1940s
CE 
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| The 1940s | |
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1940s
CE |
| 1940 Mar. 12: Finland signs peace treaty with Soviet Union April 9: German Army invades Denmark and Norway May 10: German Army invades France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; Churchill appointed British Prime Minister May 15: Holland capitulates to Nazis May 26: "Miracle at Dunkirk" May 28: Belgium capitulates to Nazis June 10: Norway capitulates to Nazis; Italy declares war on Britain and France June 14: Nazis take Paris June 22: France capitulates to Nazis June 23: Hitler tours Paris July 10: Battle of Britain begins July 23: Red Army takes Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia Aug. 3: Italian Army invades British Somaliland Aug. 13: Luftwaffe begins raids on British airfields and aircraft factories Aug. 23-24: Off-course German bombers accidentally bomb London Aug. 25-26: Royal Air Force mounts reprisal raid against Berlin Sept. 7: German "blitz" on British cities begins in earnest Sept. 13: Italian Army attacks Egypt Sept. 16: Military conscription introduced in United States Sept. 27: Tripartite alliance formed between Germany, Italy and Japan Oct. 7: German troops occupy Romania Oct. 28: Italian Army attacks Greece Nov. 5: Roosevelt re-elected Nov. 10-11: RAF raid cripples Italian fleet at Taranto Nov. 20: Romania joins Axis Dec. 9-10: British counter-attack begins against Italian Army in North Africa |
1941 Jan. 22: British take Tobruk in North Africa from Nazis Feb. 11: British Army attacks Italian Somaliland Feb. 12: Erwin Rommel assumes command of German Afrika Korps March 7: British Army comes to the aid of Greece Mar. 11: Lend-Lease Act signed by Roosevelt April 6: German Army invades Yugoslavia and Greece, forcing Hitler to postpone planned invasion of Soviet Union April 17: Yugoslavia capitulates to Nazis April 27: Greece capitulates to Nazis May 10: Rudolf Hess flies to Scotland on "peace mission" May 15: British counter-attack in Egypt May 24: German battleship Bismarck sinks Hood, pride of the Royal Navy May 27: Royal Navy sinks Bismarck June 8: British Army invades Lebanon and Syria June 22: Hitler launches operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union June 28: Germans capture Soviet city of Minsk July 3: Stalin launches "scorched earth" policy July 31: Plans made to implement "Final Solution," the systematic destruction of the Jews Aug. 12: Atlantic Charter signed by Roosevelt and Churchill Aug. 20: German siege of Soviet city of Leningrad begins Sept. 1: Jews order to wear yellow Star of David Sept. 19: Germans capture Soviet city of Kiev Sept. 29: German SS mass murders Russian Jews at Kiev Oct. 16: Germans capture Soviet city of Odessa Oct. 24: Germans capture Soviet city of Kharkov Oct. 30: German Army occupies the Crimea Nov. 20: Germans capture the Soviet city of Rostov Nov. 27: Red Army retakes Rostov Dec. 6: Red Army launches major counter-offensive Dec. 7: Japanese attack naval base at Pearl Harbor Dec. 8: Roosevelt gives "Day of Infamy" speech; United States and Britain declare war on Japan Dec. 11: Germany declares war on the United States Dec. 16: Rommel's Afrika Korps forced to retreat in North Africa Dec. 19: Hitler assumes post of Commander in Chief of German Army |
| 1942 Jan. 1: Allies forge Declaration of the United Nations Jan. 13: German U-boats begin sinking ships off American coast in "Operation Drumbeat" Jan. 20: Nazis formulate "Final Solution", the systematic destruction of the Jewish people Jan. 21: Rommel counter-attacks in North Africa April: American citizens of Japanese descent forced into "relocation centers" May 8: Germans launch summer offensive in the Crimea May 30: Royal Air Force launches first 1,000 bomber raid on Cologne, Germany June: Final Solution implemented; Auschwitz begins gassing Jews June 4: S.S. Leader Rheinhardt Heydrich dies of wounds sustained in partisan attack at Prague June 5: German siege of Sevastopol begins June 10: Nazis annihilate Czech town of Lidice in retaliation for Heydrich's assassination June 21: Tobruk falls to German Afrika Korps July 3: Sevastopol falls to German Army July 5: Nazi conquest of Crimea achieved July 9: German Army launches push towards Stalingrad Aug. 7: General Bernard Montgomery assumes command of British Eighth Army in North Afirca Sept. 13: German attack on Stalingrad begins Oct. 23-Nov. 3: Afrika Korps decisively defeated by British at El Alamein Nov. 8: Allied invasion of North Africa begins in "Operation Torch" Nov. 11: Axis forces occupy Vichy France Nov. 19: Soviet forces encircle German Sixth Army at Stalingrad Dec. 31: German and British ships engage in the Battle of the Barents Sea |
1943 Jan. 2-3: German Army retreats from Caucasus Jan. 10: Red Army begins siege of German-occupied Stalingrad Jan. 14-23: Roosevelt and Churchill meet at Casablanca, issue unconditional surrender demand Jan. 23: British forces take Tripoli Jan. 27: U.S. Air Force opens daylight bombing campaign with attack on Wilhelmshaven,Germany Feb. 2: German Sixth Army at Stalingrad surrenders to the Russians; war reaches its turning point Feb. 8: Red Army takes Kursk Feb. 14-25: Battle of Kasserine Pass fought in North Africa between German and U.S. forces Feb. 16: Red Army retakes Kharkov Mar. 2: Afrika Korps withdraws from Tunisia Mar. 15: Germany Army recaptures Kharkov Mar. 16-20: German submarines achieve their largest tonnage total of the war Apr. 19: S.S. begins "liquidation" of the Warsaw ghetto May 7: Allies capture Tunisia May 13: Axis troops in North Africa surrender May 16-17: RAF targets German industry in the Ruhr May 22: U-boat operations suspended in the North Atlantic June 11: Nazis order destruction of Polish ghettos July 5: Largest tank battle in history begins at Kursk July 9-10: Allied forces land on Sicily July 19: Allied air forces bomb Rome July 22: American forces take Palermo, Sicily July 24: RAF bombs Hamburg July 25-26: Mussolini and the Fascists overthrown July 27-28: Allied bombing raid creates firestorm in Hamburg, Germany Aug. 12-17: Axis forces withdraw from Sicily Aug. 17: USAF bombs ball-bearing plants at Regensburg and Schweinfurt, Germany Aug. 23: Red Army retakes Karkhov Sept. 8: New government announces Italian surrender Sept. 9: Allied forces land in Salerno and Taranto, Italy Sept. 11: German Army occupies Rome Sept. 12: Nazi commandos rescue Mussolini Sept. 23: Fascist government re-established in Italy Oct. 1: Allies take Naples Nov. 6: Red Army recaptures Kiev Nov. 28: "Big Three" of Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill meet at Tehran Dec. 24-26: Soviets begin large offensive in Ukraine |
| 1944 Jan. 6: Red Army advances into Poland Jan. 22: Allied forces land at Anzio, Italy Jan. 27: Red Army breaks 900-day siege of Leningrad Jan. 31: American forces invade Kwajalein Feb. 15: Allied bombers destroy 400-year-old Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino Feb. 16: German 14th Army counter-attacks at Anzio Feb. 18-22: American forces take Eniwetok Apr. 8: Red Army begins offensive in the Crimea May 9: Soviet troops recapture Sevastopol May 12: German forces in the Crimea surrender June 5: Allied forces enter Rome June 6: D-Day: Allies land at Normandy June 9: Red Army advances into Finland June 13: Germans begin using V-1 rockets against London June 15: American marines invade Saipan June 19-20: "Marianas Turkey Shoot" results in destruction of over 200 Japanese aircraft June 22: Red Army begins massive summer offensive June 27: American forces liberate Cherbourg July 3: Soviet forces recapture Minsk July 9: Allied troops liberate Caen July 18: American troops liberate St Lô July 20: Hitler survives assassination attempt July 24: Soviet forces liberate concentration camp at Majdanek July 25-30: Allied forces break-out of Normandy encirclement in "Operation Cobra" July 28: Red Army recaptures Brest-Litovsk Aug. 1: Polish Home Army begins revolt against Nazis in Warsaw Aug. 15: Allies invade Southern France Aug. 19-20: Soviet forces invade Romania Aug. 23: Rumania capitulates to Soviets Aug. 25: Paris liberated Aug. 31: Red Army takes Bucharest Sept. 3: Brussels liberated Sept. 4: Antwerp liberated Sept. 8: Soviets and Finns sign peace treaty Sept. 13: American troops reach the Siegfried Line in western Germany Sept. 26: Red Army occupies Estonia Oct. 2: Nazis brutally crush revolt in Warsaw; Allies advance into Germany Oct. 5: British invade Greece Oct. 14: British liberate Athens; Rommel forced to commit suicide for alleged involvement in July assassination plot Oct. 20: Belgrade falls to Soviet forces Oct. 23-26: U.S. naval forces destroy remnants of Japanese Navy at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval engagement in history Nov. 7: Roosevelt elected to fourth term Dec. 3: Civil war erupts in Greece; Japanese retreat in Burma Dec. 15: American forces invade Phillipine island of Mindoro Dec. 16: German Army launches "Battle of the Bulge" offensive on the Western Front Dec. 17: Waffen SS executes 81 American prisoners of war in "Malmedy Massacre |
1945 Jan. 9: American forces invade Phillipine island of Luzon Jan. 16: Battle of the Bulge ends in German defeat Jan. 17: Red Army liberates Warsaw Jan. 19: German lines collapse on Eastern Front; full retreat begins Jan. 20: Hungary signs armistice with Allies Jan. 26: Soviets liberate Auschwitz Jan. 27: Red Army occupies Lithuania Feb. 4-11: Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin meet at Yalta Conference Feb. 13-14: Allied incendiary raid creates firestorm in Dresden Feb. 19: American forces land on Iwo Jima Mar. 3: American forces liberate Manila in the Phillipines; Finland declares war on Germany Mar. 7: Allies capture Cologne; Ludendorff Rail Bridge on Rhine River captured intact at Ramagen Mar. 9: Tokyo firebombed Mar. 16: Japanese resistance on Iwo Jima ends Mar. 21: Allies take Mandalay, Burma Mar. 30: Red Army liberates Danzig Apr. 1: American troops encircle German forces in the Ruhr Apr. 12: Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies of stroke; Truman becomes President; Allies liberate Belsen and Buchenwald concentration camps Apr. 16: Red Army launches Berlin offensive; Allies take Nuremberg Apr. 18: German forces in the Ruhr capitulate Apr. 28: Mussolini hanged by Italian partisans; Venice falls to Allied forces Apr. 29: Dachau concentration camp liberated Apr. 30: Adolf Hitler and wife Eva Braun commit suicide in Chancellery bunker May 2: All German forces in Italy surrender May 7: Unconditional surrender of all German forces May 8: Victory in Europe (VE) Day May 23: SS Reichführer Heinrich Himmler commits suicide June 5: Allies divide Germany into occupation zones June 26: United Nations World Charter signed in San Francisco July 16: First U.S. atomic bomb tested at Los Alamos, New Mexico; Potsdam Conference opens July 26: Clement Attlee becomes British Prime Minister Aug. 6: First atomic bomb dropped Hiroshima Aug. 8: Soviet Union declares war on Japan; Soviet forces invade Manchuria Aug. 9: Second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki Aug. 14: Unconditional surrender of Japanese forces Aug. 15 Victory over Japan (VJ) Day Sept. 2: Japanese sign surrender documents on battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay Nov. 20: Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal begins |
| 1946 Jan. 7: United Nations meets for first time in London Oct. 16: Hermann Göring commits suicide; 11 other war criminals hanged |
1947 Mashall Plan proposed to help rebuild Western Europe. India becomes an independent dominion of the British Commonwealth, as does Pakistan. GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) is signed. The first of a series of short-lived consitutions in Nigeria are formed, giving limited native participation in provincial legislatures. |
| 1948 Mohandas K. Gandhi is shot and killed by a member of the high Hindu caste. World Council of Churches formed. The Jewish state of Isreal is created, causing the Arab-Israeli War. The International Law Commission holds their first conference on the law of the sea. The Berlin Blockade is put into affect. |
1949 Mao proclaims the creation of the People's Republic of China. NATO pact is signed. Indonesia is declared independant. |
1940s