the presidential election, Democrats break with the two-term tradition and renominate Franklin D. Roosevelt for a third term. Republicans nominate Wendell L. Willkie, a public-utilities executive who shared FDR's views on the war in Europe. Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Wendell L. Willkie by nearly 5 million popular votes. -
U.S. Cracks Japanese Code
United States Naval Intelligence cryptographers crack Japan's secret communications code and learn that Japan intends to conquer China. -
Germany Invades Soviet Union
Germany invades the Soviet Union violating the Nonaggression Pact. U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson estimates that it will take Hitler less than three months to conquer the Soviet Union. -
Roosevelt and Churchill Draft Atlantic Charter
On a British battleship, President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets with the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill. The two leaders write up the Atlantic Charter. -
Roosevelt Warns Japanese
President Franklin D. Roosevelt warns the Japanese government to cease all aggression toward neighboring countries or else face United States forces. -
Yellow Stars
In the Warsaw ghetto, Jews wore a white armband with a blue Star of David on their left arm. In some ghettos, even babies in prams had to wear the armbands or stars. Jewish shops were also marked with a Yellow Star. -
Gas Chambers
The story of the Auschwitz gas chambers begins, notoriously, with the first experimental gassing of approximately 850 individuals, which supposedly took place in the underground cells of Block 11 within the main camp on September 3, 1941. -
U.S. Learns Japanese Plan
U.S. Naval cryptographers learn from secret code that Japan plans aggressive action if an agreement with the United States is not met. -
Pearl Harbor
Japanese fighter planes attack the American base at Pearl Harbor destroying U.S. aircraft and naval vessels, and killing 2,355 U.S. servicemen and 68 civilians. -
US At War
Germany and Italy, Japan's axis partners, declare war on the United States. The United States declares war on Germany, Italy, and Japan. -
Largest Budget in History
President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his State of the Union address in which he proposes a massive government spending budget, the largest in American history. -
The Final Solution
Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler's second in command of the SS organization, convened a conference in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. At the meeting, 15 top Nazi bureaucrats and members of the SS met to coordinate the "Final Solution" in which the Nazis would attempt to exterminate the 11 million Jews of Europe and the Soviet Union. -
Japanese-Americans Relocation
The internment of Japanese Americans in the United States was the forced relocation and incarceration during World War II of between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who lived on the Pacific coast in camps in the interior of the country. Sixty-two percent of the internees were United States citizens. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the incarceration shortly after Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. -
German Air Raids
German air raids begin against cathedral cities in Britain. -
Auschwitz
Mass murder of Jews by gassing begins at Auschwitz. -
American Air Raid
First all-American air attack in Europe. -
Stalingrad
Germany begins its assault on the Russian city of Stalingrad. In a battle that will rage for six months, and take hundreds of thousands of German and Russian lives, the Red Army finally defeats invading Nazis. -
German War Crimes
British Foreign Secretary Eden tells the British House of Commons of mass executions of Jews by Nazis; U.S. declares those crimes will be avenged. -
Chuchill and Roosevelt Plan
Roosevelt and Churchill hold a conference at Casablanca, Morocco. They affirm their goal of securing the Axis nations' unconditional surrender. -
Stalingrad Surrender
Germans surrender at Stalingrad in the first big defeat of Hitler's armies. -
Jewish Resistance
Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto ends. Jewish resistance under Nazi rule refers to various forms of resistance conducted against German occupation regimes in Europe by Jews during World War II. -
Ghetto Liquidation
Himmler orders the liquidation of all Jewish ghettos in Poland. -
Benito Mussolini Overthrown
Allied forces capture Sicily and key spots in southern Italy. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini is overthrown and imprisoned. Hitler dispatches German troops to fend off an Allied advance in what will be a series of hard fought, costly battles. -
Mussolini Rescued
The Badoglio government surrenders unconditionally to the Allies. The Germans immediately seize control of Rome and northern Italy, establishing a puppet Fascist regime under Mussolini, who is freed from imprisonment by German commandos on September 12. -
The Meeting of the Big Three
The "big three," Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin, convene in Teheran, Iran to discuss the invasion of Italy. It is the first time all three have met. -
Cairo Declaration
The Allied powers announce the Cairo Declaration in which all three declare their intention to establish an international organization to maintain the peace and security of the world. -
Allies Assemble
In England, the Allied powers assemble 2.9 million men, 2.5 million tons of supplies, 11,000 airplanes, and hundreds of ships in preparation for D-Day. -
Rome Falls
Rome falls to Allied forces. -
D-Day
The first of nearly 3 million Allied soldiers arrive in Normandy, on the northern shores of France. -
Poland
Polish Home Army uprising against Nazis in Warsaw begins; U.S. troops reach Avranches. -
Anne Frank
Anne Frank and family arrested by the Gestapo in Amsterdam, Holland. -
Paris Liberated
U.S. forces, aided by a Free French division, liberate Paris from Nazi control. -
Arrow Cross Movement
The Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross movement carries out a coup d’état with German support to prevent the Hungarian government from pursuing negotiations for surrender to the Soviets. -
Battle of The Bulge
The Germans launch a final offensive in the west, known as the Battle of the Bulge, in an attempt to re-conquer Belgium and split the Allied forces along the German border. By January 1, 1945, the Germans are in retreat. -
Big Three in Yalta
The Allied powers meet in Yalta to negotiate Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe. The Yalta Conference would result in the dual administrations in Berlin, the break up of Germany, and the prosecution of war criminals. -
FDR Dies
President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia. -
Mussolini Dies
Italian insurgents capture Mussolini, murder him, and mutilate his body. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
Adolf Hitler commits suicide in Berlin. -
Germany Surrenders
The German army signs an unconditional surrender. -
Hiroshima
The United States drops an atomic bomb—the first to be used in warfare—on Hiroshima, killing 75,000 people instantly, and injuring more than 100,000. -
Nagasaki
A second atomic bomb is dropped in Nagasaki. -
World War II Ends
A formal surrender ceremony is conducted in Tokyo Bay on the U.S. battleship Missouri. World War II officially ends.