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Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi party
Hitler declares the reformulation of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) with himself as leader (Führer). -
Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy
Originally a revolutionary Socialist, he forged the paramilitary Fascist movement in 1919 and became prime minister in 1922. -
Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR)
Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However, he ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign. -
Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria began on September 18, 1931, when the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria immediately following the Mukden Incident. -
Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. The supposed one thousand year Reich had started. -
Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress
On August 31, 1935, Congress passed the first Neutrality Act prohibiting the export of “arms, ammunition, and implements of war” from the United States to foreign nations at war and requiring arms manufacturers in the United States to apply for an export license. -
Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa
a colonial war that started in October 1935, after a battle on 5 December 1934, and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire (also known at the time as Abyssinia). The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia. -
Militarist take control of Japanese Government
refers to the ideology in the Empire of Japan that militarism should dominate the political and social life of the nation, and that the strength of the military is equal to the strength of a nation. -
Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty
Germany claimed the treaty was hostile to them and Hitler used this as an excuse to send German troops into the Rhineland in March 1936, contrary to the terms of the treaties of Versailles and Locarno. It was a gamble on his part and his generals were nervous about it. -
Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people.
The Nanking Massacre was an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing (then spelled Nanking) -
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland 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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXGfngjmwLA (a story from a survivor about an experience at a camp) the beginning of the holocaust build up -
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin
a neutrality pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed in Moscow -
Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany
On this day in 1939, in response to Hitler's invasion of Poland, Britain and France declare war on Germany -
Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control
Germans wanted to occupy Norway for these reasons: Control of Norway's coasts would be beneficial for reign over battles -
Battle of Britain begins – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island
The British officially recognise its duration as from 10 July until 31 October -
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940 during the Second World War. In six weeks from 10 May 1940, German forces defeated Allied forces -
First time Peacetime Draft in US
Signed into law by Franklin Roosevelt in 1940, the Act established the first peace-time draft in United States history -
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades - USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans
ended before the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 -
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a joint declaration released by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on August 14, 1941 -
Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia)
France was swiftly defeated by Nazi Germany, and colonial administration of French Indochina, modern-day Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia -
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii attacked by Japanese Naval and Air forces, US declares war on Japan,
The attack on Pearl Harbor, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the Hawaii Operation or Operation AI by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, and Operation Z during planning, was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl ... The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan -
Germany and Italy declare war on the US
The President also emphasizes that Italy and Germany remain grave threats to the United States but stops short of declaring war on the two nations -
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
The internment of Japanese Americans in the United States during World War II was the forced relocation and incarceration in camps in the interior of the country of between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who lived on the Pacific coast. Sixty-two percent of the internees were United States citizens. -
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow
the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a 600 km (370 mi) sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. -
Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March
the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps -
Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific
Midway Island, Battle of definition. A naval and air battle fought in World War II in which planes from American aircraft carriers blunted the Japanese naval threat in the Pacific Ocean after Pearl Harbor. -
British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa
The North African Campaign of the Second World War took place in North Africa -
Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of racist attacks in June 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, between Mexican American youths and European American servicemen stationed in Southern California. -
Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min.
passed a resolution that in effect dismissed Mussolini from office. -
D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies
The Normandy landings (codenamed Operation Neptune) were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 (termed D-Day) of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. -
1944 Aug. - Paris retaken by Allies Forces
The Liberation of Paris was a military action that took place during World War II -
Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces
The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was the last major German offensive -
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
The Philippines campaign, the Battle of the Philippines or the Liberation of the Philippines -
FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President
passes away after four momentous terms in office, leaving Vice President Harry S. Truman in charge -
V-E Day, war ends in Europe
Victory in Europe Day, generally known as V-E Day, VE Day or simply V Day was the public holiday celebrated on 8 May 1945 to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces. It thus marked the end of World War II in Europe. -
First Atomic Bombs dropped
On this day in 1945, a second atom bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan's unconditional surrender. The devastation wrought at Hiroshima was not sufficient to convince the Japanese War Council to accept the Potsdam Conference's demand for unconditional surrender. -
V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces
formal declaration of surrender to the Allies, via ambassadors, on August 10 -
War Crimes Trials held in Nuremberg, Germany; Manila, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan.
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trials or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was convened on April 29, 1946, to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of war crimes.
