Download World War 2 Timeline

World War 2 Timeline 1918 11/11/1918 World War One Armistice signed 1919 6/28/1918 Treaty of Versailles signed 1920 1/16/1920 League of Nations meets for the first time 1921 7/29/1921 Adolf Hitler assumes control of National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) Party 1922 10/24/1922 Benito Mussolini calls for fascist "Blackshirts" to March on Rome 10/29/1922 Mussolini appointed Premier by King Victor Emmanuel III 1923 11/8­9/1923 Hitler's Munich Beer Hall Putsch fails 1925 1/3/1925 Mussolini dismisses Italian parliament, begins to assume dictatorial powers 7/18/1925 Hitler's autobiography, Mein Kampf, is published 1929 10/29/1929 Wall Street Stock Market crashes 1931 9/18/1931 Japanese Army invades Manchuria 1932 11/8/1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected President of the United States 1933 1/30/1933 Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg 2/27/1933 German Reichstag burns down; communists blamed, arrested. 3/23/1933 Enabling Act passed by Reichstag; Hitler assumes dictatorial power 7/14/1933 Nazi party declared official party of Germany; all other parties banned 10/14/1933 Germany quits League of Nations 1934 6/30/1934 Hitler orders murder of SA Chief Ernst Roehm in "Night of the Long Knives" 8/2/1934 German President Paul von Hindenburg dies 8/19/1934 Hitler combines the offices of president and chancellor; assumes the title of Führer 1935 3/16/1935 Military conscription introduced in Germany in violation of Versailles treaty 9/15/1935 Nuremberg race laws promulgated 10/3/1935 Italian Army invades Ethiopia 1936 3/7/1936 German troops remilitarize the Rhineland in violation of Versailles treaty 5/9/1936 Italian campaign in Ethiopia ends 7/17/1936 Spanish Civil War breaks out; Hitler and Mussolini send aid to Franco 10/1/1936 Franco becomes dictator of Spain 10/25/1936 Rome­Berlin "Axis" alliance formed 1937 1/19/1937 Japan withdraws from Washington Conference Treaty limiting the size of its navy 5/28/1937 Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister of England
6/11/1937 Josef Stalin begins purge of Red Army 7/7/1937 Full­scale war erupts between China and Japan 1938 3/12/1938 Germany invades Austria; Anschluss (union) proclaimed 11/9­10/1938 Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) 1939 3/15­16/1939 WGerman troops occupy the rest of Czechoslovakia in violation of Munich Agreement 3/28/1939 Spanish Civil War ends 8/23/1939 Nazi­Soviet nonagression pact signed 9/1/1939 German Army invades Poland 9/3/1939 Britain and France declare war on Germany 9/17/1939 Red Army invades Poland in accordance with Nazi­Soviet Pact 9/27/1939 Warsaw falls to the Nazis 11/30/1939 Red Army attacks Finland 9/14/1939 Soviet Union kicked out of League of Nations 1940 3/12/1940 Finland signs peace treaty with Soviet Union 4/9/1940 German Army invades Denmark and Norway 5/10/1940 German Army invades France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; Winston Churchill appointed British Prime Minister 5/15/1940 Holland capitulates to Nazis 5/26/1940 "Miracle at Dunkirk" 5/28/1940 Belgium capitulates to Nazis 6/10/1940 Norway capitulates to Nazis; Italy declares war on Britain and France 6/14/1940 Nazis take Paris 6/22/1940 France capitulates to Nazis 7/10/1940 Battle of Britain begins 7/23/1940 Red Army takes Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia 8/3/1940 Italian Army invades British Somaliland 8/13/1940 Luftwaffe begins raids on British airfields and aircraft factories 8/23­24/1940 Off­course German bombers accidentally bomb London 8/25­26/1940 Royal Air Force mounts reprisal raid against Berlin 9/7/1940 German "blitz" on British cities begins in earnest 9/13/1940 Italian Army attacks Egypt 9/16/1940 Military conscription introduced in United States 9/27/1940 Tripartite alliance formed between Germany, Italy and Japan 10/7/1940 German troops occupy Romania 10/28/1940 Italian Army attacks Greece 11/5/1940 Roosevelt re­elected 11/10­11/1940 RAF raid cripples Italian fleet at Taranto 11/20/1940 Romania joins Axis 12/9­10/1940 British counter­attack begins against Italian Army in North Africa 1941 1/22/1941 British take Tobruk in North Africa from Nazis 2/11/1941 British Army attacks Italian Somaliland 2/12/1941 Erwin Rommel assumes command of German Afrika Korps 3/7/1941 British Army comes to the aid of Greece 3/11/1941 Lend­Lease Act signed by Roosevelt
4/6/1941 German Army hastily invades Yugoslavia and Greece 4/17/1941 Yugoslavia capitulates to Nazis 4/27/1941 Greece capitulates to Nazis 5/10/1941 Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland on "peace mission" 5/15/1941 British counter­attack in Egypt 5/24/1941 German battleship Bismarck sinks Hood, pride of the Royal Navy 5/27/1941 Royal Navy sinks Bismarck 6/8/1941 British Army invades Lebanon and Syria 6/22/1941 Hitler launches operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union 6/28/1941 Germans capture Soviet city of Minsk 7/3/1941 Stalin launches "scorched earth" policy 7/31/1941 Planning begins for "Final Solution," the systematic destruction of the Jews 8/12/1941 Atlantic Charter signed by Roosevelt and Churchil 8/20/1941 German siege of Soviet city of Leningrad begins 9/1/1941 Jews order to wear yellow Star of David 9/19/1941 Germans capture Soviet city of Kiev 9/29/1941 German SS mass murders Russian Jews at Kiev 10/16/1941 Germans capture Soviet city of Odessa 10/17/1941 Hideki Tojo becomes Prime Minister of Japan 10/24/1941 Germans capture Soviet city of Kharkov 10/30/1941 German Army occupies the Crimea 11/20/1941 Germans capture the Soviet city of Rostov 11/27/1941 Red Army retakes Rostov 12/6/1941 Red Army launches major counter­offensive 12/7/1941 Japanese attack naval base at Pearl Harbor 12/8/1941 Roosevelt gives "Day of Infamy" speech; United States and Britain declare war on Japan 12/11/1941 Germany declares war on the United States 12/16/1941 Rommel's Afrika Korps forced to retreat in North Africa 12/19/1941 Hitler assumes post of Commander in Chief of German Army 1942 1/1/1942 Mass gassing of Jews begins at Auschwitz 1/1/1942 Allies forge Declaration of the United Nations 1/13/1942 German U­boats begin sinking ships off American coast in "Operation Drumbeat 1/20/1942 Nazis coordinate "Final Solution" efforts at Wannsee Conference 1/21/1942 Rommel counter­attacks in North Africa 4/1/1942 American citizens of Japanese descent forced into "relocation centers" 5/8/1942 Germans launch summer offensive in the Crimea 5/30/1942 Royal Air Force launches first 1,000 bomber raid on Cologne, German 6/4/1942 Japanese Navy resoundingly defeated at Battle of Midway­­war reaches its turning point in the Pacific; S.S. Leader Rheinhardt Heydrich dies of wounds sustained in partisan attack at Prague 6/5/1942 German siege of Sevastopol begins 6/10/1942 Nazis annihilate Czech town of Lidice in retaliation for Heydrich's assassination 6/21/1942 German Afrika Korps recaptures Tobruk 7/3/1942 Sevastopol falls to German Army 7/5/1942 Nazi conquest of Crimea achieved 7/9/1942 German Army begins push towards Stalingrad 8/7/1942 General Bernard Montgomery assumes command of British Eighth Army in North Africa 9/13/1942 German attack on Stalingrad begins 11/3/1942 Afrika Korps decisively defeated by British at El Alamein
11/8/1942 Allied invasion of North Africa begins in "Operation Torch" 11/11/1942 Axis forces occupy Vichy France 11/19/1942 Soviet forces encircle German Sixth Army at Stalingrad 12/31/1942 German and British ships engage in the Battle of the Barents Sea 1943 1/2­3/1943 German Army retreats from Caucasus 1/10/1943 Red Army begins siege of German­occupied Stalingrad 1/14­23/1943 Roosevelt and Churchill meet at Casablanca, issue unconditional surrender demand 1/23/1943 British forces take Tripoli 1/27/1943 U.S. Air Force opens daylight bombing campaign with attack on Wilhelmshaven, Germany 2/2/1943 German Sixth Army at Stalingrad surrenders to the Russians; war in Europe reaches its turning point 2/8/1943 Red Army takes Kursk 2/14­25/1943 Battle of Kasserine Pass fought in North Africa between German and U.S. forces 2/16/1943 Red Army retakes Kharkov 3/2/1943 Afrika Korps withdraws from Tunisia 3/15/1943 Germany Army recaptures Kharkov 3/16­20/1943 German submarines achieve their largest tonnage total of the war 4/19/1943 S.S. begins "liquidation" of the Warsaw ghetto 5/7/1943 Allies capture Tunisia 5/13/1943 remaining Axis troops in North Africa surrender to Allies 5/16­17/1943 RAF targets German industry in the Ruhr 5/22/1943 U­boat operations suspended in the North Atlantic due to steep losses 6/11/1943 Nazis order destruction of Polish ghettos 7/5/1943 Largest tank battle in history begins at Kursk 7/9­10/1943 Allied forces land on Sicily 7/22/1943 American forces take Palermo, Sicily 7/25­26/1943 Mussolini and the Fascists overthrown 7/27­28/1943 Allied bombing raid creates firestorm in Hamburg, Germany 8/12­17/1943 Axis forces withdraw from Sicily 8/17/1943 USAF suffers steep losses in bombing run on ball­bearing plants at Regensburg and Schweinfurt, Germany 8/23/1943 Red Army retakes Karkhov 9/8/1943 New Italian government announces Italy's surrender 9/9/1943 Allied forces land in Salerno and Taranto, Italy 9/11/1943 German Army occupies Italy 9/12/1943 Nazi commandos rescue Mussolini 9/23/1943 Fascist government re­established in Italy 10/1/1943 Allies take Naples 11/6/1943 Red Army recaptures Kiev 11/28/1943 "Big Three" of Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill meet at Tehran 12/24­26/1943 Soviets begin large offensive in Ukraine 1944 1/6/1944 Red Army advances into Poland 1/22/1944 Allied forces land at Anzio, Italy 1/27/1944 Red Army breaks 900­day siege of Leningrad 1/31/1944 American forces invade Kwajalein 2/16/1944 German 14th Army counter­attacks at Anzio 2/18­22/1944 American forces take Eniwetok 4/8/1944 Red Army begins offensive in the Crimea
5/9/1944 Soviet troops recapture Sevastopol 5/12/1944 German forces in the Crimea surrender 6/5/1944 Allied forces enter Rome 6/6/1944 D­Day: invasion of Europe begins with Allied landings at Normandy 6/9/1944 Red Army advances into Finland 6/13/1944 Germans begin launching V­1 rockets against London 6/15/1944 American marines invade Saipan 6/19­20/1944 "Marianas Turkey Shoot" results in destruction of over 200 Japanese aircraft 6/22/1944 Red Army begins massive summer offensive 6/27/1944 American forces liberate Cherbourg 7/3/1944 Soviet forces recapture Minsk 7/9/1944 Allied troops liberate Caen 7/18/1944 American troops liberate St Lô 7/20/1944 Hitler survives assassination attempt 7/24/1944 Soviet forces liberate concentration camp at Majdanek 7/25­30/1944 Allied forces break­out of Normandy encirclement in "Operation Cobra" 7/28/1944 Red Army recaptures Brest­Litovsk 8/1/1944 Polish Home Army begins revolt against Nazis in Warsaw 8/15/1944 Allies invade Southern France 8/19­20/1944 Soviet forces invade Romania 8/23/1944 Rumania capitulates to Soviets 8/25/1944 Paris liberated 8/31/1944 Red Army takes Bucharest 9/3/1944 Brussels liberated 9/4/1944 Antwerp liberated 9/8/1944 Soviets and Finns sign peace treaty 9/13/1944 American troops reach the Siegfried Line in western Germany 9/26/1944 Red Army occupies Estonia 10/2/1944 Nazis brutally crush revolt in Warsaw; Allies advance into Germany 10/5/1944 British invade Greece 10/14/1944 British liberate Athens; Rommel forced to commit suicide for alleged involvement in July assassination plot against Hitler 10/20/1944 Belgrade, Yugoslavia falls to Soviet forces 10/23­26/1944 U.S. naval forces destroy remnants of Japanese Navy at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval engagement in history 11/7/1944 Roosevelt elected to fourth term 12/3/1944 Civil war erupts in Greece; Japanese retreat in Burma 12/15/1944 American forces invade Phillipine island of Mindoro 12/16/1944 German Army launches "Battle of the Bulge" offensive on the Western Front 12/17/1944 Waffen SS executes 81 American prisoners of war in "Malmedy Massacre" 1945 1/9/1945 American forces invade Phillipine island of Luzon 1/16/1945 Battle of the Bulge ends in German defeat 1/17/1945 Red Army liberates Warsaw 1/19/1945 German lines on Eastern Front collapse; full retreat begins 1/20/1945 Hungary signs armistice with Allies 1/26/1945 Soviets liberate Auschwitz 1/27/1945 Red Army occupies Lithuania 2/4­11/1945 Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin meet at Yalta Conference 2/13­14/1945 Allied incendiary raid creates firestorm in Dresden
2/19/1945 American forces land on Iwo Jima 3/3/1945 American forces liberate Manila in the Phillipines; Finland declares war on Germany 3/7/1945 Allies capture Cologne; Ludendorff Rail Bridge on Rhine River captured intact at Ramagen 3/9/1945 Tokyo firebombed 3/16/1945 Japanese resistance on Iwo Jima ends 3/21/1945 Allies take Mandalay, Burma 3/30/1945 Red Army liberates Danzig 4/1/1945 American troops encircle German forces in the Ruhr 4/12/1945 Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies of stroke; Harry Truman becomes President; Allies liberate Belsen and Buchenwald concentration camps 4/16/1945 Red Army launches Berlin offensive; Allies take Nuremberg 4/18/1945 German forces in the Ruhr capitulate 4/28/1945 Mussolini hanged by Italian partisans; Venice falls to Allied forces 4/29/1945 Dachau concentration camp liberated 4/30/1945 Adolf Hitler and wife Eva Braun commit suicide in Chancellery bunker 5/2/1945 All German forces in Italy surrender 5/7/1945 Unconditional surrender of all German forces 5/8/1945 Victory in Europe (VE) Day 5/23/1945 SS Reichführer Heinrich Himmler commits suicide 6/5/1945 Allies divide Germany into occupation zones 6/26/1945 United Nations World Charter signed in San Francisco 7/16/1945 First U.S. atomic bomb tested at Los Alamos, New Mexico; Potsdam Conference begins 7/26/1945 Clement Attlee becomes British Prime Minister 8/6/1945 First atomic bomb dropped Hiroshima 8/8/1945 Soviet Union declares war on Japan; Soviet forces invade Manchuria 8/9/1945 Second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki 8/14/1945 Unconditional surrender of Japanese forces 8/15/1945 Victory over Japan (VJ) Day 9/2/1945 Japanese delegation signs instrument of surrender aboard battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay 11/20/1945 Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal begins 1946 1/7/1946 United Nations meets for first time in London 10/16/1946 Hermann Göring commits suicide; 11 other war criminals hanged