A timeline of events From 1936-1941 The Road to WW II: 1936-1941 A timeline of events From 1936-1941

1936 February: ratification of Franco-Soviet Pact March: Hitler remilitarizes Rhineland March: Italy wins last battle in war w/Ethiopia May: 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 Axis Anti-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 Army July: Marco Polo Bridge Incident begins second Sino-Japanese War November: Hossbach Memorandum—foreign policy goal to be Lebensraum & the need to seize Austria & Czechoslovakia to military & foreign policy leaders November: Italy joins Anti-Comintern Pact November: 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 Czechoslovakia March: 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 War April: Hitler issues Case White—planned invasion of Poland April: USSR proposes 10 year alliance w/Br & Fr April: 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 agreement 23 August: Nazi-Soviet non-Aggression Pact 25 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 Poland 3 September: Br & Fr declare war on Germany

1939-1940 October 1939: Poland surrenders October 1929: USSR invades Estonia November 1939-March 1940: Winter War—USSR v. Finland November 1939: US Neutrality Acts—Br & Fr may buy arms but only cash basis October 1939-April1940: Sitzkrieg or Phony War April : Germany attacks Denmark & Norway May: Germany attacks Low Countries & France May: Winston Churchill becomes PM of Great Britain

1940 June: Italy declares war on Br & Fr June: France falls June: Soviet led coups in Baltic States July: Vichy Government established in France July: US begins earliest stage of planning for mobilization July: Battle of Britain begins September: USA begins 1st peacetime conscription in its history September: 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 Greece November: Franklin D. Roosevelt wins unprecedented 3rd term as US President December: 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 assets July: USSR begins scorched earth policy July: Yugoslavia dissolved into component parts by Axis invaders July: US seizes all Japanese assets in US (response to Indochina) July: Japan occupies rest of Indochina August: 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 Harbor 7 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