-
Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party
Hitler reestablished the Nazi Party, not as a revolutionary party to seize power by force in Germany, but as a political party campaigning to win votes in democratic elections. Hitler vowed to win elections, to gain power through majority vote, and then reform the German government, that is—to establish a Nazi dictatorship in Germany. -
Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini became prime minister in 1922. Mussolini allied himself with Hitler, relying on the German dictator to prop up his leadership during World War II, but he was killed shortly after the German surrender in Italy in 1945. -
Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR)
Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However, he ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign. -
Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China
In the 1930s, the Japanese were determined to extend their empire. They ruled in Korea, but they also controlled the Manchurian railway. In September 1931, they claimed that Chinese soldiers had sabotaged the railway, and attacked the Chinese army. -
1933, March 21 - Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
Von Papen struck a deal to make Hitler Chancellor, with himself as Vice-Chancellor. The moderate parties would hold all but three of the government posts, which would go to the Nazis; one of these would be Hitler as Chancellor. -
Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress
In 1941, the United States Congress amends the Neutrality Act of 1935 to allow American merchant ships access to war zones, thereby putting U.S. vessels in the line of fire. -
Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa
On October 3, 1935, Italy attacked Ethiopia without a declaration of war. Four days later, the League of Nations declared Italy an aggressor, but as usual, took no action against the country. Italian troops held back until December of that year, when a border incident in the city of Wal Wal gave Italy its much needed excuse to attack Ethiopia. -
Militarist take control of Japanese Government
During the 1930s, the military established almost complete control over the government. Many political enemies were assassinated, and communists persecuted. Indoctrination and censorship in education and media were further intensified. Navy and army officers soon occupied most of the important offices, including the one of the prime minister. -
Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty
In 1935, Hitler's plans to strengthen Germany and undermine the Treaty of Versailles were given a boost when the German-speaking Saar region voted to reunite with Germany. The region, important for coal production, had previously been removed from German control as a term of Versailles to weaken Germany industrially.In 1936 Hitler boldly marched 22,000 German troops into the Rhineland, in a direct contravention of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people.
On Dec. 13, 1937, Japanese troops captured the city of Nanjing, then the capital of the Chinese republic led by Chiang Kai-shek.Reports document widespread rape and the indiscriminate killing of civilians; some death tolls estimate over a quarter of a million people were killed. -
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany
A settlement reached by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy that permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia. Hitler gave threm two options, war and dishonour. They had chosen dishonour. Hitler then attacked. -
Nazis began rounding up Jews for labor camps
All Jews in Germany and the occupied countries were deported to sealed ghettos as a holding area. Many were then shipped in cattle cars to labor camps where they lived under brutally inhuman conditions. Hundreds of thousands were sent directly to the gas chambers in death camps. -
Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany
In 1939, in response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on Germany. President Roosevelt was unfazed by the tragedy, declaring that no one was to “thoughtlessly or falsely talk of America sending its armies to European fields.” The United States would remain neutral. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin
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. -
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
The Germans began their final push against France. By June 12, German tanks had broken through the main fronts along the Somme River and the fortified Maginot Line, moving ever closer to their goal, Paris. During this time, the British vigorously encouraged France to resist at all costs. The new British prime minister, Winston Churchill, even flew to Paris himself to offer his personal encouragement. -
Battle of Britain – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island
The Battle of Britain was the German air force's attempt to gain air superiority over the RAF from July to September 1940. Their ultimate failure was one of the turning points of World War Two and prevented Germany from invading Britain. -
First time Peacetime Draft in US
President Harry S. Truman institutes a military draft with a proclamation calling for nearly 10 million men to register for military service within the next two months. Truman’s action came during increasing Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union. -
Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control
On 10 May 1940 Germany attacks the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The bombing of Rotterdam results in the Netherlands capitulating on 15 May. On 28 May the Belgian army capitulates after a battle lasting 18 days. Now German troops can surround the Maginot Line. In the south east fascist Italy attacks France. By 22 June sixty percent of France has been occupied and a truce is signed. -
Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia)
At the end of World War II, the Southeast Asian land of Vietnam was a French colony, part of their Indochina Union that included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. French rule was consolidated by 1883, conducted for the benefit of France with little regard for the local inhabitants. -
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades - USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans
German troops pushed into the USSR from the south and west, with a third force making their way from the north towards Leningrad. -
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a united declaration released by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on August 14, 1941 following a meeting of the two heads of state in Newfoundland. The Atlantic Charter provided a broad statement of U.S. and British war aims. -
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii attacked by Japanese Naval and Air forces, US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy declare war on the US
hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. -
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
Over 127,000 United States citizens were imprisoned during World War II because of being of Japanese ancestry.Despite the lack of any concrete evidence, Japanese Americans were suspected of remaining loyal to their ancestral land. -
Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March
After the April 9, 1942, U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II (1939-45), the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. -
June 4-7 Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific
The U.S. made an attack on Japan in April 1942 demolished the Japanese military's perception that their homeland was immune from air attack. They realized that in order to protect Japan, their defensive perimeter had to be extended eastward. Midway, a tiny island a thousand miles from Hawaii became the target. -
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow
The battle of Stalingrad, where the Soviets crushed the German Army, and was the turning point for the war on the eastern front.The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with combined military and civilian casualties of nearly 2 million. -
British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa
Operation Torch brought in thousands of British and American forces. They landed across western North Africa, and joined the attack, eventually helping force the surrender of all remaining Axis troops in Tunisia in May of 1943 and ending the Campaign for North Africa.
