The Chronology of World War II

DATE(s)

EUROPEAN THEATRE

PACIFIC THEATRE

1918 -1939

11 November 1918 World War I Armistice  
18 January 1919 Paris Peace Conference  
28 June 1919 Treaty of Versailles  
16 January 1920 League of Nations convenes for the first time  
27 October 1922 Mussolini appointed Premiere of Italy  
25 December 1926   Emperor Yoshihito of Japan dies, succeeded by son Hirohito
18 September 1931   Japan invades Manchuria
15 May 1932   Moderate Prime Minister Tsuyoshi of Japan assassinated
30 January 1933 Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany  
3 October 1935 Italy invades Ethiopia  
29 February 1936   Revolt of military  extremists in Japan suppressed; conservative military faction gains power
17 July 1936 Civil war breaks out in Spain; Italy and Germany send military aid to Franco  
25 October 1936 Rome-Berlin Axis Pact signed  
25 November 1936   Japan signs Anti-Comintern Pack with Germany
25 December 1936   Chinese Nationalists and Communists join forces against Japan
19 January 1937   Japan terminates Washington Conference Treaty limiting size of its Navy
7 July 1937   War breaks out between China and Japan
12 December 1937   Japan bombs U.S. gunboat Panay on Yangtze River
12 March 1938 Germany invades Austria  
1 October 1938 Conclusion of the Munich Conference ceding part of Czechoslovakia to Germany  
15-16 March 1939 Germans occupy the rest of Czechoslovakia  
28 March 1939 Madrid falls to Franco's forces  
7 April 1939 Italian Troops occupy Albania  
23 August 1939 Germany and the USSR sign non-aggression pact  
1 September 1939 German invades Poland
War Breaks Out		  
3 September 1939 France & Great Britain declare War against Germany.

British liner Athenia sunk by U-boat to open Battle of the Atlantic. 

  
17 September 1939 Soviet Union invades Poland  
27 September 1939 Warsaw surrenders to Germany.

British aircraft carrier Courageous sunk by U-boat in first major naval loss.

  
14 October 1939 U-47 penetrates British fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow, sinks battleship Royal Oak.  
30 November 1939 Russian army invades Finland  
17 December 1939 The German ship Admiral Graf Spee is scuttled after British Naval bombardment  
28 December 1939 Meat rationing is introduced in Britain  

1940

21 February 1940 Work begins on transformation of Auschwitz into a Concentration Camp  
12 March 1940 Peace treaty signed between Finland & the Soviet Union. Finland cedes territory  
9 April 1940 German troops invade Denmark & Norway  
2 May 1940 Allies withdraw from central Norway  
10 May 1940 Chamberlain resigns, Winston Churchill forms new government

German troops invade Holland, Belgium & Luxembourg

  
12 May 1940 Germany invades France  
14 May 1940 Dutch Army Surrenders  
20 May 1940 German army reaches English Channel  
27 May-4 June 1940 Evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk  
28 May 1940 Belgium surrenders  
5 June 1940 Battle of France begins  
9 June 1940 Norway signs armistice with Germany  
10 June 1940 Italy declares war on France & Great Britain  
11 June 1940 Italy invades France  
14 June 1940 Fall of Paris  
15 June 1940 Soviet Union begins occupation of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia  
22 June 1940 France signs the armistice with Axis powers  
3 July 1940 British Navy bombards French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria  
10 July 1940 Battle of Britain opens with first major dogfight over English channel.  
25 July 1940 U.S. places embargo on strategic materials to Japan  
5 August 1940 Italy invades British Somaliland  
13 August 1940 First day of  bombing campaign on Britain

British decide to send powerful armored Forces to the middle east.

  
25 August 1940 RAF aircraft bomb Berlin  
7 September 1940 The ‘London Blitz” begins -- 300 German bombers drop tons of bombs on London  
13 September 1940 Italy invades Egypt  
15 September 1940 London heavily blitzed during climax of Battle of Britain  
16 September 1940 Roosevelt signs Conscription Bill  
22 September 1940   Vichy France agrees to Japanese air bases and troops in Indochina
27 September 1940 Tripartite Pact signed between German, Italy & Japan  
7 October 1940 German troops enter Rumania  
28 October 1940 Italian troops cross the Greek frontier  
1 November 1940 First RAF raid on Naples  
5 November 1940 Roosevelt reelected for third term  
11 November 1940 British smash Italian fleet at Taranto  
14 November 1940 German blitz of Coventry  
20 November 1940 Hungary joins Axis alliance; Rumania follows two days later  
9 December 1940 The British break through the Italian lines at Sidi Barrani and begin to drive the Italians out of Egypt  

1941

19 January 1941 British invade Eritea  
22 January 1941 The Italian garrison at Tobruk surrenders  
27 January 1941   The United States Ambassador to Tokyo  reports to his government that the Japanese Imperial Staff is preparing to attack American air and naval bases in the Pacific. He particularly mentions Pearl Harbor.
7 February 1941 Italians decisively defeated at Beda Fomm in Libya  
8 February 1941 US House of Representatives passes Lend-Lease Bill by 260 votes to 165

Germany and Bulgaria sign military pact

  
12 February 1941 General Rommel arrives in Tripoli, Libya  
8 March 1941 US Senate passes the Lend-Lease Bill by 60 votes to 31  
11 March 1941 Roosevelt signs Lend-Lease Bill.; U.S. starts to supplying war materials to Britain and other allies  
16 March 1941 British launch counteroffensive against Italian forces in Somaliland, and enter Ethiopia  
24 March 1941 Rommel commences first offensive in Libya  
25 March 1941 Yugoslavia joins Axis alliance  
26 March 1941 Yugoslavia government overthrown by pro-Allied regime  
28 March 1941 British inflict further losses on Italian fleet off Cape Matapan  
6 April 1941 Germany invades Yugoslavia and declares war on Greece

British occupy Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia

  
10 April 1941 US Torpedo boat damaged German sub in Atlantic by depth charges - American’s first hostile act against Germany  
11 April 1941 Siege of Tobruk begins  
13 April 1941   Soviet Union and Japan sign five-year non-aggression pact
17 April 1941 Yugoslav army surrenders  
23 April 1941 Greece signs armistice with Germany  
5 May 1941 Emperor Haile Selassie reenters Addis Ababa  
6 May 1941 Stalin nominated to be President of the Council of People’s Commissars  
10 May 1941 Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy, drops by parachute on Scotland on a personal peace mission  
20 May 1941 Germany launches airborne assault against British-held Crete  
24 May 1941 British battlecruiser Hood sunk by Germany's Bismarck  
27 May 1941 The sinking of the "Bismarck"

Roosevelt proclaims national emergency because of events in Europe and Africa

  
31 May 1941 Crete falls  
8 June 1941 British and Free French troops attack Syria  
14 June 1941 Vichy French forces in Syria overcome by British  
15 June 1941 British counteroffensive into Libya defeated  
22 June 1941 Germany, Italy and Rumania declare war on Soviet Union; Germany invades Soviet Union -- Operation Barbarossa   
26 June 1941 Finland declares war on Soviet Union, followed by Hungary next day  
12 July 1941 Britain and Soviet Union sign treaty assuring British aid to Soviets  
14 July 1941 British complete occupation of Syria and Lebanon  
24 July 1941   Japan occupies French Indochina
26 July 1941   U.S. halts trade with Japan
28 July 1941   Japanese troops land in Indo-China
9 August 1941 Churchill meets Roosevelt in Newfoundland  
12 August 1941 Roosevelt and Churchill meet off Newfoundland and draw up Atlantic Charter  
25 August 1941 British and Soviet troops enter Iran to secure oilfields  
31 August 1941 German government orders that all Jews over the age of six must wear a badge with the Star of David sewn on their chest as a “mark of shame.”  
16 October 1941   General Tojo  named new Prime Minister of Japan
8 November 1941 Germans move into Crimea  
14 November 1941   USA orders evacuation of their marines from Shanghai, Peking and Tientsin
18 November 1941 British launch offensive in Libya House of Representatives in Tokyo passes resolution expressing hostility to the USA
27 November 1941   Admiral Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, sends “warning of state of war” to the commanders of the American Asian and Pacific fleets
4 December 1941 Rommel launches a final, abortive attack against Tobruk  
5 December 1941 German drive on Moscow halted Japan tells America that movements of Japanese troops in Indo-China are purely precautionary
6 December 1941   Roosevelt appeals directly to the Emperor of Japan for peace
7 December 1941   7:55 local time. Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
8 December 1941   Japan declares war on U.S. and Britain; bombs Philippines, Wake Islands, and Guam; invades Thailand, Malaya and Hong Kong

US and Great Britain formally declare war on Japan
9 December 1941   Japanese land at Tarawa and Makin -- Gilbert Islands
10 December 1941 British relieve besieged garrison at Tobruk Japanese land on the island of Guam & Luzon
11 December 1941 US declares war on German and Italy Japan invades Burma
14 December 1941 Germany & Italy declare war on the United States  
16 December 1941   Japan invades Borneo
22 December 1941   Main Japanese landings on Philippines
23 December 1941   Japan captures Wake Island

MacArthur transfers his headquarters to Corridor
31 December 1941   Japan occupies Manila, capital of Philippines

1942

1 January 1942 Declaration of the United Nations signed by 26 nations in Washington, D.C.  
11 January 1942   Japan invades Dutch East Indies
20 January 1942   Japan starts major offensive in Burma
21 January 1942 Rommel's Afrika Korps launches counteroffensive in Libya  
25 January 1942   Thailand declares war on US & Britain
26 January 1942 The first contingents of American Troops land in Northern Ireland  
1 February 1942 Norway - Puppet government set up by Quisling U.S. planes bomb Japanese bases in Marshall and Gilbert islands
5 February 1942   US declares war on Thailand
12 February 1942 Heavy fighting continues in Leningrad  
15 February 1942   Singapore surrenders
16 February 1942 Americans land a battalion of Seabees to build airfield Situation unchanged in Bataan peninsula
17 February 1942   Japanese bomb Darwin, Australia
20 February 1942 US grants a loan of one billion dollars to the USSR  
March  1942 Vannevar Bush  urged Roosevelt to implement a program immediately for the mass production of fission material used for building the atomic bomb -- The Manhattan Project  
7 March 1942   Japanese enter Rangoon, capital of Burma
9 March 1942   Java surrenders
11-14 March 1942   MacArthur leave Luzon on board four PT boats for Mindanao
13 March 1942   Japanese land on Solomon Islands
17 March 1942   MacArthur flies from Mindanao to Darwin
2 April 1942 Roosevelt notifies Churchill that Hopkins and Gen. Marshall will be arriving to discuss a plan for a second front in France drawn up by Lt. Col Dwight David Eisenhower  
5 April 1942   Japanese aircraft raid Ceylon
9 April 1942   U. S. troops surrender on Bataan Penninsula, Philippines

Start of The “March of Death.”
18 April 1942   Doolittle air raid on Japan
2 May 1942   The Americans have broken the Japanese naval code and are aware of their landing on Talagi
6 May 1942   U.S. fortress of Corregidor falls; all U.S. forces in Philippines surrender
7 May 1942   General Wainwright broadcasts from Manila to announce his surrender
7-8 May 1942   Battle of the Coral Sea; Japanese fleet suffers first setback
20 May 1942   Japanese complete conquest of Burma
26 May 1942 Afrika Korps goes on offensive in Libya  
29 May 1942   The Americans have broken the Japanese code and are aware that the enemy is about to invade Midway and the Aleutians
30 May 1942 RAF bombs Cologne, Germany  
4-7 June 1942   Battle of Midway; Japan's eastward thrust decisively halted
21 June 1942 Rommel captures Tobruk in Africa  
24 June 1942 Eisenhower assumes command of all U.S. troops in Europe  
25 June 1942 German troops victorious at Kharkov on Eastern Front  
1 July 1942 Germans secure Sevastopol in the Crimea  
22 July 1942 The British turn down an American proposal for a landing in Europe in 1942  
23 July 1942 Rostov-on-Don, U.S.S.R. falls to German forces  
7 August 1942   Marines land on Tulagi and Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands
8-9 August 1942   Naval Battle of Savo Island
9 August 1942 Germans capture oilfields in the Caucasus  
12 August 1942 Churchill and Stalin meet with U.S. and Free French Representatives in Moscow to discuss Second Front  
13 August 1942 General Montgomery takes command of British forces in Egypt  
19 August 1942 Allied cross-channel raid on Dieppe ends in disaster  
23 August 1942 Battle for Stalingrad commences  
9 September 1942   A small Japanese aircraft launched from a submarine drops incendiary bombs near Brookings, Oregon setting a forest on fire. This is the only air attack on US metropolitan territory during the war
13 September 1942 The great battle for Stalingrad enters its 4th week  
22 September 1942 Germans reach center of Stalingrad but Soviet troops cling to part of city  
26 September 1942   Australians repulse Japanese near Port Moresby, New Guinea
18 October 1942   Admiral Halsey replaces Admiral Ghormley as Commander of the southern Pacific sector
22 October 1942 General Mark Clark arrives in Algeria night on board a submarine for discussions with French officers  
23 October 1942 Montgomery's forces attack at El Alamein, Egypt  
26 October 1942   Battle of Santa Cruz -- a substantial success for the Japanese, but the Americans have succeeded in temporarily paralyzing Japanese movements at sea, including the dispatch of  reinforcements to Guadalcanal
4 November 1942 Rommel withdraws from El Alamein  
5 November 1942 Eisenhower flew to Gibraltar and setup Allied Headquarters there as convoys head for North-West Africa  
8 November 1942 First major Allied invasion takes place in Morocco and Algeria -- Operation Torch in North-West Africa.   
11 November 1942 Axis forces occupy Vichy France  
12-13 November 1942   Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
13 November 1942 Tobruk retaken by British  
16 November 1942   U.S. and Australian forces attack Japanese in Burn-Gona area; New Guinea
19 November 1942 Soviets launch counteroffensive at Stalingrad  
27 November 1942 French scuttle their warships in Toulon Harbor  
30 November 1942 Germans repulse Allies in Tunisia  
16 December 1942 German attempt to relieve Stalingrad fails  

1943

1 Jan 1943   The Japanese High Command decide to evacuate Guadalcanal.
2 January 1943   U.S. and Australian forces take Buna, New Guinea
14-24 January 1943 Roosevelt and Churchill meet at Casablanca to plan Allied war strategy  
23 January 1943 The British 8th Army enters Tripoli at 5:00 a.m.  
27 January 1943 U.S. bombs Wilhelmshaven in first attack on Germany  
30 January 1943 Admiral Karl Donitz takes command of German Navy  
31 January 1943 General Paulus surrenders German Sixth Army at Stalingrad  
9 February 1943   All organized resistance by the Japanese on Guadalcanal ceased at 4:25 p.m
2-5 March 1943   Japanese suffer heavy losses in Battle of Bismarck Sea
5 March 1943 Allied bombing of Ruhr begins  
14 March 1943 Germans recapture Kharkov  
18 April 1943   American aircraft shoot down Admiral Yamamoto’s airplane, and the Admiral is killed
20 April 1943 Massacre of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto  
23 April 1943 Anglo-U.S. HQ set up in Britain to plan invasion of Europe  
11 May 1943   U.S. troops attack Japanese at Attu in Aleutian Islands
30 May 1943   After their last, desperate effort, all organized resistance by the Japanese on Attu, Aleutian Islands, is exhausted
13 June 1943 Axis forces defeated in Tunisia; African campaign concluded  
21 June 1943   US lands in New Georgia, Solomon Islands
22 June 1943 German U-boats withdrawn from North Atlantic; Battle of Atlantic won by Allies  
30 June 1943   U.S. retakes Attu
5-17 July 1943 Greatest tank battle in history at Kursk on Eastern Front  
9 July 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily  
24 July 1943 Allies bomb German installations in Norway.

Allies begin saturation bombing of Hamburg

  
25 July 1943 Mussolini is Jailed -- Pietro Badoglio invited to form new government  
5 August 1943 Soviets recapture Orel and Belgorod, in drive to Dnieper River, last major German defensive line in Soviet territory  
6 August 1943   Japanese defeated in naval battle of Bella Gulf, Solomon Islands
14-24 August 1943 Roosevelt and Churchill meet in Quebec City for Allied Quadrant Conference  
17 August 1943 Patton’s troops enter Messina  
18 August 1943 All German resistance on Sicily ceases  
23 August 1943 Soviets retake Kharkov  
25 August 1943   The Americans wipe out the last pocket of Japanese resistance in New Georgia
27 August 1943 187 B-17 ‘Flying Fortresses” of the US 8th Air Force carry out their first mission over Europe  
3 September 1943 Allies land on Italian mainland across Strait of Messina  
8 September 1943 Italy surrenders - Germans still in country fighting   
9 September 1943 General Mark Clark launches Operation Avalanche, the landing of Allied troops on the Italian coast near Salerno  
10 September 1943 Germans occupy Rome  
12 September 1943 Mussolini freed by S.S. Captain Skorzeny and taken to Germany  
17 September 1943 Germans withdraw from Salerno  
22 September 1943 Soviet secure first bridgehead across Dnieper  
22 September Germans retreat from Smolensk on Eastern Front  
1 October 1943 Allies capture Naples  
4 October 1943 Allies gain control of Corsica  
13 October 1943 Italy declares war on Germany  
14 October 1943 Canadian forces take Compobasso  
18 October 1943 U.S. British and Soviet Foreign Ministers meet in Moscow  
25 October 1943 Berlin admits the German position in Russia to be “extremely grave.”  
1 November 1943   U.S. forces invade Bougainville in Solomon Islands
6 November 1943 German troops are forced to withdraw from Kiev  
7 November 1943 Kiev liberated; German defenses on Drieper begin to crumble   
20 November 1943 Allies attack across Sangro River in Italy U.S. landing on Tarawa atoll, Gilbert Islands
21 November 1943   U.S troops land on Makin and Tarawa in Gilbert Islands
22 - 26  November 1943   First Cairo Conference opens, attended  by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek, to plan Allied operations in Asia
26 November 1943   Marines land on Borgen Bay on New Britain
28 November 1943 -
1 December 1943

 

 Roosevelt & Churchill meet Stalin in Teheran to plan invasion of France  
3-7 December 1943   Roosevelt, Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek resume meeting in Cairo
20 December 1943   In reply to Chiang Kai-shek’s appeal, Roosevelt confirms that they are considering a loan to China and invites his ally to play his part in the struggle for the recapture of Burma. The US will do everything  in its power to reopen the Burma Road, which would give greater security to the American pilots who are presently flying between India and China (The Burma Hump) over enemy territory 
24 December 1943 Roosevelt and Churchill jointly announce the appointment of General Eisenhower as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied liberation forces in Europe  
26 December 1943   U.S. forces land at Cape Gloucester in Solomon Islands

1944

15 January 1944   Local actions are reported in Upper Burma between Japanese and Chinese
22 January 1944 Anzio landing by Allies  
25 January 1944   Chinese forces begin counter- offensive in Burma
27 January 1944 In a special Order of the Day, the Russians announce the complete lifting of  the Leningrad blockade following Soviet defeat of Germans  
29 January 1944   U.S. landings on Admirality Islands
31 January 1944   Start of invasion of Marshall Islands
1 February 1944 Russian forces cross the river Luga and reach within a miles of the Estonian frontier Americans land on the west end of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands
3 February 1944 Allied offensive in Italy stalls at Cassino  
4 February 1944   All organized resistance by the Japanese has ceased on Kwajalein
7 February 1944   U.S. forces take Kwajalein in Marshall Islands
15 February 1944 B-17 & B-25s drop bombs on Monte Cassino (Italy)

Soviets reenter Estonia

  
18 February 1944   U.S. naval air forces cripple Japanese installations on Truk Island, in Caroline Islands
20 February 1944 In Norway, Allied saboteurs damage a ferry-boat carrying heavy water to German laboratories  
8 March 1944   Japan launches major offensive in Burma
15 March 1944   Japan invades India
20 March 1944 Germans complete their occupation of Hungary  
27 March 1944 German troops occupy Rumania  
10 April 1944 Soviets recapture Odessa in Ukraine  
15 April 1944 Soviets take Tarnopol in Ukraine  
17 April 1944   Japan launches their last big offensive against China
22 April 1944   U.S. forces land on Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea
9 May 1944 Soviets recapture Sevastopol  
18 May 1944 Germans withdraw from Monte Cassino  
23 May 1944 Allies break out of Anzio beachhead  
27 May 1944   New Guinea is invaded by the US 41st Infantry Division
4 June 1944 Allied enter Rome  
6 June 1944 D-Day  -- Allies land in Normandy - Operation Overlord underway  
9 June 1944 Soviet forces attack Finland  
13 June 1944 First V-1 flying bombs directed towards England from launching  pads on the Channel coast  
15 June 1944   B-29s Superfortresses, taking off from China, carry out their first raid on Japan

U.S. troops land on Saipan in Mariana Islands
19-20 June 1944   Japanese fleet defeated in the Naval Battle of the Philippine Sea
22 June 1944 Soviet offensive in Belorussia begins Japanese retreat from India
27 June 1944 Allies liberate Cherbourg, France  
3 July 1944 Minsk falls to the 1st & 3rd Belorussian Fronts  
8 July 1944   Having overcome Japanese resistance, the Americans advance towards the north of Saipan, Mariana Islands
9 July 1944 British enter Caen, France U.S. forces complete capture of Saipan
13 July 1944 The American 4th Armored Division lands in Northern France  
18 July 1944 U.S. troops liberate St-Lo, France The Tojo government falls. General Koiso forms a new government
19 July 1944   Tojo Cabinet resigns
20 July 1944 Failure of bomb plot attempt on Hitler’s life at his headquarters in East Prussia  
21 July 1944   US Marines and Army units land on the west coast of Guam
24 July 1944 Lublin, in Poland, falls to the 1st Belorussian Front

As a display of loyalty, the German armed forces are ordered to replace the normal military salute with the Nazi salute, to be accompanied by the words, “Heil Hitler.”

  
25 July 1944 Allies begin breakout of Normandy  
28 July 1944 Soviets retake Brest-Litovsk, Belorussia  
29 July 1944 Soviets reach Gulf of Riga in Latvia  
1 August 1944 Polish patriots revolt in Warsaw as Soviet armies approach city  
10 August 1944   Americans forces complete occupation of Guam
11 August 1944 Germans withdraw from Florence  
15 August 1944 Allied forces land on the south coast of France  - Operation Anvil  
16 August 1944 Allies liberate Falaise in northern France  
21 August 1944 60,000 Germans trapped by Allies in Argentan-Falaise pocket  
22 August 1944   Japanese complete withdrawal from India
23 August 1944 Rumania surrenders to Soviets  
25 August 1944 Paris is liberated

Allied troops begin attack on Gothic Line in Italy

  
31 August 1944 Bucharest, capital of Rumania, is taken by troops of the 2nd Ukraine Front  
1 September 1944 Dieppe liberated  
3 September 1944 Brussels liberated  
4 September 1944 Antwerp liberated  
5 September 1944 Soviet Union declares war on Bulgaria  
8 September 1944 The first of the V-2s fall on Britain

Armistice between Soviet Union and Bulgaria

Bulgaria declares war on Germany

  
9 September 1944 Units of the American XIX Corps cross the borders of Belgium and Holland  
11 September 1944 American patrols from the 1st Army cross the German border near Aachen, creating panic among the defenders, but the action is not followed up  
12 September 1944 Rumania signs armistice with Allies  
17-26 September 1944 Disastrous Allied airborne operation to seize control of river crossings in Holland and across Lower Rhine  
19 September 1944 Armistice between Finland and Allies  
25 September 1944 Allies break through Gothic Line in Italy  
2 October 1944 Germans crush revolt in Warsaw while Soviet armies pause and refit a few miles away.

Allies penetrate West Wall into Germany

  
5 October 1944 British land in Greece  
14 October 1944 Under orders from Hitler, Rommel is given the choice of suicide or a state trial for being part of bomb plot -- he choose suicide, by poison

British enter Athens

  
20 October 1944 Belgrade taken by Soviet forces and Yugoslavia partisans At 10:05 a.m., the Americans begin to land on the East coast of Leyte Island, Philippines.. General MacArthur sets foot  on Philippine soil,  He had promised, “I shall return.”
23 October 1944 Allies recognized de Gaulle as temporary head of provisional French government  
23-26 October 1944   U.S. naval forces inflict calamitous lasses on Japanese Navy in Battle of Leyte Gulf 
1 November 1944 With the evacuation of Florina, the whole of Greece is freed from German occupation  
7 November 1944 Roosevelt reelected for 4th term  
14 November 1944 The Norwegian government in exile announces that Norwegian units have landed in Norway  
28 November 1944 Antwerp opened to supply ships  
3 December 1944 Civil War begins in Greece Japanese retreat to Irrawaddy River in Burma
15 December 1944   U.S. landings on Mindoro, Philippines
16 December 1944 Battle of the Bulge begins

Germans launch their counter-attack in the Ardennes

  
22 December 1944 The Americans holding Bastogne under siege conditions Refused an offer of surrender by the Germans - General McAuliffe, replied with a single word, “Nuts.”  

1945

9 January 1945   Landing of US troops on coast of Luzon,. Philippine campaign would last till 23 June
16 January 1945 Battle of the Bulge ends with German defeat  
17 January 1945 Warsaw liberated  
19 January 1945 Germany in full retreat on Eastern Front  
20 January 1945 Hungary signs armistice with Allies  
27 January 1945 Soviets complete occupation of Lithuania  
30 January 1945 The Red Army crosses the German border in several places  
3 February 1945 Americans crosses the Rur at Dedenborn and takes the village U. S. troops enter Manila
4-11 February 1945 Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin meet at Yalta   
8 February 1945 Allies launch major offensive to reach Rhine River  
13 February 1945 Budapest recaptured  
13-14 February 1945 Allied firebombing destroys much of Dresden  
19 February 1945   Landing of US troops on Iwo Jima
23 February 1945   US Marines and a US Navy Corpsman raise the American flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima
3 March 1945 Winston Churchill, during a visit to the western front, lunches at Julich. This is the first time a British PM has set foot in Germany since Chamberlain

Finland declares war on Germany

 All Japanese resistance in Manila is at an end
5 March 1945 The limited offensive of the IV Corps (US Army) on the Italian front is concluded  
7 March 1945 Cologne, Germany’s third largest city, is captured by US Army The bridge at Remagen crossing the Rhine, the only one the Germans have not been able to blow up, is seized.  
9 March 1945   U. S. Firebombs Tokyo
16 March 1945   U.S. forces complete capture of Iwo Jima
21 March 1945   Allies capture Mandalay, Burma
22 March 1945 Patton crosses Rhine at Oppenheim  
23 March 1945 Montgomery crosses Rhine north of Ruhr  
26 March 1945   At 8:00 a.m., the Americans declare the capture of Iwo Jima complete
1 April 1945   Landing of US troops on Okinawa
7 April 1945 Soviet troops enter Vienna  
12 April 1945 President Roosevelt dies at Warm Springs, GA

Truman becomes President

  
16 April 1945 American troops advance toward Nuremberg and reach the outskirts of city

Soviets forces begin all-out attack on Berlin

  
20 April 1945 Hitler celebrates his 56th birthday in the bunker at the Reich's Chancellery in Berlin  
21 April 1945 Units of the US 5th Army advances towards Bologna, which they enter a few hours after its capture by the Polish II Corps (British 8th Army) In Okinawa, all Japanese resistance ceases, and mopping up begins. 
23 April 1945 The armies of the 1st Belorussian Front have reached the eastern border of Berlin  
25 April 1945 U.S. and Soviet forces meet at Elbe River

San Francisco Conference on United Nations begins

  
26 April 1945 Allies capture Bremen  
28 April 1945 American troops approach Munich

Mussolini is captured by partisans and is executed with his mistress

  
29 April 1945 Surrender of German Troops in Italy  

Hitler orders that the war must be carried on from the Alpine Fortress in the south of Germany, and appoints Admiral Doenitz his successor as Head of State. Hitler marries Eva Braun 

American troops enter Dachau concentration camp; liberate more than 32,000 prisoners

  
30 April 1945 At 3:30 p.m. Hitler commits suicide in the bunker, Eva Braun dies with him

Allies occupy Munich

  
1 May 1945 Berlin surrenders to occupying Soviet forces  
3 May 1945   Rangoon liberated
5 May 1945 Admiral Doenitz orders German troops to cease all resistance in north-west Germany - resistance to the Russians continue  
7 May 1945 At Rheims, at 1:41 a.m. in Eisenhower’s headquarters, German representatives sign the unconditional surrender of all German armed forces to the Allies. The surrender to take effect at 12:01 a.m., May 9., but on the western front all military action stops immediately  
8 May 1945 President Truman declares 9 May to be “V-E Day”, the day of Victory in Europe  
width="33%" valign="top">9 May 1945
Hostilities in Europe officially ended  
14 May 1945   Australian forces capture Wewak, New Guinea
25 May 1945   The Joint Chiefs of Staff approve the general directives for “Olympic”, the invasion of Metropolitan Japan; the date fixed for its start is 1 November
26 May 1945   In the course of their general withdrawal from China , the Japanese evacuate Nanking, capital of Kwangsi province. They no longer have any land communications with Indo-China. Fighting continues during the withdrawal phase
5 June 1945 Allies divide Germany into four occupation zones  
10 June 1945   Australian forces invade Borneo
13 June 1945   Japanese troops cease all resistance in Oroku peninsula in Okinawa. Sporadic fighting continues in other areas of the island
21 June 1945   U.S. troops secure Okinawa
26 June 1945 World Security Charter establishes United Nations  
30 June 1945   Okinawa - mopping up of the island is finished

U.S. forces liberate Luzon, Philippines
5 July 1945   Announcement from general MacArthur’s headquarters that the liberation of the Philippines is complete. Fighting continues
16 July 1945   1st Atomic bomb successfully tested at Alamagordo, New Mexico
17 July 1945 - August 2 Opening of the Potsdam conference which lasts until 2 August. Churchill, Stalin and Truman discuss the problems of peace in Europe and the conditions for the solution of war against Japan. After July 28, Clement R. Atlee, head of the new British Labour cabinet, replaces Churchill at the Conference.  
6 August 1945   Enola Gay drops 1st atomic bomb on Hiroshima
8 August 1945   USSR declares war on Japan
9 August 1945   2nd atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki

Soviet forces invade Manchuria
10 August 1945   Japan informs the Allies that it accepts the surrender terms “on the understanding that it does not compromise any demand which prejudices the prerogatives of the Emperor as sovereign ruler.”
13 August 1945   The Japanese surrender documents, approved by President Truman, are sent to General MacArthur

American aircraft fly over Tokyo and other Japanese cities dropping millions of leaflets explaining the position reached in surrender negotiations and the true state of affairs in Japan.
14 August 1945   Emperor Hirohito assembles the Imperial Council and decides that his rescript shall be transmitted by radio announcing the acceptance of unconditional surrender. At 11:00 p.m. over 1,000 soldiers attack the Imperial Palace to prevent the message being transmitted, but they are driving off by the guard faithful to the Emperor.
20 August 1945        All operations cease in China
28 August 1945   The first American units (Air Force Technicians) arrive in Japan. Their arrival has been delayed for 48 hours by the forecast of a typhoon
2 September 1945   A little after 8:00 a.m., on board the battleship “Missouri” at anchor in Tokyo Bay, the Japanese surrender, ending World War II.

AFTERMATH (1945-1954)

20 November 1945 Nuremberg War Crimes Trials begin  
29 November 1945 Communist government elected to power in Yugoslavia  
7 January 1946 First session of United Nations convenes in London  
11 January 1946 Albania proclaims itself Communist "People's Republic"  
20 January 1946 De Gaulle resigns; socialist president elected in France  
4 July 1946   Philippines declare independence
16-20 August 1946   Hindu-Moslem-Sikh massacres in India
15 September 1946 Communist government takes power in Bulgaria  
1 October 1946 Nuremberg Trails conclude  
20-23 November 1946   French shell Haiphong, Vietnam
12 January 1947 Communists take power in Poland  
10 February 1947 Italy, Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary, Finland sign peace treaty  
3 May 1947   New Japanese constitution comes into effect
5 June 1947 Marshall Plan instituted  
14 August 1947   India and Pakistan declare independence
30 December 1947 Communists take power in Rumania  
4 January 1948   Burma declares independence
1 April 1948 Soviets impose Berlin Blockade; U.S. responds by airlifting in food and supplies  
14 May 1948 State of Israel proclaimed  
14 June 1948 Communists complete takeover of Czechoslovakian government  
15 August 1948   Republic of Korea established
4 April 1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization formed  
12 May 1949 Soviets lift Berlin Blockade  
15 May 1949 Communists complete takeover of Hungary  
23 May 1949 West Germany becomes separate state, under occupation forces  
24 September 1949 Soviets announce successful testing of A-Bomb  
1 October 1949   Chinese Civil War ends; People's Republic of China declared
7 October 1949 Soviet East Germany becomes German Democratic Republic, a Soviet-bloc state  
16 October 1949 Greek Civil War ends  
27 December 1949   Indonesia declares independence
25 June 1949   North Korea attacks South Korea, beginning Korean War
8 September 1951 Japan signs peace treaty in San Francisco  
28 April 1952   American occupation of Japan officially concluded
5 March 1953 Stalin dies  
27 July 1953   Armistice ends Korean War
8 May 1954   French forces defeated at Dienbienphu, Vietnam
21 July 1954   Vietnam partitioned into North and South Vietnam

Ref:     2194 Days of War by Gallery Books    
            Time-Life Books "History of the Second World War," 1989

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