-
Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the Nazi Party
At the next gathering, July 29, 1921, Adolf Hitler was introduced as Führer of the Nazi Party, marking the first time that title was publicly used to address him. -
Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy
As Prime Minister, the first years of Mussolini's rule were characterized by a right-wing coalition government composed of Fascists, nationalists, liberals, and two Catholic clerics from the Popular Party. The Fascists made up a small minority in his original governments. Mussolini's domestic goal was the eventual establishment of a totalitarian state with himself as supreme leader -
Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union
When Lenin died in 1924 Joseph Stalin fought for the leadership of the party. By 1928 he had removed all of his enemies and became the sole leader of the Soviet Union. -
Japan's Army seizes Manchuria, China
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. The Japanese established a puppet state called Manchukuo, and their occupation lasted until the end of World War II. -
Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
President Paul von Hindenburg names Adolf Hitler, leader or fÜhrer of the National Socialist German Workers Party (or Nazi Party), as chancellor of Germany. -
Neutrality Acts passed by US congress
Roosevelt's State Department had lobbied for embargo provisions that would allow the President to impose sanctions selectively. This was rejected by Congress. The 1935 act, signed on August 31, 1935, imposed a general embargo on trading in arms and war materials with all parties in a war. It also declared that American citizens travelling on warring ships travelled at their own risk. The act was set to expire after six months. Roosevelt invoked the act after Italy's invasion of Ethiopia in Octo -
Italian Army invades Ethiopia
In 1935, the League of Nations was faced with another crucial test. Benito Mussolini, the Fascist leader of Italy, had adopted Adolf Hitler's plans to expand German territories by acquiring all territories it considered German. Mussolini followed this policy when he invaded Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) the African country situated on the horn of Africa. Mussolini claimed that his policies of expansion were not different from that of other colonial powers in Africa. -
Militarists take control of Japanese government
Coup attempt, the February 26 Incident, crushed by Hirohito. Kōki Hirota becomes prime minister (March 9). Japan signs its first pact with Germany (November 25) and occupies Tsingtao (December 3). Mengchiang established in Inner Mongolia. -
Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany violating the Versailles Treaty
-
Japan's army kills a quarter million people in Nanjing, China
The Nanking Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanking (current official spelling: Nanjing) during the Second Sino-Japanese War. -
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudentenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany
The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders mainly inhabited by German speakers, for which a new territorial designation "Sudetenland" was coined. -
Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps
The Nazi regime used rail transport as one method to forcibly rearrange the ethnic composition of eastern Europe within the framework of World War II. In 1941, the Nazi leadership decided to implement the "Final Solution," the systematic mass murder of European Jewry -
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin
On August 23, 1939–shortly before World War II (1939-45) broke out in Europe–enemies Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. -
Nazi invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany
in response to Hitler's invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on Germany. -
Germany invades Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium - take control
On month later, on May 10, the day that Churchill became Britain's prime minister, Hitler sent his troops into Belgium and the Netherlands, without forewarning -
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the successful German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, defeating primarily French forces. -
Battle of Britian - Royal Air Force defeats German air force to prevent invasion
-
First time Peacetime Draft in the United States
Introduced into Congress two days before the fall of France and signed into law three months later as Luftwaffe bombs set London afire, the Selective Training and Service Act began the process by which fifteen million Americans were inducted into the armed services during the Second World War. -
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin's Russia and invades - USSR joins England in Fighting the Germans
-
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a pivotal policy statement issued in August 14, 1941 that, early in World War II, defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by the leaders of the United Kingdom and the United States, and later agreed to by all the Allies of World War II. -
Japanese invade French Indochina
In September 1940, the Japanese invaded Vichy French Indochina (仏印進駐 Futsu-in shinchū?) in order to prevent the Republic of China from importing arms and fuel through French Indochina along the Sino-Vietnamese Railway, from the port of Haiphong through Hanoi to Kunming in Yunnan -
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii attacked by Japanese Naval and Air Forces
US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy declare war on the US The attack on Pearl Harbor[nb 4] was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. -
Phillippines fall to Japanese
-
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
-
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow
-
British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa
-
Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific
-
Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA
-
D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies
-
Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min.
-
Paris retaken by Allies Forces
-
Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces
-
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
-
V-E Day, war ends in Europe
-
FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President
-
First Atomic Bombs dropped
-
V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces
