-
Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi party
-
Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy
-
Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR)
-
Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China
-
March 21 - Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
-
Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa
-
Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress
-
Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty
-
Militarist take control of Japanese Government
-
Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people
-
Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps
-
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany
-
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin
-
Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany
-
Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control
-
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
-
Battle of Britain – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island
-
First time Peacetime Draft in US
-
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
-
Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia)
-
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades -USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans
-
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii attacked by Japanese Naval and Air forces
-
US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy declare war on the US
-
Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March
-
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
-
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow
-
Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific
-
Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA
-
British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa
-
Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min.
-
D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies
-
Paris retaken by Allies Forces
-
Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces
-
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
-
FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President
-
V-E Day, war ends in Europe
-
V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces
-
First Atomic Bombs dropped
-
War Crimes Trials held in Nuremburg, Germany; Manila, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan.