World War 2 Events

1874 Nov 30 Winston Churchill Is Born
A descendant of the famous aristocratic Spencer family, Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, like his father, used the surname Churchill in public life. His ancestor George Spencer had chan...
1919 Jan 18
to 1920 Jan 21
 Paris Peace Conference
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors in World War I to set the peace terms for Germany and other defeated nations, and to deal with the empires of the defeated...
1919 Jun 28 Signing of the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly f...
1922
to 1935
Interwar Peace Church Conferences
These conferences, held in response to the conscientious objection problem during World War I, helped establish the peace stance of the "Historic Peace Churches" in the event that another...
1931 Sep 18 Mukden Incident
On the evening of September 18, 1931, an explosion occurred on the tracks of the South Manchurian Railroad north of the Chinese city of Mukden (today Shen-yang). The railroad was owned an...
1931 Sep 21 Kwantung Army Issues Proclamation Installing Colonel Kenji Doihara as Mayor of Mukden (Modern-Day Shenyang)
The provincial government of Liaoning Province had fled west to Chinchow. Governor Zang Shiyi remained in Mukden, but refused to cooperate with the Japanese in establishing a separatist a...
1931 Sep 30 Lieutenant General Xi Qia Delcares Independence of Kirin Province from the Republic of China Under Protection of the Japanese Army
On 23 September 1931, Lieutenant General Xi Qia of the Kirin Army, was invited by the Japanese to form a provisional government for Kirin Province. In Kirin, the Japanese succeeded in ach...
1931 Nov 4 Resistance at Nenjiang Bridge
The Resistance at Nenjiang Bridge was a small battle fought between forces of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army against the Imperial Japanese Army and collaborationist forces, after...
1931 Nov 15 Battle of Tsitsihar
On November 15, 1931, despite having lost more than 400 killed and 300 wounded since November 5, General Ma declined a Japanese ultimatum to surrender Tsitsihar. On the November 17, in su...
1931 Dec 21
to 1932 Jan 3
 Chinchow Operation
While the other Japanese forces and collaborationist Manchurian troops spread out from their bases along the South Manchurian Railway rail lines to clear the countryside, from Mukden, the...
1932 Jan 28 'January 28 Incident' Sparks Short War Over City of Shanghai Between Japan and China
After the Mukden Incident, Japan had acquired the vast northeastern region of China and would eventually establish the puppet government of Manchukuo. However, the Japanese military plann...
1932 Feb 18 Proclamation of the Manchu State
On 18 February 1932 the Manchu State (Manchukuo, Pinyin: Mǎnzhōuguó)[3] was proclaimed and recognized by Japan on 16 September 1932. The city of Changchun, renamed Xinjing (新京, literally ...
1932 Mar 3 Japanese Army Withdraws from Shanghai, Officially Ending Conflict, Despite Continued Sporadic Fighting
On 29 February, the Japanese 11th Infantry Division landed near Liuhe behind Chinese lines. The defenders launched a desperate counterattack from 1 March but were unable to dislodge the J...
1932 Apr 7 Ma Zhanshan Announces Reestablishment of the “Heilungkiang Provincial Government” Independent of Manchukuo (Manchu State)
At Heihe on April 7, Ma announced the reestablishment of the “Heilungkiang Provincial Government” independent of Manchukuo, and reorganized his troops into 9 brigades at the beginning of ...
1933
to 1938
Rise of Hitler to Power
"At the risk of appearing to talk nonsense I tell you that the Nazi movement will go on for 1,000 years!… Don’t forget how people laughed at me 15 years ago when I declared that one day I ..." —Adolf Hitler
1933
to 1945
The Jewish Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as Shoah is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a program of systematic state-sponso...
1933 Jan 1
to 1933 May 31
 Defense of the Great Wall
Falling back from Rehe, Wan Fulin's 32nd Corps retreated to Lengkou Pass, while the 29th Corps of General Song Zheyuan also fell back, Zhang Zuoxiang's 37th Division retreated to Xifengko...
1933 Jan 7 Japanese Forces Take Over Mishan
On December 24, 1932, the Japanese 10th Division attacked guerrilla forces to the north of Mudanjiang River. January 5, 1933, General Kuan Chang-ching was forced to surrender his Voluntee...
1933 Jan 30 Hindenburg Appoints Hitler Chancellor of Germany
On the morning of 30 January 1933, in Hindenburg's office, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor during what some observers later described as a brief and simple ceremony. His first spe...
1933 Feb 3 Adolf Hitler First Reveals his Foreign Policy Goal of Conquering the Lebensraum
In a meeting with his leading generals and admirals on 3 February 1933 Hitler spoke of "conquest of Lebensraum in the East and its ruthless Germanisation" as his ultimate foreign policy o...
1933 Feb 21
to 1933 Mar 1
 Battle of Rehe
The Battle of Rehe (sometimes called the Battle of Jehol) was the second part of Operation Nekka, a campaign by which the Empire of Japan successfully captured the Inner Mongolian provinc...
1933 Feb 27 Reichstag Fire Decree
The Reichstag Fire Decree is the common name of the Order of the Reich's President for the Protection of People and State issued by German President Paul von Hindenburg in direct response...
1933 Mar 23 Enabling Act passed by Reichstag
The Enabling Act was passed by Germany's Reichstag and signed by President Paul von Hindenburg on March 23, 1933. It was the second major step, after the Reichstag Fire Decree, through wh...
1933 May 31 Signing of the Tanggu Truce Formally Ends the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
The Tanggu Truce resulted in the de facto recognition of the existence of Manchukuo by the Kuomingtang government, and acknowledgement of the loss of Rehe. It provided for a temporary end...
1934 Aug Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany
After President Hindenburg died on August 2, 1934, Hitler replaced the offices of chancellor and president with a single dictatorial position by declaring himself Führer ("Leader") of a n...
1936 Nov 14 Inner Mongolian Army Faction Attacks Chinese Garrison at Hongort
On November 14, 1936 a coalition of the Inner Mongolian Army's 7th and 8th Cavalry Divisions, Wang Ying's Grand Han Righteous Army, and Mongol mercenaries from Jehol, Chahar and other are...
1936 Nov 25
to 1937 Nov 6
 Axis Powers formed through Anti-Comintern Pact
The Anti-Comintern Pact was concluded between Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan (later to be joined by other countries) on November 25, 1936 and was directed against the Communist Inte...
1937 Jul 7
to 1937 Jul 9
 Marco Polo Bridge Incident (Battle of Lugou Bridge)
From June 1937, Japanese troops carried out intensive military training maneuvers in the vicinity of the western end of the Marco Polo Bridge. These were held every night (other foreign g...
1937 Jul 7
to 1945 Sep 9
 Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought alone...
1937 Jul 25 Fighting Erupts at Langfang Between Chinese and Japanese Troops Despite Recent Truce
By 25 July, Japanese reinforcements in the form of the IJA 20th Division arrived and fighting re-erupted first at Langfang, a city on the railroad between Beijing and Tianjin, between com...
1937 Jul 29 Tungchow Mutiny
The Tungchow Mutiny (通州事件 Tsushu jiken, Chinese: 通州事件; pinyin: Tōngzhōu Shìjiàn), sometimes referred to as the Tōngzhōu Incident, was an assault on Japanese troops and civilians by Japane...
1937 Jul 30 Tianjin Falls to Japanese Forces
Meanwhile on the coast at dawn of 29 July, the IJA 5th Division and Japanese naval forces separately attacked Tianjin and the port at Tanggu, which were defended by units of Chinese 38th ...
1937 Aug 8 Beijing Falls to Japanese Forces
On 28 July, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Song Zheyuan to retreat to Paoting in southern Hebei province. Over the next two days, intense fighting took place in Tianjin, where the Chinese forces...
1937 Aug 8 Japanese Forces Begin Attack on Chinese at Nankou
On August 8th the Japanese 11th Independent Mixed Brigade, commanded by Gen. Shigiyasu Suzuki began their attack on the left flank of the 13th Corps position at Nankou but were thwarted a...
1937 Aug 13
to 1937 Aug 22
 First Phase in the Battle of Shanghai
Around 9am on August 13, the Chinese Peace Preservation Corps exchanged small arms fire with Japanese troops in Zhabei, Wusong, and Jiangwan districts of Shanghai. Around 3pm the Japanese...
1937 Aug 23
to 1937 Oct 26
 Phase Two in the Battle of Shanghai
On August 23, the Japanese Shanghai Expeditionary Army, led by Iwane Matsui, landed in Liuhe, Wusong (吳淞), and Chuanshakou. Chiang Kai-shek had expected these coastal towns to be vulnerab...
1937 Sep 21 Japanese Army Air Service Commences Aerial Bombing of Nanking
On September 21, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, commanded by Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, began aerial bombardment of Nanking. The aerial bombardment campaign consisted of more t...
1937 Oct 26 Xie Jinyuan Leads Chinese Defense of Sihang Warehouse Against Japanese Aggression as Generalissimo Chiang Withdraws Forces West of Shanghai
The Defense of Sihang Warehouse (simplified Chinese: 四行仓库; traditional Chinese: 四行倉庫; pinyin: Sìháng Cāngkù) took place from October 26 to November 1, 1937, and marked the beginning of th...
1937 Oct 27
to 1937 Nov 26
 Phase Three in the Battle of Shanghai
Starting the night of October 26, the Chinese began withdrawing from Shanghai urban center. Because Dachang and other vital suburban towns had been lost already, Chiang Kai-shek ordered t...
1937 Nov 1 Chinese Defense of Sihang Warehouse against Japanese Ends with with Foreign Intervention
The Japanese launched a new wave of attack at 7 a.m. on the 30th. There were fewer infantry assaults at the warehouse this time; the Japanese attack was mainly concentrated cannon fire. B...
1937 Nov 9 Japanese Forces Take Taiyuan and Surrounding Area, Ending Large-Scale Resistance in the North China Area
The Japanese offensive called 太原作戦 or the Battle of Taiyuan (traditional Chinese: 太原會戰; pinyin: Tàiyuán Huìzhàn; Wade-Giles: T'ai-yüan Hui-tsan) was a major battle fought between China an...
1937 Nov 11 Japanese are Victorious Over Chinese at Xinkou
Yan Xishan gathered all available Chinese troops under his command to make a stand at Xinkou, because this location is flanked by Wutaishan and Yunzhonshan, which is favorable for the def...
1937 Dec 10 General Matsui Iwane Issues Order to Japanese Army to Take Nanking by Force
The Japanese awaited an answer to their demand for surrender. When no Chinese envoy had arrived by 1:00 p.m. on December 10, General Matsui Iwane issued the command to take Nanking by for...
1937 Dec 12 Japanese Attack on United States Gunboat Panay
A flat-bottomed craft built in Shanghai specifically for river duty, Panay served as part of the U.S. Navy's Yangtze Patrol in the Asiatic Fleet, which was responsible for patrolling the ...
1937 Dec 13 Japanese Soldiers Begin Six-Week 'Rape of Nanking'
"I know not where to end. Never I have heard or read such brutality. Rape! Rape! Rape! We estimate at least 1,000 cases a night, and many by day. In case of resistance or anything that see..." —Reverend James M. McCallum
1937 Dec 13 Nanking Falls to Japanese Troops
On the afternoon of December 13, the Shanghai Expeditionary Force Headquarters at Tangshuizhen was ambushed by Chinese stragglers. The Japanese repelled them, but they attacked again arou...
1938
to 1939
Road to War
Under the Versailles Settlement, Czechoslovakia was created, including the Sudetenland, which had a large German population.Hitler,on its first course of territorial aggression formed a p...
1938 Feb 18 Japanese Army Begins Sustained Bombing of Chongqing
The bombing of Chongqing (Traditional Chinese: 重慶大轟炸, Simplified Chinese: 重庆大轰炸, Japanese: 重慶爆撃, from 18 February 1938 to 23 August 1943) was part of an Imperial Japanese Army Air Service...
1938 Mar 13 Edward R. Murrow and William Shirer Report on Hitler's Anschluss
Murrow gained his first glimpse of fame during the March 1938 Anschluss, in which Adolf Hitler engineered the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. While Murrow was in Poland arranging a...
1938 Mar 24
to 1938 Apr 7
 Battle of Taierzhuang
The Battle of Tai'erzhuang (simplified Chinese: 台儿庄会战; traditional Chinese: 臺兒莊會戰; pinyin: Tái'érzhūang Huìzhàn) was a battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, between armies of Ch...