1939
January
20 Hitler informed the Reichstag of his intention to exterminate the Jews of Europe.
February
2 Hungary annulled its relations with the Soviet Union.
10 Japan conquered the Chinese island of Hainan.
24 Hungary signed an anti-communist agreement with Japan, Italy and Germany.
March
15 Germany annexed Bohemia, Moravia, and Czechoslovakia.
22 Germany takes control of Klaipeda, Lithuania.
28 The Spanish Civil War ended, Madrid surrendered to Franco.
31 Britain and France agreed to support Poland if Germany invades. Germany appoints a puppet government in Slovakia.
April
6 Britain and Poland signed a military alliance.
7 Italy invaded Albania.
8 The Albanian Parliament voted on the unification of Albania and Italy. The king was smuggled to Greece.
May
7 Germany and Italy signed the Treaty of Rome-Berlin.
13 The "St. Louis" ship left Hamburg with 937 passengers, 900 of them Jews, who sought refuge in Cuba.
17 Publication of the "White Paper".
19 Churchill signed an Anglo-Russian anti-Nazi agreement.
22 The foreign ministers of Germany - Joachim von Ribbentrop and Italy - Galeazzo Ciano, signed a military pact - "The Pact of steel" which formed the basis of the "Axis powers".
27 The "St. Louis" carrying about 900 Jews was refused entry to Havana, Flordia, Canada, and had to return to Europe.
August
20 Soviet attack on Mongolia under General Zhukov in the war against Japan.
23 The Ribbentrop-Molotov Agreement was signed.
27 Nazi Germany demands Danzig from Poland.
29 Chaim Weizmann informed Britain that the Jews would fight in World War II.
30 Yasuko Yamamoto is appointed Chief of Staff of the Japanese Navy.
31 The Japanese retreat from Mongolia.
September
1 The beginning of World War II. Germany invades Poland. Britain and France demand an immediate withdrawal from Germany.
3 Britain, Australia, New Zealand and France declared war on Germany.
4 German forces stormed Danzig, Poland.
6 First German air attack on Britain. South Africa declared war on Germany.
7 In response to the early German invasion of Poland, France invaded Germany. The first volunteers from the Yishuv join to the British army.
8 A German Armored Division commanded by General von Reichenhaus reached the outskirts of Warsaw.
10 Canada declared war on Germany.
14 The British navy sank German U-39.
15 The Polish submarine "Orzel" arrived in Tallinn, Estonia, after fleeing the German invasion of Poland.
17 The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. German submarine U-29 drowned the British aircraft carrier Courageous, 519 sailors were killed.
19 The Wehrmacht murdered 100 Jews in Lvov, Poland.
20 German submarine U-27 was sunk by the destroyers: "Fortune" and "Forrester".
27 The surrender of the Polish army in Warsaw, the end of the campaign against Poland.
30 The French army, which invaded about five miles into Germany, was sent back to France.
October
1 The beginning of the general mobilization among the Yishuv in Palestine 4 The Polish army surrendered to the German Wehrmacht.
5 The Soviets signed a defense pact with Latvia allowing 30,000 soldiers to be stationed there.
8 Germany annexed West Poland.
14 German U-47 submarine, sank the British ship HMS Royal Oak, killing 833 sailors.
19 The first ghetto for Jews was created in Lublin, Poland.
24 The Nazis ordered the Jews to wear a Star of David.
30 A German ship failed to attack the British warship "Nelson" on board which was Winston Churchill.
November
8 A bomb attempt to assassinate Hitler failed.
15 The Nazis began the murder of Jews in Warsaw.
30 The Soviet Union invaded Finland.
December
1 Himmler ordered the deportation of Polish Jewry.
Thirteen British ships were in pursuit of the German warship "Graff Spee", located in the port of La Plata.
14 The USSR was expelled from the League of Nations.
20 The commander of the "Graff Spee", took his ship out of the port, sunk it and committed suicide.
21 Heydrich and Himmler appointed Adolf Eichmann as the head of the Jewish deportation.
23 The first Canadian troops arrived in Britain.
1940
January
1 Britain engaged in conscription for men aged 20-27, and began to stock up on food.
8 The beginning of the underground activities of the Jewish youth movements in Poland.
10 German planes attacked ships on the British coast, 3 boats sunk and 35 killed.
12 Soviet bombers attacked cities in Finland.
16 Hitler canceled an attack in the West due to weather problems.
25 The Nazis set up a Jewish ghetto in Lodz, Poland.
February
16 The British destroyer "Cossack" rescued British sailors from a German POW ship in Norway.
21 A concentration camp was built in Auschwitz, Poland.
In the United States, the "Manhattan" project - the development of nuclear weapons - began.
March
2 The Soviet Army occupied the island of Topora in Finland.
5 Stalin signed an order ordering the massacre in Katyn, Poland, where 21,768 Polish officers, intellectuals and priests were murdered.
12 Finland and the Soviet Union ended the fighting between them.
16 A German air strike on the British Navy in Scapa Flow, Scotland.
18 Benito Mussolini declared that Italy would fight alongside Germany.
20 The British Air Force carried out a night air attack on the German Air Force base Sylt.
30 Japan set up a puppet government in Nanking, China, called Manchukuo.
April
8 A German battleship sunk the British aircraft carrier "Glorious".
9 Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrendered.
10 In the Battle of Narvik Norway: the British destroyer "Hunter" - was sunk with 110 crew members. Four German destroyers were sunk.
12 Britain occupied the Faroe Islands in Denmark. Italy invaded Albania.
13 The second battle of Narvik (Norway): 8 German destroyers were sunk.
14 Allied soldiers landed in Norway.
29 The Norwegian king Hakkon and his government fled to Britain.
May
2 The appearance of the first newspapers of the Jewish underground in Warsaw.
4 British submarine "Seal", hit a mine near the border between Denmark and Sweden. The submarine was damaged and surrendered to the Germans with 60 personnel.
10 Germany invaded Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Winston Churchill was appointed Prime Minister of Britain following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain.
Luxembourg surrendered to Germany.
13 The Dutch Queen Wilhelmina fled to England.
14 Massive aerial bombardment of Rotterdam.
15 German soldiers occupied Amsterdam. A German division attacked northern France.
17 Germany conquered Belgium.
The German Armored Corps, headed by General Guderian, reached the Channal.
21 The Germans encircled the British army in Dunkirk. British tank forces attacked Armored Division 7 under the command of Erwin Rommel.
23 The first big air battle between the British and German planes.
24 Hitler ordered his forces to stop the attack on Dunkirk.
25 German forces occupy Boulogne-France.
26 Operation "Dynamo" began, with the evacuation of the British forces from Dunkirk, France.
The Surrender of Belgium.
29 The Germans occupied Lille in France.
31 British General Montgomery left Dunkirk.
June
1 The beginning of the rescue operation for Jews through Portugal via the Joint Distribution Committee.
3 The German Luftwaffe attacked Paris with 1100 bombs.
4 Operation Dynamo ended with the completion of the evacuation of the British army from France at Dunkirk.
9 Norway surrendered to the German forces.
10 Italy declared war on Britain and France.
11 The Italian Air Force bombed the British fortress in Malta.
13 The campaign in East Africa began.
14 The German army occupied Paris.
15 Verdun (France) was occupied by the Germans.
16 The Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov presented an ultimatum to Estonia and Latvia to allow an unlimited number of Soviet soldiers to enter its territory - the annexation of the Baltic countries to the Soviet Union.
17 France surrendered, Henri Petain was appointed prime minister. The Soviets occupied Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
18 General Charles de Gaulle formed a French government in exile. A "friendship treaty" was signed between Germany and Turkey.
19 Rommel's Armored Division No. 7 captured Cherbourg.
22 The surrender of the French army, Marshal Petain signs an armistice with Germany.
24 France signed a cease-fire agreement with Italy.
27 The Soviet Army attacked Romania.
28 Annexation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina in Romania to the Soviet Union.
30 Germany invaded the Channel Islands in France.
July
1 The French government moved to Vichy. Australia prevented the entry of Dutch Jews into its territory.
4 The British navy sank a French battleship in Oran-Algeria, killing 1267.
5 Romania joined the Axis countries.
10 The Battle of Britain began.
14 A force of German JU-88 bombers attacked the Suez Canal.
15 The bombing of Haifa by Italian planes, one dead and three wounded.
23 German bombers began the "Blitz" on London.
24 Italian planes bombed Haifa, 46 were killed and 88 wounded.
28 bloody riots against Jews in many Romanian cities.
29 Rescue operation of some 40,000 Polish Jews through Lithuania, the USSR and Japan.
30 A lull in the bombing of Britain ended the first part of the battle for Britain.
August
3 Italian forces attacked British Somalia.
6 A third bombing of Haifa by the Italians, hitting the storage tanks, 19 injured.
Churchill recognized de Gaulle's government as an exiled government.
8 The battle for Britain resumed.
17 Hitler orders a naval blockade of Britain. Mass demonstrations by starving Jews in the Lodz ghetto, the "Jewish fortress" was organized.
25 The British Air Force attacked Berlin for the first time.
September
9 Tel Aviv bombing by the Italian Air Force - 117 killed, 239 injured.
10 Italian forces invade Egypt, from Libya.
15 Days of the Battle of Britain 185 German planes were intercepted by the RAF, causing Hitler to abandon his invasion plans for England.
16 In the United States, compulsory recruitment began, and the Luftwaffe bombed Bristol Aircraft Company in the UK.
18 19 German planes were intercepted in the skies of England.
21 The Italians bombed Haifa, killing 40 people and wounding 68. 24 The Luftwaffe bombed a Spitfire aircraft factory in Southampton, England.
26 Japan attacked Indochina.
27 German planes were intercepted in the skies of England. Formation of the "Axis" Berlin-Rome-Tokyo - the triple pact agreement.
30 German planes were intercepted in the skies of England. The diplomatic code used by the Japanese is deciphered.
October
2 The "Empress", with many refugees on board on its way to Canada, was sunk.
3 Vichy government anti-Jewish legislation.
7 Romania's consent to the entry of the German army into its country.
15 London Waterloo station bombed, 400 people killed.
16 The Warsaw Ghetto was established by SS soldiers.
18 Britain reopened the Burma Road linking Myanmar with China.
24 Hitler meets with Marshal Petain.
25 Hitler meets Mussolini in Florence. The Greek army repelled an invasion attempt by Italian forces.
28 Italy invaded Greece.
November
11 The Royal Navy destroyed the Italian fleet in Taranto, Italy.
14 The city of Coventry in England was largely destroyed by German bombs, and during the German attack about 1000 people were killed.
20 Hungary joined the "Axis" countries.
23 Romania joined the Axis states.
24 Slovakia joined the Axis countries.
25 The ship "Patria" carrying illegal immigrants was sunk off the coast of Haifa. 267 people died and 172 injured.
December
8 The German Luftwaffe assaulted London for 24 hours and caused serious damage.
9 Britain's first attack in North Africa.
11 Greece invaded Albania.
16 The British carried out aerial attacks in Italian Somalia.
23 Chiang Kai-shek disbanded the Communist organizations in China.
29 Germany began to drop incendiary bombs on London.