Third Reich
Tag
(378)1939
January
March
- 23
- The German–Romanian economic agreementOn 23 March 1939 in Bucharest, Germany and Romania signed a treaty on economic relations, opening the way for the Reich to Romanian oil, grain and timber.
- Germany takes KlaipėdaOn 23 March 1939 the Wehrmacht entered the Klaipėda Region and Hitler arrived by sea aboard the Deutschland. It was the Reich's last bloodless conquest.
- The German–Slovak Treaty of ProtectionOn 23 March 1939 Ribbentrop signed a treaty placing Slovakia under Reich “protection”, giving the Wehrmacht a zone of its territory and control of its army.
- The Slovak–Hungarian War beginsAt dawn on 23 March 1939 Hungarian troops entered eastern Slovakia without a declaration of war. Germany, guarantor of the new state, did not come to its aid.
April
May
June
August
- 25
- Key eventThe Anglo-Polish allianceOn 25 August 1939 Raczyński and Halifax signed a mutual assistance agreement in London. A secret protocol stated that the “European Power” meant Germany.
- Hitler halts the attack on PolandOn 25 August 1939 Hitler ordered an attack on Poland for the next dawn, but that evening revoked it after news of the London alliance and Mussolini's refusal.
September
- 01
- Key eventGermany invades PolandAt dawn on 1 September 1939 the Wehrmacht attacked Poland from the north, west and south without declaring war. The Slovak army struck alongside the Germans.
- The bombing of WieluńOn the morning of 1 September 1939 Luftwaffe dive-bombers destroyed central Wieluń, a town with no troops or air defences. The first bombs hit its hospital.
- Germany annexes the Free City of DanzigOn 1 September 1939 Albert Forster proclaimed the Free City of Danzig part of the Reich, and the Reichstag confirmed it by law. Arrests of Poles began.
- The defence of the Polish Post Office in GdańskOn 1 September 1939 Polish postal workers held the Polish Post Office in Gdańsk for about 14 hours. After their surrender 38 were sentenced to death and shot.
- Hitler’s Reichstag speechOn 1 September 1939 Hitler told the Reichstag at the Kroll Opera House that since 5.45 Germany had been “returning fire”. He cast the war as self-defence.
- Operation TannenbergOn 1 September 1939 Security Police and SD Einsatzgruppen followed the Wehrmacht into Poland, carrying lists of names to “neutralise” Poland’s leading strata.
- 04
- Germany cuts the Polish CorridorAfter the fighting in the Tuchola Forest the German 4th Army reached the Vistula and met the 3rd Army from East Prussia. The Pomorze Army lost two divisions.
- The first RAF raidsOn 4 September 1939 British bombers attacked warships off Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel. The bombs that hit the Scheer did not explode; the RAF lost 7 aircraft.
- 06
- South Africa declares war on GermanyOn 6 September 1939 South Africa declared war on Germany. Two days earlier parliament had rejected Hertzog's neutrality and Smuts had taken over the government.
- The Germans take KrakówOn 6 September 1939 the German 14th Army entered undefended Kraków. The Kraków Army was retreating to the Nida and Dunajec; the Wawel treasures had left.
- Romania declares neutralityOn 6 September 1939 the Crown Council backed Romanian neutrality. Poland's ally stayed out of the war but agreed to let aid for Poland pass through.
- 28
- The German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship TreatyOn 28 September 1939 Ribbentrop and Molotov signed the Boundary and Friendship Treaty, moving the partition line to the Bug and giving Lithuania to the USSR.
- The capitulation of WarsawOn 28 September 1939 Generals Kutrzeba and Blaskowitz signed the capitulation of Warsaw at Rakowiec, after its heaviest air raid and a general assault.
October
- 06
- The surrender at KockOn 6 October 1939 General Kleeberg’s Polesie group laid down its arms near Kock – the last regular Polish Army formation still fighting in the 1939 campaign.
- Hitler offers peaceOn 6 October 1939 Hitler proposed a peace conference in the Reichstag if the West accepted the conquest of Poland, whose fate was for Germany and the USSR.
- 18
- The Red Army enters EstoniaOn 18 October 1939 the Red Army entered Estonia to occupy the bases granted by the pact. That day the first ship carrying Baltic Germans left Tallinn.
- The Nisko PlanOn 18 October 1939 the first transport of Jews left Ostrava for Nisko on the San, the first wartime deportation of Jews from the Reich, run by Eichmann.
- 20
- The encyclical Summi PontificatusOn 20 October 1939 Pius XII signed his first encyclical. It condemned racism and the deified state and mourned Poland, but named neither Germany nor the USSR.
- German pressure on Romania in OctoberIn October 1939 Berlin refused to let Mościcki leave Romania for Switzerland, and the envoy Fabricius pressed Bucharest over the British guarantee.
- 26
- Key eventThe annexation of Polish lands and the General GovernmentOn 26 October 1939 Hitler’s decrees took effect. Western Poland was annexed to the Reich and central Poland became Hans Frank’s General Government.
- Tiso becomes President of SlovakiaOn 26 October 1939 the Bratislava parliament unanimously elected the priest Jozef Tiso President of Slovakia. The next day Vojtech Tuka became Prime Minister.