1941

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• On 11 March, following pressure from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the US Congress passes the Lend-Lease Act, which exchanges military aid to Britain and its allies for the lease of bases in British possessions.

• On 22 June, German troops invade the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, the largest land invasion in history. Einsatzgruppen (Action Groups) slaughter up to 500,000 Jews. From 5 December, Soviet troops halt the German advance north of Moscow.

• On 7 December, Japanese aircraft attack the US fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii without warning. The next day, the US and Britain declare war on Japan. On 11 December, Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.

• The US army adopts the Jeep.

• During the German siege of Leningrad, musician Dimitri Shostakovitch composes his 7th Symphony.

• American film-maker Orson Welles directs and stars in Citizen Kane, a film that uses innovative camerawork to tell the story of a newspaper tycoon based on William Randolph Hearst.

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