1 January: 10,000 Japanese troops launch a counter-attack in eastern Shanxi Province in China in an attempt to relieve the nearly-surrounded Japanese 36th Division.[1]
2 January: The Soviet offensive in Finland is halted by several Finnish victories; numerous Soviet tanks are destroyed.
7 January
Rationing of basic foodstuffs is established in the UK.[2]
A major Finnish victory at Suomussalmi is reported; one whole Soviet division is eliminated, and again numbers of military vehicles are captured.
General Semyon Timoshenko takes command of Soviet Army forces in Finland.[1]
10 January: Mechelen incident: a German plane, carrying plans for Fall Gelb, crashes in neutral Belgium.
16 January: Captured documents reveal Hitler's plans for the invasion of Scandinavia and a postponement of the invasion of France and the Low Countries until the spring, when the weather is more compatible for an invasion.
17 January: The Soviets are driven back in Finland and retaliate with heavy air attacks.
20 January: German submarine U-44 torpedoes and sinks Greek steamer Ekatontarchos Dracoulis off Portugal at 04:15, killing 6. U-44 had been hunting for Ekatontarchos Dracoulis for the past 6 hours.[1]
21 January: A U-boat sinks British destroyer HMS Exmouth and its crew of 135 are all lost.
24 January: Reinhard Heydrich is appointed by Göring for the solution to the "Jewish Question".
27 January: Germany makes final plans for the invasion of Denmark and Norway.
Finnish ski troops in Northern Finland January 12, 1940.
1 February: The Japanese Diet announces a record high budget with over half its expenditures being military.
5 February: Britain and France decide to intervene in Norway to cut off the iron ore trade in anticipation of an expected German occupation and ostensibly to open a route to assist Finland. The operation is scheduled to start about March 20.
9 February: Erich von Manstein is placed in command of German XXXVIII (38) Armour Corps, removing him from planning the French invasion.
10 February: USSR agrees to supply grain and raw materials to Germany in a new trade treaty.
14 February: British government calls for volunteers to fight in Finland.[citation needed]
15 February
The Soviet army captures Summa, an important defence point in Finland, thereby breaking through the Mannerheim Line.
16 February: British destroyer HMS Cossack forcibly removes 303 British POWs from the German transport Altmark in neutral Norwegian territorial waters, sparking the Altmark Incident.
1 March: Adolf Hitler directs his generals in planning the invasion of Denmark and Norway.
3 March: Soviets begin attacks on Viipuri, Finland's second largest city.
5 March: Finland tells the Soviets they will agree to their terms for ending the war. The next day they send emissaries to Moscow to negotiate a peace treaty.
12 March: In Moscow, Finland signs a peace treaty with the Soviet Union after 105 days of conflict. The Finns are forced to give up significant territory in exchange for peace.
16 March: A German air raid on Scapa Flow causes the first British civilian casualties.
18 March: Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner pass on the Austrian border;[2] Mussolini agrees with Hitler that Italy will enter the war "at an opportune moment".
21 March: Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France following Daladier's resignation the previous day.
28 March: Britain and France make a formal agreement that neither country will seek a separate peace with Germany.
29 March: The Soviets want new territories. Molotov speaks to the Supreme Soviet, about "an unsettled dispute", the question of Romanian Bessarabia.
Britain undertakes secret reconnaissance flights to photograph the targeted areas inside the Soviet Union in preparation for Operation Pike, utilising high-altitude, high-speed stereoscopic photography pioneered by Sidney Cotton.
11 April: First Battle of Narvik. British destroyers and aircraft successfully make a surprise attack against a larger German naval force. A second attack on April 13 will also be a British success.
12 April: British troops occupy the Danish Faroe Islands.
14 April: British and French troops start landing at Namsos, north of Trondheim in Norway.
15 April: British troops land at Harstad, near Narvik, Norway.
16 April: More British landings in Norway, notably north and south of Trondheim; the struggle for Trondheim continues until the 22nd.
27 April: British troops start pull-out from central Norway, north and south of Trondheim.
The state of the Allies (blue), and the Axis powers (black) with the Soviet Union (red) in May 1940.The German Blitzkrieg offensive of mid-May, 1940.Map of the British invasion of Iceland in mid-May 1940.
1 May: Allies begin evacuating Norwegian ports; the efforts will continue until June.
5 May: Norwegian government in exile established in London.[2]
7 May: The Norway Debate begins in the House of Commons.
8 May: Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain barely survives a confidence vote in the House of Commons.
9 May: Conscription in Britain extended to age 36.
Belgium declares a state of emergency. Churchill is called on to form a wartime coalition government.[2]
The massive German offensive against the Western front: The invasion of Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France begins. In a bold stroke, German paratroops capture the Belgian fort Eben Emael.
The Battle for The Hague becomes the first failed paratrooper attack in history as the Dutch quickly defeat the invaders.
11 May
Luxembourg is occupied by the Germans.
Churchill offers the former Kaiser Wilhelm II, who is now living in the Netherlands, asylum in the United Kingdom; he declines.
12 May
The Belgians blow up all the bridges over the Meuse River to halt the German advance.
Churchill asks President Roosevelt and Canada for aid in these dark days. Outlines of the new British coalition, which includes Labour, Liberal, and Conservative members, is made public.
The Rotterdam Blitz led to German success in the Battle of Rotterdam, while causing many civilian deaths and tremendous damage. The Netherlands decides to surrender with the exception of Zeeland.
In a response to the Rotterdam Blitz, the first large-scale strategic bombing of World War II targets Gelsenkirchen, followed by Hamburg, Bremen, Cologne, Essen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf and Hanover during the next days.
20 May: General Guderian's Panzer groups take Abbeville, threatening Allied forces in the area.
23 May: Oswald Mosley, leader of the pre-war British fascists, is jailed; he and his wife will spend the war’s duration in prison.
24 May: The British make a final decision to cease operations in Norway.
25 May
The Allied forces, British and French alike, retreat to Dunkirk.[2]
Hitler orders a halt to the advance of Germans toward the Allied beachhead and allows Hermann Göring to use the Luftwaffe to attack. British R.A.F. defends the beachhead.
Soviet Union is preparing a total takeover in the Baltic States organizing and staging conflicts between the Baltic States and the USSR. Soviet government accuses Lithuania of kidnapping Soviet soldiers.
25-28 May: 86 Belgian civilians are murdered by German forces in the village of Vinkt.
26 May
The Patrol vessel A4 arrives in Plymouth, evacuating the final 40 tonnes of national gold reserves out of Belgium.
Operation Dynamo, the Allied evacuation of 340,000 troops from Dunkirk, begins. The move will last until June 3 under ferocious bombardment by the Luftwaffe.
28 May: Belgium surrenders to the Germans; King Leopold III of Belgium surrenders and is interned.
30 May: Crucial British Cabinet meeting: Churchill wins a vote on continuing the war, in spite of vigorous arguments by Lord Halifax and Chamberlain.
Last day of Operation Dynamo. 224,686 British and 121,445 French and Belgian troops have been evacuated.
Germans bomb Paris.
4 June: Winston Churchill delivers his, "We shall fight on the beaches...we shall never surrender" speech to the House of Commons.
7 June: German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst sink the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and two destroyers off Norway; the British ships have had no air cover.
9 June: Red Army provokes conflicts on the Latvian border.
10 June: Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom. Norway surrenders after 2 months of combat, the longest of any nation that had been invaded by Germany. King Haakon and his government had evacuated to Britain three days previously. French government moves to Tours.
13 June: The French government moves again, this time to Bordeaux.[2]
14 June
Paris occupied by German troops; Elements of the French Navy (Marine Nationale) based in Toulon carried out offensive operations against Italian targets along the Ligurian coast.
A total military blockade on the Baltic States by the Soviet Baltic Fleet. Soviet troops along the Baltic borders are ready to organise communist coups in the Baltic States. Soviet bombers shoot down a Finnish passenger airplane Kaleva flying from Tallinn to Helsinki and carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki.
15 June
Eight-hour ultimatum to surrender is given to Lithuania by the Soviets. President Smetona escapes from the country so the takeover is not possible to do in a formally legal way. Soviet troops enter Lithuania and attack Latvian border guards.
Start of the evacuation of British troops from ports in western France in Operation Aerial.
16 June
Philippe Pétain becomes premier of France upon the resignation of Reynaud's government.
The French sloop La Curieuse forces the Italian submarine Provano to surface and then sinks it by ramming.
Soviet Union gives eight-hour ultimatum to Latvia and Estonia to surrender.
17 June
Sinking of liner RMS Lancastria off St Nazaire while being used as a British troopship— 5000-7000 are killed in Britain's worst maritime disaster.
The French battleship Lorraine opened fire on the Italian port of Bardia in Italian North Africa. During some of the last actions of the French against the Italians, French naval aircraft attacked Taranto and Livorno in mainland Italy.
Soviet-led coups in the Baltic States. In the only military resistance in Tallinn, 2 die on Estonian side and about 10 on the Soviet side.
Last major evacuation of Operation Aerial; 191,870 Allied soldiers, airmen and some civilians had escaped from France.
26 June: The Soviet Union sends an ultimatum demanding Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from Romania.
27 June: Romanians propose negotiations. Molotov replies that the demands are land concessions or war. New ultimatum from the Soviets to the Romanians.
28 June
General De Gaulle recognised by British as leader of Free French.
The Red Army occupies Romanian Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.
The Luftwaffe bombs the demilitarised British Channel Islands, they had not been informed of the demilitarization. In Guernsey, 33 are killed and 67 injured, in Jersey, 9 are killed and many are injured.
29 June: Japanese Foreign Minister Hachiro Arita announces Japans intention to establish a bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free from western powers.[5]
Sark surrenders to the Germans. The Germans now control all of the British Channel Islands.
The German News Bureau released excerpts of the documents captured during the fall of France relating to Operation Pike, an Anglo-French plan to bomb Soviet oil fields. The compromised operation was subsequently aborted.
23 July: The British "Home Guard" is officially established, drawing on elderly men and those considered unable to serve in the regular armed forces.
25 July: All women and children are ordered to evacuate Gibraltar.
26 July: The United States of America activates the General Headquarters (GHQ), United States Army, which is designed to facilitate mobilization by supervising the organization and training of the army field forces within the continental United States, which is code named the Zone of the Interior.
1-31 August: The so-called Spéngelskrich ("War of Pin-badges") begins in occupied Luxembourg as civilians wear patriotic lapel badges prominently, in defiance of Nazi attempts to "Germanize" the territory.
1 August
Hitler sets 15 September as the date for Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of Britain.
Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov reaffirms Molotov–Ribbentrop pact in the Supreme Soviet while verbally attacking both Britain and the USA. He also asserts that the boundaries of the Soviet Union are moved to the shores of the Baltic Sea.
13 August: This is "Adler Tag" or "Eagle Day". Hermann Göring starts a two-week assault on British airfields in preparation for invasion. (For some German historians, this is the beginning of the "Battle of Britain.")
14 August: British scientist Sir Henry Tizard leaves for the United States on the Tizard Mission, giving over to the Americans a number of top secret British technologies including the magnetron, the secret device at the heart of radar. Radar is already proving itself in the defence of Britain.
15 August
RAF victories over the Luftwaffe continue, in a wide-ranging fight along the East coast. British fighter aircraft production begins to accelerate.
Sinking of the Greek cruiser Elli by an Italian submarine on 15 August 1940 at the harbour of Tinos.
16 August
The Battle of Britain continues; Germans are hampered by poor aircraft range and British extensive use of RADAR.
17 August: Hitler declares a blockade of the British Isles.
18 August: Heavy fighting in the Battle of Britain; Germans suffering severe losses on bomber formations. Göring declares cowardice among his fighter pilots and orders them to closely guard the bombers, further restricting their capabilities.
19 August: Italian forces take Berbera, the capital of British Somaliland and the British defenders flee to Aden. The fall of Berbera completes the invasion of the British colony. By the end of the month, the Italians control British Somaliland and several towns and forts along the border with Sudan and Kenya including Kassala, Gallabat, and Moyale.
20 August
Italy announces a blockade of British ports in the Mediterranean area.
3 September: Hitler postpones the invasion of Britain, as the Luftwaffe fails to break the British defenses. However, fears of the forthcoming invasion continue to haunt Britain.
6 September: King Carol abdicates the Romanian throne in favour of his son Michael while control of the government is taken by Marshal Antonescu.
7 September: In one of the major misjudgements of the war, the Luftwaffe shifts its focus to London, away from the RAF airfields. Success may be measured only in the estimated 2,000 civilian dead. Other British cities are hit. The Blitz starts.
13 September: After re-taking Fort Capuzzo just inside Libya, Italian colonial forces cross the border and advance into Egypt. The Italians take the small port of Sollum, but the only resistance to the invasion is a light British screening force which withdraws as the Italians advance.
14 September: Operation Sea Lion is postponed until 27 September, the last day of the month with suitable tides for the invasion.
15 September: Massive German bombing flights on English cities; most are driven off. The RAF begins to claim victory in the Battle of Britain.
The Italian invasion of Egypt comes to a halt when approximately five Italian divisions set up defensively in a series of armed camps after advancing about 95 km (59 mi) to Sidi Barrani. The Italians never approach the main British positions at Mersa Matruh.
17 September: Decoded messages now reveal that Hitler has postponed Operation Sea Lion until further notice.
18 September: Radio Belgique, a French and Dutch language radio service of the BBC, begins broadcasting to occupied Belgium from its base in London.[6]
22 September
Heavy convoy losses to U-boats in the Atlantic.
The Japanese occupy French Indochina; local French administrators become only figurehead authorities.
23 September: Free French and British forces attempt a landing at Dakar, French West Africa; Vichy French naval forces open fire sporadically for two days, and the expedition is called back.
24 September
Berlin suffers a large bombing raid by the RAF.
In response to Dakar, the Vichy French Air Force bombs Gibraltar for the first time since 18 July.
1-31 October: The United States separates the Corps Areas established in 1921 to perform the administrative tasks of the various regions of the US from the four Field Armies that had been established in 1932.
1 October: Chinese Nationalist and Chinese Communists fight each other in southern China. Meanwhile, Japanese forces have a setback at Changsha.
7 October: Responding to a Romanian request made on 7 September, Germany deploys a military mission to Romania to provide training for the Romanian Army and guard the Romanian oilfields.
After meeting with Franco, Hitler goes to Montoire where a meeting with Philippe Pétain took place signifying the start of organised French collaboration with the Nazi regime.
25 October: Berlin and Hamburg are bombed heavily.
28 October: At about 03:00 am the Italian ambassador to Greece issues ultimatum to Greece and Greek Prime Minister Metaxas replies: "So it is war". The Italian Royal Army launches attacks into Greece from Italian-held Albania. Hitler is angered at the initiative of his ally.
29 October
Very heavy convoy losses during this period as numbers of U-boats increase.
1 November: Turkey declared neutrality in the Italo-Greek war.[1]
2 November: The Italian advance into Greece continues. Vovousa is captured and Italian aircraft bomb Salonika.
5 November
President Roosevelt wins a third term. The British see the event as promising of more help from the US.
HMS Jervis Bay, a merchant cruiser, is sunk on convoy duty, but much of the convoy escapes. The loss becomes a media event.
7 November: It becomes clear that Ireland will refuse to allow the United Kingdom to use its ports as naval bases.
8 November: The Battle of Elaia–Kalamas ends and the Italians end their futile offensive in Greece.
9 November: Neville Chamberlain dies.
11 November: British naval forces launch attack against Italian navy at Taranto. Swordfish bombers from HMS Illustrious damage three battleships, two cruisers and multiple auxiliary craft. The event secures British supply lines in the Mediterranean. The British success will be studied by Japanese military already preparing for an attack on Pearl Harbor.
12 November
Molotov meets Hitler and Ribbentrop in Berlin. New World order is under discussion. Molotov expresses Soviet interest in Finland, Bulgaria, Romania, Dardanelles and Bosporus, but Hitler talks along broad lines about worldwide spheres of influence between Russia, Germany, Italy and Japan.
In the Battle of Gabon, British forces finish wresting central Africa from the Vichy French.
13 November
Molotov meets Hitler again asking acceptance to liquidate Finland. Hitler now resists every attempt to expand Soviet influence in Europe. He sees Britain as defeated and offers India to the Soviet Union.
15 November: The Soviet Union is invited to join Tripartite Pact and to share in the spoils of British Empire. Warsaw's Jewish ghetto is cordoned off from the rest of the city.
16 November: Churchill orders some British troops in North Africa to be sent to Greece, despite concerns by his military leaders that they are needed in the current campaign against the Italians in North Africa.
19 November: The Greeks continue to advance, and evict Italian troops from Greek soil.The Greek counter-offensive
30 November: A large bombing raid on Southampton in southern England; the city is hit again the next night, followed by Bristol on 2 December, and Birmingham on the 3rd.
The state of the Allies and Axis powers in December 1940, showing great Axis expansion in Europe and Northern Africa
1-8 December: Greek forces continue to drive the Italian armies back, capturing the cities of Pogradec, Sarandë, and Gjirokastër.
1 December: Bombing raids are exchanged throughout the month between Germany and Britain. First Germany bombs, then Britain.
5 December: The RAF bombs Düsseldorf and Turin.
6-9 December: British and Indian troops of the Western Desert Force launch Operation Compass, an offensive against Italian forces in Egypt. The Italians have seven infantry divisions and the Maletti Group in fortified defensive positions. Initial attacks are launched against the five Italian camps around and south of Sidi Barrani. The camps are overrun, Italian General Pietro Maletti is killed, and the Maletti Group, the 1st Libyan Division, the 2nd Libyan Division, and the 4th Blackshirt Division are all but destroyed. The remaining Italian units in Egypt are forced to withdraw towards Libya.
8 December: Francisco Franco rules out Spanish entry into the war; the immediate result is that Hitler is forced to cancel an attack on Gibraltar.
12 December: In North Africa, over 39,000 Italians lost or captured in Egypt.
16 December
The first RAF night raid--on Mannheim, Germany.
In North Africa, the British are in command at Sollum in Egypt and take Fort Capuzzo in Libya.
18 December: Hitler issues directive to begin planning for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
Pike, Francis (2015). Hirohito's War: The Pacific War, 1941-1945. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN978-1-4725-9671-0.
Gotovitch, José; Aron, Paul, eds. (2008). Dictionnaire de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale en Belgique (in French). Brussels, Belgium: André Versaille éd. ISBN978-2-87495-001-8.
Keegan, John, ed. (2003) [1st pub. 1989]. Collins Atlas of the Second World War. Ann Arbor, MI: Borders Books. ISBN0-681-50446-3.
Piekałkiewicz, Janusz (1987). Sea War: 1939-1945. London, UK & New York, NY: Blandford Press. ISBN0-7137-1665-7.
