|
1939 |
|
|
1 September |
Germany invades Poland. |
|
3 September |
Britain and France declare war on Germany. |
|
17 September |
Soviet Union invades eastern Poland. |
|
27 September |
Surrender of Warsaw. |
|
30 November |
Soviet Union invades Finland. |
|
13 December |
Battle of River Plate in the South Atlantic. |
|
1940 |
|
|
12 March |
Finland signs peace treaty with Soviet Union. |
|
9 April |
Germany invades Denmark and Norway. |
|
10 May |
Germany invades Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. |
|
10 May |
Winston Churchill becomes British prime minister. |
|
13 May |
Bombing of Rotterdam. |
|
15 May |
Holland surrenders to Germany. |
|
26 May |
Start of the Dunkirk evacuation. |
|
28 May |
Belgium surrenders to Germany. |
|
10 June |
Capitulation of Norway. |
|
10 June |
Italy declares war on Britain and France. |
|
14 June |
Germans occupy Paris. |
|
18 June |
Soviets annex Baltic states. |
|
22 June |
France signs armistice with Germany. |
|
30 June |
Germany begins occupation of the Channel Islands. |
|
3 July |
British sink French fleet docked in Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria. |
|
11 July |
Pétain becomes head of French Vichy government. |
|
13 August |
Battle of Britain begins, |
|
13 September |
Italy invades Egypt. |
|
15 September |
Climax of Battle of Britain. |
|
27 September |
Germany, Italy and Japan sign Tripartite Pact. |
|
7 October |
German army moves into Romania. |
|
28 October |
Italy invades Greece. |
|
14 November |
Bombing of Coventry. |
|
14 November |
Greek army repels Italians back into Albania. |
|
22 November |
Italian army defeated by Greeks. |
|
9 December |
British offensive begins in North Africa. |
|
1941 |
|
|
22 January |
British take Tobruk. |
|
11 March |
USA passes Lend-Lease Bill. |
|
25 March |
Yugoslavia signs Tripartite Pact. |
|
27 March |
Yugoslavian government overthrown – Yugoslavia leaves Pact. |
|
30 March |
German Afrika Korps begins offensive in North Africa. |
|
6 April |
Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece. |
|
12 April |
Germans occupy Belgrade. |
|
13 April |
Soviet Union and Japan sign neutrality pact. |
|
17 April |
Yugoslav army surrenders to Germans. |
|
27 April |
Germans capture Athens. |
|
20 May |
German airborne invasion of Crete. |
|
24 May |
The HMS Hood is sunk |
|
27 May |
The Bismarck is sunk. |
|
31 May |
British forces in Crete defeated. |
|
22 June |
Operation Barbarossa – Germany invades Soviet Union. |
|
22 June |
Italy and Romania declare war on Soviet Union. |
|
26 June |
Finland declares war on Soviet Union. |
|
7 July |
German forces enter Estonia. |
|
16 July |
Germans capture Smolensk. |
|
21 August |
First Arctic Convoy to Russia leaves Iceland. |
|
28 August |
German forces take Tallinn. |
|
8 September |
Siege of Leningrad starts. |
|
19 September |
Germans capture Kiev. |
|
24 October |
Germans capture Kharkov. |
|
3 November |
Germans capture Kursk. |
|
5 December |
Germans abandon attack on Moscow. |
|
7 December |
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. |
|
7 December |
Japan invades Malaya. |
|
8 December |
USA and Allies declare war on Japan. (Soviet Union remains neutral.) |
|
10 December |
British battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse sunk off Malaya. |
|
11 December |
Germany (and Italy) declares war on USA. |
|
11 December |
Japan attacks Burma. |
|
25 December |
Japanese capture Hong Kong. |
|
1942 |
|
|
2 January |
Japanese capture Manila. |
|
13 January |
Soviets recapture Kiev. |
|
21 January |
Japan invades Burma. |
|
15 February |
Singapore falls to the Japanese. |
|
27 February |
Battle of Java Sea. |
|
8 March |
Japanese occupy Rangoon. |
|
9 March |
Japanese conquest of Java completed. |
|
9 April |
Japanese take Bataan. |
|
30 April |
Japanese close Burma Road. |
|
6 May |
Fall of Corregidor and surrender of US forces in the Philippines. |
|
4–8 May |
Battle of Coral Sea. |
|
27 May |
Japanese complete conquest of Burma. |
|
28 May |
Germans defeat Soviets at Kharkov. |
|
30 May |
RAF bomb Cologne. |
|
4 June |
Battle of Midway. |
|
1 July |
First Battle of El Alamein begins. |
|
7 August |
USA lands on Guadalcanal. |
|
19 August |
Britain’s Dieppe Raid. |
|
23 August |
Stalingrad offensive begins. |
|
23 October |
SecondBattle of El Alamein begins. |
|
8 November |
Allies invade French North Africa. |
|
11 November |
Germans occupy Vichy France. |
|
1943 |
|
|
14 January |
Casablanca Conference opens. |
|
23 January |
British enter Tripoli. |
|
2 February |
German surrender at Stalingrad. |
|
8 February |
Soviets recapture Kursk. |
|
19 April |
Jewish uprising in Warsaw Ghetto begins. |
|
7 May |
Allies take Tunis. |
|
13 May |
Axis forces in North Africa surrender. |
|
16 May |
Jewish uprising in Warsaw Ghetto suppressed. |
|
4 July |
Battle of Kursk begins. |
|
10 July |
Allies land in Sicily. |
|
25 July |
Overthrow and imprisonment of Mussolini. |
|
17 August |
Allied conquest of Sicily complete. |
|
23 August |
Soviets recapture Kharkov. |
|
3 September |
Italy signs armistice. |
|
3 September |
Allies land in southern Italy. |
|
8 September |
Italy surrenders. Germans occupy Rome. |
|
12 September |
Mussolini rescued. |
|
23 September |
Mussolini declares fascist government in northern Italy. |
|
25 September |
Soviets retake Smolensk. |
|
1 October |
Allies capture Naples. |
|
13 October |
Italy declares war on Germany. |
|
6 November |
Soviets retake Kiev. |
|
28 November |
Teheran Conference opens. |
|
1944 |
|
|
22 January |
Allies land at Anzio. |
|
27 January |
End of Leningrad siege. |
|
15 February |
Allies destroy monastery of Monte Cassino. |
|
18 March |
RAF bombs Hamburg. |
|
7 April |
Japanese attack Kohima. |
|
18 May |
Allies take Monte Cassino. |
|
4 June |
Allies enter Rome. |
|
6 June |
Operation Overlord – Allied invasion of Normandy. |
|
13 June |
German ‘V-1’ offensive begins against Britain. |
|
27 June |
USA captures Cherbourg. |
|
20 July |
AttemptedGerman assassination of Hitler. |
|
1 August |
Polish uprising in Warsaw. |
|
15 August |
Allies invade southern France. |
|
25 August |
Allies liberate Paris. |
|
3 September |
Allies liberate Brussels. |
|
4 September |
Allies liberate Antwerp. |
|
5 September |
Soviet Union declares war on Bulgaria. |
|
8 September |
Bulgaria surrenders to Soviet Union. |
|
8 September |
German ‘V-2’ offensive begins against Britain. |
|
17 September |
Operation Market Garden – Allied airborne assault on Holland. |
|
21 September–2 October |
Battle of Leyte Gulf. |
|
26 September |
Estonia occupied by Soviet Union. |
|
1 October |
Soviets enter Yugoslavia. |
|
2 October |
End of Warsaw uprising. |
|
4 October |
Allies land in Greece. |
|
14 October |
Allies liberate Athens. |
|
19 October |
USA invades Philippines. |
|
20 October |
Liberation of Belgrade. |
|
23 October |
Soviets enter East Prussia. |
|
4 November |
Surrender of Axis forces in Greece. |
|
16 December |
German attack through Ardennes – Battle of the Bulge begins. |
|
1945 |
|
|
1 January |
Germans withdraw from Ardennes. |
|
17 January |
Soviets liberate Warsaw. |
|
26 January |
Soviets liberate Auschwitz. |
|
27 January |
‘Burma Road’ reopened. |
|
4 February |
Allies take Manila. |
|
4 February |
Yalta Conference opens. |
|
13 February |
RAF bomb Dresden. |
|
19 February |
Japanese evacuate Mandalay. |
|
19 February |
USA invades Iwo Jima. |
|
23 February |
USA retakes Manila. |
|
7 March |
USA crosses the Rhine. |
|
17 March |
USA captures Iwo Jima. |
|
21 March |
British retake Mandalay. |
|
1 April |
USA invades Okinawa. |
|
11 April |
Soviets and Yugoslavs sign treaty. |
|
12 April |
US President Roosevelt dies, replaced by Harry Truman. |
|
23 April |
Soviets enter Berlin. |
|
25 April |
Soviet and US forces meet at the River Elbe. |
|
28 April |
Mussolini captured by partisans and executed. |
|
30 April |
Hitler commits suicide. |
|
2 May |
German forces in Italy surrender. |
|
3 May |
British retake Rangoon. |
|
4 May |
German forces in Holland, Denmark and north-west Germany surrender. |
|
7 May |
German unconditional surrender to the west. |
|
8 May |
German unconditional surrender to the east. |
|
9 May |
Liberation of Channel Islands. |
|
22 June |
US forces capture Okinawa. |
|
16 July |
Potsdam Conference opens. |
|
6 August |
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. |
|
8 August |
Soviet Union declares war on Japan. |
|
9 August |
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. |
|
14 August |
Japan agrees to surrender. |
|
2 September |
Formal Japanese surrender. |