1939
September 1 -- German troops invaded Poland.
September 3 -- Britain and France declared war on Germany.
November 30 -- Russian troops invaded Finland.

1940
April 9 -- Germany attacked Denmark and Norway.
May 10 -- Germany invaded Belgium, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands.
June 10 -- Italy declared war on Britain and France.
June 22 -- France surrendered to Germany.
August 4 -- Italy invaded British Somaliland.
October 28 -- Italy attacked Greece.
November 20 -- Hungary joined the Axis.
November 23 -- Romania joined the Axis.

1941
January 15 -- British soldiers invaded Ethiopia.
March 1 -- Bulgaria joined the Axis.
April 6 -- Germany invaded Greece and Yugoslavia.
June 22 -- Axis forces invaded Russia.
July 7 -- United States troops landed in Iceland.
August 14 -- The Atlantic Charter was announced.
December 7 -- Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
December 11 -- Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The United States declared war on Germany and Italy.

1942
June 5 -- The United States declared war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.
June 21 -- German troops seized Tobruk in North Africa.
July 2 -- The British halted the Germans at El Alamein.
September 16 -- German forces entered Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in Russia.
October 23 -- The British began an offensive at El Alamein.
November 7-8 -- Allied forces landed in North Africa.
November 11 -- French resistance in North Africa ended.
November 12 -- British troops captured Tobruk.
November 19 -- The Russians counterattacked at Stalingrad.
November 27 -- The French scuttled their fleet at Toulon.

1943
January 31 -- Field Marshal Friedrich von Paulus surrendered to the Russians.
May 7 -- Tunis and Bizerte fell to the Allies.
May 12 -- Organized Axis resistance in Africa ended.
July 10 -- Allied forces invaded Sicily.
September 3 -- The Allies landed in Italy.
September 3 -- Italy signed a secret armistice with the Allies.
October 13 -- Italy declared war on Germany.
November 6 -- The Russians recaptured Kiev.

1944
January 27 -- The Russians broke the siege of Leningrad.
March 19 -- German troops swept into Hungary.
June 6 -- The Allies landed in Normandy, France.
June 13 -- The first V-1 guided missile fell on London.
July 25 -- United States forces broke out of Normandy.
August 15 -- Allied troops landed in southern France.
August 25 -- Romania declared war on Germany.
September 9 -- Bulgaria declared war on Germany.
September 10 -- Finland signed an armistice with Russia.
December 16 -- The Germans began the Battle of the Bulge.
December 27 -- The Allies halted the German offensive.

1945
January 11 -- Russian soldiers entered Warsaw, Poland.
January 21 -- Hungary declared war on Germany.
February 13 -- Russian forces occupied Budapest.
April 13 -- Vienna fell to invading Russian troops.
April 22 -- The Russians reached the suburbs of Berlin.
April 25 -- U.S. and Russian forces met at Torgau.
May 2 -- German troops in Italy surrendered.
May 2 -- Berlin surrendered to Russian troops.
May 7 -- Germany surrendered to the Allies.
July 26 -- The Allies issued the Potsdam Declaration.

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This page was last updated on 08/08/2018.