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Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party
Hitler becoming Nazi leaderShortly after the end of World War I, Corporal Hitler, not yet demobilized, had been assigned to spy on political parties in Munich for the German army. With permission from his superiors, he joined the NSDAP, or Nazi Party, in September 1919. Hitler had been attracted to the party's extreme nationalism, anti-Semitism, anti-Capitalism and anti-Bolshevism. -
Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy
Prior to 1914 he was a keen supporter of the Socialist International, starting the series of meetings in Switzerland[3] that organised the communist revolutions and insurrections that swept through Europe from 1917. Mussolini was expelled from the PSI due to his opposition to the party's stance on neutrality in World War I. Mussolini denounced the PSI, and later founded the fascist movement. -
Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR
Among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917, Stalin was appointed general secretary of the party's Central Committee in 1922. He subsequently managed to consolidate power following the 1924 death of Vladimir Lenin through suppressing Lenin's criticisms (in the postscript of his testament) and expanding the functions of his role, all the while eliminating any opposition. He remained general secretary until the post was abolished in 1952. -
Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China
Japan was becoming increasingly crowded due to its limited size as a nation and its rapidly increasing population. Manchuria offered nearly 200,000 square kilometres which, as part of a Japanese empire, would easily accommodate any over-spilling population. The Japanese people had a very low opinion of the Chinese - a Japanese form of "untermenschen" - and, therefore, would have given no thought to the Manchurian people whatsoever. -
Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
On January 30, 1933 Hitler was names chancellor of Germany by President Paul Von Hindburg. The year 1932 had seen Hitler's meteoric rise to prominence in Germany, spurred largely by the German people's frustration with dismal economic conditions and the still-festering wounds inflicted by defeat in the Great War and the harsh peace terms of the Versailles treaty. Hindenburg originally was intimidated my Hitler's Popularity and refused to mke him chancellor. -
Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress
The Neutrality Acts were passed by the United States Congress in the 1930s, in response to the growing turmoil in Europe and Asia that eventually led to World War II. They were spurred by the growth in isolationism and non-interventionism in the US following its costly involvement in World War I, and sought to ensure that the US would not become entangled again in foreign conflicts. -
Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa
In 1935, the League of Nations was faced with another crucial test. Benito Mussolini, the Fascist leader of Italy, had adopted Adolf Hitler's plans to expand German territories by acquiring all territories it considered German.
The aim of invading Ethiopia was to boost Italian national prestige, which was wounded by Ethiopia's defeat of Italian forces at the Battle of Adowa in the nineteenth century (1896), which saved Ethiopia from Italian colonisation. -
Militarist take control of Japanese Government
After 1930, the extreme nationalism fostered by the Meiji and Showa Imperial governments combined with traditional Japanese militarism to make life increasingly difficult, and often dangerous, for moderates in the imperial government, the Diet, and the armed services. Hard-line militarists in the Japanese government and army pointed to Japan's samurai military traditions, and accused moderate politicians, bureaucrats, and armed service leaders of disregard for Japan's national interests. -
Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty
Sending troops in was a flagrant violation of Part V of the Treaty of Versailles signed by Germany back in 1919 after its defeat in World War I. Breaking the Treaty was an affront to Germany's former World War I enemies, France and Great Britain. Hitler, for the first time in his career, had gambled against Germany's old enemies and won. He knew France was suffering from serious political in-fighting and that Britain was in the grips of an economic depression. He wagered that the two countries, -
1937 Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people.
Japanese troops captured the city of Nanjing, then the capital of the Chinese republic led by Chiang Kai-shek and went on a six-week campaign of carnage and slaughter that would be forever remembered as the “Rape of Nanjing.” Reports document widespread rape and the indiscriminate killing of civilians; some death tolls estimate over a quarter of a million people were killed. The incident, though, still rankles Sino-Japanese relations. -
Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camp
Auschwitz concentration camp (German: Konzentrationslager Auschwitz was a network of German Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II. It consisted of Auschwitz I (the original camp), Auschwitz II–Birkenau (a combination concentration/extermination camp), Auschwitz III–Monowitz (a labor camp to staff an IG Farben factory), and 45 satellite camps. -
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany
British and French prime ministers Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier sign the Munich Pact with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. The agreement averted the outbreak of war but gave Czechoslovakia away to German conquest. In the spring of 1938, Hitler began openly to support the demands of German-speakers living in the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia for closer ties with Germany. Hitler had recently annexed Austria into Germany, and the conquest of Czechoslovakia was the next step of his plan. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin
Bombing of Stalingrad
On August 23, 1939–shortly before World War II (1939-45) broke out in Europe–enemies Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. -
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, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on Germany. The first casualty of that declaration was not German—but the British ocean liner Athenia, which was sunk by a German U-30 submarine that had assumed the liner was armed and belligerent. There were more than 1,100 passengers on board, 112 of whom lost their lives. -
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
Germans went through Belgium and Luxemburg and quickly broke the French's defensive lines. Belgium and the Netherlands surrendered in May. More than 300,000 French and British troops were evacuated from the beaches near Dunkirk (Dunkerque) across the English Channel to Great Britain. Paris, the French capital, fell to the Germans on June 14, 1940. -
Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control
The Spanish civil war had ended in March, 1939, after killing about one million people. Franco's forces began a bloodbath against targeted opponents, while Franco also began programs to rebuild war-damaged communities. The German and Italian military men in Spain returned home. And in September, when Germany attacked Catholic Poland, Catholic Spain was disconcerted, and Franco declared Spain to be neutral. -
Battle of Britain – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island
The Battle of Britain (German: Luftschlacht um England, literally "Air battle for England") is the name given to the Second World War air campaign waged by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940. The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces,[17] and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date. -
First time Peacetime Draft in US
Central to the discussion in The First Peacetime Draft is the first important American policy response to Hitler's victory in Europe in the spring of 1940--the Selective Service Act. It marked the effective end of the isolationist tradition in the United States because for the first time while the country remained officially at peace civilians were drafted into the armed forces to face the possible threat of aggression from abroad. -
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a pivotal policy statement issued in August 14, 1941 that, early in World War II, defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by the leaders of the United Kingdom and the United States, and later agreed to by all the Allies of World War II. The Charter stated the ideal goals of the war: no territorial aggrandizement; no territorial changes made against the wishes of the people; restoration of self-government to those deprived of it. -
Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia)
In 1940, France was swiftly defeated by Nazi Germany, and colonial administration of French Indochina, modern-day Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, passed to the Vichy French government, a Puppet state of Nazi Germany. The Vichy government ceded control of Hanoi and Saigon in 1940 to Japan, and in 1941, Japan extended its control over the whole of French Indochina. -
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades - USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans
Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, and Joseph Stalin ordered his own invasion of Poland on 17 September.[2] Part of southeastern (Karelia) and Salla region in Finland were annexed by the Soviet Union after the Winter War. This was followed by Soviet annexations of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and parts of Romania (Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertza region). -
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
The attack on Pearl Harbor[nb 4] was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. Easy attack due to soldiers and naval officers in church on Sunday. Also Japan had planned this attack for a long time and knew the ground. -
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
Until the camps were completed, many of the evacuees were held in temporary centers, such as stables at local racetracks. Almost two-thirds of the interns were NISEI, or Japanese Americans born in the United States. It made no difference that many had never even been to Japan. Even Japanese-American veterans of World War I were forced to leave their homes. -
Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March
The Bataan Death March, which began on April 9, 1942, was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II.[3][4] All told, approximately 2,500–10,000 Filipino and 100–650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach their destination at Camp O'Donnell. -
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow
The German Army never fully recovered from the beating it took in Russia around Moscow and elsewhere during the winter of 1941-42 when it suffered over a million casualties. For a time, the entire Eastern Front had teetered on the verge of collapse as division upon division of well-equipped Russians materialized seemingly out of nowhere and attacked.Hitler poured over the maps himself and made vital strategic decisions alone -
Period: to
Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific
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Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min.
In the spring of 1943, preoccupied by the disastrous situation of the Italian military in the war, Mussolini removed several figures from the government whom he considered to be more loyal to King Victor Emmanuel than to the Fascist regime. Following the Council meeting held on July 23, 1943, Mussolini was summoned to meet the King and dismissed as Prime Minister.
Upon leaving the meeting, Mussolini was arrested by the Carabinieri and spirited off to the island of Ponza. -
British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa
Information gleaned via British Ultra code-breaking intelligence proved critical to Allied success in North Africa. Victory for the Allies in this campaign immediately led to the Italian Campaign, which culminated in the downfall of the fascist government in Italy and the elimination of a German ally. -
Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots in 1943 during World War II that broke out in Los Angeles, California, between Anglo American sailors and Marines stationed in the city, and Latino youths, who were recognizable by the zoot suits they favored. Mexican Americans and European-American military personnel were the main parties in the riots, and some African American and Filipino/Filipino American youths were involved as well. -
D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies
The Invasion of Normandy was the invasion by and establishment of Western Allied forces in Normandy, during Operation Overlord in 1944 during World War II; the largest amphibious invasion to ever take place. D-Day, the day of the initial assaults, was Tuesday 6 June 1944. Allied land forces that saw combat in Normandy on that day came from Canada, the Free French forces, the United Kingdom, and the United States. -
Paris retaken by Allies Forces
With much of France now under allied control the Americans decided that the liberation of Paris by Christmas would be politically advantageous. With this in mind the Americans agreed that the crossing of the Rhine would be left to the British and Canadians, while Paris would be their responsibility. Facing understrength and worn out German defenders, the fresh American units, supported by swarms of Sherman tanks, were able, after a few fierce battles. -
Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces
through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. Eric von Manstein planned the offensive with the primary goal to recapture the important harbor of Antwerp.[22][23] The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. -
US forces return to recapture the Phillipines
The Philippines campaign of 1944–1945, (OPERATION MUSKETEER I, II, and III) the Battle of the Philippines 1944–1945, or the Liberation of the Philippines was the American and Filipino campaign to defeat and expel the Imperial Japanese forces occupying the Philippines, during World War II. The Japanese Army had overrun all of the Philippines during the first half of 1942. The Liberation of the Philippines commenced with amphibious landings on the eastern Philippine island of Leyte on October 20. -
FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes president
Less than two hours after the official announcement, Harry S. Truman of Missouri, the Vice President, took the oath as the thirty-second President. The oath was administered by the Chief Justice of the United States, -
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 (7 May in Commonwealth realms) to mark the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces.[1] It thus marked the end of World War II in Europe. On 30 April, Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader, committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin. Germany's surrender, therefore, was authorized by his successor. -
V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces
Victory over Japan Day (also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, V-J Day, or V-P Day) is a name chosen for the day on which Japan surrendered, in effect ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event. The term has been applied to both of the days on which the initial announcement of Japan’s surrender was made – to the afternoon of August 15, 1945, in Japan, and, because of time zone differences, to August 14, 1945. -
First Atomic Bombs dropped
The United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Though the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan marked the end of World War II, many historians argue that it also ignited the Cold War. -
War Crime Trials held in Nuremburg, Germany; Manilla, Phillipines andTokyo, Japan
The next major attempt to prosecute war criminals occurred in Europe and Asia after World War II. Throughout the war, the Allies had cited atrocities committed by the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler and announced their intention to punish those guilty of war crimes. The Moscow Declaration of 1943, issued by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, and the Potsdam Declaration of 1945, issued by the United States, Great Britain, and China.
