A TIMELINE OF EVENTSFROM 1936-1941

The Road to WW II:1936-1941

1936

February: ratification of Franco-Soviet PactMarch: Hitler remilitarizes RhinelandMarch: Italy wins last battle in war w/EthiopiaMay: Italy annexes Ethiopia & merges it

w/Eritrea and Somaliland to form Italian East Africa

July: Spanish Civil War begins—Hitler & Mussolini send troops & aircraft to assistance Generalissimo Francisco Franco and his Nationalists

October: Rome-Berlin AxisAnti-Comintern Pact: Germany & Japan pledge

to fight international communism

1937

January: Japan withdraws from Washington Conference (which limited size of the navy)

June: Stalin begins purge of Red ArmyJuly: Marco Polo Bridge Incident begins

second Sino-Japanese WarNovember: Hossbach Memorandum—foreign

policy goal to be Lebensraum & the need to seize Austria & Czechoslovakia to military & foreign policy leaders

November: Italy joins Anti-Comintern PactNovember: Rape of Nanking

1938

March: Anschluss w/Austria—Gau Ostmark (Greater Germany)

March: Hitler begins advocating equality for Germans in Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland

May: May Crisis leads to Cz, Br, Fr & USSR promise to resist a German attack on Czechoslovakia

May: Hitler issues Case Green a directive to occupy Czechslovakia

September: Munich Agreement & annexation of Sudetenland into Germany

1939

January: Neville Chamberlain recognizes Franco govt. in Spain (largely criticized)

January: Hitler Speech–declares if Jews want war they will get it & be annihilated

March: Czech president accepts making a region a protectorate of Germany; Slovakia & Ruthenia declares independence of Czechoslovaki (Rump State)

March: Germany occupies CzechoslovakiaMarch: France declares intent to increase

defense spending

1939

March: Soviets suggests collective action by USSR, Br, Fr, Poland & Romania aimed at Germany

March: Britain gives minimal interest to Soviet suggestion

March: Hitler reiterates return of Danzig & Polisg Corridor to Germany

March: Memel returned to & occupied by Germany (Lithuania); Poland cautions Germany on similar action w/Danzig

March: British decide to side work w/Poland instead of multinational approach

1939

March: Britain & France declare intention to support by Poland

April: Franco wins Spanish Civil WarApril: Hitler issues Case White—planned

invasion of PolandApril: USSR proposes 10 year alliance w/Br &

FrApril: Hitler denounces the non-aggression

pact w/Poland (1934) & Anglo-German Naval Agreement, demands return of Danzig, and declares Anglo-Polish Pact directed at Germany

1939

May: Germany offers Scandinavian countries non-aggression pacts, only Denmark accepts

May-Sept: Japan & Soviet border clashes go poorly for Japan, looks south & east—USA

May: Pact of Steel between Italy & Germany support in event of war

July: USA withdraws from a commercial treaty w/Japan

August: Poland rejects Soviet request to send troops into Poland

1939

August: Germany & USSR sign trade agreement23 August: Nazi-Soviet non-Aggression Pact25 August: British-Polish common defense pact

signed; Mussolini informs Hitler that Italy not ready for war yet

26 August: Hitler postpones invasion of Poland until 1 September

27 August: Br & Fr try to persuade Poland to negotiate w/Germany—refuse

1 September: Germany invades Poland3 September: Br & Fr declare war on Germany

1939-1940

October 1939: Poland surrendersOctober 1929: USSR invades EstoniaNovember 1939-March 1940: Winter War—USSR

v. FinlandNovember 1939: US Neutrality Acts—Br & Fr

may buy arms but only cash basisOctober 1939-April1940: Sitzkrieg or Phony WarApril : Germany attacks Denmark & NorwayMay: Germany attacks Low Countries & FranceMay: Winston Churchill becomes PM of Great

Britain

1940

June: Italy declares war on Br & FrJune: France fallsJune: Soviet led coups in Baltic StatesJuly: Vichy Government established in FranceJuly: US begins earliest stage of planning for

mobilizationJuly: Battle of Britain beginsSeptember: USA begins 1st peacetime

conscription in its historySeptember: Japan occupies Indochina

1940

September: Tripartite Pact—Germany, Italy & Japan pledge mutual assistance; Axis emerges as term (Hungary, Romania, Slovak Republic will later join)

October: Germany postpones any invasion of Britain (Operation Sealion)

October: Italy invades GreeceNovember: Franklin D. Roosevelt wins

unprecedented 3rd term as US PresidentDecember: Italy request German military

assistance vs. Greece

1941

February: German forces arrive in North Africa to aid Italy (June 1940)

March: US begins Lend-Lease (begins US supply of material to Br, Fr, China, & USSR; ends pretext of US neutrality)

April: German begins invasion of Greece & Yugoslavia

April: US volunteer pilots arrive in China to fight Japanese (Flying Tigers)

April: US begins sea patrols in Atlantic

1941

22 June 1941: Operation Barbarossa—German invasion of USSR

June: US freezes all German & Italian assetsJuly: USSR begins scorched earth policyJuly: Yugoslavia dissolved into component

parts by Axis invadersJuly: US seizes all Japanese assets in US

(response to Indochina)July: Japan occupies rest of IndochinaAugust: US announces oil embargo of Japan

(US Supplied more than 80% of Japan’s oil)

1941

August: Atlantic Charter signed by Churchill & Roosevelt (vision of post-war world)

September: US Navy authorized to shoot on sight if convoy or ship threatened by U-Boats & raiders

October: Lend-Lease extended to USSR (where Leningrad & Moscow under siege)

26 November: Hull Note demands Japanese troops withdraw from Indochina (Cordell Hull, US Sec of State)

1941

August: Atlantic Charter signed by Churchill & Roosevelt (vision of post-war world)

September: US Navy authorized to shoot on sight if convoy or ship threatened by U-Boats & raiders

October: Lend-Lease extended to USSR (where Leningrad & Moscow under siege)

26 November: Hull Note demands Japanese troops withdraw from Indochina (Cordell Hull, US Sec of State)

1941

26 November: Japanese fleet heads for Hawaii

2 December: Tojo (military PM of Japan) reject US peace feelers

5 December: Germans ends attack on Moscow

7 December: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor7 December: Japan attacks US in Guam &

Wake Island 7 December: Japan invades Thailand &

British Malaya

1941

8 December: US declares war on Japan (Br, NZ & Netherlands also declare war on Japan)

9 December: China & Australia declare war on Japan

11 December: Germany & Italy declare war on USA

11 December: US reciprocates & declares war on Germany & Italy

World War II not fully engaged