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Japan invades Manchuria.
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Japan invades China, initiating World War II in the Pacific.
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Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe.
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Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
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Italy enters the war. Italy invades southern France on June 21.
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Japan bombs Pearl Harbor.
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US and British troops land on Sicily. By mid-August, the Allies control Sicily.
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British and US troops successfully land on the Normandy beaches of France, opening a “Second Front” against the Germans.
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The United States drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
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Having agreed in principle to unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II.
