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Nazis and Soviets divide Poland
Following the invasion of Poland in September 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, in accordance with a secret protocol of their non-aggression pact, partitioned the country, with Germany occupying western and central Poland and the Soviet Union occupying eastern Poland. -
US declares neutrality
After a fierce debate in Congress, in November of 1939, a final Neutrality Act passed. This Act lifted the arms embargo and put all trade with belligerent nations under the terms of “cash-and-carry.” The ban on loans remained in effect, and American ships were barred from transporting goods to belligerent ports. -
Spanish Civil War ended
When the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939, with Franco's victory, some 500,000 Spanish Republicans escaped to France, where many were placed in internment camps in the south, such as Gurs, St. Cyprien, and Les Milles. -
Nazis invade Poland
On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, initiating World War II in Europe. This event led to the swift defeat of the Polish army, the occupation of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union, and the tragic events of the Holocaust. -
France signs an armistice with the Germans
On June 22, 1940, France signed an armistice with Nazi Germany, marking the end of the Battle of France and the beginning of German occupation of northern and western France, while the south remained under the control of the Vichy regime. -
Tripartite (Axis) Pact signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan
Tripartite Pact, agreement concluded by Germany, Italy, and Japan on September 27, 1940, one year after the start of World War II. It created a defense alliance between the countries and was largely intended to deter the United States from entering the conflict. -
First deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps; Treblinka extermination camp
Between January and March 1941, Jews from smaller communities to the west of Warsaw were deported to the Warsaw ghetto. Between April and July 1942, Jews from the nearby towns east of Warsaw, from Germany, and from German-occupied areas of western Poland were deported there. The Germans also deported several hundred Roma (Gypsies) to the Warsaw ghetto. -
President Roosevelt signs the Lend Lease Act
President Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease bill into law on March 11, 1941. -
Yugoslavia surrenders to the Nazis
Yugoslavia surrendered to the Axis powers on April 17, 1941, after a swift invasion led by Germany, Italy, and Hungary, following the Axis powers' invasion on April 6. -
Roosevelt freezes Japanese assets in United States and suspends relations
In July 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to Japan's occupation of French Indochina by freezing all Japanese assets in the United States and suspending relations, effectively cutting off Japan's access to US oil and trade. -
Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, resulting in significant damage and casualties, ultimately drawing the United States into World War II. -
Chester Nimitz appointed Commander and Chief of the US Pacific theater
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Chester Nimitz, then a Rear Admiral, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT) by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, taking command on December 31, 1941, and was promoted to Admiral on the same day -
Japanese invade Singapore
The Japanese military invaded and captured Singapore from the British in February 1942, following a swift campaign in Malaya, leading to the largest British surrender in history -
Bataan Death March begins
The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of around 72,000 to 78,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles on the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell via San Fernando. -
Mass murder of Jews by gassing
SS carry out the first selection at the camp in Birkenau. Selected prisoners are murdered in the gas chamber. -
U.S. Marines repulse first major Japanese ground attack on Guadalcanal
In the predawn hours of August 21, the Japanese launched their first ground offensive on Guadalcanal. At the Battle of the Tenaru (also called the Battle of Alligator Creek), U.S. Marine defenders annihilated a force of some 900 veteran Japanese army troops east of Henderson Field. -
First Japanese warship sunk by US
The Hiei was part of a Japanese task force during the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13 and 14, 1942, and was crippled by a shell from the USS San Francisco. -
Emperor Hirohito of Japan gives permission to his troops to withdraw from Guadalcanal after five months of bloody fighting against U.S. Forces
On December 31, 1942, Emperor Hirohito of Japan reluctantly gave permission for his troops to withdraw from Guadalcanal after five months of intense fighting against US forces, marking the end of the six-month campaign for control of the island. -
Germans surrender at Stalingrad in the first big defeat of Hitler’s armies
In February 1943, after months of fierce fighting and heavy casualties, the surviving German forces—only about 91,000 soldiers—surrendered. After the victory at Stalingrad, the Soviet army remained on the offensive, liberating most of Ukraine, and virtually all of Russia and eastern Belorussia during 1943. -
Allies take Tunisia
The Allied victory in Tunisia, a key part of the North African campaign during World War II, occurred in May 1943, with the capture of Tunis and Bizerte, leading to the surrender of Axis forces and the neutralization of a significant number of German and Italian troops. -
Himmler orders the liquidation of all Jewish ghettos in Poland
On June 21, 1943, Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler issued the following order: “All Jews who may still be found in ghettos in the Ostland must be confined in concentration camps…. All non-essential inhabitants of the Jewish ghettos are to be referred to the East…. The reorganization in concentration camps is to be completed by August 1, 1943.” -
D-Day Landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day (after the military term), it is the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France, and the rest of Western Europe, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. -
Unconditional surrender of the Germans to the Allied forces
On May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allied forces at Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in Reims, France, effectively ending World War II in Europe -
United Nations is officially born
The United Nations officially came into existence on October 24, 1945, after the ratification of the UN Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and a majority of other signatories.