1920-1947 Timeline By Ashleykelley Apr 4, 1921 Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the Nazi Party Apr 4, 1922 Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy Apr 4, 1929 Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR) Apr 4, 1931 Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China Apr 4, 1933 Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany Apr 4, 1935 Neutrality Act passed by US Congress Apr 4, 1935 Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa Apr 4, 1936 Militarist take control of Japanese Government Apr 4, 1936 Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty Apr 4, 1937 Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people Apr 4, 1938 Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany Apr 4, 1938 Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps Apr 4, 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin Apr 4, 1939 Sept 1st - Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany Apr 4, 1940 Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control Apr 4, 1940 Germany invades France and forces it to surrender Apr 4, 1940 Battle of Britain – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island Apr 4, 1940 First time Peacetime Draft in US Apr 4, 1941 Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades -USSR now joins England in fighting the Germans Apr 4, 1941 Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia) Apr 4, 1941 Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
