1940
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Jan. 2 -
The Battle of Salla begins.
At the Finnish town of Salla, taken by the Soviets in
1939, Finland attempts to outmaneuver the
Soviet Union, unsuccessfully. Finnish resistance fighters, refusing to give into the Russians, continue attacks.
Jan. 4 –
Hermann Göring becomes Reichsmarshal.
Reichsmarshal gave Göring control of Germany's wartime economy. Göring was the planner of most of the Nazis air strikes, as well as many of the general plans for conquest. He became
Successor Designate to Hitler as well as held complete control of the production and distribution of arms and armament.
Jan. 8 –
Rationing begins in Britain.
The British government had a habit of starting rationing prior to times of need. That way, they could stretch their food out much longer and less people would be in need. Various items, including butter, sugar and bacon fell under the rationing. A monthly point system begins to allow saving up in order to gain other foods.
Jan. 12 -
The Battle of Taipale begins.
The Soviet army attempts to break through the Finnish flank and cross
Taipale River.
Jan. 17 –
German code broken.
Cryptologists from
Poland finally break the Nazi encryption methods. The decryption of various German messages proceeds and the Allies gain some knowledge from them.
Feb. 5 –
Britain and France finally send Finland help.
The
Supreme War Council sends aircraft and weapons to assist Finland in their defensive against the Soviets.
Mar. 12 -
The Moscow Peace Treaty signed.
Although Finland had been fighting the Soviets, they lept at the chance for an end to the hostilities. Soviet troops withdraw from Finland. It isn't until Noon of March 13th that the two countries are officially at cease-fire. This marks the end of the 104 day Winter War between the two nations.
Mar. 16 -
Germans bomb Scapa Flow naval base.
32 German bombers attack the
HMS Norfolk at Scapa Flow base, near
Scotland. The only casualty of note is the death of the first British civilian in the war.
Apr. 9 -
Nazis invade Denmark and Norway.
Operation Weserübung begins and
Copenhagen is taken. The Invasion of Norway begins and Germany puts a stranglehold on British movements.
May 1 –
Allies evacuate Andalsnes.
At Andalsnes 4000+ men are evacuated. Meanwhile, the fight in Norway is going well for the Nazis.
Lillehammer is surrendered.
May 10 -
Nazis invade France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The Nazis begin blitzkrieg attacks across western Europe. The German
Luftwaffe causes them to succeed with minimal losses. Instead of attempting to take large amounts of land, the Nazis attacked hard and fast. This strategy gave them the ability to do large amounts of damage to the unsuspecting British army.
Winston Churchill takes office of the Prime Minister, replacing
Neville Chamberlain.
May 15 –
Dutch Army surrenders to Germany.
After finding themselves unable to continue a war with Germany, the Dutch sign an armistice.
May 26 -
Evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk begins.
Operation Dynamo, the Dunkirk evacuation, is ordered. Troops begin falling back to the port town of Dunkirk. Any civilians with ships worked at night to take as many soldiers across as they could. Over the next few days, tens of thousands of Allied troops land successfully in Britain.
May 28 –
Belgium surrenders to the Nazis.
King Leopold surrenders Belgium and an armistice is signed.
Jun. 10 -
Norway surrenders to the Nazis; Italy declares war on Britain and France.
Allied soldiers in Norway are evacuated.
Mussolini, against better judgment, joins the war against the Allies. Ill prepared, Italy has little hope of defeating the opposing fleets due to inferior arms and dramatically less troops.
Jun. 14 -
Germans enter Paris.
Nazi troops overtake France's capital.
Jun. 16 –
Marshal Pétain becomes French Prime Minister.
Reynaud resigns and Pétain replaces him. Immediately, France asks Britain to be allowed to attempt a surrender to the Nazis.
Jun. 18 –
Hitler and Mussolini meet in Munich.
Hitler and Mussolini begin peace talks.
Charles de Gaulle, who fled France before the German occupation, begins a radio address that urging French civilians to
oppose Nazis.
Jun. 22 -
France signs an armistice with the Nazis.
General
Huntziger signs the armistice. The last of France's armed forces surrender. Germany gains control of Northern France, while Pétain is allowed to be Prime Minister of an unoccupied southern area.
Jul. 10 –
The Battle of Britain begins.
Over 70 German fighters attack port towns across Wales. Thus begins the aerial battle that would take until September to finally die down.
Aug. 3 -
Italians occupy British Somaliland in East Africa.
With seven times the force of the Allies, Italy overtakes and controls Britain’s territory in Africa.
Aug. 15 -
Air battles and daylight raids over Britain.
Over 1700 Nazi planes make attacks across England. Although fighters are lost, on both sides, little permanent damage is done to Allied bases.
Aug. 17 -
Hitler declares a blockade of the British Isles.
Hitler orders Britain blocked off, by air and sea.
Aug. 19 –
Britain evacuates East African territory.
Remaining troops in Africa are pulled out from
Berbera to
Aden.
Aug. 24 -
First German air raids on Central London.
In the dead of night, German planes bomb London. When unable to find targets, some bombers released their loads randomly over the city .
Aug. 25 -
First British air raid on Berlin.
Against German leaders statements that a bombing of Berlin would be impossible, the Allies retaliate to the random bombs dropped over London by attacking various parts of Berlin.
Sep. 3 -
Hitler plans Operation Sealion.
The invasion of Britain begins to come to form. Germany prepares to invade.
Sep. 7 -
German Blitz against England begins.
Göring and Hitler agree that an attack on
London is the strongest use of German forces. Hundreds of bombers and fighters attack various strategic points and manage to surprise British forces. Fires raging across the city give the Nazis targets, while the
Allies are unable to defend.
Sep. 15 -
German air raids on London, Southampton, Bristol, Liverpool and Manchester.
A desperate attempt to continues attacks on Britain occurs and Allied forces come out on top. The entire attack was a failure, due to
Kesselring’s inability to pull more fighters for the offensive.
Sep. 16 -
United States military conscription bill passed.
The
Selective Service bill is made law. The bill requires compulsory service for men between the ages 21 through 35.
Sep. 27 –
Tripartite Pact signed by Germany, Italy and Japan.
In an attempt to keep the United States from joining the war, the Tripartite Pact is signed and the Axis is formed. Now, if any nation declares war on one of the three, the other two will declare war against the attacker.
Oct. 7 -
German troops enter Romania.
To defend the oil fields, Hitler moves forces to
Romania under the pretense of regrouping.
Oct. 12 -
Germany postpones Operation Sealion until Spring of 1941.
The German invasion of Britain fails. Although Hitler declares they will return to the attack in Spring, the invasion won’t ever occur.
Oct. 28 -
Italy moves troops into Greece.
Mussolini deploys forces to take Greece. Hitler promises Mussolini more troops if they are necessary to protecting Romanian oil fields.
Nov. 5 –
Roosevelt re-elected as U.S. president.
Roosevelt returns for a second term with a 10% majority.
Nov. 11 -
A torpedo bomber raid cripples the Italian fleet.
The
British Mediterranean Fleet attacks
Taranto, Italy. Few Allied aircraft are lost compared to the massive damage done to the Italian fleet.
Nov. 20 -
Hungary joins the Axis Powers.
Prime Minister
Count Teleki signs the Tripartite Pact.
Nov. 22 -
Greeks defeat the Italian 9th Army.
Heavy forces give the Italian army in Greece no option but retreat into
Albania.
Nov. 23 -
Romania joins the Axis Powers.
Marshal Antonescu signs the Tripartite Pact. Britain begins to realize that they will not have the finances to meet the needs of a further war against the Axis.
Dec. 30 -
Massive German air raid on London.
The German
Luftwaffe make a late night attack. Heavy losses across the city in people and propetry. Burning buildings prove to be a problem for the days after and many have to be taken down with explosives in order to contain the damage.
An E2 Quest: Writeup Redemption submission.
Thanks to avalyn for a whole ton of help! And to BelDion for the original writeup!
Sources:
Most of the timeline itself came from BelDion's wu.
http://www.ehistory.com
http://encarta.msn.com
http://www.onwar.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk