WWII Timeline

Reichtag Fire

Feb 27, 1933

The Nazis set fire to the Reichstag in part of a scheme to frame the communists and take control of the German government.

Invasion of Ethiopia

Oct 3, 1935

Mussolini leads Italy into Ethiopia . This was their first territorial exapnsion.

Hitler Occupies Rhineland

Mar 7, 1936

Hitler disobeyed the Treaty of Versailles by occupying the buffer land between France and Germany and used it to build up his military.

Anschluss

Mar 12, 1938

Hitler declares a reuniting of true German people under one state.

Munich Conference

Sep 28, 1938

Hitler met with representatives of the heads of state from France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Hitler was given the Sudetenland if he promised not to invade anywhere else.

HItler Invades Czechoslovakia

Mar 14, 1939

The Sudetenland was occupied by Germany then Hitler broke the agreement made at the Munich Conference by invading and annexing Czechslovakia..

Nazi-Soviet Non Agression Pact

Aug 23, 1939

Hitler and Stalin agree not to attack each other and to divide Poland.

Invasion of Poland

Sep 1, 1939

Hitler and his army invade Poland using blitzkrieg and this starts WWII.

Cash and Carry Policy

Sep 21, 1939

Other nations could buy weapons from the United States if they had the means to buy and transport them.

France Falls to Hitler

Jun 18, 1940

France surrenders to Hilter after Germany goes around the Manginot line.

Havana Conference

Aug 1, 1940

At the conference the United States agreed to share with its neighbors the responsibility of protecting the Monroe Doctrine.

Battle of Britain

Aug 13, 1940

German airforce bombed Britain and its civilians while the RAF battled the Germans.

Conscription Law

Sep 6, 1940

This was the first American peace time draft to train troops each year.

Invasion of Russia

Jun 22, 1941

Germany invades the Soviet Union.

Fair Employement Practices Commision

Jun 25, 1941

This forbid discrimination and alowed blacks to be drafted. It was a part of the NAACP.

Attack of Pearl Harbor

Dec 7, 1941

Japanese fighter planes attack the American naval base of Pearl Harbor

Germany and Italy Declare War on the U.S.

Dec 11, 1941

Germany and Italy announced they were at war with the United States. America immediately responded by declaring war on the two Axis powers.

War Production Board

Jan 16, 1942

The WPB directed conversion of industries from peacetime work to war needs, allocated scarce materials, established priorities in the distribution of materials and services, and prohibited nonessential production.

Executive Order No. 9066

Feb 19, 1942

FDR signed this and it put Japanese into concentration camps.

Bataan Death March

Apr 9, 1942

This was a brutal forced march of American and Philipino prisoners in WWII in which 10,000 died.

Battle of Coral Sea

May 4, 1942

In this battle the Allies stopped the Japanese advance on Australia and it was faught completely by aircraft carriers.

Battle of Midway Island

Jun 4, 1942

WWII battle where Allied air forces crippled Japan's navy and where the United States broke Japanese code which allowed them to attack the island.

Guadalcanal

Aug 7, 1942

This was a military campaign fought on the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.

Battle at El Alamein

Oct 23, 1942

In this battle Rommel and Montgomery faught in North Africa and it resulted in a British victory.

Casablanca

Jan 14, 1943

This was held to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II.

Fall of Sicily

Aug 17, 1943

Sicily fell to the Allies following an Italian surrender.

Meeting at Tehran

Nov 28, 1943

The Allied leaders met to plan D-Day.

D-Day

Jun 6, 1944

Allied troops landed along the French coast line to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy.

Leyte Gulf

Oct 23, 1944

This was the largest and most decisive naval engaement in the pacific.

Battle of the Bulge

Dec 16, 1944

The allies defeated the final German offensive on the Western front.

Korematsu v. United States

Dec 18, 1944

This supreme court up held the order to put Japanese Americans into concentration camps.

Yalta Conference

Feb 4, 1945

FDR, Churchill, and Stalin met to plan for the postwar world.

Battle at Iwo Jima

Feb 19, 1945

This was a six week struggle for the control of the island and it was used to launch bomb raids on Japan.

Okinawa

Apr 1, 1945

This was the bloodiest battle in the pacific in which the Allies won.

Victory in Europe Day

May 8, 1945

Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day.

Hiroshima

Aug 6, 1945

This is the site where the United States dropped the first atomic bomb.

Potsdam Conference

Aug 7, 1945

This was a meeting with Truman, Churchill and Stalin after Germany surrendered. Germany was divided into four zones of occupation.

Nagasaki

Aug 9, 1945

This is were the second atomic bomb was dropped.

Surrender of Japan

Sep 2, 1945

Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the surrender on behalf of the Japanese government. General Yoshijiro Umezu then signed for the Japanese armed forces.