1939
1 September: Germany invades Poland.
3 September: Britain and France declare war on Germany.
17 September: Soviet Union invades eastern Poland.
27 September: Surrender of Warsaw.
30 November: Soviet Union invades Finland.
13 December: Battle of River Plate in the South Atlantic.
1940
12 March: Finland signs peace treaty with Soviet Union.
9 April: Germany invades Denmark and Norway.
10 May: Germany invades Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg.
10 May: Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister.
13 May: Bombing of Rotterdam.
15 May: Holland surrenders to Germany.
26 May: Start of the Dunkirk evacuation.
28 May: Belgium surrenders to Germany.
10 June: Capitulation of Norway.
10 June: Italy declares war on Britain and France.
14 June: Germans occupy Paris.
18 June: Soviets annex Baltic states.
22 June: France signs armistice with Germany.
30 June: Germany begins occupation of the Channel Islands.
3 July: British sink French fleet docked in Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria.
11 July: Marshal Pétain becomes head of French Vichy government.
13 August: Battle of Britain begins,
13 September: Italy invades Egypt.
15 September: Climax of Battle of Britain.
27 September: Germany, Italy and Japan sign Tripartite Pact.
7 October: German army moves into Romania.
28 October: Italy invades Greece.
14 November: Bombing of Coventry.
14 November: Greek army repels Italians back into Albania.
22 November: Italian army defeated by Greeks.
9 December: British offensive begins in North Africa.
1941
22 January: British take Tobruk.
11 March: USA passes Lend-Lease Bill.
25 March: Yugoslavia signs Tripartite Pact.
27 March: Yugoslavian government overthrown – Yugoslavia leaves Pact.
30 March: German Afrika Korps begins offensive in North Africa.
6 April: Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece.
12 April: Germans occupy Belgrade.
13 April: Soviet Union and Japan sign neutrality pact.
17 April: Yugoslav army surrenders to Germans.
27 April: Germans capture Athens.
20 May: German airborne invasion of Crete.
24 May: The HMS Hood is sunk
27 May: The Bismarck is sunk.
31 May: British forces in Crete defeated.
22 June: Operation Barbarossa – Germany invades Soviet Union.
22 June: Italy and Romania declare war on Soviet Union.
26 June: Finland declares war on Soviet Union.
7 July: German forces enter Estonia.
16 July: Germans capture Smolensk.
21 August: First Arctic Convoy to Russia leaves Iceland.
28 August: German forces take Tallinn.
8 September: Siege of Leningrad starts.
19 September: Germans capture Kiev.
24 October: Germans capture Kharkov.
3 November: Germans capture Kursk.
5 December: Germans abandon attack on Moscow.
7 December: Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
7 December: Japan invades Malaya.
8 December: USA and Allies declare war on Japan. (Soviet Union remains neutral.)
10 December: British battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse sunk off Malaya.
11 December: Germany (and Italy) declares war on USA.
11 December: Japan attacks Burma.
25 December: Japanese capture Hong Kong.
1942
2 January: Japanese capture Manila.
13 January: Soviets recapture Kiev.
21 January: Japan invades Burma.
15 February: Singapore falls to the Japanese.
27 February: Battle of Java Sea.
8 March: Japanese occupy Rangoon.
9 March: Japanese conquest of Java completed.
9 April: Japanese take Bataan.
30 April: Japanese close Burma Road.
6 May: Fall of Corregidor and surrender of US forces in the Philippines.
4–8 May: Battle of Coral Sea.
27 May: Japanese complete conquest of Burma.
28 May: Germans defeat Soviets at Kharkov.
30 May: RAF bomb Cologne.
4 June: Battle of Midway.
1 July: First Battle of El Alamein begins.
7 August: USA lands on Guadalcanal.
19 August: Britain’s Dieppe Raid.
23 August: Stalingrad offensive begins.
23 October: Second Battle of El Alamein begins.
8 November: Allies invade French North Africa.
11 November: Germans occupy Vichy France.
1943
14 January: Casablanca Conference opens.
23 January: British enter Tripoli.
2 February: German surrender at Stalingrad.
8 February: Soviets recapture Kursk.
19 April: Jewish uprising in Warsaw Ghetto begins.
7 May: Allies take Tunis.
13 May: Axis forces in North Africa surrender.
16 May: Jewish uprising in Warsaw Ghetto suppressed.
4 July: Battle of Kursk begins.
10 July: Allies land in Sicily.
25 July: Overthrow and imprisonment of Mussolini.
17 August: Allied conquest of Sicily complete.
23 August: Soviets recapture Kharkov.
3 September: Italy signs armistice.
3 September: Allies land in southern Italy.
8 September: Italy surrenders. Germans occupy Rome.
12 September: Mussolini rescued.
23 September: Mussolini declares fascist government in northern Italy.
25 September: Soviets retake Smolensk.
1 October: Allies capture Naples.
13 October: Italy declares war on Germany.
6 November: Soviets retake Kiev.
28 November: Teheran Conference opens.
1944
22 January: Allies land at Anzio.
27 January: End of Leningrad siege.
15 February: Allies destroy monastery of Monte Cassino.
18 March: RAF bombs Hamburg.
7 April: Japanese attack Kohima.
18 May: Allies take Monte Cassino.
4 June: Allies enter Rome.
6 June: Operation Overlord – Allied invasion of Normandy.
13 June: German ‘V-1’ offensive begins against Britain.
27 June: USA captures Cherbourg.
20 July: Attempted German assassination of Hitler.
1 August: Polish uprising in Warsaw.
15 August: Allies invade southern France.
25 August: Allies liberate Paris.
3 September: Allies liberate Brussels.
4 September: Allies liberate Antwerp.
5 September: Soviet Union declares war on Bulgaria.
8 September: Bulgaria surrenders to Soviet Union.
8 September: German ‘V-2’ offensive begins against Britain.
17 September: Operation Market Garden – Allied airborne assault on Holland.
21 September–2 October: Battle of Leyte Gulf.
26 September: Estonia occupied by Soviet Union.
1 October: Soviets enter Yugoslavia.
2 October: End of Warsaw uprising.
4 October:Allies land in Greece.
14 October: Allies liberate Athens.
19 October: USA invades Philippines.
20 October: Liberation of Belgrade.
23 October: Soviets enter East Prussia.
4 November: Surrender of Axis forces in Greece.
16 December: German attack through Ardennes – Battle of the Bulge begins.
1945
1 January: Germans withdraw from Ardennes.
17 January: Soviets liberate Warsaw.
26 January: Soviets liberate Auschwitz.
27 January: ‘Burma Road’ reopened.
30 January: Sinking of the German ship, the Wilhelm Gustloff.
4 February: Allies take Manila.
4 February: Yalta Conference opens.
13 February: The RAF and USAAF bomb Dresden.
19 February: Japanese evacuate Mandalay.
19 February: USA invades Iwo Jima.
23 February: USA retakes Manila.
7 March: USA crosses the Rhine.
17 March: USA captures Iwo Jima.
21 March: British retake Mandalay.
1 April: USA invades Okinawa.
11 April: Soviets and Yugoslavs sign treaty.
12 April: US President Roosevelt dies, replaced by Harry Truman.
23 April: Soviets enter Berlin.
25 April: Soviet and US forces meet at the River Elbe.
28 April: Mussolini captured by partisans and executed.
30 April: Hitler commits suicide.
2 May: German forces in Italy surrender.
3 May: British retake Rangoon.
4 May: German forces in Holland, Denmark and north-west Germany surrender.
7 May: German unconditional surrender to the west.
8 May: German unconditional surrender to the east.
9 May: Liberation of Channel Islands.
22 June: US forces capture Okinawa.
16 July: Potsdam Conference opens.
6 August: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
8 August: Soviet Union declares war on Japan.
9 August: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
14 August: Japan agrees to surrender.
2 September: Formal Japanese surrender.
Read about the war in World War Two: History In An Hour by Rupert Colley, published by Harper Press and available in various digital formats and audio.
If you would like to amend or add to this timeline, please contact us with your suggestions.