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HITLER APPOINTED GERMAN LEADER
Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany and later assumes dictatorial powers. German rearmament takes off. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. Two days earlier, on September 1, 1939, Germany had invaded Poland. -
SOVIET UNION INVADES POLAND
Working in concert with Hitler, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin orders the invasion of Poland, securing a share of Polish territory. -
NORWAY INVADED
Germany invades Norway, ending a 6-month period of limited land operations called the “Phony War.” -
Japan demands rights to resource in French Indochina
The Japanese invasion of French Indochina (仏印進駐, Futsu-in shinchū) was a short undeclared military confrontation between Japan and France in northern French Indochina. Fighting lasted from 22 to 26 September 1940; the same time as the Battle of South Guangxi in the Sino-Japanese War, which was the main objective as to why Japan occupied Vietnam during this time. -
Germany invades the Soviet Union
The Germans assembled the largest invasion force in history, totaling almost 150 divisions -
Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, that was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. -
Allies Cross the Rhine in the battle of the bulge
The spectacular capture of the Ludendorff Bridge spanning the Rhine at Remagen in early March 1945 was pivotal in the conquest of Germany. However, the Allies had planned other Rhine crossings weeks earlier and carried them out as part of their strategy to encircle and capture the Ruhr, the industrial center of western Germany -
Japanese conquer Thailand, Philippines, Malaya
The Japanese invasion of Thailand (Thai: การบุกครองไทยของญี่ปุ่น, RTGS: Kan Buk Khrong Thai Khong Yipun; Japanese: 日本軍のタイ進駐, romanized: Nihongun no Tai shinchū) occurred on 8 December 1941. It was briefly fought between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Empire of Japan. -
Japanese launch offensive in central china
It was the greatest offensive launched on China since 1937-38, with the aim of opening a safe land route between Korea and Hanoi. The operation would enable Japan to receive supplies and strategic equipment without using the sea route that was under American control. Some 150,000 Japanese soldiers left Henan and quickly moved south along the Peking-Hankow railway line. -
Allies under U.S general Dwight D. Eisenhower launch D-Day invasion
Participating in “operation overlord” the allied invasion of northern France US troops leave landing craft and wave ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day -
Germany surrenders
Austrian SS chief Ernst Kaltenburnner oversaw the Nazis concentration camps through Europe. -
Unites states drops atomic bombs on Japan
The atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima killed 70,000. -
Japan surrenders
By the summer of 1945, the defeat of Japan was a foregone conclusion. The Japanese navy and air force were destroyed. The Allied naval blockade of Japan and intensive bombing of Japanese cities had left the country and its economy devastated.