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Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany.
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On February 27, 1933, the German parliament building burned down due to arson. The government falsely portrayed the fire as part of a Communist effort to overthrow the state.
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This act gave Hitler dictatorial power.
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Nazi Party declared Germany's only political party.
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Germany quits the League of Nations.
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Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany by using President Hindenburg's death as an opportunity to seize total power in Germany.
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Hitler violates the Treaty of Versailles by introducing military conscription and avoiding the weapon restirictions implaced by the Treaty.
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German Jews stripped of rights by Nuremberg Race Laws. The laws excluded German Jews from Reich citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of "German or related blood."
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German troops occupy the Rhineland. First violation by the Treaty of Versailles.
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Mussolini's Italian forces invade and take Ethiopia.
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Adolf Hitler announces an "Anschluss" (union) between Germany and Austria, in fact annexing the smaller nation into a greater Germany.
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A policy of "appeasement" was given to Hitler on his demand of invading the Sudetenland, in the hope that Hitler would not make any more demands. Thus, Chamberlain,Eduard Daladier, and Benito Mussolini met in Munich with Hitler and officially agreed to the annexation of the Sudeten region to Germany.
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German troops occupy the Sudetenland.
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The Night of Broken Glass. This was the destruction of Jewish businesses and homes in Munich, as well as the beating and murder of Jewish men, women, and children.
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Hitler threatens Jews during Reichstag speech. The leader of Germany provides a horrifying resolution to the "Jewish problem."
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Hitler's forces invade and occupy Czechoslovakia--a nation sacrificed on the altar of the Munich Pact, which was a vain attempt to prevent Germany's imperial aims.
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Nazis sign 'Pact of Steel' with Italy. Italy and Germany agree to a military and political alliance, giving birth formally to the Axis powers.
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Nazis and Soviets sign Non-Aggression Pact, which guaranteed that the two countries would not attack each other.
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Hitler invades Poland despite Western Warnings. Official Start to WWII
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Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany.
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Canada declares war on Germany
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Soviets invade Poland. They will proceed to split Poland with Germany.
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Germany and the Soviet Union agree to divide control of Poland, along the Bug River--the Germans taking everything west, the Soviets taking everything east.
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First assassination attempt on Hitler fails. A bomb explodes just after Hitler has finished giving a speech. He was unharmed.
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Soviet Union expelled from the League of Nations. This was triggered by the invasion of Finland.
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Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union. Finnish troops and the remaining population are immediately evacuated.
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Nazis deploy thousands of German troops and occupying Norway. At the same time, other German forces occupy Copenhagen, among other Danish cities.
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Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister.
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Evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk begins.
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Italy declares war on Britain and France.
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Germans begin their advance on Paris.
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Soviets take Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
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Hitler plans Operation Sea Lion (the invasion of Britain). Operation Sealion was never carried out during the war.
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Italians invade Egypt.
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Tripartite (Axis) Pact signed by Germany, Italy and Japan.
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Hungary joins the Axis Powers.
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Romania joins the Axis Powers.
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President Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act. This allows any European country to get weapons from the US as long as they can pay after the war.
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Germany attacks Soviet Union as Operation Barbarossa begins.
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United States announces an oil embargo against aggressor states.
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Roosevelt and Churchill announce the Atlantic Charter. The Atlantic Charter provided a broad statement of U.S. and British war aims.
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Operation Typhoon begins which was the German advance on Moscow.
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Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including 8 battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded.
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United States and Britain declare war on Japan.
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Hitler declares war on the United States.
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Hitler takes complete control of the German Army.
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Declaration of the United Nations signed by 26 Allied nations.
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First American forces arrive in Great Britain.
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Operation Torch begins which was the U.S. invasion of North Africa.
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Casablanca conference between Churchill and Roosevelt. During the conference, Roosevelt announces the war can endonly with "unconditional German surrender." January 14-24
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Mussolini arrested and the Italian Fascist government falls; Marshal Pietro Badoglio takes over and negotiates with Allies.
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Italian surrender to Allies is announced.
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Italy declares war on Germany.
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Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin meet at Teheran. The three leaders coordinated their military strategy against Germany and Japan and made a number of important decisions concerning the post World War II era.
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Germans withdraw to the Adolf Hitler Line.
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Western Allies landed in northern France, opening the "Second Front" against Adolf Hitler's Germany. The Normandy invasion was in a strategically important region, setting the stage to drive the Germans out of France and ultimately destroy the National Socialist regime.
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Assassination attempt by German Army officers against Hitler fails. The apparent purpose of the assassination attempt was to seize political control of Germany and its armed forces from the Nazi Party in order to obtain peace with the western Allies as soon as possible.
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Liberation of Paris. To free the French capital triumphantly. Pockets of German intransigence remained, but Paris was free from German control.
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Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes. December 16-27. It was the last major Nazi offensive against the Allies. The battle was a last ditch attempt by Hitler to split the Allies in two in their drive towards Germany and destroy their ability to supply for themselves.
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Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin meet at Yalta. Here they made important decisions regarding the future progress of the war and the postwar world.
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After the death of FDR, Harry Truman becomes President.
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Mussolini is captured and hanged by Italian partisans
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Adolf Hitler commits suicide.
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Unconditional surrender of all German forces to Allies.
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VE Day officially announced the end of World War Two in Europe.
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The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco. It was done at the end of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. The Statute of the International Court of Justice is an integral part of the Charter.
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The major issue at Potsdam was the question of how to handle Germany.
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First atomic bomb dropped, on Hiroshima, Japan.
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Soviets declares war on Japan and invade Manchuria.
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Second atomic bomb dropped, on Nagasaki, Japan.
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In the morning of 2 September 1945, more that two weeks after accepting the Allies terms, Japan formally surrendered.
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United Nations is born. Charter of the United Nations is enacted.
