Timeline of World War II facts for kids

This is Timeline of World War II, which shows the event linked to World War II during 1931-1945.

Before the war

• 1931- September 18: Japan invades the Manchuria region of China, starting Second Sino-Japanese War.
• 1933-
  • January 30: Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany.
  • February 27: The Reichstag is set on fire.
  • March 23: The Reichstag passes Enabling Act, giving Hitler dictatorship power.
  • June 28: Only Nazi Party remains in Germany.
• 1934- August 2: Hitler becomes German head of state.
• 1935-
  • January 7: The League of Nations allows Germany to add Saar to its territory.
  • March 16: Hitler orders military buildup in Germany
  • April: France, Britain, and Italy form the "Stresa Front", set up to defend Austrian independence, and will not allow Germany to change the Treaty of Versailles.
  • June 18: The Anglo-German Naval Agreement is signed by Germany and the United Kingdom to limit the size of their navies.
  • October 2: Italy invades Ethiopia, beginning the Second Italo–Abyssinian War.
• 1936-
  • May 7: Italy add Ethiopia to its territory.
  • July 18: Spanish Civil War begins.
  • October 25: Rome-Berlin Axis is formed.
• 1937- Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Second Sino-Japanese War.
• 1938- September 30: The Munich agreement is signed.
• 1939-
  • March 15: Germany invades Czechoslovakia. The country is divided and added to many countries.
  • April 1: The Spanish Civil War ends with the nationalist victory. Francisco Franco becomes the head of state.
  • May 22: The Pact of Steel between Germany and Italy is signed.
  • August 23: The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union is signed. The two secretly agree to divide Eastern Europe between themselves.

Wartime

1939

• September 1: Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe (European War).
• September 3: Britain and France warns Germany to move all soldiers out of Poland or there will be war. Germany does not respond. Britain and France declare war on Germany.
• September 17: The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east.
• October 5-10: Baltic states sign "assistance pacts" with the Soviet Union, allowing it to have soldiers in these countries.
• October 6: The Polish fight comes to an end.
• October 20: The "Phoney War" begins.
• November 24: Japan announces the capture of Nanjing, the Chinese capital at the time.
• November 30: The Soviet Union invades Finland in the Winter War.

1940

• 9 April: Denmark surrenders
• May 10: Germany invades Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• May 25: The Allies falls back to Dunkirk. Hitler orders to stop attacking the Allies troops by land.
• May 26: The Allies starts moving their soldiers from Dunkirk. By June 4, more than 300,000 Allies troops are transported to Britain.
• June 2: Norway surrenders.
• June 10: Italy declares war on Britain and France.
• June 18: The Soviet Union occupies the Baltic states.
• June 25: France formally surrenders.
• July 10: The Battle of Britain begins.
• September 9: The Italian army in Libya invades Egypt.
• September 27: The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin by Germany, Italy, and Japan.
• October 15: Italy invades Greece.
• December 6-9: The Italians are pushed back in Egypt.

1941

• January 16: British troops start to counter-attack on Italian-held Ethiopia.
• March 24: German troops in Africa under Erwin Rommel's command wins for the first time. Within three weeks, the British are driven back to Egypt.
• April 6: Germany attacks Yugoslavia and Greece.
• April 27: Greece surrenders.
• May 20: German paratroopers land in Crete. The battle on the island lasts for seven days.
• June 22: Germany invades the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa. Many European Axis are also present. German soldiers are sent to Finland.
• September 1: Leningrad is under siege.
• September 19: Kiev is captured.
• October 2: Battle of Moscow begins.
• November 27: The Siege of Tobruk is broken.
• December 5: German attack on Moscow is cancelled. The Soviets start counter-attacking.
• December 7: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and many South East Asian nations, starting World War II in the Pacific (Pacific War).

1942

• April 18: The Doolittle Raid is launched, bombing Tokyo from the United States
• June 4: Americans defeat Japan at Midway Island.

1943

• February 2: German forces surrender at Stalingrad.
• September 8: Italy surrenders.

1944

• June 6: American, British and Canadian soldiers invade Normandy.
• August 25: Paris, France is Liberated
• December 16: German forces attack Americans in Belgium, beginning the Battle of the Bulge.
• United States enters Germany

1945

• April 30: Hitler commits suicide.
• May 7: Germany surrenders.
• August 6: The First Atomic Bomb is dropped on Hiroshima.
• August 9: The Second Atomic Bomb is dropped on Nagasaki.
• September 2: Japan surrenders, ending the war.

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Cronología de la Segunda Guerra Mundial para niños