world war ii chronology--1939
SEPTEMBER:
1: Adolf Hitler starts World War II by attacking Poland at dawn. German forces, using planes and tanks in blitzkrieg tactics, cross the border and begin battles of annihilation with ill-prepared Polish troops.
3: Great Britain (11:15 AM) and France (5 PM) declare war on Germany. Australia and New Zealand join Allies. British ships at sea receive message, “Winnie is back” as Churchill becomes First Lord of the Admiralty. British blockade of German coast is proclaimed. German submarine warfare begins with sinking of British liner Athenia off Ireland. Roosevelt says that US will stay neutral, but that he “cannot ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well.”
4: RAF carries out first bombing raid of war, on ships in harbor at Wilhelmshaven.
5: Germans cut Polish Corridor, cross Vistula River, and bomb Warsaw. US neutrality is proclaimed as official national policy.
6: Polish Government flees Warsaw.
7: British convoy system begins operation in North Atlantic.
8: Germans reach Warsaw. Roosevelt proclaims “limited” emergency.
10: British Expeditionary Force under the command of Lord Gott begins to land in France. Canada declares war against Germany.
13: Daladier forms War Cabinet in Paris and promises victory.
17: Soviet troops invade Poland from the east. German submarines torpedoes British carrier HMS Courageous off Ireland.
18: German and Soviet troops meet at Brest-Litovsk in Poland.
28: Warsaw surrenders after being devastated by air attacks. In Moscow, Molotov and Ribbentrop sign treaty partitioning Poland. Blitzkreig has crushed Poland in less than 1 month of fighting. German plans call for systematic annihilation of Poles, which will take 5,000,000 civilian lives.
OCTOBER:
3: British units move into sector of Allied line on Belgian frontier. US sets up Pan-American Security Zone to protect hemisphere.
6: Hitler, in Reichstag speech, makes “last peace offer” to Allies.
12: Chamberlain rejects Hitler’s “last peace offer.”
14: Lieutenant Günther Prien sneaks German submarine into a supposedly impregnable British naval base at Scapa Flow and sinks battleship HMS Royal Oak.
NOVEMBER:
3: Stalin presents Finland with drastic territorial demands.
4: Roosevelt signs Neutrality Act, allowing belligerents to “cash and carry” American arms-which only the Allies are able to do.
8: Hitler escapes assassination in bombing of Nazis’ Munich beer hall.
13: German planes raid Shetland Islands, the first time that bombs fall on British soil.
29: Stalin ends non-aggression agreement with Finalnd.
30: Soviet troops invade Finland from the Arctic Sea to Karelia.
DECEMBER:
7: Russians reach Mannerheim Line on Karelian Isthmus, where the Finns are dug in for defense.
13: British warships drive German pocket battleship Graf Spee into Montevideo harbor after battering it in running battle in Atlantic.
14: Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for acts of aggression against Finland.
17: German crew scuttles Graf Spee outside Montevideo harbor.
20: Graf Spee commander, Captain Hans Langsdorff, commits suicide.
22: Finns counterattack at Mannerheim Line; Russians pull back.
1: Adolf Hitler starts World War II by attacking Poland at dawn. German forces, using planes and tanks in blitzkrieg tactics, cross the border and begin battles of annihilation with ill-prepared Polish troops.
3: Great Britain (11:15 AM) and France (5 PM) declare war on Germany. Australia and New Zealand join Allies. British ships at sea receive message, “Winnie is back” as Churchill becomes First Lord of the Admiralty. British blockade of German coast is proclaimed. German submarine warfare begins with sinking of British liner Athenia off Ireland. Roosevelt says that US will stay neutral, but that he “cannot ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well.”
4: RAF carries out first bombing raid of war, on ships in harbor at Wilhelmshaven.
5: Germans cut Polish Corridor, cross Vistula River, and bomb Warsaw. US neutrality is proclaimed as official national policy.
6: Polish Government flees Warsaw.
7: British convoy system begins operation in North Atlantic.
8: Germans reach Warsaw. Roosevelt proclaims “limited” emergency.
10: British Expeditionary Force under the command of Lord Gott begins to land in France. Canada declares war against Germany.
13: Daladier forms War Cabinet in Paris and promises victory.
17: Soviet troops invade Poland from the east. German submarines torpedoes British carrier HMS Courageous off Ireland.
18: German and Soviet troops meet at Brest-Litovsk in Poland.
28: Warsaw surrenders after being devastated by air attacks. In Moscow, Molotov and Ribbentrop sign treaty partitioning Poland. Blitzkreig has crushed Poland in less than 1 month of fighting. German plans call for systematic annihilation of Poles, which will take 5,000,000 civilian lives.
OCTOBER:
3: British units move into sector of Allied line on Belgian frontier. US sets up Pan-American Security Zone to protect hemisphere.
6: Hitler, in Reichstag speech, makes “last peace offer” to Allies.
12: Chamberlain rejects Hitler’s “last peace offer.”
14: Lieutenant Günther Prien sneaks German submarine into a supposedly impregnable British naval base at Scapa Flow and sinks battleship HMS Royal Oak.
NOVEMBER:
3: Stalin presents Finland with drastic territorial demands.
4: Roosevelt signs Neutrality Act, allowing belligerents to “cash and carry” American arms-which only the Allies are able to do.
8: Hitler escapes assassination in bombing of Nazis’ Munich beer hall.
13: German planes raid Shetland Islands, the first time that bombs fall on British soil.
29: Stalin ends non-aggression agreement with Finalnd.
30: Soviet troops invade Finland from the Arctic Sea to Karelia.
DECEMBER:
7: Russians reach Mannerheim Line on Karelian Isthmus, where the Finns are dug in for defense.
13: British warships drive German pocket battleship Graf Spee into Montevideo harbor after battering it in running battle in Atlantic.
14: Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for acts of aggression against Finland.
17: German crew scuttles Graf Spee outside Montevideo harbor.
20: Graf Spee commander, Captain Hans Langsdorff, commits suicide.
22: Finns counterattack at Mannerheim Line; Russians pull back.
