1931
September 18 -- Japan invaded Manchuria in North China.

1937
July 7 -- Japan invaded China.

1940
September 22 -- Japan pushed into French Indochina.

1941
April 13 -- Japan and Russia signed a non-aggression pact.
June 8 -- British and French forces invaded Syria.
August 25 -- Russian and British forces invaded Iran.
December 7 -- The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
December 8 -- The United States declared war on Japan.
December 9 -- China declared war on Germany, Italy, and Japan.
December 10 -- Guam surrendered to the Japanese.
December 23 -- Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese.
December 25 -- British troops at Hong Kong surrendered.

1942
January 2 -- Manila fell to invading Japanese forces
January 11 -- The Japanese landed in the Netherlands East Indies.
February 1 -- U.S. ships raided the Marshalls and Gilberts.
February 15 -- Singapore surrendered to the Japanese.
February 27 -- The Allies lost the Battle of Java Sea.
March 7 -- The Japanese occupied the Netherlands East Indies.
April 9 -- Bataan surrendered to the Japanese.
April 18 -- U.S. carrier-based aircraft bombed Tokyo.
May 4-8 -- The Allies won the Battle of the Coral Sea.
May 6 -- The Japanese occupied Corregidor.
June 4-6 -- The Battle of Midway ended Japan's expansion eastward.
August 7 -- U.S. marines landed on Guadalcanal.

1943
March 2-5 -- The Allies defeated a Japanese naval force in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
March 13 -- Japanese troops retreated across the Yangtze.
May 30 -- Organized Japanese resistance on Attu ended.
October 2 -- Allied forces captured Finschhafen.
November 1 -- U.S. troops landed on Bougainville Island.
November 20 -- U.S. marines invaded Tarawa and Makin.
November 22 -- The Allies conferred at Cairo in Egypt.

1944
January 31 -- U.S. troops attacked Kwajalein atoll.
February 17 -- U.S. naval forces raided Truk Island.
February 29 -- Allied soldiers landed in the Admiralties.
March 22 -- Japanese troops crossed the border of India.
April 22 -- Allied forces landed at Hollandia.
June 15 -- U.S. marines invaded Saipan Island.
June 15 -- B-29 Superfortresses raided Japan.
June 19-20 -- U.S. forces won the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
July 21 -- U.S. troops landed on Guam Island.
September 15 -- U.S. marines invaded Peleliu Island.
October 20 -- U.S. Army forces landed on Leyte.
October 23-26 -- The U.S. Pacific Fleet crushed the Japanese fleet in the Battle for Leyte Gulf.

1945
January 9 -- Allied troops invaded Luzon, Philippines.
January 22 -- The Allies reopened a land route to China.
February 19 -- U.S. marines stormed Iwo Jima Island.
April 1 -- U.S. troops landed on Okinawa Island.
August 6 -- The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
August 9 -- The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
August 10 -- Japan opened peace negotiations.
August 14 -- Japan accepted the Allied surrender terms.
September 2 -- Japan signed the terms of surrender.
September 8 -- Japanese forces in China surrendered.
September 12 -- Japanese troops in Southeast Asia surrendered.

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This page was last updated on 11/14/2017.