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The Japanese army takes action and invades Manchuria
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Nazi Germany Fascist Italy sign a trety of cooperation, the Roman-Berlin Axis is announced
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Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement.
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiB4a-lnr3MAhUS92MKHVtOApwQtwIIKjAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DvyedogZpsoY&usg=AFQjCNGej3v9zeEN-q84fd710-bgVfmB9g&sig2=2l9nPVRK_IcmwfCY9geqiwJapan invades China, initiating World War II in the Pacific.
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Germany incorporates Austria in the Anschluss.
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwibwZiHnb3MAhXJMGMKHTyEAfsQtwIIHDAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.britishpathe.com%2Fvideo%2Fmunich-agreement-signed-hitler-mussolini-chamberl&usg=AFQjCNHYV-u7tTt5DwtcLMHcw3-LAd_9Pg&sig2=qighBW8IczL-cU-68Q0fdQ&bvm=bv.121099550,d.cGcGermany, Italy, Great Britain, and France sign the Munich agreement which forces the Czechoslovak Republic to cede the Sudetenland, including the key Czechoslovak military defense positions, to Nazi Germany.
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Under German pressure, the Slovaks declare their independence and form a Slovak Republic. The Germans occupy the rump Czech lands in violation of the Munich agreement, forming a Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
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France and Great Britain guarantee the integrity of the borders of the Polish state.
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Fascist Italy invades and annexes Albania.
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Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression agreement and a secret codicil dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence.
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Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwidi7Xinr3MAhVE-2MKHetqBf0QtwIIHzAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.com%2Fspeeches%2Fchamberlain-declares-war-on-germany&usg=AFQjCNEwdS2QdfFwWS_83P8GiaggzcdBLA&sig2=X5oUDENvsJXZhP4OBHCYag Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany.
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British Royal Air Force attacks the German Navy.
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United States proclaims its neutrality; German troops cross the Vistula River in Poland.
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Canada declares war on Germany; Battle of the Atlantic begins.
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Soviets invade Poland.
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Reinhard Heydrich becomes the leader of new Reich Main Security Office
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Nazis and Soviets divide up Poland.
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjZos_vnb3MAhUW7GMKHY7tC2cQtwIIHDAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.com%2Fthis-day-in-history%2Fadolf-hitler-commits-suicide&usg=AFQjCNEhQ99VO0_g8J9ihkZrkTYWjtBSTg&sig2=DCTCXfSLNpfVp-k20rgjpAAssassination attempt on Hitler fails.
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Soviets attack Finland.
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Soviet Union expelled from the League of Nations
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Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway holds out until June 9.
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Italy enters the war. Italy invades southern France on June 21.
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The Soviet Union forces Romania to cede the eastern province of Bessarabia and the northern half of Bukovina to the Soviet Ukraine.
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiRj8mGn73MAhVG-GMKHZLdDpQQtwIIHzAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXBNmpEk91mI&usg=AFQjCNGlwqEseTY11uBcdSQ5hyGPQw9ytw&sig2=re8BPQrpMKYc_DFpFbh6UgThe air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany.
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Second Vienna Award: Germany and Italy arbitrate a decision on the division of the disputed province of Transylvania between Romania and Hungary. The loss of northern Transylvania forces Romanian King Carol to abdicate in favor of his son, Michael, and brings to power a dictatorship under General Ion Antonescu.
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The Italians invade British-controlled Egypt from Italian-controlled Libya.
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjuo-C_nL3MAhUB7GMKHZEMD7IQtwIIHDAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DfQ4xCc0a_CM&usg=AFQjCNEVuaDWb0UH9rHTJXUa5TS5pCYFZQ&sig2=MRG7L67KQdrNmrQLAPjNGA&bvm=bv.121099550,d.cGcGermany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.
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Italy invades Greece from Albania on October 28.
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjJ55Xxnr3MAhVJ4GMKHfK7DKgQtwIILjAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DM1IbAkbeKlw&usg=AFQjCNFpFAz1qIFtkctXGu0RNZfc1i2EUg&sig2=Vf9fxeHbJWx2lUaV-1dOVgSlovakia (November 23), Hungary (November 20), and Romania (November 22) join the Axis.
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The Germans send the Afrika Korps to North Africa to reinforce the faltering Italians
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Bulgaria joins the Axis.
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Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria invade and dismember Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia surrenders on April 17. Germany and Bulgaria invade Greece in support of the Italians. Resistance in Greece ceases in early June 1941.
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The leaders of the terrorist Ustasa movement proclaim the so-called Independent State of Croatia. Recognized immediately by Germany and Italy, the new state includes the province of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia joins the Axis powers formally on June 15, 1941.
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A Soviet counteroffensive drives the Germans from the Moscow suburbs in chaotic retreat.
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Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
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The United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II. Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), and British Singapore. By April 1942, the Philippines, Indochina, and Singapore are under Japanese occupation.
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Nazi Germany and its Axis partners declare war on the United States
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British and US navies halt the Japanese naval advance in the central Pacific at Midway.
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The British bomb Köln (Cologne), bringing the war home to Germany for the first time. Over the next three years Anglo-American bombing reduces urban Germany to rubble
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US troops halt the Japanese island-hopping advance towards Australia at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands
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British troops defeat the Germans and Italians at El Alamein in Egypt, sending the Axis forces in chaotic retreat across Libya to the eastern border of Tunisia.
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Axis forces in Tunisia surrender to the Allies, ending the North African campaign.
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The Germans launch a massive tank offensive near Kursk in the Soviet Union. The Soviets blunt the attack within a week and begin an offensive initiative of their own.
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US and British troops land on Sicily. By mid-August, the Allies control Sicily.
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The Fascist Grand Council deposes Benito Mussolini, enabling Italian marshall Pietro Badoglio to form a new government.
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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.
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Allied troops land on the beaches of Salerno near Naples
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiy-_a3nr3MAhUCx2MKHUc2DFQQtwIIHjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DfKcX9Eq4FME&usg=AFQjCNEsril17qF_chTJ6XbSLcP2YwqJJg&sig2=U7tBqZl2UYb9pvBr5UicIgAllied troops land successfully near Anzio, just south of Rome.
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Allied troops liberate Rome. Within six weeks, Anglo-American bombers could hit targets in eastern Germany for the first time.
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British and US troops successfully land on the Normandy beaches of France, opening a “Second Front” against the Germans.
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The Soviets launch a massive offensive in eastern Byelorussia (Belarus), destroying the German Army Group Center and driving westward to the Vistula River across from Warsaw in central Poland by August 1.
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Anglo-American forces break out of the Normandy beachhead and race eastward towards Paris.
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Allied forces land in southern France near Nice and advance rapidly towards the Rhine River to the northeast.
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Finland concludes an armistice with the Soviet Union, leaving the Axis partnership.
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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.
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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.
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US troops cross the Rhine River at Remagen.
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The Soviets launch their final offensive, encircling Berlin. April 1945
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Hitler commits suicide
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Allied troops conquer Okinawa, the last island stop before the Japanese islands.
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Germany surrenders to the western Allies.
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Germany surrenders to the Soviets.
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The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
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The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria.
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The United States drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjRvOvLnr3MAhVJ4mMKHezwCxoQtwIIHDAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DiN1qfHXUFJ0&usg=AFQjCNGAtarj0k5ZhhzHUvBAONHWWa9I-Q&sig2=kYZVTrRO1XW_5j8hwYGbbwHaving agreed in principle to unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II.
