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Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
Hitler was appointed the supreme leader of Germany and the Nazi party. -
Hitler pledges to undo the Treaty Of Versailles
Hitler promised to overturn the Treaty of Versailles and stop reparations and to give Germany back her pride. -
Germany, Italy, and Japan form a pact known as the Axis Powers
The three principal partners in the Axis alliance were Germany, Italy, and Japan. These three countries recognized German domination over most of continental Europe; Italian domination over the Mediterranean Sea; and Japanese domination over East Asia and the Pacific. -
Italy invades Ethiopia
An armed conflict that resulted in Ethiopia’s subjection to Italian rule. -
Germany annexes Austria
German troops march into Austria to annex the German-speaking nation for the Third Reich. -
Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and France sign the Munich Agreement
British and French prime ministers Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier sign the Munich Pact with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. The agreement averted the outbreak of war but gave Czechoslovakia away to German conquest. -
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Kristallnacht
In two days, over 250 synagogues were burned, over 7,000 Jewish businesses were trashed and looted, dozens of Jewish people were killed, and Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools, and homes were looted while police and fire brigades stood by. -
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Germany breaks the Munich Agreement and occupies the rest of Czech lands
Hitler annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia, and the country ceased to exist. -
Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact, dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence.
Through the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Stalin and Hitler agreed not to go to war with each other and to split Poland between them. -
Germany invades Poland
German forces bombard Poland on land and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. World War II had begun. -
Honoring their support of Poland, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
In response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on Germany. -
Soviet Union invades Poland
Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov declares that the Polish government has ceased to exist, as the U.S.S.R. exercises the “fine print” of the Hitler-Stalin Non-aggression pact—the invasion and occupation of eastern Poland. -
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Phoney War
After the blitzkrieg attack on Poland in September 1939, seemingly nothing happened. Many in Great Britain expected a major calamity – but the title ‘Phoney War’ summarizes what happened in Western Europe – near enough nothing. -
Auschwitz
A network of German Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich. -
Germany invades Denmark and Norway
German warships enter major Norwegian ports, from Narvik to Oslo, deploying thousands of German troops and occupying Norway. At the same time, German forces occupy Copenhagen, among other Danish cities. -
France falls and Germany controls Paris
Parisians awaken to the sound of a German-accented voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8 p.m. that evening-as German troops enter and occupy Paris. -
Operation Sea Lion
Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. -
North African Campaign
Battles in World War II for control of North Africa. At stake was control of the Suez Canal, a vital lifeline for Britain’s colonial empire, and the valuable oil reserves of the Middle East. -
Britain defeats Germany in Operation Sea Lion
Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion indefinitely. -
Battle of Britain ends
The 10th saw the last major raid during the London Blitz. It was not the last time London would be bombed but it was the end of the major campaign. -
Germany invades the Soviet Union - Operation Barbarossa
Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. -
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
A surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. -
Battle of Midway Ends
In the four-day sea and air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers with the loss of only one of its own, the Yorktown, thus reversing the tide against the previously invincible Japanese navy. -
Battle of Guadalcanal
The first major offensive and a decisive victory for the Allies in the Pacific theater. -
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Battle of Stalingrad
A major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia. -
D-Day
When some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. -
Germany Surrenders
Germany officially surrendered to the Allies, bringing an end to the European conflict in World War II. -
Bombing of Hiroshima
At the order of President Harry S. Truman during the final stage of World War II, the United States dropped the atomic bomb known as "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. -
Bombing of Nagasaki
At the order of President Harry S. Truman during the final stage of World War II, the United States dropped the atomic bomb known as "Fat Man" on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, just 3 days after the bombing in Hiroshima. -
Japan Surrenders
The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close.
