World War II Timeline

End of WWI

Nov 11, 1918

Hitler Joins Nazi Party

Jan 20, 1919

Facist Party established under Mussolini in Italy

Mar 23, 1919

Mussolini takes over Italy

Jan 20, 1922

Establishment of the USSR

Jun 30, 1922

Death of Vladimir Lenin; control of USSR to Joseph Stalin; deaths of 8-13 million Russians

Jan 20, 1924

US and 61 ot6her countries sign Kellogg-Briand Pact

Jan 20, 1928

Non-aggression pact; Germany and Russia; divide Poland

Aug 23, 1931

Japanese invasion of Manchuria

Jan 20, 1932

Hitler become Chancellor of Germany, establishing the Third Reich

Jan 20, 1933

Roosevelt takes office

Mar 4, 1933

US begins passing Neutrality Acts

Jan 20, 1935

Hitler Begins military build up

Jan 20, 1935

Italian troops conquer Ethiopia

May 9, 1935

Civil War begins in Spain under Francisco Franco

Jan 20, 1936

German troops invade Rhineland

Mar 7, 1936

Japan invades China

Jul 7, 1937

Hitler announces secret plans for lebensraum

Nov 5, 1937

Hitler takes Austria

Mar 12, 1938

Munich Agreement; Sudetenland to Germany

Sep 30, 1938

Franco is successful in Spain

Jan 20, 1939

Totalitarian government established in USSR

Jan 20, 1939

Russian army into Finland (Finns surrender in three months)

Jan 20, 1939

Russian Army into Finland (Finns surrender in three months)

Feb 2, 1939

Czechoslovakia falls to Hitler

Mar 15, 1939

German invasion of Poland; blitzkrieg

Sep 1, 1939

German invasion of Denmark and Norway

Apr 9, 1940

Defeat of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg by Germany

May 1, 1940

British and French defeat at Dunkirk

May 22, 1940

Italy enters the war on the side of Germany and invades France

Jun 1, 1940

France surrenders to Germany

Jun 22, 1940

Plans for an invasion of Great Britain; beginning of the Battle of Britain

Aug 15, 1940