Timeline: World War II | Timetoast

Sep 19, 1931

Japan invades Manchuria

Manchuria is invaded after Japan sets off explosives at a railroad in Manchuria and uses it as an excuse to take over MAnchuria without orders from the Emperor or the civilian government
Jan 30, 1933

Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
Jun 30, 1934

"Night of the Long Knives"

Stormtroopers or SA, bodyguards to Hitler, are killed en-masse by its rivals the Shutzstaffel, or SS, in order for Hitler to win over the military to obtain power in Germany
Aug 19, 1934

Hitler becomes Fuhrer of Germany
Sep 15, 1935

Nuremberg Laws in effect, Jews are stripped of rights in Germany
Oct 3, 1935

Italy invades Ethiopia
Mar 7, 1936

Germany remilitarizes the Rhineland
May 9, 1936

Italy take Ethiopia
Period: Jul 17, 1936 to Apr 1, 1939

Spanish Civil War
Jul 18, 1936

Spanish Civil War begins

Germany and Italy use Civil War to promote Fascism and test out their updated militaries in battle.
Jul 7, 1937

Japan invades China, Second Sino-Japanese War begins

Japan begins campaign to take over China and make it part of the Empire of Japan.
Mar 12, 1938

Austria annexed into Nazi Germany

Austria is officially annexed into Nazi Germany, formally called Anschluss.
Mar 16, 1939

Nazi Germany occupies Czechoslovakia
May 27, 1939

Germany signs alliance with Italy
Aug 23, 1939

Germany and Soviet Union sign non-aggression pact
Sep 1, 1939

Germany invades Poland; World War II officially begins
Period: Sep 1, 1939 to Oct 6, 1939

Invasion of Poland
Oct 6, 1939

Invasion of Poland ends; USSR and Nazi Germany divide nation
Apr 9, 1940

Nazis invade Denmark and Norway
Period: Apr 9, 1940 to May 8, 1945

Western Front
May 10, 1940

Nazis invade France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Netherlands; Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister
May 26, 1940

Evacuation of Allied troops at Dunkirk begins
Period: Jun 10, 1940 to Oct 31, 1940

Battle of Britain
Period: Jun 10, 1940 to May 16, 1943

North African Campaign
Jun 14, 1940

German forces march into Paris
Jul 10, 1940

Battle of Britain begins
Sep 13, 1940

Italy invades British-controlled Egypt; African Theater starts
Sep 27, 1940

Tripartite (Axis) PAct signed between Germany, Italy, and Japan
Dec 9, 1940

British begin counter-offensive against Italians in Egypt
Jan 22, 1941

British control Tobruk, invade Italian-controlled Libya
Feb 14, 1941

General Erwin Rommel and German "Afrika Korps" send to aid Italians
Apr 14, 1941

Rommel attacks Tobruk
May 27, 1941

Battleship DKM Bismarck sunk by British Royal Navy

3 days earlier the Bismarck sank the pride of the British fleet, the HMS Hood and severely damaged the battleship Prince of Wales
Jun 22, 1941

Soviet Union invaded by Germany, Operation Barbarossa begins
Period: Jun 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945

Eastern Front
Dec 7, 1941

Pearl Harbor bombed by Japan
Dec 8, 1941

United States enters World War II
Jan 1, 1942

Japan takes Phillipines, Burma, Singapore, Dutch East Indies, French Indochina
Mar 12, 1942

Douglas Macarthur leaves Phillipines and says "I shall return"
Jun 4, 1942

Battle of Midway; ends three days later; official turning point in Pacific War
Period: Jul 1, 1942 to Jul 30, 1942

First Battle of El Alamein
Aug 23, 1942

Battle of Stalingrad begins
Period: Aug 23, 1942 to Feb 2, 1943

Batlle of Stalingrad
Nov 7, 1942

Battle for Guadalcanal begins
Period: Nov 7, 1942 to Feb 9, 1943

Guadalcanal Campaign
Nov 8, 1942

Operation Torch begins, Germans eventually ousted out of North Africa by May
Feb 2, 1943

German army surrenders in Stalingrad; fisrt major defeat for Nazi Germany
May 7, 1943

Allies take Tunisia; North Africa campaign over
Jul 9, 1943

Allies land in Sicily; Italian Campaign begins
Jul 25, 1943

Mussolini arrested and Italian Fascist government falls
Sep 8, 1943

Italy surrenders in war; German troops in Italy still fight on.
Sep 12, 1943

Mussolini rescued by German commandos (Fallschirmjager); Fascist government reastablished in Northern Italy
Oct 13, 1943

Italy declares war of Germany
Nov 6, 1943

Soviets take back Kiev in Ukraine
Nov 20, 1943

US troops invade Makin and Tarawa islands
Jan 6, 1944

Soviets advance into Poland
Jan 17, 1944

Allies launch assault on Monte Cassino, German Fallschirmjager hold off Allied Army for 5 months
Period: Jan 17, 1944 to May 18, 1944

Battle of Monte Cassino
Feb 24, 1944

Merrill's Marauders start campaign in Burma
Jun 5, 1944

Allies enter Rome
Jun 6, 1944

D-Day landings on Normandy Beach; Western Front begins
Jun 15, 1944

Marines invade Saipan
Jul 3, 1944

Battle of the Hedgerows
Jul 18, 1944

Allies capture St. Lo
Jul 19, 1944

Marines invade Guam
Jul 20, 1944

Operation Valkyrie Bomb Plot fails; Hitler is not killed and German officers and government officials slain
Sep 13, 1944

Allies reach Siegfried Line in Germany
Oct 14, 1944

Allies liberate Athens; Rommel commits suicide by order of Adolf Hitler
Oct 20, 1944

US Army invades Leyte Gulf in Phillipines ("I have returned!")
Period: Oct 23, 1944 to Oct 26, 1944

Battle of Leyte Gulf becomes decisive US Naval victory
Dec 16, 1944

Battle of the Bulge begins
Period: Dec 16, 1944 to Jan 25, 1945

Battle of the Bulge
Dec 26, 1944

General George S. Patton relieves Bastogne, blunts German offensive at Bastogne
Jan 26, 1945

Soviets liberate Auschwitz
Feb 4, 1945

Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet in Yalta
Feb 19, 1945

Marines invade Iwo Jima
Period: Feb 19, 1945 to Mar 26, 1945

Battle of Iwo Jima
Mar 7, 1945

Allies cross bridge at Remagen
Apr 1, 1945

Marines invade Okinawa
Period: Apr 1, 1945 to Jun 22, 1945

Battle of Okinawa
Apr 12, 1945

FDR dies; Truman becomes President
Apr 21, 1945

Soviets reach Berlin
Apr 28, 1945

Mussolini hung by partisans; Venice captured by Allies
Apr 30, 1945

Adolf Hitler commits suicide
May 8, 1945

V-E (Victory in Europe) Day
Aug 6, 1945

Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
Aug 9, 1945

Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
Sep 2, 1945

Japan surrenders; V-J (Victory over Japan) Day