Course of Events
WWII - Timeline of the Wartime Years (1939 - 1945)
|
September 27 - 29, 1939
Warsaw surrenders to Germany; Polish government flees into exiles and Poland is divided amongst Germany and the Soviet Union October, 1939 Nazis (Germans) begin euthanasia on the sick and disabled in Germany November 8, 1939 Failed assassination attempt of Hitler; said to be most likely the work of a German anti-Nazi military conspiracy January 8, 1940 Rationing begins in Britain May 10, 1940 Nazis invade France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands June 10, 1940 Italy enters the war, supporting Nazi Germany June 14, 1940 (Major Turning Point) Germans enter Paris June 22, 1940 France signs an armistice with Nazi Germany July 1, 1940 Merchant ships in the Atlantic are attacked by German U-boats as an attempt to cut off resources to Allied Powers July 10, 1940 Battle of Britain begins; battle between the air forces of Britain and Germany August 23 - 24, 1940 First German air raids on Central London August 25 - 26, 1940 First British raid on Berlin September 7, 1940 Germany begins the Blitz against Britain (aerial bombing campaign) September 27, 1940 Germany signs the Tripartite Pact along with Italy and Japan April 6, 1941 Nazis invade Greece and Yugoslavia June 22, 1941 Germany attacks Soviet Union as Operation Barbarossa takes place August 20, 1941 Nazi siege of Leningrad begins September 1, 1941 Nazis order Jews to wear yellow stars, differentiating them from the rest of society September 3, 1941 First experimental use of gas chambers occurs at Auschwitz October 2, 1941 Operation Typhoon begins (German advance onto Moscow) December 7, 1941 (Major Turning Point) Adolf Hitler issues the "Night and Fog Decree" (persons endangering German security in the German-occupied territories of western Europe were to be arrested and either shot/ sent to concentration camps) December 11, 1941 Hitler declares war on the United States January 1, 1942 Declaration of the United Nations signed by 26 Allied Nations April 23, 1942 German air raids begin against cathedral cities located in Britain June, 1942 Mass killings of Jews by gassing begins at Auschwitz July 9, 1942 Germans begin an attack towards Stalingrad in the USSR September 13, 1942 Battle of Stalingrad begins (Germany against the USSR) October 18, 1942 Hitler orders the execution of all captured British commandos January 14 - 24, 1943 Casablanca Conference between Churchill and Roosevelt May 13, 1943 German and Italian troops surrender in North Africa June 11, 1943 Himmler (leading member of Nazi Party) orders the liquidation of all Jewish ghettos in Poland July 19, 1943 Allies bomb Rome July 24, 1943 British bombing raid on Hamburg July 25 - 26, 1943 (Major Turning Point) Mussolini is arrested and the Italian Fascist government falls; Badoglio takes over and negotiates Italy's future with the Allies September 8, 1943 Formal Italian surrender to Allies September 11, 1943 Germans occupy Rome September 12, 1943 Germans rescue Mussolini September 23, 1943 Mussolini re-establishes a Fascist government in Italy January 27, 1944 Leningrad is relieved after a 900-day siege May 12, 1944 Germans surrender in the Crimea June 5, 1944 Allies enter Rome June 6, 1944 (Major Turning Point) D-Day landings off of the northern coast of France June 13, 1944 First German V-1 rocket attack on Britain July 3, 1944 Battle of the Hedgerows, in Normandy June 4, 1944 Liberation of Rome July 20, 1944 Failed assassination attempt by German Army officers against Hitler August 15, 1944 Operation Dragoon begins (Allied Invasion of Southern France) August 20, 1944 Allies encircle Germans in the Falaise Pocket August 25, 1944 Liberation of Paris October 21, 1944 Massive German surrender at Aachen, Germany October 30, 1944 Last use of gas chambers at Auschwitz December 16, 1944 Germans launch a final offensive in the west, known as the Battle of the Bulge, in an attempt to re-conquer Belgium and split Allied forces January 1 -17, 1945 Germans retreat from the Ardennes January 26, 1945 The German concentration camp, Auschwitz, is liberated by the Soviets February 13 - 14, 1945 Dresden is destroyed in a firestorm after Allied bombing raids April 12, 1945 Allies liberate Buchenwald and Belsen concentration camps April 28, 1945 Mussolini is captured and hanged by Italian partisans; Allies take Venice April 30, 1945 Adolf Hitler commits suicide May 7, 1945 Surrender of all German forces to Allies May 8, 1945 Victory in Europe (V-E) Day |
|