Chronology of Events of WWII

Nazi Battleship Graf Spree The German battleship Graf Spee

                                             

U-Boat

• 1931- Japan invades Manchuria - Manchuria used to be a port of China- Boy emperor Pu-Yi had built factories whose production fed the war machine, Japan exported their raw materials. Japan ignores the League of Nations.

• 1933- Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany- Germany ignores Treaty of Versailles provisions, Hitler withdraws from League of Nations, builds up army, refuses to pay back remaining war debt from WW1 owed to allied nations.

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• 1934- Reciprocal Trade Agreement- Designed to lift trade embargo increasing trade with foreign countries.

• 1935- Italy invades Ethiopia,- Mussolini sends army in to make it an Italian colony. Italians were notoriously unwarlike. Musolini proclaimed in 1934 “We have buried the putrid corpse of liberty.” Quote: “To make a people great, it is necessary to send them to battle even if you have to kick them in the pants.

• 1936Germany remilitarizes the Rhineland- Alliance between Germany and Itlay (Rome-Berlin Axis) Hitler and Musolini agreed to help one another conquer enemies.

• 1937- Japan invades China- Japan attack of American gunboat “Pueblo” 1931.

• 1938- Germany annexes Austria- Hitler took rest of Czechoslovakia. Sudatenland became part of Germany, removed country from map.

• Mar. 1939- Germany invades Chechoslovakia- dictators werent satisfied and promised to demand no more. Germany signs Pact with Nevil Chamberland (GB) “Peace in our time” promise not to invade Britain or other European nations, it is agreed it is his last land claim.

• Aug. 1939- Germany and Russia sign non-aggression pact- secret pact signed by Hitler and Stalin agreed to split up Poland and promise not to invade each other.

1 September 1939,

• Warsaw, Poland destruction 1939

• Sept. 1 1939- Germany invades Poland- with aid of USSR army, Germany attack, thinking France would not declare war, he was wrong.

• Sep. 3 1939- Great Britain and France declare war on Germany- WWII begins, Hitler thought he could win, Hitler benefited from League of Nations weaknesses.

• Sept 1940- U.S. agrees to transfer fifty destroyers to Great Britain, as a “loan”, in exchange for a “lease” on use of foreign island bases by the U.S. This became known as the “Land-lease” agreement.

• Dec 7. 1941- Japan attacks Pearl Harbor- Japan attacks U.S. naval base in Hawaii, ending American isolation.

• Dec. 1941- U.S. enters the war- U.S. declares war on Japan Dec 11th.

• The destruction of Cologne in an Allied bombing raid.

• French Fleet Destroyed in N. Africa

                                                                

               A sinking French ship in the harbor of Oran.

• June 1944- D-Day: the invasion of Normandy- British and American forces land on beaches of Normandy France. Fought through France to Berlin.

• Apr. 1945- U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies and Harry Truman becomes President. 3 war time leaders died before war had ended: Mussolini, Hitler, and Roosevelt. Truman decides to use Atomic bombs against Japan to save American servicemen’s lives.

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• Apr. 1945- Germany defeated (VE) Hitler commits suicide- surrender of army victory in Europe. War in Europe is over.