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1937
July 7
Japan goes to war with China
1938
March 13
Germany annexes Austria
October 7–10
Germany takes Czech region of Sudetenland
1939
July 1939
Roosevelt announces that Treaty of Commerce and Navigation with Japan will not be renewed
August 23
German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
September 1
Germany invades Poland
September 3
Britain and France declare war on Germany
September 17
USSR invades Poland from the east
September 19
German and Soviet forces meet in central Poland
September 28
Warsaw falls to Germany
November 30
Soviet forces invade Finland
1940
May 10
Germany begins invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France
May 13
French and British troops move into Belgium but are trapped between German armies
May 14
Luftwaffe bombs central Rotterdam; Netherlands surrenders to Germany
May 27
British troops begin mass evacuation from Dunkirk
June 3
Luftwaffe initiates air raids on Paris
June 10
Italy declares war on Britain
June11
Italian planes attack Malta
British skirmish in African desert
June 12
German forces penetrate France’s final lines of defense
June 22
France signs armistice with Germany
June 23
Hitler visits Paris
July 2
U.S. Congress passes Export Control Act
July 3
British initiate Operation Catapult to neutralize French navy
July 10
First German bombers attack over English Channel
July 19
Hitler urges Britain to make peace
August 1940
Japan declares greater East Asia co-prosperity sphere
August 13
Eagle Day; more than 1,400 German planes attack southern England
September 7
Beginning of “London Blitz”
September 13
Italy launches failed invasion of Egypt
September 17
Hitler indefinitely postpones plans for ground invasion of England
September 27
Japan signs Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy
October 28
Italy begins invasion of Greece
November
Greek resistance forces Italians into retreat
1941
January
Yamamoto prepares plan for attack on Pearl Harbor
January 12
Britain captures Tobruk, Libya
April 6
Germany attacks Yugoslavia
April 17
Yugoslavia surrenders
Late April
British forces retreat from Greece
May 20
German forces attack British troops on Crete
May
British forces retreat from Crete
June 22
Germany begins invasion of USSR
July
Japanese troops occupy Indochina
July 1
Germany has Riga, Dvinsk, Minsk, and Lvov under control
July 3
Stalin orders scorched-earth policy
September
Hitler shifts priority of attack to southern Russia
September 8
Germans begin siege of Leningrad
September 19
Kiev falls to German forces
October
Thousands of Russian civilians dig trenches around Moscow
Hirohito gives general approval for Pearl Harbor attack
November 27
German advance on Moscow is halted
December 7
Japan launches surprise attack on Pearl Harbor
December 8
United States and Britain declare war on Japan
Hitler orders all forces in USSR to shift from offensive to defensive operations
December 11
Germany declares war on United States
1942
February 15
Japan captures Singapore
March 8
Japan takes Rangoon, Burma
March 9
Japan captures Java
April 9
Japan captures the Philippines
April 18
Doolittle Raid on Tokyo
May 4–8
Battle of the Coral Sea
June 3–6
Battle of Midway
June 21
Germans retake Tobruk
July
Japan occupies Guadalcanal
July 25–August 1
German troops defeat Soviets at Battle of Kalach
August 7
Allies launch offensive on Guadalcanal
August 23
German troops reach Volga River; Luftwaffe bombs Stalingrad
October 23
Battle of El-Alamein begins
November
Allies launch offensive in New Guinea
November 8
Operation Torch; joint U.S.-British landing in French North Africa
November 11
Britain retakes Tobruk
November 19–20
USSR launches two offensives against Germans
November 25
Allies begin offensive into Tunisia
December12
Germany launches Operation Winter Storm
1943
January 12
Roosevelt and Churchill begin meeting at Casablanca
February 2
German Sixth Army surrenders to Soviets ending the Battle of Stalingrad
February 9
Battle of Guadalcanal ends
March 7
Tunis falls to Allied forces
July 10
Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) begins
July 22
Palermo falls to Allies
July 24
Mussolini is overthrown in a peaceful coup
September 2
Allied invasion of Italy begins
September 8
Italy surrenders to Allies
October 1
Allies capture Naples
November 28
Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin begin meeting at Tehran
1944
January 27
Siege of Leningrad is broken
May 18
Monte Cassino falls to Allies
June 5
Rome falls to Allies
June 6
D-Day invasion begins
June 22
Russian offensive through Belorussia (Operation Bagration) begins
July 3
Soviet forces liberate Minsk
July 5
Battle of Kursk begins
July 12
Germany retreats from Kursk
July 20
Attempt to assassinate Hitler nearly succeeds
July 24
Soviet forces capture Majdanek extermination camp in Poland
Late July
Allied forces make first significant inland progress
August 4
Allied forces take Myitkyina, Burma
August 15
Allied forces land on Mediterranean coast of France
Mid-August
Hitler orders evacuation of southern France
Soviet forces enter Germany from the east
August 30
Soviet forces capture Ploesti, Romania
September10
First Allied troops enter Germany from west
September 25
Soviet forces liberate Smolensk
October 18
Hitler authorizes conscription of all healthy men aged 16–60
October 20
Battle of Leyte begins
November 6
Soviet forces liberate Kiev
November 20
Hitler abandons Rastenburg headquarters
December 16
Battle of the Bulge; Germans begin counteroffensive in Ardennes
December 24
Germans surround Americans at Bastogne
December 31
Battle of Leyte ends
1945
January 16
U.S. forces freed from Bastogne
February 4
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet at Yalta Conference
February 19
Battle of Iwo Jima begins
February 23
U.S. Marines reach Mt. Suribachi
March
Allies begin mass bombing raids of Tokyo and other cities
March 26
Iwo Jima declared secure
April 1
Battle of Okinawa begins
April 12
Roosevelt dies; Truman becomes U.S. president
April 16
Soviets begin offensive on Berlin
April 25
U.S. and Soviet advances meet for first time
April 28
Partisans execute Mussolini
April 30
Hitler commits suicide
May 3
Allies liberate Rangoon
May 7
Germany signs formal surrender
May 8
Western Allies declare V-E Day
May 9
USSR declares Victory Day
June 21
Battle of Okinawa ends
July 16
United States successfully tests first atomic bomb
July 26
Potsdam Declaration signed
August 6
United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima
August 8
USSR enters war against Japan
August 9
United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki
USSR invades Manchuria
August 15
Hirohito announces Japan’s surrender
September 2
Japan signs formal surrender
