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Adolphe Hitleer rules to power
In the downfall of WWII, many extreme nationalists rose to power to fix Germany. amongst them was Adolphe Hitler. By 1921, Adolphe HItler formed a fascict party called the National Socialist Party which later became known as the Nazi Party. -
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The Fascism Disease creeps over Europe
Economic remorse after Italy made way for stong leaders like Benito Mussolini. Benito Mussolini powered his way to the government so much that he threatened the Italian government. -
Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union
By 1929, Joseph Stalin was a sole dictator of the Soviet Union. He turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state, he controlled the government and every aspect of people's lives. Stalin took brutal measures to control and modernize industry and agriculture. Including many of Stalin's rivals in the Communist Party, were killed or imprisoned false charges of disloyalty to the state. -
Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China
IN 1931, acting without the approval of Japan's elected government, the Japanese army seized Manchuria in northeastern China. The League of Nations, which had been founded to halt aggresion, protested but took no action. -
Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
In 1933, Hitler was named the leader of the German parliament. Hitler quiclkly created a totalitarian state. All other parties became outlawed. His secret police enforced strict loyaly. -
Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress
In 1935, Congress passed the Neutrality Act. It was the first of several laws designed to keep the United STates at peace. The Neutrality Act forbade the President from selling arms, making loans, or giving any other kind of assistance to any nation involved in war. -
Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa
In 1935, Mussolini's armies invaded the African country of Ethiopia. Though the Ethopians fought bravely, their calvary amd outdated rifles were no match for Italy's modern tanks and airplanes. -
Hitler send troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty
Hitler vowed to create an empire that united all German-speaking people, including those outside Germany. In defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, he began to rebuild Germany's armed forces. Later he denied the treaty by sending troops into the Rhineland region of western Germany in 1936. -
Militarist takes control of Japanese Government
In Japan the Great Depression underminded faith in democratic rule. Military leaders pressured the civilian government to take control of nearby countries. Militarists argued that their island nation needed more space, as well as raw materials for its booming countries. In 1936, Militarists were in complete control of the Japanese government. -
Japan's army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of million people
After 1937, Japan stepped up its aggression in China. Japanese armies treated the Chines brutally. For six weeks, Japanese forces pillaged the Chinese city of Nanjing. In the assault, more than a quarter of a million civilians and prisioners of war were massacred. -
Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps
Nazi troops enter Austria, which has a population of 200,000 Jews, mainly living in Vienna. April 22, the Nazis prohibit Aryan 'front-ownership' of Jewish businesses. Later April 26, Nazis order Jews to register wealth and property. And after Nazis order Jewish-owned businesses to register. -
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany
Reached by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy that permitted German annexation in western Czechoslovakia. It became known in May 1938 that Hitler and his generals were drawing up a plan for the occupation of Czechoslovakia.The Czechoslovaks were relying on military assistance from France, they had an alliance. The Soviet 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. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin
Soviet Russia' Foreign Minister Molotov signs the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact while German Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop and Soviet leader Josef Stalin look on, while standing under a portrait of Lenin – August 23, 1939. News of the Pact stunned the world and paved the way for the beginning of World War II with Hitler assured his troops would not have to fight a war on two fronts. -
Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany
At 4:45 a.m on September 1st, 1.5 million German troops invade Poland all along its 1,750-mile border with German-controlled territory. The German Luftwaffe 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
By February, both Finland and the USSR were eager to sign a peace treaty to end the war. The Finns, who had defended themselves admirably, had nearly exhausted their ammunitions, while the Soviets were eager to end what had turned out to be an embarrassing war. World opinion was largely in favor of Finland, as it was seen as a malicious invasion on the part of the USSR. Even worse, the Soviets were outperformed, suffering over 126,000 casualties against the much smaller army. -
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
Hitler unleashes his blitzkrieg invasion of the Low Countries and France with a fury on May 10, 1940. Within three weeks, a large part of the British force, accompanied by some of the French defenders, is pushed to the English Channel and compelled to abandon the continent at Dunkirk. -
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
The Fall of France was the successful German invasion of France and the Low Countries beginning on 10 May 1940, defeating primarily French forces. The battle consisted of two main operations which the first was the Fall Gelb (Case Yellow) and in the second operation the Fall Rot. (Case red) -
Battle of Britain- Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island
During World War II, the successful defense of Great Britain against unremitting and destructive air raids conducted by the German air force July through September 1940, after the fall of France. Victory for the Luftwaffe in the air battle would have exposed Great Britain to invasion by the German army, which was then in control of the ports of France only a few miles away across the English Channel. In the event, the battle was won by the Royal Air Force Fighter Command. -
First time Peacetime Draft in US
The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke-Wadsworth Act enacted September 16, 1940, 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. -
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin's Russia and Invades- USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin's Russia and Invades- USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans. -
Japanese Invade French Indochina (Viet, Laos, Cambodia)
Indochinese Federation since 1947, was a federation of colonies belonging to the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. After the Fall of France during World War II, the colony was administered by Vichy France and was under Japanese supervision until a brief period of full Japanese control between March and August 1945. Beginning in May 1941, the Viet Minh, a communist army led by Ho Chi Minh, began a revolt against French rule known as the First Indochina War. -
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard a warship off the coast of Newfoundland during the Atlantic Conference. The conference took place from August 9-12, 1941, and resulted in the Atlantic Charter, a joint proclamation by the United States and Britain declaring that they were fighting the Axis powers to "ensure life, liberty, independence and religious freedom and to preserve the rights of man and justice." -
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii attacked by Japanese Naval and Air forces, US declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy declare war on the US- Dec. 9
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. -
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow
Reacting to the debacle, Hitler assumed personal day-to-day operational command of the Army, brushing aside some of the world’s finest military experts, the same generals who had invented Blitzkrieg and engineered the lightning-fast victories over Poland and France. In their place, Hitler poured over the maps himself and made vital strategic decisions alone. -
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
The internment of Japanese Americans in the United States was the forced relocation and incarceration during World War II of between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who lived on the Pacific coast in camps in the interior of the country. Sixty-two percent of the internees were United States citizens The U.S. government ordered the removal of Japanese Americans in 1942, shortly after Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. -
Philippines fall to Japanese- Bataan Death March
Filipino and American prisoners of war after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. All told, approximately 2,500–10,000 Filipino and 100–650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach their destination at Camp O'Donnell. The reported death tolls vary especially amongst Filipinos, because historians cannot determine how many prisoners blended in with the civilian population and escaped. The march went from Mariveles, Bataan tp San Fernando, Pampanga. -
June 4-7 Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific
The Battle of Midway was a crucial and decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theatre of world War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. -
Zoot Suit Riots- Los Angeles, CA
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots in 1943 during World War II that broke out in Los Angeles, California, between Anglo American sailors and Marines stationed in the city, and Latino youths, who were recognizable by the zoot suits they favored. Mexican Americans and European-American military personnel were the main parties in the riots, and some African American and Filipino/Filipino American youths were involved as well. -
British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa
Fighting in North Africa started with the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940. On 14 June, the British Army's 11th Hussars (assisted by elements of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment, 1st) crossed the border from Egypt into Libya and captured the Italian Fort Capuzzo. This was followed by an Italian counteroffensive into Egypt and the capture of Sidi Barrani in September 1940 and then in December 1940 by a Commonwealth counteroffensive, -
Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Minister
On July 24, 1943 soon after the start of the Allied invasion of Italy, the Grand Council of Fascism voted against him, and the King had him arrested the following day. On September 12, 1943 Mussolini was rescued from prison in the Gran Sasso raid by German special forces. -
D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies
By daybreak 18,000 British and American parachutists were already on the ground. At 6:30 a.m American troops came ashore at Utah and Omaha beaches. At Omaha, the U.S. First Division battled high seas, mist, mines, burning vehicles and German coastal batteries, including an elite infantry division, which spewed heavy fire. Many wounded Americans drowned in the high tide. -
Paris retaken by Allied Forces
Just as the Allies (UK, USA, Canada, Free French Forces) had secured the area around Normandy, Free French Forces insisted on advancing into Paris. The Allies reluctantly agreed to provide support (instead of wanting to push east toward Berlin). The campaign began on August 19, with the Germans surrendering Paris August 25. -
Battle of the Bulge- last offensive of German Forces
Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Caught off-guard, American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance. As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle’s name. -
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
Corregidor in 1945—though it lacked in importance to the defensive strategy of the Japanese than it previously had held for the Americans—remained a formidable sentinel to the entrance to Manila Bay. Consequently, American planners thought it merited a separate attack. -
FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes president
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes away after four momentous terms in office, leaving Vice President Harry S. Truman in charge of a country still fighting the Second World War and in possession of a weapon of unprecedented and terrifying power. -
V-E Day, war ends in Europe
On this day in 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine. -
First Atomic Bombs dropped
The Enola Gay, drops the world’s first atom bomb, over the city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout. -
V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces
On August 14, 1945, it was announced that Japan had surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, effectively ending World War II. Since then, both August 14 and August 15 have been known as “Victoryover Japan Day,” The term has also been used for September 2, 1945, when Japan’s formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. -
War crimes Trials held in Nuremburg, Germany;Manila, Philippines and Toyko, Japan
Following World War II, the victorious Allied governments established the first international criminal tribunals to prosecute high-level political officials and military authorities for war crimes and other wartime atrocities.
