Battles on a timeline
Every battle in the chronicle on a time axis, front by front: the conflicts before the war and the war itself, each on its own. A bar's length is how long the battle lasted; indented rows are battles that formed part of a larger operation.
key battlebattlepart of a larger battle
Before the war 1904–1939
Far East (8)
- The Russo-Japanese War, 8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905
- The Japanese invasion of Manchuria, 18 September 1931 – 27 February 1932
- The defence of the Great Wall, 1 January – 31 May 1933
- The Long March, 16 October 1934 – 22 October 1935
- The Battle of Shanghai (1937), 13 August – 26 November 1937
- The Battle of Nanjing, 1–13 December 1937
- The Battle of Xuzhou, 23 December 1937 – 19 May 1938
- The Battle of Lake Khasan, 29 July – 11 August 1938
Central and Eastern Europe (4)
Middle East (1)
Africa (1)
Spain (1)
The Second World War 1939–1945
Central and Eastern Europe (1)
Balkans (7)
- The Italian invasion of Albania, 7–12 April 1939
- Greco-Italian War, 28 October 1940 – 23 April 1941
- Invasion of Yugoslavia, 6–17 April 1941
- German invasion of Greece, 6–30 April 1941
- Battle of Crete, 20 May – 1 June 1941
- Battle of the Sutjeska, 15 May – 16 June 1943
- Belgrade offensive, 28 September – 20 October 1944
Far East (7)
- The Battle of Khalkhin Gol, 11 May – 16 September 1939
- The First Battle of Changsha, 14 September – 8 October 1939
- The Chinese winter offensive of 1939–1940, 26 November 1939 – 1 April 1940
- Hundred Regiments Offensive, 20 August – 5 December 1940
- Japanese invasion of French Indochina, 22–26 September 1940
- Operation Ichi-Go, 17 April – 10 December 1944
- The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, 9–20 August 1945
Poland (12)
- Invasion of Poland, 1 September – 6 October 1939
- Battle of Mława, 1–3 September 1939
- Battle of Hel, 1 September – 2 October 1939
- Battle of Westerplatte, 1–7 September 1939
- Siege of Warsaw (1939), 8–28 September 1939
- Battle of the Bzura, 9–22 September 1939
- Soviet invasion of Poland, 17 September – 6 October 1939
- Battle of Kock, 2–5 October 1939
- Operation Tempest, 15 January – 26 October 1944
- Warsaw Uprising, 1 August – 2 October 1944
- Battle of Poznań, 24 January – 23 February 1945
- Siege of Breslau, 13 February – 6 May 1945
Atlantic (3)
Western Front (21)
- Saar Offensive, 7 September – 16 October 1939
- Battle of France, 10 May – 25 June 1940
- Belgian Campaign, 10–28 May 1940
- Dutch Campaign, 10–17 May 1940
- Battle of Sedan (1940), 12–15 May 1940
- Battle of Dunkirk, 26 May – 4 June 1940
- Italian invasion of France, 10–25 June 1940
- Battle of Britain, 10 July – 31 October 1940
- The Blitz, 7 September 1940 – 11 May 1941
- Battle of Normandy, 6 June – 30 August 1944
- Operation Dragoon, 15 August – 14 September 1944
- Operation Market Garden, 17–25 September 1944
- Battle of Hürtgen Forest, 19 September 1944 – 10 February 1945
- Battle of Metz, 27 September – 13 December 1944
- Battle of Aachen, 2–21 October 1944
- Battle of the Scheldt, 2 October – 8 November 1944
- Battle of the Bulge, 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945
- Operation Nordwind, 31 December 1944 – 25 January 1945
- Colmar Pocket, 20 January – 9 February 1945
- The Rhine crossings, 7–31 March 1945
- The Ruhr Pocket, 1–18 April 1945
Africa (6)
Mediterranean (24)
- Siege of Malta, 11 June 1940 – 20 November 1942
- Operation Pedestal, 10–15 August 1942
- Italian invasion of Egypt, 9–16 September 1940
- Operation Compass, 9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941
- Rommel’s first offensive, 24 March – 15 April 1941
- Battle of Cape Matapan, 27–29 March 1941
- Siege of Tobruk, 10 April – 27 November 1941
- Operation Battleaxe, 15–17 June 1941
- Operation Crusader, 18 November – 30 December 1941
- Rommel's second offensive (1942), 21 January – 6 February 1942
- Battle of Gazala, 26 May – 21 June 1942
- First Battle of El Alamein, 1–27 July 1942
- Battle of Alam el Halfa, 30 August – 5 September 1942
- Second Battle of El Alamein, 23 October – 11 November 1942
- Operation Torch, 8–16 November 1942
- Tunisian campaign, 17 November 1942 – 13 May 1943
- Battle of the Kasserine Pass, 14–24 February 1943
- Battle of the Mareth Line, 20–28 March 1943
- Allied invasion of Sicily, 10 July – 17 August 1943
- Dodecanese campaign, 8 September – 22 November 1943
- Battle of Salerno, 9–16 September 1943
- Battle of Monte Cassino, 17 January – 18 May 1944
- Battle of Anzio, 22 January – 5 June 1944
- The spring 1945 offensive in Italy, 5 April – 2 May 1945
Middle East (3)
Eastern Front (34)
- Operation Barbarossa, 22 June – 5 December 1941
- Battle of Białystok–Minsk, 22 June – 9 July 1941
- Battle of Kiev (1941), 7 July – 26 September 1941
- Battle of Smolensk (1941), 10 July – 10 September 1941
- Battle of Rostov (1941), 17 November – 2 December 1941
- Siege of Leningrad, 8 September 1941 – 27 January 1944
- Battle of Moscow, 30 September 1941 – 7 January 1942
- Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942), 30 October 1941 – 4 July 1942
- Fighting on the Kerch Peninsula (1941–1942), 26 December 1941 – 19 May 1942
- Rzhev–Vyazma offensive (1942), 8 January – 20 April 1942
- Second Battle of Kharkov, 12–28 May 1942
- Case Blue, 28 June – 18 November 1942
- Battle of Stalingrad, 23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943
- Operation Uranus, 19–23 November 1942
- Operation Winter Storm, 12–23 December 1942
- Third Battle of Kharkov, 19 February – 15 March 1943
- Battle of Kursk, 5 July – 23 August 1943
- Battle of the Dnieper, 26 August – 23 December 1943
- Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket, 24 January – 17 February 1944
- Battle of Narva (1944), 2 February – 10 August 1944
- Crimean offensive (1944), 8 April – 12 May 1944
- Operation Bagration, 22 June – 29 August 1944
- Lwów–Sandomierz offensive, 13 July – 29 August 1944
- Jassy–Kishinev offensive, 20–29 August 1944
- Baltic offensive (1944), 14 September – 24 November 1944
- Battle of Debrecen, 6–29 October 1944
- Siege of Budapest, 29 December 1944 – 13 February 1945
- Vistula–Oder offensive, 12 January – 3 February 1945
- East Prussian offensive, 13 January – 25 April 1945
- East Pomeranian offensive, 10 February – 4 April 1945
- Operation Frühlingserwachen, 6–16 March 1945
- The Vienna offensive, 16 March – 15 April 1945
- The Battle of Berlin, 16 April – 2 May 1945
- The Prague offensive, 6–11 May 1945
Pacific (41)
- Attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941
- Battle of Hong Kong, 8–25 December 1941
- Battle of Wake Island, 8–23 December 1941
- Philippines campaign (1941–1942), 8 December 1941 – 8 May 1942
- Malayan campaign, 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942
- Battle of Singapore, 8–15 February 1942
- Dutch East Indies campaign, 11 January – 9 March 1942
- Burma campaign (1942), 20 January – 20 May 1942
- Indian Ocean raid, 31 March – 10 April 1942
- Battle of the Coral Sea, 4–8 May 1942
- Battle of Midway, 3–7 June 1942
- Kokoda Track campaign, 21 July – 16 November 1942
- Guadalcanal campaign, 7 August 1942 – 9 February 1943
- Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 12–15 November 1942
- Battle of Buna–Gona, 16 November 1942 – 22 January 1943
- New Georgia campaign, 21 June – 25 August 1943
- Battle of Vella Lavella, 15 August – 7 October 1943
- Capture of Lae, 4–16 September 1943
- Bougainville campaign, 1 November 1943 – 21 August 1945
- Battle of Tarawa, 20–23 November 1943
- New Britain campaign, 15 December 1943 – 21 August 1945
- Fighting for the Marshall Islands, 31 January – 23 February 1944
- Admiralty Islands campaign, 29 February – 18 May 1944
- Battles of Imphal and Kohima, 7 March – 3 July 1944
- Landings at Hollandia and Aitape, 22 April – 6 June 1944
- Salween offensive, 11 May 1944 – 27 January 1945
- Siege of Myitkyina, 17 May – 3 August 1944
- Battle of Biak, 27 May – 17 August 1944
- Battle of Saipan, 15 June – 9 July 1944
- Battle of the Philippine Sea, 19–20 June 1944
- Battle of the Driniumor River, 10 July – 25 August 1944
- Battle of Guam (1944), 21 July – 10 August 1944
- Battle of Peleliu, 15 September – 27 November 1944
- Battle of Leyte, 17 October – 31 December 1944
- Battle of Leyte Gulf, 23–26 October 1944
- Battle of Luzon, 9 January – 15 August 1945
- Battle of Manila, 3 February – 3 March 1945
- Battle of Meiktila and Mandalay, 14 January – 28 March 1945
- Battle of Iwo Jima, 19 February – 26 March 1945
- The Battle of Okinawa, 1 April – 22 June 1945
- The Borneo campaign, 1 May – 15 August 1945