-
1938
Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps -
1921, Jan. 30
Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party -
1922
Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy -
1929
Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR) -
1931
Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China -
1933, January 30
Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany -
1935
Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa -
1935
Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress -
1936
Militarist take control of Japanese Government -
1936
Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty -
1937
Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people. -
1938
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany -
1939
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin -
1939 Sept 1st
Nazis invaded Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany -
1940 May 10
Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control -
1940 July 10
Battle of Britain begins – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island -
1940 July 14
22 Germany invades France and forces it to surrender -
1940 Sept 16
First time Peacetime Draft in US -
1941
Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia) -
1941
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades - USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans -
1941
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter -
1941, Dec. 7
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii attacked by Japanese Naval and Air forces, US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy declare war on the US - Dec. 9 -
1942
Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March -
1942
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow -
1942
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps -
1942, June 4-7
Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific -
1943
British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa -
1943
Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA -
1943 July
Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min. -
1944 June 6
D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies -
1944 Aug.
- Paris retaken by Allies Forces
-
1944 Dec.
Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces -
1945 Jan.
US forces return to recapture the Philippines -
1945 April 16th
FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President -
1945 May 8th
V-E Day, war ends in Europe -
1945 Aug. 14th
V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces -
1945 Aug.
First Atomic Bombs dropped -
1946
War Crimes Trials held in Nuremberg, Germany; Manila, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan.
