key events 1939-1945

By baabaa

  • Hitler calls plebiscite

    Having annexed Austria in March, Germany's Adolph Hitler calls a plebiscite which shows that more than 99 percent of Austrians favor union with Germany's Third Reich.

  • Jewist shop window smashed.

    The largest pogrom in German history takes place, as Jewish shop windows are smashed, and the shops, as well as homes and synagogues, are looted, destroyed and burned. Between 20,000 and 30,000 Jews are taken to concentration camps.

  • Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia sign a mutual non-aggression pact

    Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia sign a mutual non-aggression pact. The agreement is signed by German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Josef Stalin's commissar of foreign affairs, V. M. Molotov.

  • German troops and aircraft attack Poland

    German troops and aircraft attack Poland. Soviet troops will invade Poland from the east on September 17, and Poland will surrender to the Germans on September 27

  • Hitler ignores their demand for German withdrawal from Poland

    After Hitler ignores their demand for German withdrawal from Poland, and as the British ship Athenia is sunk by German U-boats off the coast of Ireland, Great Britain and France formally declare war on Germany.

  • British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin resigns

    British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin resigns in disgrace. He will be replaced by Winston Churchill on May 10.

  • Italy declares war on Britain and France, and U.S.

    Italy declares war on Britain and France, and U.S. President Roosevelt announces a shift from neutrality to "non-belligerency," meaning more active support for the Allies against the Axis.

  • British Royal Air Force begins night bombing of German targets.

    As German air attacks over Britain intensify, the British Royal Air Force begins night bombing of German targets.

  • Germany declares a blockade of British waters,

    Germany declares a blockade of British waters, and begins a bombing campaign which, by September, will be killing hundreds each day. In November, German air raids will kill more than 4,500 Britons.

  • Greece and Yugoslavia are invaded by German troops.

    Greece and Yugoslavia are invaded by German troops.

  • German troops invade Soviet Russia

    German troops invade Soviet Russia, breaking the "nonaggression" pact signed in 1939. Two days later, President Roosevelt promises US aid to Russia

  • Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S.

    Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S. President Roosevelt calls an end to official U.S. neutrality in the war in Europe, declaring war on Germany and Italy

  • The first 1,000-bomber attack on German industrial targets is carried out by Britain's Royal Air Force

    The first 1,000-bomber attack on German industrial targets is carried out by Britain's Royal Air Force, as the German city of Cologne is raided.

  • The Women's Airforce Service Pilots

    The Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) are established in the U.S.. The armed forces will be supplied with more than 1000 auxiliary pilots through this organization.

  • Allied forces capture Guadalcanal

    Allied forces capture Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, in heavy fighting.

  • Russian troops recapture Novgorod,

    Russian troops recapture Novgorod, and will retake Leningrad a week later. By early May, they will have recaptured Odessa and Sevastopol as well. Meanwhile the British Royal Air Force bombs Berlin with more than 2,300 tons of bombs

  • A group of wives of Jewish men gather in Berlin to stop the deportation of their husbands to concentrations camp.

    A group of wives of Jewish men gather in Berlin to stop the deportation of their husbands to concentrations camp. The group of women will grow to 1,000 by March 8 and will succeed in forcing Joseph Goebbels to order the release of 1,500 men.

  • More than 600 people are massacred by German troops in the French town of Oradour-sur-Glane.

    More than 600 people are massacred by German troops in the French town of Oradour-sur-Glane. While the men are shot immediately, the women and children are locked in a church the alter of which is set on fire; those who try to escape the flames are shot

  • An assassination attempt on Adolph Hitler

    An assassination attempt on Adolph Hitler panned by some of Hitler's generals, is unsuccessful.

  • Allied forces invade the Philippines

    Allied forces invade the Philippines. Belgrade is captured by Soviet Russian and Yugoslav partisan troops.

  • Russian troops find fewer than 3,000 survivors when they liberate Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp in Poland.

    Russian troops find fewer than 3,000 survivors when they liberate Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp in Poland. The German S.S. has moved many of the remaining prisoners to camps inside Germany. From 1939 to 1945, one third of the Jews living in the world will have died in German concentration and extermination camps.

  • President Roosevelt dies

    After suffering a massive cerebral hemorrhage, President Roosevelt dies. He is 63. Vice-President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) is sworn in as President. Providence Journal cover.

  • Japanese do not agree to unconditional surrender

    U.S. air attacks on Tokyo continue, after planes have dropped leaflets threatening destruction from the air if the Japanese do not agree to unconditional surrender

  • August 19 In the U.S., rationing of gasoline and fuel oil comes to an end.

    In the U.S., rationing of gasoline and fuel oil comes to an end.

  • world war 2 ended

    world war 2 ended