SEPTEMBER 1931
Japan invades Manchuria, China.
AUGUST 1937
Japan further invades China.
SEPTEMBER 1, 1939
Nazi Germany invades Poland.
SEPTEMBER 3, 1939
Britain, France, Australia, and India declare war on Nazi Germany.
MAY 15, 1940
Dutch (Netherlands) army surrenders to Nazi Germany.
JULY 24, 1941
Japanese troops begin occupation of French-controlled Indochina.
JULY 26, 1941
U.S. freezes all Japanese assets.
AUGUST 1, 1941
U.S. begins oil embargo against Japan; British and Dutch soon join.
DECEMBER 7–8, 1941
Japanese troops land in Malaya and Siam. Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, forcing U.S. into World War II.
DECEMBER 9, 1941
Australia and New Zealand declare war on Japan.
DECEMBER 10, 1941
HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse are sunk off coast of Malaya. Japan lands troops in Philippines.
DECEMBER 11, 1941
Nazi Germany and fascist Italy declare war on the United States.
DECEMBER 14, 1941
Japan begins invasion of Burma.
DECEMBER 17 and 20, 1941
Japan invades North Borneo and then the Netherlands East Indies.
DECEMBER 25, 1941
Japan invades and captures Hong Kong.
JANUARY 9, 1942
Following the capture of Manila by Japan, the siege of Bataan begins.
JANUARY 23, 1942
Japanese land on Solomon Islands.
JANUARY 25, 1942
British-led forces in Malaya ordered to withdraw to island of Singapore.
FEBRUARY 15, 1942
British surrender Singapore to Japan.
MARCH 7, 1942
Japanese land in New Guinea.
MARCH 11, 1942
General MacArthur leaves Philippines for Australia.
APRIL 7, 1942
U.S. and Filipino troops surrender on Bataan; “Death March” follows.
APRIL 18, 1942
Sixteen USAAF B-25 bombers (launched from the USS Hornet off the coast of Japan) bomb Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
MAY 6, 1942
Corregidor island falls to Japan.
MAY 7–8, 1942
Battle of the Coral Sea slows Japan.
JUNE 4–5, 1942
Battle of Midway is Japan’s first defeat in the Pacific.
AUGUST 7–8, 1942
First U.S. landings on Guadalcanal. Battle of Savo Island helps Japan.
SEPTEMBER 27, 1942
Japan’s advance on Port Moresby is halted.
NOVEMBER 12–13, 1942
Naval battle of Guadalcanal begins.
JANUARY 21, 1943
Japanese base at Gona, New Guinea, captured; Sananada Point cleared.
FEBRUARY 9, 1943
Last Japanese troops begin to leave Guadalcanal.
JUNE 20, 1943
U.S. troops land on New Georgia.
AUGUST 15, 1943
U.S. troops land on Vella Lavella.
OCTOBER 6–7, 1943
Japanese evacuate Vella Lavella.
NOVEMBER 20, 1943
U.S. landings on Tarawa and Bougainville.
JANUARY 30, 1944
U.S. landings on Marshall Islands.
FEBRUARY 17, 1944
Eniwetok Atoll attacked and secured by U.S. forces.
MARCH 8, 1944
Japan’s offensive from Burma into India begins.
APRIL 22, 1944
MacArthur’s forces land in New Guinea.
JUNE 15, 1944
Americans land on Saipan and begin Strategic bombing campaign.
JUNE 19, 1944
Battle of the Philippine Sea wages the war’s biggest carrier fight.
JULY 9, 1944
Saipan secured by U.S. forces.
JULY 18, 1944
Japan defeated at Imphal, India.
JULY 21–24, 1944
U.S. landings on Guam and Tinian.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1944
U.S. forces land on Peleliu.
OCTOBER 24, 1944
U.S. landings at Leyte, Philippines. Battle of Leyte Gulf.
JANUARY 9, 1945
U.S. forces land on Luzon.
FEBRUARY 1945
Battle for Manila begins.
FEBRUARY 19, 1945
U.S. forces land on Iwo Jima.
MARCH 3, 1945
MacArthur’s U.S. forces capture Manila.
MARCH 9, 1945
First firebomb attack on Tokyo.
MARCH 20, 1945
British-led troops secure Mandalay, Burma.
MARCH 26, 1945
Fighting ends on Iwo Jima.
APRIL 1, 1945
U.S. troops land on Okinawa.
APRIL 12, 1945
Truman becomes president after the death of President Roosevelt.
MAY 3, 1945
Allied troops capture Rangoon, Burma.
AUGUST 6, 1945
U.S. drops atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
AUGUST 8, 1945
USSR declares war on Japan.
AUGUST 9, 1945
U.S. drops atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
AUGUST 14, 1945
Japanese emperor radio broadcasts to the country, accepting surrender.
SEPTEMBER 2, 1945
Formal surrender of Japan signed aboard the USS Missouri, in Tokyo Bay.
MAY 3, 1946
Tokyo war crimes tribunal begins.
AUGUST 14–15, 1947
India becomes independent from Britain.
JUNE 12, 1948
Armed struggle against the British in Malaya for independence.
OCTOBER 1, 1949
Mao Zedong declares Communist People’s Republic of China.
DECEMBER 31, 1949
The Dutch formally surrender control over Indonesia.
SEPTEMBER 1951
U.S.-led occupation of Japan ends.