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Period: to
World War 2
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September 1, 1931
Japan invades Manchuria -
November 25, 1936
Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement. -
July 7, 1937
Japan invades China, initiating World War II in the Pacific. -
September 29, 1938
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. -
September 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe. -
July 10, 1940
The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany. -
December 7, 1941
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor -
June 1, 1942
British and US navies halt the Japanese naval advance in the central Pacific at Midway. -
December 16, 1944
The Germans launch a final offensive in the west, known as the Battle of the Bulge, in an attempt to re-conquer Belgium and split the Allied forces along the German border. By January 1, 1945, the Germans are in retreat. -
April 16, 1945
The Soviets launch their final offensive, encircling Berlin. -
April 30, 1945
Hitler commits suicide. -
August 6, 1945
The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. -
August 9, 1945
The United States drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. -
September 2, 1945
Having agreed in principle to unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II.
