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Period: to
World War Two
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Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party.
Recently released from Landsberg prison, where he served just 9 months for treason, Hitler quickly reestablished the Nazi Party, as a political party campaigning to win votes in democratic elections. -
Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy
He was in office until July 25, 1943. Benito Mussolini served as Italy’s 40th Prime Minister from 1922 until 1943. He is considered a central figure in the creation of Fascism and was both an influence on and close ally of Adolf Hitler during World War II. -
Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR)
After Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) died, Stalin outmaneuvered his rivals for control of the party. Once in power, he collectivized farming and had potential enemies executed or sent to forced labor camps. Stalin aligned with the United States and Britain in World War II (1939-1945) but afterward engaged in an increasingly tense relationship with the West known as the Cold War (1946-1991). After his death, the Soviets initiated a de-Stalinization process. (Did not find exact date) -
Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China
The Japanese Kwangtung Army attacked Chinese troops in Manchuria in an event commonly known as the Manchurian Incident. Essentially, this was an attempt by the Japanese Empire to gain control over the whole province, in order to eventually encompass all of East Asia. This proved to be one of the causes of World War Two. -
Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
President Paul von Hindenburg names Adolf Hitler, leader or fÜhrer of the National Socialist German Workers Party (or Nazi Party), as chancellor of Germany. -
Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress
The legacy of the Neutrality Acts is widely regarded as having been generally negative: they made no distinction between aggressor and victim, treating both equally as "belligerents"; and they limited the US government's ability to aid Britain and France against Nazi Germany. -
Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa
The Italian invasion of Ethiopia was initiated in the month of October 1935. It was a brief colonial war that is also remembered in history as the second Italo-Abyssinian war. Mussolini, who was the leader of Italy, had his eye set on annexing Ethiopia into Italy’s newly created colony of East Africa. Although the Italian military was successful in occupying Ethiopia, the Abyssinians did not capitulate or surrender to the Italian forces. (Sometime in October) -
Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty
The remilitarization of the Rhineland by the German Army took place on 7 March 1936 when German military forces entered the Rhineland. This was significant because it violated the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties, marking the first time since the end of World War I that German troops had been in this region. -
Militarist take control of Japanese Government
Japanese militarism refers to the ideology in the Empire of Japan that militarism should dominate the political and social life of the nation, and that the strength of the military is equal to the strength of a nation (Somewhere between February and November) -
Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people
The Nanking Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Japanese troops against Nanking (current official spelling: Nanjing) during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The massacre occurred during a six-week period starting December 13, 1937, the day that the Japanese captured Nanking, which was then the Chinese capital. -
Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps
Between 1938 and 1942 during World War II, the number of camps exploded to more than 300,[3] as political prisoners and "undesirable elements" from across Europe were mass-incarcerated[4] generally without judicial process.(No date found) -
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany
British and French prime ministers Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier sign the Munich Pact with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. The agreement averted the outbreak of war but gave Czechoslovakia away to German conquest. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin
Representatives from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union met and signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, which guaranteed that the two countries would not attack each other. By signing this pact, Germany had protected itself from having to fight a two-front war in the soon-to-begin World War II; the Soviet Union was awarded land, including parts of Poland and the Baltic States. -
Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany
The morning after the Gleiwitz incident, German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west. As the Germans advanced, Polish forces withdrew from their forward bases of operation close to the Polish–German border to more established lines of defence to the east. After the mid-September Polish defeat in the Battle of the Bzura, the Germans gained an undisputed advantage. Polish forces then withdrew to the southeast where they prepared for a long defence of the Romanian Bridgehead. -
Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control
In the early morning of 9 April 1940 (Wesertag; "Weser Day"), Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, ostensibly as a preventive manoeuvre against a planned, and openly discussed, Franco-British occupation of Norway. After the invasions, envoys of the Germans informed the governments of Denmark and Norway that the Wehrmacht had come to protect the countries' neutrality against Franco-British aggression. Significant differences in geography, location and climate between the two countries made the act -
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
In the Second World War, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the successful German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, defeating primarily French forces. The battle consisted of two main operations. -
Battle of Britain – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island
The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces,[14] and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date. The German objective was to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force (RAF), especially Fighter Command (No exact date but sometime in July) -
First time Peacetime Draft in US
Introduced into Congress two days before the fall of France and signed into law three months later as Luftwaffe bombs set London afire, the Selective Training and Service Act began the process by which fifteen million Americans were inducted into the armed services during the Second World War -
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades - USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans
Stalin ignored several warnings that Germany was likely to attack and ordered no full-scale mobilization of forces. After the launch of the invasion, the territories gained by the Soviet Union due to the Pact were lost in a matter of weeks. -
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
The Charter stated the ideal goals of the war: no territorial aggrandizement; no territorial changes made against the wishes of the people; restoration of self-government to those deprived of it; reduction of trade restrictions; global cooperation to secure better economic and social conditions for all; freedom from fear and want; freedom of the seas; and abandonment of the use of force, as well as disarmament of aggressor nations. -
Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia)
The Japanese occupied Vichy French Indochina in order to prevent the Republic of China from importing arms and fuel through French Indochina along the Sino-Vietnamese Railway, from the port of Haiphong through Hanoi to Kunming in Yunnan. The fighting, which lasted several days before the French authorities reached an agreement with the Japanese, took place in the context of the ongoing Sino-Japanese War and World War Two. (No exact date found but in September) -
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii attacked by Japanese Naval and Air forces, US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy declare war on the US
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt13c3olXkU (Video Link) The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. There were simultaneous Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong. -
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
Japanese American internment was the World War II internment in "War Relocation Camps" of over 110,000 people of Japanese heritage who lived on the Pacific coast of the United States. The U.S. government ordered the internment in 1942, shortly after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The internment of Japanese Americans was applied unequally as a geographic matter: all who lived on the West Coast were interned along with a few from Hawaii. (Date the president signed the order) -
Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. (Date began, lasts for months) -
Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific.
The Battle of Midway in the Pacific Theater of Operations was one of the most important naval battles of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy (USN) decisively defeated an attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) inflicting irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet. -
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in the southwestern Soviet Union. Marked by constant close quarters combat and disregard for military and civilian casualties, it is the bloodiest battle in the history of warfare. -
Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots in 1943 during World War II that broke out in Los Angeles, California, between Anglo American sailors and Marines stationed in the city and Latino youths, who were recognizable by the zoot suits they favored. Mexican Americans and white military personnel were the main parties in the riots, and some African American and Filipino/Filipino American youths were involved. (No exact date, took place over the whole year in many cities) -
British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia. (Day the battle ended) -
Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min.
Soon after the start of the Allied invasion of Italy, Mussolini was defeated in the vote at the Grand Council of Fascism, and the King had him arrested the following day. -
D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies
The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 (D-Day), beginning at 6:30 am British Double Summer Time (GMT+2). In planning, as for most Allied operations, the term D-Day was used for the day of the actual landing, which was dependent on final approval. -
Paris retaken by Allies Forces
The Liberation of Paris started with an uprising by the French Resistance against the German garrison. On August 24, the French Forces of the Interior received reinforcements from the Free French Army of Liberation and from the U.S. Third Army under General Patton. -
Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard and became the costliest battle in terms of casualties for the United States, whose forces bore the brunt of the attack. -
FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President
Harry Truman was the final running mate of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, Truman succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when Roosevelt died after months of declining health. Under Truman, the U.S. successfully concluded World War II. -
V-E Day, war ends in Europe
Victory in Europe Day was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. It thus marked the end of World War II in Europe. -
First Atomic Bombs dropped
A uranium gun-type atomic bomb (Little Boy) was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, followed by a plutonium implosion-type bomb (Fat Man) on the city of Nagasaki on August 9. Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki; roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day -
V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces
Victory over Japan Day is a name chosen for the day on which Japan surrendered, in effect ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event. The term has been applied to both of the days on which the initial announcement of Japan’s surrender was made. -
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
By the end of June, the enemy pockets were compressed into isolated pockets on Mindanao and Luzon where fighting continued until the Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945. However, some units of the Japanese Army were out of radio contact with Tokyo, and it was difficult to convince some of them that Japan had surrendered. -
War Crimes Trials held in Nuremburg, Germany; Manila, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan.
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the Allied forces after World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany. The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg. The first, and best known of these trials, described as "the greatest trial in history" by Norman Birkett, one of the British judges who presided over it, was the trial of the major war criminals.
