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The Japanese invasion of Manchuria began on September 19, 1931, when the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria immediately following the Mukden Incident.
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Adolf Hitler was made the chancellor of Germany by President Paul Von Hindenburg.
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Germany, 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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The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War or the Fourth Partition of Poland.
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Italy enters the war. Italy invades southern France on June 21.
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The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany.
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Germany and Italy arbitrate a decision on the division of the disputed province of Transylvania between Romania and Hungary.
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Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.
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On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, killing more than 2,300 Americans.
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Axis forces in Tunisia surrender to the Allies, ending the North African campaign.
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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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In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, Americans received word that three years of concerted war efforts had finally culminated in D-day.
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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.
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The Soviets launch their final offensive, encircling Berlin.
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Hitler commits suicide
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Germany surrenders to the Soviets.
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On Mar. 7, 1945, the Western Allies—whose chief commanders in the field were Omar N. Bradley and Bernard Law Montgomery—crossed the Rhine after having smashed through the strongly fortified Siegfried Line and overran West Germany.
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U.S. drops a bomb on Nagasaki.
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The surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, brought the hostilities of World War II to a close.