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Period: to
WWII
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Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression pact.
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Germany/Nazis invade Poland, initiating World War II.
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Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany.
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United States announces its neutrality.
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Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders that same day.
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British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin resigns.
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June 22nd – Germany attacks Northern France, Netherlands and Belgium, using ‘blitzkrieg’ (lightning war).
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Winston Churchill becomes the next British Prime Minister.
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Norway surrenders to Nazi Germany.
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Italy joins the war as a member of the Axis Powers (Germany), declaring war on Britain and France.
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Italy joins the war as a member of the Axis Powers (Germany), declaring war on Britain and France.
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US President Roosevelt proclaims a shift from ‘neutrality’ to ‘non-belligerency,’ meaning more active support for the Allies (Britain/France) against the Axis (Germany/Italy).
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US President Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected to an unprecedented third term as president.
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US President Roosevelt signs ‘The Lend Lease Act’ that provides aid to the Allies (Britain, France, USSR, France, and Republic of China among others)
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Germany, Italy and Bulgaria invade Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia surrenders on April 17th.
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Germany and Bulgaria invade Greece to support the Italians. Greece surrenders in early June.
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(until November) Germany and its Axis partners (excluding Bulgaria) invade the Soviet Union, thus violating their nonaggression pact signed on August 23rd 1939.
(until November) Germany and its Axis partners (excluding Bulgaria) invade the Soviet Union, thus violating their nonaggression pact signed on August 23rd 1939. -
Roosevelt freezes Japanese assets in the US and suspends relations.
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United States announces an oil embargo against the aggressor states.
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Roosevelt and Churchill announce the ‘Atlantic Charter,’ outlining U.S. and British war goals.
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Soviet Union counterattacks Germany in Moscow, forcing them to retreat.
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Japan bombs U.S. fleet at ‘Pearl Harbor’ in Hawaii in a surprise attack.
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United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II.
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Nazi Germany and its Axis partners declare war on the United States and Roosevelt calls an end to the U.S. neutrality in the war.
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Roosevelt issues ‘Executive Order 9066’ which permitted the internment of Japanese Americans.
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Mass murder of Jews by gassing begins at the Auschwitz concentration camps in Polish area annexed by Nazi Germany.
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The Battle of Stalingrad begins, which claimed the lives of 1,600,000 soldiers all around.
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The United States establishes ‘WASPS’ – The Woman’s AirForce Service Pilots.
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Germans surrender to the Soviet Union at Stalingrad, in the first big defeat of Hitler’s troops.
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Roosevelt signs the ‘Serviceman Readjustment Act’ which provided funds for housing and education post war. It is better known as the GI Bill of Rights.
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U.S. and British troops land on Sicily, and control it by mid-August.
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Italy’s leader Mussolini resigns.
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Italy surrenders.
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Last time the gas chamber at Auschwitz is used.
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D-Day! The Allies land on the beaches of Normandy in France and liberate Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control
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Roosevelt is elected to a fourth consecutive term as President, with Harry Truman as the Vice-President.
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Battle of the Bulge begins in Belgium, marking the last Nazi counteroffensive.
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Russian troops liberate Auschwitz.
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President Roosevelt dies at age 63 as a result of cerebral hemorrhage. Vice-President Truman becomes President.
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The Soviet Union begins its final attack on Berlin.
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German forces at Ruhr surrender.
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Mussolini is caught and hanged by Italian enthusiasts.
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Nazi leader Adolf Hitler commits suicide.
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German troops in Italy surrender.
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The remaining German forces surrender to the Allies.
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The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
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The Soviet Union declares war on Japan.
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The United States drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
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V-J (Victory over Japan) Day! Japan formally surrenders, ending WWII. General MacArthur accepts Japan’s surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
