1939 - 1945 The
Second World War.
Bombing of British cities, compulsory military service
and food rationing were brought in. |
|
 Italy invades and conquers Ethiopia. |
1937 |
7 July -  Japan invades  China. |
1938 |
Germany marches into  Austria and takes it over. |
1939 |
March -Germany takes over  Czechoslovakia.
Sept. - Germany invades  Poland |
3 Sept - The Prime Minister of  Britain, Neville Chamberlain, declares war on Germany.
 France,  Australia and  New Zealand also declares war on  Germany.
|
| 6 Sept. - South Africa declares war on Germany. |
10 Sept. -  Canada declares war on Germany. |
17 Sept. - The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east.
30 Nov. The Soviet Union invades  Finland. |
1940 |
9 Apr. - Germany invades  Norway and  Denmark. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway holds out until June 9. |
 10 May - Winston
Churchill becomes the new British Prime Minister, replacing Neville Chamberlain. |
10 May - Germany attacks western Europe -  Luxembourg,  Holland and  Belgium.
Luxemburg surrenders to the Germans |
| 12 May - The German army enters France |
14 May  Holland surrenders to the Germans. |
 14 May - The Local Defence Volunteers (Dad's Army) is created in Britain. It was later called the Home Guard |
| 27 May - The evacuation of 340,000 soldiers of the British and French armies from the beaches of Dunkirk. |
| 28 May - Belgium surrenders to the Germans |
| 4 June - The last of the 338,000 British, French and Belgian forces evacuated from Dunkirk. |
| 9 June - Norway surrenders to the Germans |
| 10 June - Italy enters the war and
declares war on Britain and France |
| 14 June - The German army enters and took over Paris. |
| 30 June 1940 (until the Liberation on 9 May 1945) German troops take over the Channel Islands, the only British soil occupied by Germany |
| 21 June - Italy invades southern France. |
| 22 June - German troups conquer most of France. France surrenders to the Germans |
| 9 July - RAF Bomber Command start night raids on Germany |
 10th July - Battle of Britain begins |
7 Sept - The London Blitz starts |
13 Sept. - Italy invades British-controlled  Egypt from Italian-controlled Libya. |
| 20 Sept. - Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact. |
Oct. - Italy invades  Greece |
Nov. -  Slovakia (November 23),  Hungary (November 20), and  Romania (November 22) join the Axis. |
1941 |
March -  Bulgaria joins the Axis. |
6 Apr. - Germany invades  Yugoslavia and
Greece. |
| 10 May - German air raid damages the House of Commons in London. |
| 22 June - Germany invades Russia |
7 Dec. - The Japanese attack the  USA Naval Base at Pearl Harbour,  Hawaii |
| 8 Dec. - The United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II. |
11 Dec. - Germany
and Italy declare war on the United States
United States formally declares declares war on Germany and Italy. |
25 Dec -  Hong Kong surrenders to Japan. |
1942 |
2 Jan. - Japan captures Manila in the
 Philippines |
15 Feb. - The Japan captures  Singapore |
| 5 May - The Battle of the Coral Sea between the US and Japanese navies |
| 30 May - Anglo-Americans start bombing Germany |
| 8 Nov - British and U.S. troops win back North Africa |
| 11 - 13 Dec. - Nazi Germany and its Axis partners declare war on the United States. |
1943 |
19 April - May Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in occupied Poland
The largest single revolt by Jews against the Nazis during WW2.
|
| 16 May - The Dam Buster Raid |
| 28 Sept. - Italy surrenders |
| 10 Oct. - Italy swaps sides and declares war on Germany |
1944 |
| 4 June - Rome is freed by the Allies |
6 June - British and U.S. troops successfully land on the Normandy beaches of France, opening a “Second Front” against the Germans.
This day is known as D-Day |
| 12 June - The first of Germany's terror weapons, the V1 (doodlebug), falls in England at Swanscombe in Kent |
| 15 Aug. -
Allied forces land in southern France near Nice. |
| 20 Aug. - Allied troops reach Paris. |
Aug/Sept - Warsaw Uprising in occupied Poland, the largest
ever civilian revolt in history, by the Polish population against the
Nazis. |
| 11 Sept. - U.S. troops enter Germany |
| 20 Oct. - U.S. troops land in the Philippines. |
| 16 Dec. - The Germans launch a final offensive in the west, known as the Battle of the Bulge, in an attempt to re-conquer Belgium and split the Allied forces along the German border. |
1945 |
12 Jan. - The  Soviets liberate Warsaw and Krakow in Poland. |
| 13 Feb. - The Soviets capture Budapest, capital city of Hungary. |
| 16 Apr. - The Soviets launch their final offensive, encircling Berlin. |
| 30 Apr. - Hitler commits suicide |
| 7 May Germany surrenders to the western Allies. |
| 8 May Winston Churchill announces VE Day - Victory in Europe. British
people wave flags, sing and dance in the streets. WW2 ends in Europe |
| 9 May - Germany surrenders to the Soviets. |
| Creation
of the Welfare State introduced social security payments for the unemployed. |
| 6 Aug. - The first atomic bomb is dropped by The United States on Hiroshima killing 78,000 citizens |
| 8 Aug. - The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria. |
| 9 Aug. - The United States drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. |
| 14 Aug. - Japan surrendered to the Allies after almost six years of war. V-J Day (Victory in Japan) |
| 2 Sept. - Having agreed in principle to unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II. |
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