CHRONOLOGY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR (1939-1945)
Read also: Great Patriotic War - chronological table, Patriotic War of 1812 - chronology, Northern War - chronology, First World War - chronology, Russian-Japanese War - chronology, October Revolution of 1917 - chronology, Civil War in Russia 1918-20 - chronology.
1939
August 23. Signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany).
September 17. The Polish government moves to Romania. Soviet troops invade Poland.
September 28. The signing of the “Treaty of Friendship and Border” between the USSR and Germany formally completes their division of Poland. Conclusion of a “mutual assistance pact” between the USSR and Estonia.
October 5. Conclusion of a “mutual assistance pact” between the USSR and Latvia. The Soviet proposal to Finland to conclude a “mutual assistance pact”, the beginning of negotiations between Finland and the USSR.
the 13th of November. Termination of Soviet-Finnish negotiations - Finland abandons the “mutual assistance pact” with the USSR.
November 26. The “Maynila Incident” is the reason for the start of the Soviet-Finnish War on November 30.
December 1. Creation of the “People's Government of Finland” headed by O. Kuusinen. On December 2, it signed an agreement on mutual assistance and friendship with the USSR.
December 7. The beginning of the Battle of Suomussalmi. It lasted until January 8, 1940 and ended in a heavy defeat for the Soviet troops.
The Second World War. Gathering Storm
1940
April May. Execution by the NKVD of more than 20 thousand Polish officers and intellectuals in the Katyn Forest, Ostashkovsky, Starobelsky and other camps.
September – December. The beginning of Germany's secret preparations for war with the USSR. Development of the "Barbarossa Plan".
1941
January 15. Negus Haile Selasie entered Abyssinian territory, which he abandoned in 1936.
March 1. Bulgaria joins the Tripartite Pact. German troops enter Bulgaria.
March 25. The Yugoslav government of Prince Regent Paul adheres to the Tripartite Pact.
March 27. Government coup in Yugoslavia. King Peter II entrusts the formation of a new government to General Simovic. Mobilization of the Yugoslav army.
April, 4. Coup d'etat by Rashid Ali al-Gailani in Iraq in favor of Germany.
April 13. Signing of the Soviet-Japanese neutrality treaty for a period of five years.
14th of April. Battles for Tobruk. German defensive battles on the Egyptian border (April 14 - November 17).
April 18th. Surrender of the Yugoslav army. Division of Yugoslavia. Creation of independent Croatia.
26 April. Roosevelt announced his intention to establish American air bases in Greenland.
the 6th of May. Stalin replaces Molotov as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars.
12 May. Admiral Darlan in Berchtesgaden. The Pétain government provides the Germans with bases in Syria.
May. Roosevelt declared a "state of extreme national danger."
12 June. British aircraft begin systematic bombing of the industrial centers of Germany.
June 25. Finland enters the war on the side of Germany in response to the Soviet bombing of 19 airfields on its territory.
30 June. Capture of Riga by the Germans (see Baltic operation). Capture of Lvov by the Germans (see Lvov-Chernivtsi operation.) Creation of the highest authority in the USSR for the war period - the State Defense Committee (GKO): chairman Stalin, members - Molotov (deputy chairman), Beria, Malenkov, Voroshilov.
3 July. Stalin's order to organize the partisan movement behind German lines and to destroy everything that the enemy could get. Stalin’s first radio speech since the beginning of the war: “Brothers and sisters!.. My friends!.. Despite the heroic resistance of the Red Army, despite the fact that the enemy’s best divisions and the best units of his aviation have already been defeated and have found their grave on the battlefield , the enemy continues to advance"
July 10. The end of the 14-day battles near Bialystok and Minsk, more than 300 thousand Soviet soldiers were surrounded here in two bags. The Nazis complete the encirclement of the 100,000-strong Red Army group near Uman. The beginning of the battle of Smolensk (July 10 - August 5).
October 15. Evacuation of the leadership of the Communist Party, the General Staff and administrative institutions from Moscow.
29th of October. The Germans drop a large bomb on the Kremlin: 41 people are killed and more than 100 are wounded.
November 1-15. Temporary cessation of the German offensive on Moscow due to exhaustion of troops and severe mud.
November 6. In his annual speech on the occasion of the October anniversary at the Mayakovskaya metro station, Stalin announced the failure of the German “Blitzkrieg” (lightning war) in Russia.
November 15 – December 4. An attempt by the Germans to make a decisive breakthrough towards Moscow.
November 18th. British offensive in Africa. Battle of Marmarica (the area between Cyrenaica and the Nile Delta). German retreat in Cyrenaica
November 22. Rostov-on-Don is occupied by the Germans - and a week later it is recaptured by units of the Red Army. The beginning of German defensive battles in the Donetsk basin.
End of December. Surrender of Hong Kong.
1942
Before January 1, 1942 The Red Army and Navy lose a total of 4.5 million people, of which 2.3 million are missing and captured (most likely, these figures are incomplete). Despite this, Stalin longs to end the war victoriously already in 1942, which becomes the cause of many strategic mistakes.
1st of January . The United Nations Union (26 nations fighting against the fascist bloc) was created in Washington - the beginning of the UN. It also includes the USSR.
Jan. 7 . The beginning of the Soviet Lyuban offensive operation: attempts to encircle the German troops located here with a strike from two sides on Lyuban, located north of Novgorod. This operation lasts 16 weeks, ending in failure and defeat of the 2nd Shock Army of A. Vlasov.
January 8 . Rzhev-Vyazemskaya operation of 1942 (8.01 – 20.04): an unsuccessful attempt to quickly “cut off” the Rzhev ledge held by the Germans costs the Red Army (according to official Soviet data) 770 thousand losses against 330 thousand German ones.
January February . Encirclement of the Germans on the Demyansk bridgehead (southern Novgorod region, January – February). They defend here until April - May, when they break through the encirclement, holding Demyansk. German losses were 45 thousand, Soviet losses were 245 thousand.
January 26 . Landing of the first American Expeditionary Force in Northern Ireland.
February 19. Riom trial against “the culprits of the defeat of France” - Daladier, Leon Blum, General Gamelin and others (February 19 - April 2).
February 23. Roosevelt's Lend-Lease Act applied to all Allied nations (USSR).
28th of February. German-Italian troops recapture Marmarika (February 28 – June 29).
11th of March. Another attempt to solve the Indian question: Cripps mission to India.
March 12. General Toyo invites America, England, China and Australia to abandon a war that is hopeless for them.
April 1st. A special resolution of the Politburo subjected Voroshilov to devastating criticism, who refused to accept command of the Volkhov Front.
April. Hitler gains full power. From now on, Hitler's will becomes law for Germany. British aircraft drop an average of 250 tons of explosives per night over Germany.
May 8-21 . Battle for the Kerch Peninsula. Kerch was taken by the Germans (May 15). The failed attempt to liberate Crimea in 1942 cost the Red Army up to 150 thousand losses.
August 23. The exit of the 6th German Army to the outskirts of Stalingrad. Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. The most severe bombing of the city.
August. Offensive battles of the Red Army near Rzhev.
September 30th. Hitler announces Germany's transition from an offensive strategy to a defensive one (development of conquered territories).
From January to October The Red Army loses 5.5 million soldiers killed, wounded and captured.
October 23. Battle of El Alamein. Defeat of Rommel's expeditionary force (October 20 – November 3).
October 9. Elimination of the institution of commissars in the Red Army, introduction of unity of command among military commanders.
November 8. Allied landings in North Africa, under the command of General Eisenhower.
11th of November. The German army breaks through to the Volga in Stalingrad, the Soviet troops defending the city are divided into two narrow pockets. The Germans begin to occupy all of France. Demobilization of the French army retained after the 1940 armistice.
November 19. The beginning of the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad - Operation Uranus.
November 25. The beginning of the Second Rzhev-Sychev Operation (“Operation Mars”, 11/25 – 12/20): an unsuccessful attempt to defeat the 9th German Army at Rzhev. It costs the Red Army 100 thousand killed and 235 thousand wounded against 40 thousand total German losses. If “Mars” had ended successfully, it would have been followed by “Jupiter”: the defeat of the main part of the German Army Group Center in the Vyazma area.
November 27. Self-sinking of large units of the French navy in Toulon.
December 16. The beginning of the Red Army operation “Little Saturn” (December 16-30) - a strike from the south of the Voronezh region (from Kalach and Rossosh), to Morozovsk (north of the Rostov region). Initially, it was planned to rush south all the way to Rostov-on-Don and thus cut off the entire German group “South”, but “Big Saturn” did not have enough strength for this, and had to limit itself to “Small”.
December 23. Termination of Operation Winter Storm - Manstein's attempt to rescue the Germans in Stalingrad with a blow from the south. The Red Army captured the airfield in Tatsinskaya, the main external source of supply for the encircled Stalingrad German group.
End of December. Rommel lingers in Tunisia. Stopping the Allied offensive in Africa.
1943
1
January.
The beginning of the North Caucasus operation of the Red Army.
6
January.
Decree “On the introduction of shoulder straps for Red Army personnel.”
11
January.
Liberation of Pyatigorsk, Kislovodsk and Mineralnye Vody from the Germans.
January 12-30. The Soviet Operation Iskra breaches the siege of Leningrad, opening (after the liberation of Shlisselburg on January 18) a narrow land corridor to the city. Soviet losses in this operation - approx. 105 thousand killed, wounded and prisoners, German - approx. 35 thousand
January 14-26. Conference in Casablanca (demanding “unconditional surrender of the Axis powers”).
21 January. Liberation of Voroshilovsk (Stavropol) from the Germans.
January 29. The beginning of Vatutin’s Voroshilovgrad operation (“Operation Leap”, January 29 – February 18): the initial goal was to reach the Sea of Azov through Voroshilovgrad and Donetsk and cut off the Germans in the Donbass, but they only succeeded in taking Izyum and Voroshilovgrad (Lugansk).
The 14th of February. Liberation of Rostov-on-Don and Lugansk by the Red Army. Creation of the Malaya Zemlya bridgehead by the Red Army at Myskhako, with the aim of attacks on Novorossiysk. The Germans, however, were held in Novorossiysk until September 16, 1943.
February 19. The beginning of Manstein's counteroffensive in the south (the "Third Battle of Kharkov"), which disrupts the Soviet Operation Leap.
March 1. The beginning of Operation Buffel (Buffalo, March 1-30): German troops, through a systematic retreat, leave the Rzhev salient in order to transfer part of their forces from there to the Kursk Bulge. Soviet historians then present "Buffel" not as a deliberate retreat of the Germans, but as a successful offensive "Rzhevo-Vyazemsk operation of the Red Army of 1943".
20th of March. Battle for Tunisia. Defeat of German troops in Africa (March 20 – May 12).
April 13. The Germans announce the discovery of a mass grave of Polish officers shot by the Soviet NKVD near Smolensk, near Katyn.
April 16. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs offers his mediation between the warring parties with a view to concluding peace.
June 3. Creation of the French Committee of National Liberation (formerly: French National Committee).
June. The German underwater danger has been reduced to a minimum.
5'th of July. The German offensive on the northern and southern fronts of the Kursk ledge - the beginning of the Battle of Kursk (July 5-23, 1943).
July 10. Anglo-American landing in Sicily (July 10 – August 17). Their start of military operations in Italy distracts a lot of enemy forces from the Soviet front and is actually tantamount to the opening of a Second Front in Europe.
July, 12. The Battle of Prokhorovka was a stop to the most dangerous German breakthrough on the southern front of the Kursk Bulge. Losses in Operation Citadel (July 5-12): Soviet - approx. 180 thousand soldiers, German - approx. 55 thousand. Beginning of Operation Kutuzov - the Soviet counter-offensive on the Oryol Bulge (the northern face of the Kursk salient).
July 17th. Creation of AMGOT (Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories) in Sicily.
23 September. Mussolini's announcement of the continuation of fascist rule in northern Italy (Italian Social Republic or Republic of Salò).
September 25. Units of the Red Army capture Smolensk and reach the Dnieper line. Losses in the Smolensk operation: Soviet - 450 thousand; German - 70 thousand (according to German data) or 200-250 thousand (according to Soviet data).
October 7th. New big Soviet offensive from Vitebsk to the Taman Peninsula.
October 19-30. Third Moscow Conference of the Three Great Powers. The foreign ministers participating in it are Molotov, Eden and Cordell Hull. At this conference, the USA and England promise to open a second (besides the Italian) front in Europe in the spring of 1944; four great powers (including China) sign the “Declaration on Global Security”, where for the first time together proclaim the formula for the unconditional surrender of fascist states as an indispensable condition for ending the war; A European Advisory Commission is created (consisting of representatives of the USSR, USA and England) to discuss issues related to the surrender of the Axis states.
End of october. Dnepropetrovsk and Melitopol were taken by the Red Army. Crimea is cut off.
November 6. Liberation of Kyiv from the Germans. Losses in the Kyiv operation: Soviet: 118 thousand, German - 17 thousand.
November 9. Congress of representatives of the 44 United Nations in Washington (November 9 – December 1).
the 13th of November. Liberation of Zhitomir from the Germans. On November 20, Zhitomir was recaptured by the Germans and liberated again on December 31.
November December. Manstein's unsuccessful counterattack on Kyiv.
November 28 – December 1. The Tehran Conference (Roosevelt – Churchill – Stalin) decides to open a second front in the West - and not in the Balkans, but in France; the Western allies agree to confirm after the war the Soviet-Polish border of 1939 (along the “Curzon line”); they veiledly agree to recognize the entry of the Baltic states into the USSR; Roosevelt's proposal to create a new world organization to replace the previous League of Nations is generally approved; Stalin promises to enter the war against Japan after the defeat of Germany.
December 24. General Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander of the armies of the second front in the West.
1944
January 24 - February 17. The Korsun-Shevchenko operation leads to the encirclement of 10 German divisions in the Dnieper bend.
March 29. The Red Army occupies Chernivtsi, and the day before, near this city, it enters the territory of Romania.
April 10th. Odessa is taken by the Red Army. The first awards of the Order of Victory: Zhukov and Vasilevsky received it, and on April 29 - Stalin.
The Second World War. The ring is shrinking
May 17. After 4 months of fierce fighting, Allied forces break through the Gustav Line in Italy. Fall of Cassino.
June 6 . Allied landing in Normandy (Operation Overlord). Opening of the Second Front in Western Europe.
IN June 1944 the number of active Soviet army reaches 6.6 million; it has 13 thousand aircraft, 8 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 100 thousand guns and mortars. The ratio of forces on the Soviet-German front in terms of personnel is 1.5:1 in favor of the Red Army, in terms of guns and mortars 1.7:1, in terms of aircraft 4.2:1. The forces in tanks are approximately equal.
June 23 . The beginning of Operation Bagration (June 23 - August 29, 1944) - the liberation of Belarus by the Red Army.
October 2, 1935 - May 1936
Fascist Italy invades, conquers and annexes Ethiopia.
October 25 - November 1, 1936
Nazi Germany and fascist Italy conclude a cooperation agreement on October 25; On November 1, the creation of the Rome-Berlin Axis is announced.
November 25, 1936
Nazi Germany and imperialist Japan conclude the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the USSR and the international communist movement.
July 7, 1937
Japan invades China and World War II begins in the Pacific.
September 29, 1938
Germany, Italy, Great Britain and France sign the Munich Agreement, obliging the Czechoslovak Republic to cede the Sudetenland (where key Czechoslovak defenses were located) to Nazi Germany.
March 14-15, 1939
Under pressure from Germany, the Slovaks declare their independence and create the Slovak Republic. The Germans violate the Munich Agreement by occupying the remnants of Czech lands and create the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
March 31, 1939
France and Great Britain guarantee the inviolability of the borders of the Polish state.
August 23, 1939
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact and a secret annex to it, according to which Europe is divided into spheres of influence.
September 1, 1939
Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe.
September 3, 1939
Fulfilling their obligations to Poland, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
September 27-29, 1939
On September 27, Warsaw surrenders. The Polish government goes into exile through Romania. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between themselves.
November 30, 1939 - March 12, 1940
The Soviet Union attacks Finland, starting the so-called Winter War. The Finns ask for a truce and are forced to cede the Karelian Isthmus and the northern shore of Lake Ladoga to the Soviet Union.
April 9 - June 9, 1940
Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway resists until June 9.
May 10 - June 22, 1940
Germany invades Western Europe - France and the neutral Benelux countries. Luxembourg occupied on May 10; The Netherlands surrenders on May 14; Belgium - May 28. On June 22, France signs an armistice agreement, according to which German troops occupy the northern part of the country and the entire Atlantic coast. A collaborationist regime is established in the southern part of France with its capital in the city of Vichy.
June 10, 1940
Italy enters the war. June 21 Italy invades southern France.
June 28, 1940
The USSR forces Romania to cede the eastern region of Bessarabia and the northern half of Bukovina to Soviet Ukraine.
June 14 - August 6, 1940
On June 14-18, the Soviet Union occupies the Baltic states, stages a communist coup in each of them on July 14-15, and then, on August 3-6, annexes them as Soviet republics.
July 10 - October 31, 1940
The air war against England, known as the Battle of Britain, ends in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
August 30, 1940
Second Vienna Arbitration: Germany and Italy decide to divide disputed Transylvania between Romania and Hungary. The loss of northern Transylvania leads to the fact that the Romanian king Carol II abdicates the throne in favor of his son Mihai, and the dictatorial regime of General Ion Antonescu comes to power.
September 13, 1940
The Italians attack British-controlled Egypt from their own-controlled Libya.
November 1940
Slovakia (November 23), Hungary (November 20) and Romania (November 22) join the German coalition.
February 1941
Germany sends its Afrika Korps to northern Africa to support the hesitant Italians.
April 6 - June 1941
Germany, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria invade and divide Yugoslavia. April 17 Yugoslavia capitulates. Germany and Bulgaria attack Greece, helping the Italians. Greece ends resistance in early June 1941.
April 10, 1941
The leaders of the Ustasha terrorist movement proclaim the so-called Independent State of Croatia. Immediately recognized by Germany and Italy, the new state also includes Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatia officially joins the Axis powers on June 15, 1941.
June 22 - November 1941
Nazi Germany and its allies (with the exception of Bulgaria) attack the Soviet Union. Finland, seeking to regain territory lost during the Winter War, joins the Axis just before the invasion. The Germans quickly captured the Baltic states and by September, with the support of the joining Finns, besieged Leningrad (St. Petersburg). On the central front, German troops occupied Smolensk in early August and approached Moscow by October. In the south, German and Romanian troops captured Kyiv in September, and Rostov-on-Don in November.
December 6, 1941
The counteroffensive launched by the Soviet Union forces the Nazis to retreat from Moscow in disarray.
December 8, 1941
The United States declares war on Japan and enters World War II. Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) and British Singapore. By April 1942, the Philippines, Indochina and Singapore were occupied by the Japanese.
December 11-13, 1941
Nazi Germany and its allies declare war on the United States.
May 30, 1942 - May 1945
The British bomb Cologne, thus bringing hostilities into Germany itself for the first time. Over the next three years, Anglo-American aircraft almost completely destroy large German cities.
June 1942
British and American naval forces stop the advance of the Japanese fleet in the central Pacific Ocean near the Midway Islands.
June 28 - September 1942
Germany and its allies are launching a new offensive in the Soviet Union. By mid-September, German troops make their way to Stalingrad (Volgograd) on the Volga and invade the Caucasus, having previously captured the Crimean peninsula.
August - November 1942
American troops stop the Japanese advance towards Australia at the Battle of Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands).
October 23-24, 1942
The British army defeats Germany and Italy at the Battle of El Alamein (Egypt), forcing the forces of the fascist bloc into a disorderly retreat through Libya to the eastern border of Tunisia.
November 8, 1942
American and British troops land at several locations on the coasts of Algeria and Morocco in French North Africa. A failed attempt by the Vichy French army to thwart the invasion allows the Allies to quickly reach the western border of Tunisia and results in Germany occupying southern France on November 11th.
November 23, 1942 - February 2, 1943
The Soviet army counterattacks, breaks through the lines of Hungarian and Romanian troops north and south of Stalingrad and blocks the German Sixth Army in the city. The remnants of the Sixth Army, which Hitler had forbidden to retreat or try to break out of encirclement, capitulate on January 30 and February 2, 1943.
May 13, 1943
The troops of the fascist bloc in Tunisia surrender to the Allies, ending the North African campaign.
July 10, 1943
American and British troops land in Sicily. By mid-August, the Allies take control of Sicily.
July 5, 1943
German troops launch a massive tank attack near Kursk. The Soviet army repels the attack for a week and then goes on the offensive.
July 25, 1943
The Grand Council of the Italian Fascist Party removes Benito Mussolini and assigns Marshal Pietro Badoglio to form a new government.
September 8, 1943
Badoglio's government unconditionally capitulates to the Allies. Germany immediately seizes control of Rome and northern Italy, establishing a puppet regime led by Mussolini, who was released from prison by a German sabotage unit on September 12.
September 9, 1943
Allied troops land on the coast of Salerno near Naples.
January 22, 1944
Allied troops successfully land near Anzio, just south of Rome.
March 19, 1944
Anticipating Hungary's intention to leave the Axis coalition, Germany occupies Hungary and forces its ruler, Admiral Miklós Horthy, to appoint a pro-German prime minister.
June 4, 1944
Allied troops liberate Rome. Anglo-American bombers hit targets in eastern Germany for the first time; this continues for six weeks.
June 6, 1944
British and American troops successfully land on the coast of Normandy (France), opening a Second Front against Germany.
June 22, 1944
Soviet troops launch a massive offensive in Belarus (Belarus), destroying the German Army of Group Center, and by August 1 head west to the Vistula and Warsaw (central Poland).
July 25, 1944
The Anglo-American army breaks out of the Normandy bridgehead and moves east towards Paris.
August 1 - October 5, 1944
The Polish anti-communist Home Army rebels against the German regime, trying to liberate Warsaw before the Soviet troops arrive. The advance of the Soviet army is suspended on the eastern bank of the Vistula. On October 5, the remnants of the Home Army that fought in Warsaw surrender to the Germans.
August 15, 1944
Allied forces land in southern France near Nice and quickly move northeast towards the Rhine.
August 20-25, 1944
Allied troops reach Paris. On August 25, the French Free Army, with the support of the Allied forces, enters Paris. By September the Allies reach the German border; by December, virtually all of France, most of Belgium and parts of the southern Netherlands were liberated.
August 23, 1944
The appearance of the Soviet army on the Prut River prompts the Romanian opposition to overthrow the Antonescu regime. The new government concludes a truce and immediately goes over to the Allied side. This turn of Romanian policy forces Bulgaria to surrender on September 8, and Germany to leave the territory of Greece, Albania and southern Yugoslavia in October.
August 29 - October 27, 1944
Underground units of the Slovak Resistance, under the leadership of the Slovak National Council, which includes both communists and anti-communists, rebel against the German authorities and the local fascist regime. On October 27, the Germans captured the town of Banska Bystrica, where the rebels' headquarters were located, and suppressed organized resistance.
September 12, 1944
Finland concludes a truce with the Soviet Union and leaves the Axis coalition.
October 15, 1944
The Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross party stages a pro-German coup d'état to prevent the Hungarian government from negotiating surrender with the Soviet Union.
December 16, 1944
Germany launches a final offensive on the western front, known as the Battle of the Bulge, in an attempt to recapture Belgium and divide the Allied forces stationed along the German border. By January 1, 1945, the Germans were forced to retreat.
January 12, 1945
The Soviet army launches a new offensive: in January it liberates Warsaw and Krakow; February 13, after a two-month siege, captures Budapest; in early April expels the Germans and Hungarian collaborators from Hungary; taking Bratislava on April 4, forces Slovakia to capitulate; April 13 enters Vienna.
April 16, 1945
Soviet troops launch a decisive offensive, encircling Berlin.
April 1945
Partisan troops led by Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito capture Zagreb and overthrow the Ustasha regime. The leaders of the Ustasha party flee to Italy and Austria.
May 1945
Allied forces capture Okinawa, the last island on the way to the Japanese archipelago.
August 8, 1945
The Soviet Union declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria.
September 2, 1945
Japan, having agreed to the terms of unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, officially capitulates, thereby putting an end to World War II.
August 23, 1939.
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact and a secret annex to it, according to which Europe is divided into spheres of influence.
September 1, 1939.
Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe.
September 3, 1939.
Fulfilling their obligations to Poland, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
September 27-29, 1939.
On September 27, Warsaw surrenders. The Polish government goes into exile through Romania. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between themselves.
November 30, 1939 - March 12, 1940.
The Soviet Union attacks Finland, starting the so-called Winter War. The Finns ask for a truce and are forced to cede the Karelian Isthmus and the northern shore of Lake Ladoga to the Soviet Union.
April 9 - June 9, 1940.
Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack; Norway resists until June 9.
May 10 - June 22, 1940.
Germany invades Western Europe - France and the neutral Benelux countries. Luxembourg occupied on May 10; The Netherlands surrenders on May 14; Belgium - May 28. On June 22, France signs an armistice agreement, according to which German troops occupy the northern part of the country and the entire Atlantic coast. A collaborationist regime is established in the southern part of France with its capital in the city of Vichy.
June 28, 1940.
The USSR forces Romania to cede the eastern region of Bessarabia and the northern half of Bukovina to Soviet Ukraine.
June 14 - August 6, 1940.
On June 14-18, the Soviet Union occupies the Baltic states, stages a communist coup in each of them on July 14-15, and then, on August 3-6, annexes them as Soviet republics.
July 10 - October 31, 1940.
The air war against England, known as the Battle of Britain, ends in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
August 30, 1940.
Second Vienna Arbitration: Germany and Italy decide to divide disputed Transylvania between Romania and Hungary. The loss of northern Transylvania leads to the fact that the Romanian king Carol II abdicates the throne in favor of his son Mihai, and the dictatorial regime of General Ion Antonescu comes to power.
September 13, 1940.
The Italians attack British-controlled Egypt from their own-controlled Libya.
November 1940.
Slovakia (November 23), Hungary (November 20) and Romania (November 22) join the German coalition.
February 1941.
Germany sends its Afrika Korps to northern Africa to support the hesitant Italians.
April 6 - June 1941.
Germany, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria invade and divide Yugoslavia. April 17 Yugoslavia capitulates. Germany and Bulgaria attack Greece, helping the Italians. Greece ends resistance in early June 1941.
April 10, 1941.
The leaders of the Ustasha terrorist movement proclaim the so-called Independent State of Croatia. Immediately recognized by Germany and Italy, the new state also includes Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatia officially joins the Axis powers on June 15, 1941.
June 22 - November 1941.
Nazi Germany and its allies (with the exception of Bulgaria) attack the Soviet Union. Finland, seeking to regain territory lost during the Winter War, joins the Axis just before the invasion. The Germans quickly captured the Baltic states and by September, with the support of the joining Finns, besieged Leningrad (St. Petersburg). On the central front, German troops occupied Smolensk in early August and approached Moscow by October. In the south, German and Romanian troops captured Kyiv in September, and Rostov-on-Don in November.
December 6, 1941.
The counteroffensive launched by the Soviet Union forces the Nazis to retreat from Moscow in disarray.
December 8, 1941.
The United States declares war on Japan and enters World War II. Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) and British Singapore. By April 1942, the Philippines, Indochina and Singapore were occupied by the Japanese.
December 11-13, 1941.
Nazi Germany and its allies declare war on the United States.
May 30, 1942 - May 1945.
The British bomb Cologne, thus bringing hostilities into Germany itself for the first time. Over the next three years, Anglo-American aircraft almost completely destroy large German cities.
June 1942
British and American naval forces stop the advance of the Japanese fleet in the central Pacific Ocean near the Midway Islands.
June 28 - September 1942
Germany and its allies are launching a new offensive in the Soviet Union. By mid-September, German troops make their way to Stalingrad (Volgograd) on the Volga and invade the Caucasus, having previously captured the Crimean peninsula.
August - November 1942
American troops stop the Japanese advance towards Australia at the Battle of Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands).
October 23-24, 1942.
The British army defeats Germany and Italy at the Battle of El Alamein (Egypt), forcing the forces of the fascist bloc into a disorderly retreat through Libya to the eastern border of Tunisia.
November 8, 1942.
American and British troops land at several locations on the coasts of Algeria and Morocco in French North Africa. A failed attempt by the Vichy French army to thwart the invasion allows the Allies to quickly reach the western border of Tunisia and results in Germany occupying southern France on November 11th.
November 23, 1942 - February 2, 1943.
The Soviet army counterattacks, breaks through the lines of Hungarian and Romanian troops north and south of Stalingrad and blocks the German Sixth Army in the city. The remnants of the Sixth Army, which Hitler had forbidden to retreat or try to break out of encirclement, capitulate on January 30 and February 2, 1943.
May 13, 1943.
The troops of the fascist bloc in Tunisia surrender to the Allies, ending the North African campaign.
July 10, 1943.
American and British troops land in Sicily. By mid-August, the Allies take control of Sicily.
July 5, 1943.
German troops launch a massive tank attack near Kursk. The Soviet army repels the attack for a week and then goes on the offensive.
July 25, 1943.
The Grand Council of the Italian Fascist Party removes Benito Mussolini and assigns Marshal Pietro Badoglio to form a new government.
September 8, 1943.
Badoglio's government unconditionally capitulates to the Allies. Germany immediately seizes control of Rome and northern Italy, establishing a puppet regime led by Mussolini, who was released from prison by a German sabotage unit on September 12.
March 19, 1944.
Anticipating Hungary's intention to leave the Axis coalition, Germany occupies Hungary and forces its ruler, Admiral Miklós Horthy, to appoint a pro-German prime minister.
June 4, 1944.
Allied troops liberate Rome. Anglo-American bombers hit targets in eastern Germany for the first time; this continues for six weeks.
June 6, 1944.
British and American troops successfully land on the coast of Normandy (France), opening a Second Front against Germany.
June 22, 1944.
Soviet troops launch a massive offensive in Belarus (Belarus), destroying the German Army of Group Center, and by August 1 head west to the Vistula and Warsaw (central Poland).
July 25, 1944.
The Anglo-American army breaks out of the Normandy bridgehead and moves east towards Paris.
August 1 - October 5, 1944.
The Polish anti-communist Home Army rebels against the German regime, trying to liberate Warsaw before the Soviet troops arrive. The advance of the Soviet army is suspended on the eastern bank of the Vistula. On October 5, the remnants of the Home Army that fought in Warsaw surrender to the Germans.
August 15, 1944.
Allied forces land in southern France near Nice and quickly move northeast towards the Rhine.
August 20-25, 1944.
Allied troops reach Paris. On August 25, the French Free Army, with the support of the Allied forces, enters Paris. By September the Allies reach the German border; by December, virtually all of France, most of Belgium and parts of the southern Netherlands were liberated.
August 23, 1944.
The appearance of the Soviet army on the Prut River prompts the Romanian opposition to overthrow the Antonescu regime. The new government concludes a truce and immediately goes over to the Allied side. This turn of Romanian policy forces Bulgaria to surrender on September 8, and Germany to leave the territory of Greece, Albania and southern Yugoslavia in October.
August 29 - October 27, 1944.
Underground units of the Slovak Resistance, under the leadership of the Slovak National Council, which includes both communists and anti-communists, rebel against the German authorities and the local fascist regime. On October 27, the Germans captured the town of Banska Bystrica, where the rebels' headquarters were located, and suppressed organized resistance.
September 12, 1944.
Finland concludes a truce with the Soviet Union and leaves the Axis coalition.
October 15, 1944.
The Hungarian fascist Arrow Cross party stages a pro-German coup d'état to prevent the Hungarian government from negotiating surrender with the Soviet Union.
December 16, 1944.
Germany launches a final offensive on the western front, known as the Battle of the Bulge, in an attempt to recapture Belgium and divide the Allied forces stationed along the German border. By January 1, 1945, the Germans were forced to retreat.
January 12, 1945.
The Soviet army launches a new offensive: in January it liberates Warsaw and Krakow; February 13, after a two-month siege, captures Budapest; in early April expels the Germans and Hungarian collaborators from Hungary; taking Bratislava on April 4, forces Slovakia to capitulate; April 13 enters Vienna.
April 1945.
Partisan troops led by Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito capture Zagreb and overthrow the Ustasha regime. The leaders of the Ustasha party flee to Italy and Austria.
May 1945.
Allied forces capture Okinawa, the last island on the way to the Japanese archipelago.
September 2, 1945.
Japan, having agreed to the terms of unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, officially capitulates, thereby putting an end to World War II.
The largest war in human history, the Second World War became a logical continuation of the First World War. In 1918, the Kaiser's Germany lost to the Entente countries. The result of the First World War was the Treaty of Versailles, according to which the Germans lost part of their territory. Germany was prohibited from having a large army, navy and colonies. An unprecedented economic crisis began in the country. It became even worse after the Great Depression of 1929.
German society barely survived its defeat. Massive revanchist sentiments arose. Populist politicians began to play on the desire to “restore historical justice.” The National Socialist German Workers' Party, led by Adolf Hitler, began to enjoy great popularity.
Causes
Radicals came to power in Berlin in 1933. The German state quickly became totalitarian and began to prepare for the upcoming war for dominance in Europe. Simultaneously with the Third Reich, its own “classical” fascism arose in Italy.
The Second World War (1939-1945) involved events not only in the Old World, but also in Asia. In this region, Japan was a source of concern. In the Land of the Rising Sun, just like in Germany, imperialist sentiments were extremely popular. China, weakened by internal conflicts, became the object of Japanese aggression. The war between the two Asian powers began in 1937, and with the outbreak of conflict in Europe it became part of the overall Second World War. Japan turned out to be an ally of Germany.
During the Third Reich, it left the League of Nations (predecessor of the UN) and stopped its own disarmament. In 1938, the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria took place. It was bloodless, but the causes of World War II, in short, were that European politicians turned a blind eye to Hitler’s aggressive behavior and did not stop his policy of absorbing more and more territories.
Germany soon annexed the Sudetenland, which was inhabited by Germans but belonged to Czechoslovakia. Poland and Hungary also took part in the division of this state. In Budapest, the alliance with the Third Reich was maintained until 1945. The example of Hungary shows that the causes of the Second World War, in short, included the consolidation of anti-communist forces around Hitler.
Start
On September 1, 1939, they invaded Poland. A few days later, France, Great Britain and their numerous colonies declared war on Germany. Two key powers had allied agreements with Poland and acted in its defense. Thus began the Second World War (1939-1945).
A week before the Wehrmacht attacked Poland, German diplomats concluded a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. Thus, the USSR found itself on the sidelines of the conflict between the Third Reich, France and Great Britain. By signing an agreement with Hitler, Stalin was solving his own problems. In the period before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army entered Eastern Poland, the Baltic states and Bessarabia. In November 1939, the Soviet-Finnish war began. As a result, the USSR annexed several western regions.
While German-Soviet neutrality was maintained, the German army was engaged in the occupation of most of the Old World. 1939 was met with restraint by overseas countries. In particular, the United States declared its neutrality and maintained it until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Blitzkrieg in Europe
Polish resistance was broken after just a month. All this time, Germany acted on only one front, since the actions of France and Great Britain were of a low-initiative nature. The period from September 1939 to May 1940 received the characteristic name of the “Strange War”. During these few months, Germany, in the absence of active actions by the British and French, occupied Poland, Denmark and Norway.
The first stages of World War II were characterized by transience. In April 1940, Germany invaded Scandinavia. Air and naval landings entered key Danish cities without hindrance. A few days later, monarch Christian X signed the capitulation. In Norway, the British and French landed troops, but they were powerless against the onslaught of the Wehrmacht. The early periods of World War II were characterized by the general advantage of the Germans over their enemy. The long preparation for future bloodshed took its toll. The whole country worked for the war, and Hitler did not hesitate to throw more and more resources into its cauldron.
In May 1940, the invasion of Benelux began. The whole world was shocked by the unprecedented destructive bombing of Rotterdam. Thanks to their swift attack, the Germans managed to occupy key positions before the Allies appeared there. By the end of May, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg had capitulated and were occupied.
During the summer, the battles of World War II moved into France. In June 1940, Italy joined the campaign. Its troops attacked the south of France, and the Wehrmacht attacked the north. Soon a truce was signed. Most of France was occupied. In a small free zone in the south of the country, the Peten regime was established, which cooperated with the Germans.
Africa and the Balkans
In the summer of 1940, after Italy entered the war, the main theater of military operations moved to the Mediterranean. The Italians invaded North Africa and attacked British bases in Malta. At that time, there were a significant number of English and French colonies on the “Dark Continent”. The Italians initially concentrated on the eastern direction - Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Sudan.
Some French colonies in Africa refused to recognize the new French government led by Pétain. Charles de Gaulle became the symbol of the national struggle against the Nazis. In London, he created a liberation movement called "Fighting France". British troops, together with de Gaulle's troops, began to recapture the African colonies from Germany. Equatorial Africa and Gabon were liberated.
In September the Italians invaded Greece. The attack took place against the backdrop of the fighting for North Africa. Many fronts and stages of the Second World War began to intertwine with each other due to the increasing expansion of the conflict. The Greeks managed to successfully resist the Italian onslaught until April 1941, when Germany intervened in the conflict, occupying Hellas in just a few weeks.
Simultaneously with the Greek campaign, the Germans began the Yugoslav campaign. The forces of the Balkan state were split into several parts. The operation began on April 6, and on April 17 Yugoslavia capitulated. Germany in World War II increasingly looked like an unconditional hegemon. Puppet pro-fascist states were created on the territory of occupied Yugoslavia.
Invasion of the USSR
All previous stages of World War II paled in scale compared to the operation that Germany was preparing to carry out in the USSR. War with the Soviet Union was only a matter of time. The invasion began exactly after the Third Reich occupied most of Europe and was able to concentrate all its forces on the Eastern Front.
Wehrmacht units crossed the Soviet border on June 22, 1941. For our country, this date became the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Until the last moment, the Kremlin did not believe in the German attack. Stalin refused to take intelligence data seriously, considering it disinformation. As a result, the Red Army was completely unprepared for Operation Barbarossa. In the first days, airfields and other strategic infrastructure in the western Soviet Union were bombed without hindrance.
The USSR in World War II faced another German blitzkrieg plan. In Berlin they were planning to capture the main Soviet cities in the European part of the country by winter. For the first months everything went according to Hitler's expectations. Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic states were completely occupied. Leningrad was under siege. The course of World War II brought the conflict to a key point. If Germany had defeated the Soviet Union, it would have had no opponents left except overseas Great Britain.
The winter of 1941 was approaching. The Germans found themselves in the vicinity of Moscow. They stopped on the outskirts of the capital. On November 7, a festive parade was held dedicated to the next anniversary of the October Revolution. Soldiers went straight from Red Square to the front. The Wehrmacht was stuck several tens of kilometers from Moscow. The German soldiers were demoralized by the harsh winter and the most difficult battle conditions. On December 5, the Soviet counteroffensive began. By the end of the year, the Germans were driven back from Moscow. The previous stages of World War II were characterized by the total advantage of the Wehrmacht. Now the army of the Third Reich stopped for the first time in its global expansion. The Battle of Moscow became the turning point of the war.
Japanese attack on the USA
Until the end of 1941, Japan remained neutral in the European conflict, while at the same time fighting China. At a certain point, the country's leadership faced a strategic choice: to attack the USSR or the USA. The choice was made in favor of the American version. On December 7, Japanese aircraft attacked the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. As a result of the raid, almost all American battleships and, in general, a significant part of the American Pacific fleet were destroyed.
Until this moment, the United States had not openly participated in World War II. When the situation in Europe changed in favor of Germany, the American authorities began to support Great Britain with resources, but did not interfere in the conflict itself. Now the situation has changed 180 degrees, since Japan was an ally of Germany. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Washington declared war on Tokyo. Great Britain and its dominions did the same. A few days later, Germany, Italy and their European satellites declared war on the United States. This is how the contours of the alliances that faced head-to-head confrontation in the second half of World War II were finally formed. The USSR had been at war for several months and also joined the anti-Hitler coalition.
In the new year of 1942, the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies, where they began to capture island after island without much difficulty. At the same time, the offensive in Burma was developing. By the summer of 1942, Japanese forces controlled all of Southeast Asia and large parts of Oceania. The United States in World War II changed the situation in the Pacific theater of operations somewhat later.
USSR counter-offensive
In 1942, the Second World War, the table of events of which usually includes basic information, was at its key stage. The forces of the opposing alliances were approximately equal. The turning point occurred towards the end of 1942. In the summer, the Germans launched another offensive in the USSR. This time their key target was the south of the country. Berlin wanted to cut off Moscow from oil and other resources. To do this, it was necessary to cross the Volga.
In November 1942, the whole world anxiously awaited news from Stalingrad. The Soviet counter-offensive on the banks of the Volga led to the fact that since then the strategic initiative was finally in the hands of the USSR. There was no bloodier or larger-scale battle in World War II than the Battle of Stalingrad. The total losses on both sides exceeded two million people. At the cost of incredible efforts, the Red Army stopped the Axis advance on the Eastern Front.
The next strategically important success of the Soviet troops was the Battle of Kursk in June - July 1943. That summer, the Germans tried for the last time to seize the initiative and launch an attack on Soviet positions. The Wehrmacht's plan failed. The Germans not only did not achieve success, but also abandoned many cities in central Russia (Orel, Belgorod, Kursk), while following the “scorched earth tactics.” All tank battles of World War II were bloody, but the largest was the Battle of Prokhorovka. It was a key episode of the entire Battle of Kursk. By the end of 1943 - beginning of 1944, Soviet troops liberated the south of the USSR and reached the borders of Romania.
Allied landings in Italy and Normandy
In May 1943, the Allies cleared the Italians from North Africa. The British fleet began to control the entire Mediterranean Sea. Earlier periods of World War II were characterized by Axis successes. Now the situation has become exactly the opposite.
In July 1943, American, British and French troops landed in Sicily, and in September on the Apennine Peninsula. The Italian government renounced Mussolini and within a few days signed a truce with the advancing opponents. The dictator, however, managed to escape. Thanks to the help of the Germans, he created the puppet republic of Salo in the industrial north of Italy. The British, French, Americans and local partisans gradually conquered more and more cities. On June 4, 1944, they entered Rome.
Exactly two days later, on the 6th, the Allies landed in Normandy. This is how the second or Western Front was opened, as a result of which the Second World War was ended (the table shows this event). In August, a similar landing began in the south of France. On August 25, the Germans finally left Paris. By the end of 1944 the front had stabilized. The main battles took place in the Belgian Ardennes, where each side made, for the time being, unsuccessful attempts to develop its own offensive.
On February 9, as a result of the Colmar operation, the German army stationed in Alsace was surrounded. The Allies managed to break through the defensive Siegfried Line and reach the German border. In March, after the Meuse-Rhine operation, the Third Reich lost territories beyond the western bank of the Rhine. In April, the Allies took control of the Ruhr industrial region. At the same time, the offensive continued in Northern Italy. On April 28, 1945 he fell into the hands of Italian partisans and was executed.
Capture of Berlin
In opening a second front, the Western Allies coordinated their actions with the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1944, the Red Army began to attack. Already in the fall, the Germans lost control over the remnants of their possessions in the USSR (with the exception of a small enclave in western Latvia).
In August, Romania, which had previously acted as a satellite of the Third Reich, withdrew from the war. Soon the authorities of Bulgaria and Finland did the same. The Germans began to hastily evacuate from the territory of Greece and Yugoslavia. In February 1945, the Red Army carried out the Budapest operation and liberated Hungary.
The route of Soviet troops to Berlin ran through Poland. Together with her, the Germans left East Prussia. The Berlin operation began at the end of April. Hitler, realizing his own defeat, committed suicide. On May 7, the act of German surrender was signed, which came into force on the night of the 8th to the 9th.
Defeat of the Japanese
Although the war ended in Europe, bloodshed continued in Asia and the Pacific. The last force to resist the Allies was Japan. In June the empire lost control of Indonesia. In July, Great Britain, the United States and China presented her with an ultimatum, which, however, was rejected.
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the Americans dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These cases were the only ones in human history when nuclear weapons were used for combat purposes. On August 8, the Soviet offensive began in Manchuria. The Japanese Surrender Act was signed on September 2, 1945. This ended the Second World War.
Losses
Research is still being conducted on how many people suffered and how many died in World War II. On average, the number of lives lost is estimated at 55 million (of which 26 million were Soviet citizens). The financial damage amounted to $4 trillion, although it is hardly possible to calculate exact figures.
Europe was hit hardest. Its industry and agriculture continued to recover for many years. How many died in World War II and how many were destroyed became clear only after some time, when the world community was able to clarify the facts about Nazi crimes against humanity.
The largest bloodshed in human history was carried out using completely new methods. Entire cities were destroyed by bombing, and centuries-old infrastructure was destroyed in a few minutes. The Third Reich's genocide of World War II, directed against Jews, Gypsies and Slavic populations, is horrifying in its details to this day. German concentration camps became real “death factories,” and German (and Japanese) doctors conducted cruel medical and biological experiments on people.
Results
The results of the Second World War were summed up at the Potsdam Conference, held in July - August 1945. Europe was divided between the USSR and the Western allies. Communist pro-Soviet regimes were established in eastern countries. Germany lost a significant part of its territory. was annexed by the USSR, several more provinces passed to Poland. Germany was first divided into four zones. Then, on their basis, the capitalist Federal Republic of Germany and the socialist GDR emerged. In the east, the USSR received the Japanese-owned Kuril Islands and the southern part of Sakhalin. The communists came to power in China.
Western European countries lost much of their political influence after World War II. The former dominant position of Great Britain and France was occupied by the United States, which suffered less than others from German aggression. The process of disintegration began. In 1945, the United Nations was created, designed to maintain peace throughout the world. Ideological and other contradictions between the USSR and Western allies caused the start of the Cold War.
September October.
On the basis of mutual assistance pacts concluded with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Soviet troops are stationed on the territory of these countries.
1940
June 14 - 16.
Ultimatum from the Soviet leadership to the Baltic countries. Introduction of additional Soviet troops and equipment into Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.
1941
June 22 - 27.
Romania, Italy, Slovakia, Finland, and Hungary enter the war against the USSR.
August.
The German offensive continues in three main directions - Leningrad, Moscow, Kyiv.
8 September.
The Germans occupy Shlisselburg and thereby close the ring around Leningrad. The beginning of the siege of Leningrad.
1942
January.
The territory of the Moscow region has been completely liberated from German troops.
December.
The failure of Field Marshal Manstein's attempt to liberate the Paulus group encircled at Stalingrad.
1943
January.
The beginning of the retreat of German troops in the Caucasus.
January 12 - 18.
Capture of Shlisselburg by Soviet troops. Partial lifting of the blockade of the city on the Neva.
April 13.
The German leadership declares that numerous remains of Polish prisoners of war were found near Katyn and sends an international commission to Smolensk to investigate the circumstances of this crime.
1944
February March.
Liberation of Right Bank Ukraine, crossing of the Dniester and Prut.
December.
The offensive of Soviet troops in Hungary. The surroundings of Budapest.
1945
January 12.
Beginning of a major winter offensive by Soviet troops in East Prussia, Western Poland and Silesia.