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September 1, 1939
World War II started. -
September 3, 1939
Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. -
September 17, 1939
The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east. -
September 27–29, 1939
Warsaw surrenders on September 27. The Polish government flees into exile via Romania. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between them. -
November 30, 1939–March 12, 1940
The Soviet Union invades Finland, initiating the so-called Winter War. The Finns sue for an armistice and have to cede the northern shores of Lake Lagoda and the small Finnish coastline on the Arctic Sea to the Soviet Union. -
April 9, 1940–June 9, 1940
Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway holds out until June 9. -
May 10, 1940–June 22, 1940
Germany attacks western Europe—France and the neutral Low Countries. Luxembourg is occupied on May 10; the Netherlands surrenders on May 14; and Belgium surrenders on May 28. On June 22, France signs an armistice agreement by which the Germans occupy the northern half of the country and the entire Atlantic coastline. In southern France, a collaborationist regime with its capital in Vichy is established. -
June 10, 1940
Italy enters the war. Italy invades southern France on June 21. -
June 28, 1940
The Soviet Union forces Romania to cede the eastern province of Bessarabia and the northern half of Bukovina to the Soviet Ukraine. -
June 14, 1940–August 6, 1940
The Soviet Union occupies the Baltic States on June 14–18, engineering Communist coup d’états in each of them on July 14–15, and then annexing them as Soviet Republics on August 3–6. -
June 28, 1940
The Soviet Union forces Romania to cede the eastern province of Bessarabia and the northern half of Bukovina to the Soviet Ukraine. -
June 14, 1940–August 6, 1940
The Soviet Union occupies the Baltic States on June 14–18, engineering Communist coup d’états in each of them on July 14–15, and then annexing them as Soviet Republics on August 3–6. -
July 10, 1940–October 31, 1940
The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany. -
August 30, 1940
Second Vienna Award: Germany and Italy arbitrate a decision on the division of the disputed province of Transylvania between Romania and Hungary. The loss of northern Transylvania forces Romanian King Carol to abdicate in favor of his son, Michael, and brings to power a dictatorship under General Ion Antonescu. -
September 13, 1940
The Italians invade British-controlled Egypt from Italian-controlled Libya. -
September 27, 1940
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact. -
October 1940
Italy invades Greece from Albania on October 28. -
November 1940
Slovakia (November 23), Hungary (November 20), and Romania (November 22) join the Axis. -
February 1941
The Germans send the Afrika Korps to North Africa to reinforce the faltering Italians. -
March 1, 1941
Bulgaria joins the Axis. -
April 6, 1941–June 1941
Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria invade and dismember Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia surrenders on April 17. Germany and Bulgaria invade Greece in support of the Italians. Resistance in Greece ceases in early June 1941. -
April 10, 1941
The leaders of the terrorist Ustasa movement proclaim the so-called Independent State of Croatia. Recognized immediately by Germany and Italy, the new state includes the province of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia joins the Axis powers formally on June 15, 1941. -
September 2, 1945
World War II ended. -
December 6, 1941
A Soviet counteroffensive drives the Germans from the Moscow suburbs in chaotic retreat. -
June 22, 1941–November 1941
Nazi Germany and its Axis partners (except Bulgaria) invade the Soviet Union. Finland, seeking redress for the territorial losses in the armistice concluding the Winter War, joins the Axis just before the invasion. The Germans quickly overrun the Baltic States and, joined by the Finns, lay siege to Leningrad (St. Petersburg) by September.
