World War 2 Timeline

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