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Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi Party
Racism lay at the core of Nazi beliefs. Hitler told Germans that they were a "master race," destined to rule over Slavs, Gypsies, and others they considered inferior. The cornerstone of Hitler's racial theories was anti-semitism, or hatred of Jews. -
Benito Mussolini appointed Prime Minister of Italy
Mussolini and his followers threatened to overthrow Italy's elected government. In response, the king appointed Mussolini prime minister. -
Josef Stalin sole dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR)
Stalin turned the Soviet Union into a totlitarian state. He took brutal measures to trol and modernize industry and agriculture. -
Japan’s Army seizes Manchuria, China
In 1931, acting without approval of Japan's elected government, the Japanese army seized Manchuria in northeastern China. The League of Nations, which had been founded to halt aggression, protested but took no action. -
Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
The Great Depression increased Hitler's popularity. Once in power, Hitler quickly created a totalitarian state. All other parties were outlawed. Hitler's secret police enforced strict loyalty. -
Neutrality Acts passed by US Congress
It was the first of laws designed to keep the United States at peace. The Neitrality Act forbade the Preaident from selling arms, making loans, or giving any other kind of assistance to any nation involved in war. -
Italian Army invades Ethiopia in Africa
Mussolini's army invaded the African country of Ethiopia. Though the Ethiopians fought bravely, their calvalry and outdated rifles were no match for Italy's modern tanks and plains. Ethiopia's emperor appealed to the League of Nations for aid. The League of Nations responded weakly. Without help, Ethiopia fell to the invaders. -
Militarist take control of Japanese Government
In Japan, too, the Great epression undermined faith in democratic rule. Military leadrers 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 industries.
By 1936, militarists were in complete control of the Japanese government. Like the Nazis in Germany, Japanese militarists preached racism. The Japanese, they said, were superior to other Asians as well as non-Asians. -
Hitler sends troops into Rhineland of Germany in violation of the Versailles Treaty
In defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, he began to rebuild Germany's armed forces. He further defied the treaty by sending troops into the Rhineland region of western Germany in 1936. -
Japan’s army pillages Nanjing, China; massacre a quarter of a million people.
After 1937, Japan stepped up its aggression in China. Japanese armies treated the Chinese brutally. For six weeks, Japanese forces pillaged the Chinese city of Nanjing. In the assault, more than a quarter of a million civilians and prisoners of war were massacred. -
Munich Pact signed giving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to Germany
France and Britain protested when Hitler threatened to invade Czechoslovakia. In September 1938, European leaders met in the German city of Munich to ease the crisis. The leaders of France and Britain hoped to appease Hitler.
In the Munich Pact, Britain and France agreed to let the German leader occupy Sudetenland, a portion of Czechoslovokia populated largely by people who spoke German. In return, Hitler promised he would seek no further territory. -
Nazis begin rounding up Jews for labor camps
Germany passed anti-Semitic laws. Jews were banned from public schools and from professions such as medicine and law. Jewish communities were attacked. In 1938, troops began rounding up Jews and sending them to slave labor camps. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Hitler and Stalin
In late August 1939, the world was shocked to learn that Hitler and Stalin - two sworn and bitter enemies - had signed a nonaggression agreement. In the Nazi-Soviet Pact, the two dictators promised not to attack one another's countries. Secretly, they agreed to divid up Poland. -
Nazis invade Poland; Britain and France declare war on Germany
On September 1, 1939, Nazi troops invaded Poland. Sixteen days later, the Soviet Union seized eastern Poland. Stalin's forces also invaded Finland and later annexed Estonia, Luthuania, and Latvia.
Two days after Hitler's invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. World War II had begun. -
Nazis invade Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium – take control
In the early days of the war, Hitler's armies seemed unstoppable. In April 1940, they moved north, seizing Denmark and Norway. In May, they marched west to conquer the Netherlands, Luxemburg, and Belgium. Then they moved into France. -
Germany invades France and forces it to surrender
The British and French were quickly overpowered. By May, the Germans had forced them to retreat to Dunkirk, a French port on the English Channel. In a bold action, the British sent every available ship and boat across the channel to rescue the trapped soldiers. Unhindered, German armies entered France and marched on to Paris, the French capitol. On June 22, 1940, barely six weeks later, Hitler gleefully accepted the surrender of France. -
Battle of Britain – Royal Air Force defeats German Air Force to prevent invasion of their island
Hitler ordered an air assault on Britain. Day after day, German planes attacked British cities. The raids took tens of thousands of lives, yet the British spirit never broke. By night, Londoners slept in subway station. By day, they cleared the wreckage, buried the dead, and tryed to carry on. Overhead, the British air force fought invading planes. The Battle of Britain continued through the summer and into the fall. By then, Hitler had abandoned all plans to invade Britain. -
First time Peacetime Draft in US
Congress approved greater spending for the army and navy. In September 1940, it passed a law that set up the first peacetime draft in American history. -
Churchill and FDR issue the Atlantic Charter
In August 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter, outlining their goals for the postwar world. They agreed that their nations would seek no territorial gain from the war and emphasized the right of all people to choose their own government. They also called for a new international organization that might succeed where the League of Nations had failed. -
Hitler breaks Pact with Stalin’s Russia and invades -USSR which now joins England in fighting the Germans
A huge German force crossed into the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, which had remained out of the early days of the war, now joined Britain in fighting the Germans. Although Churchill and Stalin deeply mistrusted each other, they were now forced to work together to defeat their common enemy. -
Japanese invade French Indochina (Viet. Laos, Cambodia)
Events in Asia. not Europe, finally drew the United States into war. In July 1941, Japan invaded the French colony of Indochina. In response, Roosevelt banned American exports of iron and steel scrap to Japan. He also restricted the sale of oil to Japan. -
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
Japanese bombers launched a surprise attack on American naval, air, and ground forces at Pearl Harbor, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The attack destroyed nearly half of the island's 400 military aircraft and damaged 8 battleships, two beyond repair. About 2,400 Americans were killed. Later that day, Congress declared war on Japan. Japan's allies, Germany and Italy, then declared war on the U.S. Against their wishes, Americans were again involved in a world war. -
Philippines fall to Japanese – Bataan Death March
At Bataan, the Japanese captured nearly 70,000 soldiers. Already weak from hunger, the American and Filipino prisoners were then forced to walk 65 miles to a prison camp. Along the way, so many prisoners died of starvation, disease, or violence that their trek soon became known as the Bataan Death March. -
Japanese Americans interned in isolated camps
The intense anti-Japanese fears led President Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9066 in February 1942. The order was used to intern some 110,000 Japanese Americans for the duration of the war. -
Battle of Midway, turning point of war in the Pacific
June 4-7, the Japanese sought to take the island of Midway, home of a key American military base. But the Americans sank 4 Japanese aircraft carriers, destroyed 322 Japanese aircraft, and reduced Japan's supply of highly trained pilots. After the Battle of Midway, Japan's navy no longer ruled the Pacific. -
Russians stop Nazi advance at Stalingrad save Moscow
The Germans mounted another offensive in mid-1942. A major battle took place in and around the Russian city of Stalingrad. Months of bitter fighting ended in a clear Soviet victory. From then on, the Soviets slowly drove the Germans back westward. -
British and US forces defeat German and Italian armies in North Africa
In North Africa, Erwin Rommel, Germany's most respected general, won a number of quick victories. Then, in October 1942, British troops defeated German forces at El Alamein in Egypt. Slowly, the British drove Rommel's tank corps westward into Tunisia. Meanwhile, in November, the first American ground troops in combat landed in North Africa. Under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, they occupied Morocco and Algeria. Hemmed in on both sides, Rommel's army surrendered in May 1943. -
Zoot Suit Riots – Los Angeles, CA
Young Mexican Americans in Los Angeles often dressed in showy "zoot suits." Their clothing and language set them apart. In June 1943, bands of sailors on shore leave attacked young Mexican Americans, beating them and clubbing them on the streets. The incident sparked several days of rioting. -
Italy surrenders, Mussolini dismissed as Prime Min.
In July 1943, American and British troops crossed the Mediterranean from Tunisia. THey swiftly took control of the Italian island of Sicily. By fall, they were fighting their way northward along the Italian Paninsula.
The king of Italy dismissed Mussolini from office. On September 8, 1943, the new government surrendered to the Allies. Even so, German troops in Italy continued to fight. The Allies would face a long struggle before they finally controlled Italy. -
D-Day invasion of France at Normandy by Allies
More than 155,000 American, British, and Canadian troops crossed the English Channel. They landed on five beaches at Normandy, in western France. Troops at four of the beaches quickly overcame German opposition. -
Paris retaken by Allies Forces
On August 25, 1944, the Allies entered Paris. After four years under Nazi rule, French men, women, and children greeted their liberators with joy. -
Battle of the Bulge – last offensive of German Forces
The Germans came close to breaking through Allied lines. But, in the end, their attempt to fight off defeat proved futile. German troops were short of critical supplies, especially fuel. Also, though each side lost tens of thousands of men, the Allies had additional troops in reserve. Germany was running out of soldiers.
Fighting in Northern Europe's coldest winter in 40 years, American forces won the Battle of the Bulge. Germany now lay wide open from both east and west. -
US forces return to recapture the Philippines
Army units landed on Luzon, in the Philippines, and then advanced on Manila. After nearly a month of urban warfare, the Americans secured the city. MacArthur had fulfilled his promise to return to the Philippines. The Philippine campaign cost the lives of over 14,000 Americans and 35,000 Japanese, as well as some 100,000 Filipino civilians. -
FDR dies, Harry S. Truman becomes President
President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a stroke. His death shattered Americans. Many could hardly remember anyone else as their leader. At a critical moment, Vice President Harry S. Truman was suddenly thrust into the highest office in the country. Truman had little experience dealing with important policy issues. Would he be a decisive leader? -
V-E Day, war ends in Europe
Germany was collapsing. On April 16, Soviet troops began an assault on Berlin. Hitler took shelter in a bunker built beneath the city's streets. There, with his Nazi empire in ruins, he committed suicide on April 30, 1945.
A week later, representatives of Germany's armed forces unconditionally surrendered at Eisenhower's headquarters in France. On May 8, the Allies celebrated V-E Day, Victory in Europe. -
First Atomic Bombs dropped
After Hitler's defeat in Europe, the Allies were able to turn their full attention to the Pacific. By the spring of 1945, American bombers were pounding the Japanese home islands. American ships bombarded the coast and destroyed shipping. Millions of Japanese were short of food. Yet, Japanese leaders still talked of winning a glorious victory. -
V-J Day, Japan surrenders to Allied Forces
At last, on August 14, 1945, the emperor of Japan announced that the nation would surrender. That day bacame known as V-J Day. On September 2, 1945, MacArthur formally accepted Japan's surrender aboatd the battleship USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. World War II was over at last. -
War Crimes Trials held in Nuremburg, Germany; Manila, Philippines and Tokyo, Japan.
Shocked by the Holocaust and other Nazi actions, the Allies took an unprecedented step. For the first time in history, victors in a war prosecuted leaders of the losing side for war crimes.
In the German city of Nuremberg, Allied judges tried prominent Nazis for plunging the world into war and for the horrors of the death camps. In 1946, at the first Nuremberg Trials, 12 defendants were sentenced to death by hanging. Similar trials were held in Manila and Tokyo to try leaders of the Japanese war
