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Japan invades China
Japan invades China, initiating World War II in the Pacific. -
Munich agreement
Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and France sign the Munich agreement which forces the Czechoslovak Republic to cede the Sudetenland, including the key Czechoslovak military defense positions, to Nazi Germany. -
Nonaggression agreement
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression agreement and a secret codicil dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence. -
Germany invades Poland
Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe. -
Great Britain and France declare war on Germany
Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany -
The Soviet Union invades Poland
The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east -
Italy enters the war
Italy invades outhern France on June 21 -
Tripartite Pact
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact -
The Germans send the Afrika Korps to North Africa
The Germans send the Afrika Korps to North Africa to reinforce the faltering Italians. -
Bulgaria joins the Axis
Bulgaria joins the Axis -
Pearl Harbor
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor -
The United States declares war on Japan
Entering World War II. Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), and British Singapore. By April 1942, the Philippines, Indochina, and Singapore are under Japanese occupation. -
The British bomb Koln (Cologne)
Bringing the war home to Germany for the first time. Over the next three years Anglo-American bombing reduces urban Germany to rubble. -
El Alamein
British troops defeat the Germans and Italians at El Alamein in Egypt, sending the Axis forces in chaotic retreat across Libya to the eastern border of Tunisia. -
Tank offensive near Kursk
The Germans launch a massive tank offensive near Kursk in the Soviet Union. The Soviets blunt the attack within a week and begin an offensive initiative of their own. -
Kiev
Soviet troops liberate Kiev -
British and US troops successfully land on the Normandy beaches of France
Opening a "Second Front" against the Germans. -
Philippines
US troops land in the Philippines -
Victory in Europe
Germany surrender -
End of World War II
Japan formally surrenders, ending world war II
