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Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party
"Slowly, they began looking toward the rising politician, Adolf Hitler, and the growing Nazi movement as the vehicle to hitch themselves to. Hitler was already looking at how he could carry his movement to the rest of Germany. He traveled to Berlin to visit nationalist groups during the summer of 1921." -
Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy
Benito Mussolini served as Italy’s 40th Prime Minister from 1922 until 1943. He is considered a central figure in the creation of Fascism and was both an influence on and close ally of Adolf Hitler during World War II. -
Josef Stalin appointed dictator of the USSR
Upon the occasion of the death of Vladmoi Lenin in 1924, the Russian government needed a leader, and Stalin began his rise to power. Before his death, Lenin had recommended Stalin's dismissal from government, but Stalin suppressed the recommendation. One by one, Stalin had political rivals removed from government, leaving him as the sole unopposed candidate for leader of the Soviet Union. -
Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China
In 1931, the Japanese attacked Chinese troops in Manchuria. Essentially, this was an attempt by the Japanese Empire to gain control over the whole province, and to eventually take over all of East Asia. This proved to be one of the biggest causes of World War 2. Aparrently, people don't like it when you try to take over the world. -
Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
Following Hitler's rise in government, the most infamous dictator of all time won over many by playing upon their leftover distain for having to pay recompence at the end of the Great War, and through his act of sding with the people, communicated by the message of the German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and through his book "Mein Kampf." Hitler's blend of political acuity, deceptiveness and cunning got his party into power where he established facist, totalitarian laws. -
Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress
Though Franklin D. Roosevelt opposed the Neutrality Act of August 31, 1935, Congress pushed the legislation through. This act prohibited exports of any implements of war, up to and including arms and ammunition. In addition, American citizens were discouraged from traveling in war zones. -
Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa
Benito Mussolini, following Hilter's lead in conquest of any lands which Germany could ever have laid claim to, invaded Ethiopia (at the time it was called Abyssinia.) The League of Nations were again tested as the Facist states threatened to round the horn of Africa. -
Militarist take control of Japanese Government
Following a coup attempt in early 1936, Koki Hirota became prime minister. Later that year, Japan would sign its first pact with Germany. -
Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty
Hitler disregarded the agreement made at the end of WW1 that the Rhineladn of Germany was to be a demilitarized zone, and went ahead sensing troops into that mountainous and beautiful area. germany's army was not very large or strong, but Britain and France just let it slide. They both acted like it was okay for a country to move troops within its own borders. -
Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre 250,000 people
During the six-week period following the Japanese capture of the city of Nanjing, a mass murder and war rape that occurred, which came to be known as the Rape of Nanking. Over 80,000 women were raped. More than 340,000 people were murdered. Even after the war, when being tried for war crimes, many men insisted that the invasion at Nanjing had helped Asian countries become liberated from the colonialist rule of Western powers. They blamed female bandits for falsely accusing soldiers of rape. -
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany
It became known in May 1938 that Hitler and his generals were drawing up a plan for the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia was relying on military assistance from France, because they had an alliance. TheSoviet Union also had a treaty with Czechoslovakia, and it indicated willingness to cooperate with France and Great Britain if they decided to come to Czechoslovakia’s defense, but the Soviet Union and its potential help was completely ignored throughout the crisis.
In a last-minute e -
Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps
Nazis arrest 17,000 Jews of Polish nationality living in Germany. This policy accellerated after Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass pogrom Which took place on the 9th and 10th of November 1938 in Austria. The first rounding up of humans from that event included more than 30,000 people. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin
Hitler sent his foreign minister to Stalin to propose a 100 year nonaggression pact. Stalin would agree to only 10 years. The proposal said neither country would aid any third party that attacked either signatory. After Hitler conquered Poland, the Soviet Union would acquire the eastern half of Poland, and all of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Agreement was struck. This pact neutralized the French-Soviet treaty, and cleared the way for Germany’s attack on Poland. -
Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany
At 4:45 a.m., appx. 1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. Simultaneously, the GermanLuftwaffe bombed Polish airfields, and German warships and U-boats attacked Polish naval forces in the Baltic Sea. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler claimed the massive invasion was a defensive action, but Britain and France were not convinced. On September 3, they declared war on Germany, initiating World War II. -
Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control
on May 10, the day that Churchill became Britain's prime minister, Hitler sent his troops into Belgium and the Netherlands, without forewarning – although he had promised to respect their neutrality. His excuse was that the Belgians and Dutch had been conducting military talks with the Western powers and that Germany had to take power in these countries to protect their neutral status and to protect Germany's Ruhr region. And the German public bought their government's argument. -
Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control
Winston Churchill became Britain's prime minister. Hiltrer had preciously promised to respect the neutrality of Belgium and the Netherlands, yet on this date Nazis marched into Denmark, Norway, and Luxemburg as well as Belgium and Netherlands. France held out for an extended period of time. Pictured: a greiving man in Belgium. -
North African Campaign
10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943 Included campaigns fought between the Allies and Axis powers in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War) and in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch) and Tunisia (Tunisia Campaign).The Allied war effort was dominated by U.K.& exiles from German-occupied Europe. The United States began direct military assistance in North Africa on 11 May 1942.Victory went to the Allies in this campaign. -
Battle of Britain – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island
The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, it was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date. The Germans began bombing coastal shipping convoys and shipping centers,then Royal Air Force airfields& aircraft factories &infrastructure.They then moved onto a terror bombing strategy. All the while, the Royal Air Force fought stoically, bravely, and valiantly.
The Blitz pounded Britain for a long time -
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
Though the Gernans invaded on May 10, the same day they took Belgium and others, France resisted. But the germans had overwhelming military munitions and just kept flooding France with soldiers and weapons. On Jun 22, and armistice was signed giving control of various parts of France to Hitler and Mousolini. It must've been very difficult for French people to see Nazis under the Arc De Truimph. -
First time Peacetime Draft in US
The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, enacted September 16, 1940,[1] was the first peacetime conscription in United States history. This Selective Service Act required that men between the ages of 21 and 35 register with local draft boards. Later, when the U.S. entered World War II, all men aged 18 to 45 were made subject to military service, and all men aged 18 to 65 were required to register. -
Japanese invade French Indochina
In September 1940, the Japanese invaded Vichy French Indochina in order to prevent China from importing arms and fuel through French Indochina along theSino-Vietnamese Railway. The fighting, which lasted several days before the French authorities reached an agreement with the Japanese, took place in theconcurrently with the Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Japan was able to occupy Tonkin in northern Indochina, tightening the blockade of China. -
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades
USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans -
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
August 14, 1941, the Atlantic Charter 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 stated the ideal goals of the war were: no territorial aggrandizement; no territorial changes made against the wishes of the people; restoration of self-government to those deprived of it; reduction of trade restrictions; global cooperation to secure better economic and social -
Pearl Harbor is attacked
Catapulting U.S. Into WW2, this “date which will live in Infamy,” according to Franklin D. Roosevelt, was later declared a war crime by the trials in Tokyo. Japan sent 353 fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes. All eight aircraft carriers docked there were damaged, with four going down that day.Many other U.S. Armaments were damaged. The loss of life was terrrifying, with 2,403 Americans killed and 1,178 Americans wounded. -
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
This forced relocation and incarceration has been determined to have resulted more from racism and discrimination among whites on the West Coast, rather than any military danger posed by the Japanese Americans, as it was enforced unequally among different areas of the U.S. In total, 110,000 to 120,000 U.S. Citizens were wrongfully incarcerated between 1942 and 1946. -
Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March
The forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 Filipino & American POWs after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines. Appx. 2,500–10,000 Filipino and 100–650 American POWs died before they could reach their destination at Camp O'Donnell. The 60 mi march was characterized by occasional severe physical abuse and resulted in some fatalities inflicted upon prisoners and civilians alike by the Japanese Army. It was later determined to be a war crime. -
Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific
United States Navydefeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy on Midway Atoll, inflicting devastating and irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet. Military historian John Keegan called it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare." It was Japan's first naval defeat since the Battle of Shimonoseki Straits in 1863. -
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow
Battle of Stalingrad: 23 August 1942 --- 2 Febrary 1943 Nazis tried to take over Stalingrad. The attack was supported by intensive Luftwaffe bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble. The fighting degenerated into building-to-building fighting, and both sides poured reinforcements into the city. By November 1942, the Germans had pushed the Soviet defenders back at great cost.Nazis lost. -
Zoot Suit Riots
The zoot suit riots began in Los Angeles, California amidst a period of rising tensions between Anglo American servicemen stationed in Southern California and Los Angeles' Mexican-American population. Although Mexican-American men were over-represented in the military as a percentage of their population, many European-American servicemen resented the sight of Latinos socializing in clothing considered extravagant and unpatriotic during wartime. So there were beatings. -
Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min.
On 25 July 1943, Mussolini was arrested. On 12 September 1943, Mussolini was rescued from prison by German special forces. In late April 1945, with total defeat looming, Mussolini attempted to escape north, only to be quickly captured and executed by Italian partisans. His body was then taken to Milan where it was hung upside down at a service station for public viewing and to provide confirmation of his demise. -
D-Day invasion of France at Normandy
TheInvasion of Normandy, France was the largest amphibious invasion to ever take place. Allied land forces from U.K., U.S., Canada, &Free French forces, soon to be joined by forces representing Poland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, the Netherlands, Australia, NewZealand,& Norway. The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute & glider landings, massive air attacks&naval bombardments. In the early morning,amphibious landings & during the evening the parachute divisions landed. -
Paris retaken by Allies Forces
The French resistance, an underground movement, got word that Gen Patton of the United States was approaching, and staged a massive uprising. It took only 6 days to defeat the Germans in France, but they were 6 feirce days of fighting! -
Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces
history channel video The Nazis were desperate to recapture the important harbor of Antwerp. The surprise attack on the western front caught the Allied forces completely off guard. United States forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties for any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany's armored forces, personnel, and aircraft. -
1945 Jan. – US forces return to recapture the Philippines
The Battle of Luzon was a land battle fought as part of the Pacific Theater of Operations of WW2by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony the Philippines, and allies against forces Japan. The Allies had pretty much won by March 1945, although pockets of Japanese resistance held out in the mountains until the unconditional surrender of Japan.While not the highest in US casualties, it is the highest net casualty battle US forces fought in WW2with 192,000 to 205,000 Japanese killed, 8,000 Americ -
1945 April 16th - FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President
As the final running mate of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, Truman succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when Roosevelt died after months of declining health. Under Truman, the Allies successfully concluded World War II; in the aftermath of the conflict, tensions with the Soviet Union increased, marking the start of the Cold War. -
V-E Day, war ends in Europe
Victory in Europe Day, 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.On 30 April, Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader, committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin. The act of military surrender was signed on 7 May in Reims, France and on 8 May in Berlin, Germany. -
First Atomic Bombs dropped
U.S. dropped atomic bombs on 2Japanese cities. A uranium atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, followed by a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki Aug.9, immediately killing >129,000 people. It remains the only use of nuclear weapons in history. Within the first 2-4 months, after-effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima& 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki. During the following months,more people died from burns, radiation sickness,other injuries,illness&malnutrion -
V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces
Victory over Japan Day is a name chosen for the day on which Japan surrendered, in effect ending World War II. 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 – as well as to September 2, 1945, when the signing of the surrender document occurred, officially ending World War II. -
War Crimes Trials held in Nuremburg, Germany; Manila, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan.
Actually commencing on 20 Nov 1945, the Nuremburg trials heard testimony regarding crimes against humanity during WW2. The crimes were gruesome and hideous. The testimony was shocking and revolting. Twelve defendants were sentenced to death by hanging for the atrocities they committed. Only 10 of them were actually hanged, as 2 died before they could be hanged. The Internationals Military tribunal for the Far East convened on 29 Apr 1946, and took place in Tokyo.
