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Germany invaded Poland
In the mid and late 1930s, France and especially Britain followed a foreign policy of appeasement. The objective of this policy was to maintain peace in Europe by making limited concessions to German demands -
Royal Air Force attacks the German Navy
At 11 am Britain declares war on Germany to be followed at 5pm by France. Australia and New Zealand also declare war on Germany. A Bristol Blenheim of No. 139 Sqn, Wyton, carries out the RAF's first operational sortie of the war - photographic reconnaissance of the German naval base of Wilhelmshaven. -
First German air raids on London
Hundreds of fires caused by the exploding bombs engulfed areas of London, but firefighters showed a valiant indifference to the bombs falling around them and saved much of the city from destruction. -
British forces arrive in Greece
In October 1940, Mussolini's army, already occupying Albania, invaded Greece in what proved to be a disastrous military campaign for the Duce's forces. Mussolini surprised everyone with this move against Greece, but he was not to be upstaged by recent Nazi conquests. -
Greece surrenders to Germany
At the time of the German invasion, Greece was already at war with Italy, following the Italian invasion on 28 October 1940. Greece successfully defeated the initial attack and the counterattack of March 1941. When Operation Marita began on 6 April, the bulk of the Greek army was on the Albanian border, from which the Italians were trying to enter Greece. -
Allies invade Syria and Lebanon
Britain quickly restored the status quo ante by driving Ali and his followers out of Iraq. And to ensure that German military supplies shipped to Ali via Syria did not result in Axis control of that country and neighboring Lebanon, Britain decided to take preventive action. -
Hungary occupied by German Army
German forces occupied Hungary on March 19, 1944. Horthy was permitted to remain Regent, but Kallay was dismissed and the Germans installed General Dome Sztojay, who had previously served as Hungarian minister to Berlin and was fanatically pro-German, as prime minister. -
Soviets capture Odessa
On 8 Aug 1941, the Romanian General Staff issued Directive No. 31 calling for the capture of Odessa and the defeat of Soviet forces between the Dniester River and the Tiligulskiy Estuary. Surrounded on three sides, it was originally thought by the Axis leadership that Odessa would fall quickly, but the Soviet Black Sea Fleet was able to transport reinforcements and supplies into the city, preventing the city from being truly enveloped and blunting the first offensive. -
Germans surrender in the Crimea
The Germans reached the Crimea During Barbarossa, but did not finally take the Peninsula until mid-1942, defeating a major Soviet offense and smashing the defenses at Sevasttpol -
Germans abandon Bulgaria
Ambassadors Matthias Hoepfner of Germany and Philippe Autie of France have called on Bulgaria to abandon the oligarchic model of government. "It is now clear that the Bulgarian public demands that its political, administrative, judicial and economic elites observe the principles of the public interest. It is obviously concerned about the penetration of private interests in the public sphere," the ambassadors say.
