1920s: Germanys Economy is Destroyed November 1923 Hitler attempts a coup and fails. Sent to jail where he writes Mein Kampf October 1929 Stock Market Crash (US). Further destroys German Economy 1930 1937: Rise of the Nazis / Japanese Expansion in Asia September 1930 Nazis win 18% of seats in Parliament September 1931 Japan invades Manchuria January 1933 Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany November 1936 Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy form an Alliance November 1936 Japan and Nazi Germany form an Alliance July 1937 Japan invades China 1938: German Expansion Begins March 1938 Germany annexes Austria September 1938 Germany annexes part of Czechoslovakia November 1938 Jews are attacked across Germany (Kristallnacht) 1939: WWII Begins in Europe March 1939 Great Britain and France promise to protect Poland August 1939 Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union make a secret alliance to invade Poland September 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland, Britain and France Declare War on Germany September 17, 1939 The Soviet Union invades Poland (Britain and France do not declare war) September 27, 1939 Poland surrenders, divided by Germany and Soviet Union November 1939 Soviet Union invades Finland 1940: German Expansion & the Axis Powers April 1940 Germany invades Denmark and Norway May 1940 Germany attacks Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, France (All are defeated by end of June)
June 1940 Italy enters war, invades France from south
June 1940 Soviet Union invades Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) September 1940 Germany, Italy and Japan sign formal Alliance (Axis Powers) October 1940 Italy invades Greece November 1940 Slovakia, Hungary and Romania join Axis Bulgaria joins 4 months later 1941: Axis Expansion Continues / US Joins the War April 1941 The Axis invade Yugoslavia June 1941 Germany and the Axis invade the Soviet Union, breaking the former treaty December 1941 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor December 1941 US declares war on Japan, Japan invades Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore December 1941 Hitler and the Axis declare war on the USA December 1941 Nazis begin systematic murder of Jews in concentration camps 1942: The Allies Push Back May, 1942 The British and Americans begin bombing Germany June 1942 The British and Americans stop Japanese expansion at the Battle of Midway November 1942 The US stops the Japanese advancing toward Australia October 1942 The British defeat the Germans and Italians in Egypt 1943: Continued Losses for the Axis February 1943 The Soviet Union ends the German advance at the Battle of Stalingrad May 1943 The Axis armies in North Africa are defeated November 1943 The Soviet Union begin retaking Russian cities from the Germans 1944: Germany Surrounded June 1944 The Allies land in Normandy France and begin attacking Germany from the West June 1944 The Soviet Union has pushed Germany out of Russia and is now invading from the East August 1944 Western Europe is liberated, the Allies are on the German borders
August 1944 The Germans are forced out of the Balkans
1944 The US lands in the Philippines December 1944 The Nazis attempt a final invasion of Belgium (Battle of the Bulge) and fail
1945: Germany and Japan Surrender
March 1945 US troops invade Germany April 1945 The Soviet Union encircles Berlin Hitler commits suicide May 1945 Germany surrenders May 1945 The Allies conquer Okinawa the last island before Japan August 6, 1945 The US drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima August 8, 1945 The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria August 9, 1945 The United States drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki August 10, 1945 The Soviet Union invades North Korea August 14, 1945 Japan agrees to surrender, formally surrenders September 2
Post WWII: Decolonization and the Cold War
1945 Indonesia begins war of independence from the Dutch 1946 Vietnam begins war of independence from France 1947 Libya gains independence from Italy 1947 India gains independence from the British 1947 Truman Doctrine The USA promises to support any country against the spread of communism 1947 Marshall Plan US gives aid to help rebuild Europe 1949 Germany is split between the US and the Soviet Union 1949 The Soviet Union becomes the second country with nuclear weapons June, 1950 Communist North Korea invades the US-Allied South Korea