1939
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15 March 1939
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Germany occupies Moravia and Bohemia [Germany]
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1 April 1939
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Civil War ends in Spain
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7 April 1939
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Italian forces invade Albania
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23 August 1939
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Signing of the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact [U.S.S.R.]
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1 September 1939
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World War II begins when Germany invades Poland [Germany]
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1 September 1939
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Polish Campaign begins
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1 September 1939
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Norway, Finland, Switzerland declare their neutrality
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3 September 1939
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Britain and France declare war on Germany
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3 September 1939
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Winston Churchill joins Neville Chamberlain's war cabinet as first lord of the admiralty
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4 September 1939
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U-boat U-30 sinks the British liner SS Athenia with 1,418 people on board; most are saved
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5 September 1939
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First British freighter sunk by U-boat U-47
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5 September 1939
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US formally becomes a neutral country
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6 September 1939
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South Africa declares war on Germany
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7 September 1939
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French forces advance into Germany and capture two villages near Saarbrucken
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8 September 1939
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German army reaches outskirts of Warsaw
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10 September 1939
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British Expeditionary Force (BEF) starts landing in France; it is led by Field Marshal Gort
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10 September 1939
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Canada Declares war on Germany
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12 September 1939
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First meeting of Anglo-French Supreme War Council at Abbeville, France
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14 September 1939
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HMS Ark Royal attacked by U-boat U39; the U-boat is later sunk
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15 September 1939
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Russia and Japan sign a peace treaty;
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17 September 1939
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Soviet Union invades Poland per the secret German-Soviet Non-Aggression Treaty
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17 September 1939
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British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous sunk off Irish coast by U-boat U29
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19 September 1939
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In Poland, the Poznan and Pomorze armies surrender to the Germans
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19 September 1939
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German and Soviet forces meet at Brest-Litovsk
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20 September 1939
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HMS Fortune and HMS Forester sink U-Boat U27
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21 September 1939
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Prime Minister Armand Calinescu of Romania is assassinated by pro-Nazi members of the Iron Guard
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22 September 1939
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Britain introduces gasoline rationing
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27 September 1939
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Warsaw surrenders to the Germans
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28 September 1939
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Modlin surrenders to the Germans
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29 September 1939
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Germany and the Soviet Union partition Poland
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30 September 1939
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The Poles setup a government in exile in Paris; General Wladyslaw Sikorski is made commander-in-chief
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30 September 1939
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German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks British ship SS Clement
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2 October 1939
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Countries from North and South America meet (Pan-American Conference) to setup a neutrality zone 300 miles off the coast of America
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4 October 1939
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Polish airforce flies their final mission
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5 October 1939
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British and French ships begin the search for the Graf Spee
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5 October 1939
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Polish Campaign ends
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6 October 1939
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The last Polish armed forces surrender to the Germans
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6 October 1939
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German ship Deutschland sinks British ship Stonegate within US Neutrality zone
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7 October 1939
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British Expeditionary Force (BEF) landings end in France
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8 October 1939
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The first German airplane (Dornier flying-boat) is shot down by British aircraft
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9 October 1939
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Hitler issues War Directive No. 6 laying out invasion of France, Holland and Belgium (Plan Yellow)
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12 October 1939
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Hitler appoints Hans Frank to head General Government of Poland
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13 October 1939
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First attempt of combining U-boats into a Wolfpack fails
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14 October 1939
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U47, commanded by Gunther Prien, sinks the HMS Royal Oak at the anchorage in Scapa Flow dealing a major blow to British morale
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16 October 1939
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German forces retake villages in Saarbrucken
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16 October 1939
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German warships are order to torpedo Allied merchant ships without first giving warning
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18 October 1939
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Soviet Union invades Estonia
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28 October 1939
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First German plane (Heinkel HE 111) is shot down over Great Britain
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10 November 1939
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The Netherlands floods its primary defensive area
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16 November 1939
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Martial Law is declared in Czechoslovakia
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17 November 1939
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The Czechoslovakia National Committee is setup in France
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23 November 1939
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German battlecruiser Scharnhorst sinks British ship Rawalpindi
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29 November 1939
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Soviet Union attacks Finland without a declaration of war
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30 November 1939
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Finnish-Soviet War begins
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30 November 1939
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Helsinki is bombed by Soviet aircraft
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5 December 1939
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Soviet forces reach the Mannerheim line in Finland
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13 December 1939
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German cruisers Leipzig and Nurnberg disabled by British submarine Salmon
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14 December 1939
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League of Nations expels the Soviet Union
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17 December 1939
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The Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled by her captain Langsdorff at the entrance of Montevideo harbor in Uruguay
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23 December 1939
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The first Canadian troops land in Britain
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28 December 1939
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Britain starts to ration meat
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1940
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4 January 1940
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Hermann Goring is put in charge of Germany's war industry
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27 January 1940
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Planning of invasion of Norway by Germany begins
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5 February 1940
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Britain and France agree to send aid and troops to Finland
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12 February 1940
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The first parts of the Enigma machine are recovered from the sunken U-33
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16 February 1940
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British forces from the destroyer HMS Cossack rescues British prisoners aboard the German ship Altmark off Norway
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21 February 1940
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Construction begins at the Auschwitz concentration camp
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2 March 1940
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First naval action in the English Channel; passenger ship SS Domala is attacked by German bombers
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3 March 1940
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Russian General Grendal (13th Army) is dismissed due to poor performance in the action in Finland
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11 March 1940
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U-31 is sunk by a RAF Blenheim, the first sinking of a U-boat
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12 March 1940
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Russo-Finnish war ends; Finland cedes land to the Soviet Union [U.S.S.R.]
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12 March 1940
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Finish-Soviet War ends
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16 March 1940
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First British civilian is killed during a German air raid at Scapa Flow
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27 March 1940
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Peter Fraser becomes Prime Minister in New Zealand
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28 March 1940
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Britain and France agree not to make a separate peace with Germany
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6 April 1940
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German fleet sails for Narvik, Norway
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7 April 1940
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Germany invades Norway and Denmark
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9 April 1940
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Battle of Invasion of Denmark [Denmark]
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9 April 1940
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Invasion of Norway [Norway]
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9 April 1940
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German warship Blucher (heavy cruiser) is sunk by Norwegian shore batteries
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9 April 1940
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German forces invade Denmark and Norway
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10 April 1940
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The light cruiser Konigsberg is sunk
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13 April 1940
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Eight German destroyers are sunk by the Royal navy near Narvik
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14 April 1940
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Allied troops land at Harstad, Norway
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5 May 1940
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German forces capture the British submarine HMS Shark
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10 May 1940
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Battle of Flanders
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10 May 1940
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Neville Chamberlain resigns as British Prime Minister; Winston Churchill replaces him
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10 May 1940
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Britain occupies Iceland
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10 May 1940
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Field Marshal Fedor von Bock's Army Group B invades Belgium and Netherlands
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10 May 1940
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Belgian fort Eben Emel is captured
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10 May 1940
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German forces invade Belgium and France
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14 May 1940
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Netherlands surrenders; Queen Wilhelmina flees to England
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14 May 1940
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German air force bombs Rotterdam
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15 May 1940
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Britain begins strategic bombing campaign against Germany when RAF bombs targets in the Ruhr
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15 May 1940
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Britain bans merchant shipping from the Mediterranean
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15 May 1940
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Great Britain begins Strategic Air Offensive against Germany
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17 May 1940
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German forces capture Brussels
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22 May 1940
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RAF loses its last air field in France
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24 May 1940
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Germans halt their advance on Dunkirk
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26 May 1940
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Battle of Dunkirk
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26 May 1940
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Evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk begins
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27 May 1940
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Allied forces capture Narvik
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28 May 1940
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Belgium surrenders
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28 May 1940
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First ship (Mona's Isle) arrives at Dunkirk to rescue troops
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1 June 1940
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Britain announces the evacuation from Norway
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3 June 1940
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Evacuation of Dunkirk ends
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4 June 1940
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Scharnhorst and Gneisenau leave Kiel
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5 June 1940
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Battle of France
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8 June 1940
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Aircraft carrier HMS Glorious sunk by Scharnhorst
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9 June 1940
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The last Allied troops leave Narvik for Great Britain; the German conquest of Norway is complete
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10 June 1940
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Italy declares war on Britain and France
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11 June 1940
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The French government leaves Paris for Tours
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11 June 1940
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First air combat between Britain and Italy at Cyrenaica and Malta
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14 June 1940
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German forces enter Paris
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14 June 1940
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German forces take Paris, France
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15 June 1940
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The Soviet Union occupies Lithuania
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18 June 1940
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Brigadier-General Charles de Gaulle broadcasts from London; he urges French to fight on
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18 June 1940
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RAF bombs Hamburg and Bremen
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21 June 1940
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Italy attacks France
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22 June 1940
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France under Petain signs armistice with Germany at Rethondes [Germany]
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24 June 1940
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France signs armistice with Italy
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28 June 1940
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Charles de Gaulle is recognized as the leader of the Free French
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30 June 1940
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German forces occupy the Channel Islands (part of the British Isles)
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1 July 1940
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Task Force H, operating in the Mediterranean, is created with HMS Ark Royal, HMS Hood plus other ships
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3 July 1940
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Task Force H attempts to destroy French ships at Oran, Algeria; only one ship is sunk
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4 July 1940
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Airplanes from carrier HMS Hermes attack the French battleship Richelieu
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4 July 1940
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Italians enter Sudan
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9 July 1940
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First naval action between Britain and Italy; HMS Warspite fires on Italian battleship Guilio Cesare
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10 July 1940
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First heavy air attack on Britain by Germany starts the Battle of Britain
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13 July 1940
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Italians enter Kenya
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14 July 1940
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Soviet Union annexes Baltic states
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16 July 1940
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Hitler issues Directive 16 outlining the Invasion of Britain (Operation Sealion)
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19 July 1940
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President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Two-Ocean Navy Expansion Act
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19 July 1940
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Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo is sunk by the Australian navy; first large ship loss by Italy
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22 July 1940
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Britain creates the SOE - Special Operations Executive - to act against German forces in occupied Europe
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1 August 1940
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Hitler issues Directive 17 updating the Invasion of Britain plan; target date is September 19 - 26
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13 August 1940
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Battle of Britain begins in earnest as the first large air offensive begins with almost 500 bombing sorties by Germany
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15 August 1940
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Italian forces force British troops to evacuate the post of Berbera in East Africa; this is the only Italian victory over the British in the war
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24 August 1940
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German battleship Bismarck enters service
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24 August 1940
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By accident a German bomber drops bombs on London
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25 August 1940
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In reprisal for the attack on 24 August 1940 the RAF bombs Berlin
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2 September 1940
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United States agrees to supply Britain with 50 early-model destroyers
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7 September 1940
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Germany begins blitz against London
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12 September 1940
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Italian Tenth Army commanded by Marshal Rodolpho Graziani invades Egypt [Egypt]
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12 September 1940
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Italian forces invade Libya and Egypt
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15 September 1940
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Battle of Britain Day; RAF scrambles all of its fighters; the Germans lose 56 aircraft, the British 26
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20 September 1940
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Convoy HX-72 is attacked by a German submarine Wolfpack; 12 of 41 ships are sunk
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21 September 1940
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Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact [Germany]
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23 September 1940
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A British naval force led by Admiral John Cunningham and Free French troops led by Charles de Gaulle attack Dakar; the invasion is repulsed by Vichy forces
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26 September 1940
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In reaction to the Dakar attack, Vichy forces bomb Gibraltar
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27 September 1940
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Tripartite pact is signed by Germany, Italy and Japan
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30 September 1940
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Luftwaffe switches from daylight to night bombing over England
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6 October 1940
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Hitler sends troops in Romania
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12 October 1940
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Hitler cancels Invasion of Britain
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23 October 1940
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Hitler meets with Franco
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28 October 1940
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Italy invades Greece; six divisions led by General Visconti Prasca attack northwest Greece
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29 October 1940
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Britain occupies Crete
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5 November 1940
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President Roosevelt elected to a third term
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5 November 1940
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German ship Admiral Scheer sinks six ships from convoy HX-84
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14 November 1940
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Greek forces launch large-scale counter-attack against Italian forces
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14 November 1940
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Coventry is ravaged by German bombers
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16 November 1940
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In reprisal for the Coventry raid, Britain bombs Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen
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20 November 1940
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Hungary becomes part of Axis powers
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22 November 1940
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Romania becomes an Axis power
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23 November 1940
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Romania joins the Axis powers
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5 December 1940
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Greek forces enter Albania pushing the Italians back
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8 December 1940
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Battle of Sidi Barrani
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23 December 1940
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Anthony Eden appointed British Foreign Secretary; Lord Halifax appointed Ambassador to the US
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