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Just before Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland that marked the beginning of World War II.
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On this day in 1939, in response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on Germany.The British ocean liner Athenia, which was sunk by a German U-30 submarine that had assumed the liner was armed and belligerent.
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On this day in 1939, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov declares that the Polish government has ceased to exist, as the U.S.S.R. exercises the “fine print” of the Hitler-Stalin Non-aggression pact—the invasion and occupation of eastern Poland.
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The Polish government flees into exile via Romania. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between them.
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France and the neutral Low Countries. Luxembourg is occupied on May 10; the Netherlands surrenders on May 14; and Belgium surrenders on May 28. On June 22, France signs an armistice agreement by which the Germans occupy the northern half of the country
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Italy invades southern France on June 21.
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The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany.
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Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.
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Slovakia (November 23), Hungary (November 20), and Romania (November 22) join the Axis.
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On this day, the southeastern European nation of Bulgaria joins the Axis powers by signing the Tripartite Pact.
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The United States declares war on Japan, entering World War II. Japanese troops land in the Philippines, French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), and British Singapore.
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British and US navies halt the Japanese naval advance in the central Pacific at Midway
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Axis forces in Tunisia surrender to the Allies, ending the North African campaign.
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British and US troops successfully land on the Normandy beaches of France, opening a “Second Front” against the Germans.
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Finland concludes an armistice with the Soviet Union, leaving the Axis partnership.
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Adolf Hitler killed himself by gunshot on 30 April 1945 in his Führerbunker in Berli.
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On this day in 1945, a second atom bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan’s unconditional surrender.
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Having agreed in principle to unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II. The final battles of the European Theatre of World War II as well as the German surrender to the Western Allies and the Soviet Union took place in late April and early May 1945.
