March 14 - Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine declare independency from
Czechoslovakia (strongly encouraged by the Axis-countries). A day later,
German troops occupy the rest of the state.
March 15 - United States begins serious preparations for war.
April 7 - As a compensation for the German expansion in Czechoslavakia, Italy occupies Albania.
April 18 - The Soviet Union offers a Soviet-British-French alliance
which would guarantee the integrity of Poland.
May 11 - Japanese attack on disputed border areas is renewed between
Japanese and Soviets. Japanese are eventually heavily defeated.
August 23 - German-Russian non-agression pact. A secret protocol
divides Europe into spheres of influence.
August 25 - A full British-Polish military alliance is formed. Great
Britain guarantees Polands security.
September 1 - World War Two begins with the German attack on Poland.
September 3 - France, Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries
declare war upon Germany.
September 15 - Soviets and Japanese sign another armistice on Manchurian
border. This frees the Soviets to move troops to the west.
September 17 - Soviet troops enter Poland and advance to the
demarcation-line.
November 30 - The Soviet-Finnish winter war starts. Finland capitulates.
1940
April 9 - With operation "Weserübung" Germany occupies
Denmark and Norway.
May 10 - After several months of "Drôle de Guerre" (Phoney
war, Sitzkrieg) the Germans finally attack in the west. After six weeks, the Netherlands and Belgium are occupied, France
capitulates after Paris falls and the British withdraw from the continent.
June 10 - Mussolini enters the war against France.
June 22 - The armistice between Germany and France is signed in the
Compiègne wagon-lit. A French government of the unoccupied territories is
formed in Vichy with General Pétain as head of state.
October 28 - Italy attacks Greece.
December 9 - Wavell's attack in Northern Africa proceeds from Egypt into
Lybia.
1941
April 6-28 - Germany occupies Yugoslavia and Greece.
May 20 - A German air landing manages to capture Crete after twelve
days of fighting.
June 8 - British and Free French troops invade Syria.
June 22 - Operation Barbarossa commences. Germany attacks the Soviet
Union.
October 2 - The operation "Taifun" to take Moscow commences.
December 5 - The Soviet counter offensive begins.
December 7 - Japanese carrier planes attack the US fleet in Pearl
Harbor. In a series of campaigns they occupy Malaya, the Phillipines,
Singapoore, Java and Borneo.
December 11 - Hitler declares war upon the United States.
1942
January 1 - The pact of the "United Nations" is signed in
Washington by 26 nations. They commit themselve to not agree to any
seperate peace with Germany or Japan.
January 20 - The Wannsee Conference results in Hitler's Final
Solution, and preparations are established for the
elimination of the European Jews. Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor,
Treblinka,
Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau are designated as exterminations camps.
March 28/29 - First carpet bombing of a German city (Lübeck) by the
British Bomber-Command under General Sir Arthur Harris.
May 4-8 - The air-sea battle of the Coral Sea comes out as an
tactical victory but strategical defeat for Japan.
May 26 - A German/Italian offensive in Northern Africa manages to
proceed from El-Gazala to Bir Hacheim, later to El-Alamain.
June 3-7 - The Battle at Midway results in a major US victory which shifts the
balance of power to the US for the remainder of the war.
August 7 - US-troops land on Guadalcanal. In a four month battle, they hold and later occupy the
island and eventually the rest of Solomon Islands.
November 7/8 - In Operation Torch, US & British forces land in
North Africa.
November 11 - The remaining part of France is occupied by German and
Italian forces.
November 19 - The Soviet offensive northwest of Stalingrad breaks through
the German lines and traps the 6th German army in the city.
1943
February 2 - The last resistance in Stalingrad ends.
April 19 -
May 19 - Uprising in the Warzaw Ghetto.
May 8 - Casablance-Conference between Roosevelt and Churchill. The
"unconditional surrender" becomes the goal of the war.
May 13 - The German army in Africa capitulates in Tunis.
May 23 - After severe losses, the battle for the North Atlantic
ends.
March 7 - Japanese strike into India with an advance to Kohima
and Imphal. They are stopped by British and Indian forces in a series of
battles that rage until the end of May.
October 20 - US troops land at Leyte, on the Philippines. In a prolonged
series of battles, Japan loses its hold on the Philippines. This campaign saw the first appearance
of Kamikaze units.
April 25 - US and Soviet troops link up at Torgau.
April 26 - The founding conference of the United Nations commences in
San Francisco. It is signed on the 26th of June by representatives of 51
nations.
August 30 - Landings by the occupation forces
begin in the Tokyo Bay area.
September 2 - The Japanese surrender documents
are signed on board the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) at anchor in
Tokyo Bay, Japan. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur signs for the
Allied Powers, and Fleet Admiral C.W. Nimitz signs for the United
States.
September 5 - British forces land in Singapore.
September 7 - Japanese forces in Shanghai
surrender.
September 9 - Remainder of Japanese forces in
China surrender.
September 13 - Japanese troops in Burma
surrender.