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Japan invades Manchuria
On September 18, 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria. Manchuria was not expecting an attack or a war, so this was the perfect time for Japan to attack. Japan was extremely crowded, so they owned part of the Manchurian railway. In September of 1931, the Japanese sabatoged and destroyed the railway, but they made it look like the Chinese had done it. In just a couple of months, the Japanese controlled all of Manchuria. The League of Nations came to investigate, and Japan withdrew from the League. -
World War II in Europe starts
World War II started in Europe when China fired at Japan at the Marco Polo Bridge, that is located near Beijing. Japan then launched an invasion of China, that was based out of Manchuria. Japan had just taken control of Manchuria from China, just a few years before. This was the start to a long and exhausting war. China was extremely out-numbered and in a way, beat from the beginning. -
Munich agreement
In the spring of 1938, Prime ministers from Great Britain and France signed the Munich agreement with Adolf Hitler. The agreement was a promise that Hitler signed to not use his military in the future. In return, they would get the land back that Hitler had taken. Hitler wanted to attack Czechoslavakia, so by signing this, he could exclude Czechoslavakia and the Soviet Union. The agreement included Germany, Britain, France and Italy. -
Fascist Italy invades and annexes Ablania
Benito Mussolini and his troops invaded and occupied Albania on April 7, 1939. The troops were very poorly set up and run, but their ultimate goal was still achieved. When they invaded, they did not get all that they had hoped for, because Albania was dependent on Italy. When this happened, Alabany was close to extinction. The Italians wanted the Albanians to be drowned in Albanian blood. -
Germany invades Poland
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, which was the beginning of World War II in Europe. 1.5 million German troops invaded Poland's huge border. While this was happening, German's bombed Poland's airfields, and Germany's warships attacked Polish naval forces located in the Baltic Sea. Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Hitler tried to tell them that the attacked was simply self-defense, but they did not buy his story. -
Soviet Union invades Poland
Just a couple of days after Germany invaded Poland, the Soviet Union also invaded Poland. The polish army had retreated and started moving East because of the attack of Hitler's men, when the Soviet Union began to move into Eastern Poland. Because of a pact signed earlier in the year, there was no way that Poland could get an ally like Russia to help fight Germany. As both the soviets and germans made their way into Poland, they met each other, so the Germans gave up their prisoners of war. -
Germany invades Denmark and Norway
On April 9, 1940, Germany invaded both Denmark and Norway. Germany warships entered the major ports and deployed tons of troops, which occupied most of Norway. Because Germany was able to work around British ports, they invaded Norway completely unopposed. The Germans demanded a surrender but Norway refused, so they responded with a parachute invasion. Denmark surrendered immediately, because they knew that they could not fight Germany. -
Italy enters the war
On June 10, 1940, Italy entered the war. Italy declared war on France and Great Britain. Shortly after, on June 21, they invaded southern France. Italy, who was going to stay out of the war, suddenly made this very unfriendly action, which upset many. Many people said that they "stabbed the neighbor's back". This turned very violent, and was a very harsh action. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, one of the most historic things in history happened. Early that morning, Japanese fighter planes bombed the American Naval base at Pearl Harbor. The horrible attack lasted two hours. It destroyed 20 naval vessels, 8 battleships and 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans were killed and 1,000 were severly injured. President Rooselvelt was now ready to declare war on Japan. There is now a historical memorial in Hawaii that is dedicated to this. -
U.S. enters war
Just one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan. This meant that the U.S. was now in the War. Before the bombing at Pearl Harbor, there were many times when people wanted Roosevelt to enter the war, but Roosevelt was not going to. He was many people's ally, but he would not enter the war. After the destructive bombing, he decided that the only choice was to enter the war. When Roosevelt proposed this, only one congressman disagreed on the U.S. going to war. -
Germany declares war on U.S.
Starting on December 11, 1941, Nazi Germany declared war on the U.S. Shortly following them, their axis partners also declared war on the United States. When Hitler declared war on the U.S., it brought the U.S. into the European conflict. The U.S. had been neutral, so this was not a good thing. Both Germany and Japan declared war on the U.S. -
Soviet troops counterattack
On November 23, 1942, the Soviet troops counterattack. This meant that they broke through the Hungarian and Romanian lines, and trapped the German army. The survivors surrendered on January 30 and February 2, 1943.
