World War II Timeline of Events

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World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

Timeline of Events

1940

12.29.1940

World War II: In The Second Great Fire of London, the Luftwaffe fire-bombs London, killing almost 200 civilians.

1941

1.2.1941

World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales

1.9.1941

World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster.

1.10.1941

World War II: The Greek army captures Kleisoura.

1.17.1941

Kuomintang forces under orders from Chiang Kai-Shek open fire at communist forces, resuming the Chinese Civil War after World War II.

1.18.1941

World War II: British troops launch a general counter-offensive against Italian East Africa.

1.22.1941

World War II: British and Commonwealth troops capture Tobruk from Italian forces during Operation Compass.

3.1.1941

World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, allying itself with the Axis powers.

3.2.1941

World War II: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joined the Axis Pact.

3.4.1941

World War II: The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands.

3.11.1941

World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.

3.19.1941

World War II: The 99th Pursuit Squadron also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-black unit of the Army Air Corp, is activated.

3.27.1941

World War II: Yugoslavian Air Force officers topple the pro-axis government in a bloodless coup.

3.28.1941

World War II: Battle of Cape Matapan

4.6.1941

World War II: Nazi Germany launches Operation 25 (the invasion of Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and Operation Marita (the invasion of Greece).

4.10.1941

World War II: The Axis Powers in Europe establish the Independent State of Croatia from occupied Yugoslavia with Ante Pavelić's Ustaše fascist insurgents in power.

4.16.1941

World War II: The Italian convoy ''Duisburg'', directed to Tunisia, is attacked and destroyed by British ships.

4.17.1941

World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.

4.23.1941

World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht.

4.27.1941

World War II: German troops enter Athens.

5.20.1941

World War II: Battle of Crete

5.24.1941

World War II: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Battleship ''Bismarck'' sinks the then pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three crewmen.

5.30.1941

World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb on the Athenian Acropolis, tear down the Nazi swastika.

6.1.1941

World War II: Battle of Crete ends as Crete capitulates to Germany.

6.8.1941

World War II: Allies invade Syria and Lebanon.

6.30.1941

World War II: Operation Barbarossa

7.5.1941

World War II: German troops reach the Dnieper River.

7.7.1941

World War II: U.S. forces land in Iceland, taking over from an earlier British occupation.

7.13.1941

World War II: Montenegrins start a popular uprising against the Axis Powers (''Trinaestojulski ustanak'').

7.26.1941

World War II: in response to the Japanese occupation of French Indo-China, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the seizure of all Japanese assets in the United States.

8.22.1941

World War II: German troops reach Leningrad, leading to the siege of Leningrad.

9.4.1941

World War II: a German submarine makes the first attack against a United States ship, the USS Greer.

9.8.1941

World War II: Siege of Leningrad begins. German forces begin a siege against the Soviet Union's second-largest city, Leningrad.

9.16.1941

World War II: concerned that Reza Pahlavi the Shah of Persia is about to ally his petroleum-rich empire with Nazi Germany during World War II, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union invade Iran in late August and force the Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

9.16.1941

9.22.1941

World War II: On Jewish New Year Day, the German SS murder 6,000 Jews in Vinnytsya, Ukraine. Those are the survivors of the previous killings that took place a few days earlier in which about 24,000 Jews were executed.

9.23.1941

World War II: The first gas chamber experiments are conducted at Auschwitz.

9.29.1941

World War II: Holocaust in Kiev, Ukraine: German Einsatzgruppe C begins the Babi Yar massacre, according to the Einsatzgruppen operational situation report.

9.30.1941

World War II: Holocaust in Kiev, Ukraine: German Einsatzgruppe C complete Babi Yar massacre.

10.2.1941

World War II: In Operation Typhoon, Germany begins an all-out offensive against Moscow.

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