Timeline
(1952)1939
The year in brief
On 15 March 1939 the Wehrmacht marched into Bohemia and Moravia. Breaking the Munich Agreement ended appeasement: on 31 March Chamberlain told the Commons that Britain and France would aid Poland if its independence were threatened. On 3 April Keitel issued the Case White directive – the Wehrmacht was to be ready to attack Poland at any time from 1 September. On the night of 23/24 August Ribbentrop and Molotov signed a non-aggression pact in Moscow, whose secret protocol carved up Poland and Eastern Europe. On 25 August the Anglo-Polish mutual assistance agreement was signed in London.
At dawn on 1 September the Wehrmacht attacked Poland without declaring war, and the Slovak army struck alongside the Germans. On 3 September Britain and France declared war on Germany, but launched no offensive in the west that would have relieved the front. On 17 September the Red Army entered Poland, carrying out the pact's secret protocol. The President, government and Commander-in-Chief crossed into Romania, where they were interned; Warsaw capitulated on 28 September, and on 6 October the last regular Polish Army formation laid down its arms near Kock. Two occupiers divided the country. Germany annexed western Poland to the Reich and turned central Poland into the General Government; the USSR annexed eastern Poland to the Ukrainian and Byelorussian SSRs. Einsatzgruppen followed the Wehrmacht with lists of names of Poland's leading strata, and in November the Germans arrested Kraków's university professors and deported them to Sachsenhausen. Yet Poland did not capitulate: in besieged Warsaw the Service for Poland's Victory was founded, in Paris Gen. Sikorski created the Union of Armed Struggle, and the government and tens of thousands of soldiers fought on in exile.
In the west the Phoney War went on, with almost no fighting on land, but at sea the Battle of the Atlantic had been under way since 3 September. On 30 November the Red Army attacked Finland and the Winter War began. The year closed with the scuttling of the Admiral Graf Spee off Montevideo on 17 December, after the Battle of the River Plate.
January
March
- 15
- Key eventGermany occupies Bohemia and MoraviaOn 15 March 1939 the Wehrmacht marched into Bohemia and Moravia, and that night Hitler slept at Prague Castle. Breaking the Munich Agreement ended appeasement.
- Hungary occupies Carpatho-UkraineOn 15 March 1939, as Carpatho-Ukraine proclaimed independence, Hungarian troops advanced on Khust. In three days they took it and reached the Polish border.
- 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.
- 31
- Key eventThe British guarantee to PolandOn 31 March 1939 Chamberlain told the Commons that Britain and France would aid Poland if its independence were threatened. Appeasement was over.
- The end of the Slovak–Hungarian WarBy late March 1939 the Hungarian–Slovak fighting had died down. A ceasefire came under German pressure on 24 March, but skirmishes went on until 31 March.
April
May
June
July
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 defence of Westerplatte beginsAt 4.45 a.m. on 1 September 1939 the battleship Schleswig-Holstein shelled the Polish depot on Westerplatte. Its garrison beat off two assaults that day.
- 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.
- Italy and the neutral statesOn 1 September 1939 Italy announced it would not take up arms. The Nordic states, Estonia, Latvia and Portugal, England’s ally, also declared neutrality.
- Britain prepares for warOn 1 September 1939 Britain ordered mobilisation, the blackout and the evacuation of its cities. A population register and a Ministry of Food followed.
- Britain and France demand a German withdrawal from PolandOn the evening of 1 September 1939 Henderson and Coulondre demanded that Germany withdraw from Poland. The notes were a warning, not an ultimatum.
- Roosevelt’s appeal to spare civiliansOn 1 September 1939 Roosevelt urged the belligerents not to bomb civilians. Hitler gave his pledge on the very day the Luftwaffe destroyed Wieluń.
- 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.
- 03
- Key eventBritain and France declare war on GermanyOn 3 September 1939 Britain at 11 a.m. and France at 5 p.m. found themselves at war with Germany. Warsaw cheered, but no real help arrived.
- Chamberlain’s War CabinetOn 3 September 1939 Chamberlain formed a nine-man War Cabinet with Churchill at the Admiralty, conscription for men aged 18–41 began and Gort took over the BEF.
- India, Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland at warOn 3 September 1939 the Viceroy declared India at war without consulting Indians. Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland also entered the war that day.
- The sinking of the AtheniaOn the evening of 3 September 1939 U-30 torpedoed the British liner Athenia without warning, with over 1,400 people aboard. Between 112 and 117 died.
- Bloody Sunday in BydgoszczOn 3 September 1939 shooting broke out in Bydgoszcz amid retreating troops. Several hundred Germans died, and propaganda turned it into “Bloody Sunday”.
- The sinking of Wicher and GryfOn 3 September 1939 German dive bombers sank the destroyer Wicher and the minelayer Gryf in the naval port of Hel, Poland’s largest warships in the Baltic.
- The Legion of Czechs and SlovaksOn 3 September 1939 President Mościcki decreed a Legion of Czechs and Slovaks. Some 1,000 refugees from Czechoslovakia were to fight Germany beside the Poles.
- 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.
- Japan stays out of the war in EuropeOn 4 September 1939 Nobuyuki Abe’s government announced that Japan would not become involved in the European war and would focus on ending the “China Incident”.
- More countries declare neutralityIn early September 1939 Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Lithuania, Iran, Yugoslavia, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico declared neutrality.
- The British Expeditionary Force in FranceOn 4 September 1939 the advance parties of the BEF sailed from Portsmouth for France. In early October Lord Gort’s four divisions took over a sector near Lille.
- 05
- The United States declares neutralityOn 5 September 1939 Roosevelt proclaimed US neutrality and an arms embargo on all belligerents, Poland included. A neutrality patrol and an emergency followed.
- Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia break off relations with GermanyIn September 1939 Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia broke off relations with Germany. They met their obligations to London but did not declare war on the Reich.
- Britain withdraws recognition of SlovakiaAfter Slovakia joined the attack on Poland, London withdrew recognition and on 8 September declared it enemy-occupied. The USSR recognised it on 16 September.
- 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.
- Friendly fire in the first days of the warOn 6 September 1939 Spitfires shot down two British Hurricanes over Essex, and on 10 September the submarine Triton sank the British submarine Oxley.
- 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.
- The Admiralty introduces convoysOn 6 September 1939 the first British convoys and the Northern Patrol set out. A day earlier U-47 had sunk the freighter Bosnia, the first of its kind.
- 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.
- 10
- Canada declares war on GermanyOn 10 September 1939 Canada declared war on Germany, a week after Britain. The delay was deliberate, to show that parliament in Ottawa had decided.
- The bombing of WarsawOn 10 September 1939 Warsaw endured one of the worst days of the siege, with over a dozen Luftwaffe raids. Yet it had been bombed since the war began.
- 14
- The Battle of Changsha beginsOn 14 September 1939 the Japanese 11th Army opened an offensive in Jiangxi to smash China's 9th War Zone and reach Changsha, the capital of Hunan.
- The sinking of U-39On 14 September 1939 U-39 attacked the carrier Ark Royal, but its torpedoes exploded prematurely. Destroyers sank it, the first U-boat lost in the war.
- German pressure on RomaniaOn 14 September 1939, under pressure from Berlin, Romania resolved to intern Polish leaders if they crossed its border and restricted arms transit to Poland.
- 17
- Key eventThe Soviet invasion of PolandAt dawn on 17 September 1939 the Red Army entered Poland without a declaration of war, carrying out the secret protocol of its pact with Germany.
- The sinking of HMS CourageousOn 17 September 1939 U-29 sank the carrier HMS Courageous west of Ireland; 518 or 519 men died. She was the first Royal Navy warship sunk by the enemy.
- 18
- The Polish government crosses into RomaniaOn the night of 17–18 September 1939 the President, government and Commander-in-Chief crossed into Romania, hoping to reach France. They were interned.
- The escape of Orzeł from TallinnOn the night of 17–18 September 1939 ORP Orzeł, interned in Tallinn, escaped. Moscow said Estonia could not guard its neutrality and began to apply pressure.
- 24
- Dönitz intensifies the U-boat warOn 24 September 1939, at Dönitz's request, U-boats were allowed to sink ships using their radio and to attack French ones – a first step away from prize rules.
- Soviet demands on EstoniaOn 24 September 1939 Molotov demanded that Estonia's Selter sign a mutual assistance pact with Soviet bases, threatening force if Estonia refused.
- 26
- The first German aircraft shot down by the BritishOn 26 September 1939 a Skua from Ark Royal shot down a Do 18 flying boat over the North Sea. Germany later falsely announced that the carrier had been sunk.
- The Japanese cross Lake DongtingIn late September 1939 the Japanese broke Chinese defences on the Xinqiang, landed on the shore of Lake Dongting and forced the Miluo on the way to Changsha.
- 27
- The Phoney WarOn 27 September 1939, as Poland was going down, German guns shelled French villages. In the west the Phoney War went on, with almost no fighting on land.
- Key eventEstablishment of the Service for Poland's VictoryOn the night of 26-27 September 1939, in besieged Warsaw, Gen. Tokarzewski-Karaszewicz founded the Service for Poland's Victory, seed of the Home Army.
- 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.
- The Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance PactOn 28 September 1939, under threat of war, Estonia signed a mutual assistance pact in Moscow, giving the USSR bases and the right to station 25,000 troops.
October
- 05
- The Soviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance PactOn 5 October 1939 Latvia, under threat of force, signed a mutual assistance pact in Moscow. The USSR gained bases at Liepāja and Ventspils and 25,000 troops.
- Hunting groups against the raidersOn 5 October 1939 the Admiralty, together with the French, formed eight hunting groups of carriers and heavy ships to track down German surface raiders.
- 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.
- 09
- The Case Yellow directiveOn 9 October 1939 Hitler signed Directive No. 6 – strike through Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands as soon as possible. The generals objected.
- The seizure of the City of FlintOn 9 October 1939 the Deutschland seized the US freighter City of Flint. A German prize crew took her via Tromsø and Murmansk, while Washington protested.
- 10
- Raeder proposes occupying NorwayOn 10 October 1939 Grand Admiral Raeder set out for Hitler the advantages of bases in Norway. Hitler shelved it but attacked the country six months later.
- The Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance TreatyOn 10 October 1939 Lithuania signed a mutual assistance pact in Moscow. It received Wilno, seized from Poland, but had to accept 20,000 Soviet troops.
- 12
- Britain and France reject Hitler’s offerOn 10 October 1939 Daladier, and on 12 October Chamberlain, rejected Hitler’s peace offer, demanding deeds, not words. Roosevelt declined to mediate.
- Soviet demands on FinlandOn 12 October 1939 Stalin and Molotov demanded of Paasikivi a base at Hanko, islands and part of the Karelian Isthmus in exchange for land in Karelia.
- 14
- Orzeł reaches BritainOn 14 October 1939, after six weeks at sea, with no charts and a damaged radio, ORP Orzeł reached Scotland. The British had given her up for lost.
- The sinking of HMS Royal OakOn the night of 13–14 October 1939 Günther Prien’s U-47 slipped into Scapa Flow and sank the battleship Royal Oak. 833 or 835 men were killed.
- 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.
November
- 04
- The United States adopts cash and carryOn 4 November 1939 Roosevelt signed a new Neutrality Act. It lifted the arms embargo: belligerents could buy arms for cash and carry them in their own ships.
- The end of the City of Flint affairOn 3 November 1939 the Germans brought the captured City of Flint into Haugesund. That night Norway returned her to the Americans and interned the prize crew.
- 09
- The Dyle PlanOn 9 November 1939 at Vincennes Gamelin won approval for the Dyle Plan. If Belgium were attacked, the Allies would advance as far as the Antwerp–Namur line.
- The Venlo incidentOn 9 November 1939 SD men abducted two British intelligence officers at Venlo in the Netherlands, after luring them into talks with supposed conspirators.
- 13
- Finnish–Soviet talks break downOn 13 November 1939 Paasikivi and Tanner left Moscow without an agreement. Finland had refused a base at Hanko and the border line drawn by Stalin.
- Establishment of the Union of Armed StruggleOn 13 November 1939 in Paris Gen. Sikorski created the Union of Armed Struggle under Gen. Sosnkowski. It replaced the Service for Poland's Victory.
- 17
- IRA bombings in LondonIn November 1939 bombs blamed on the IRA went off in London again. Its bombing campaign had begun in January and, once war broke out, became a security matter.
- Sonderaktion PragOn 17 November 1939 the Germans closed the Czech universities, shot nine student leaders without trial and deported some 1,200 students to Sachsenhausen.
- 22
- The Shoeburyness mineOn the night of 22–23 November 1939 a German magnetic mine fell on the mudflats off Shoeburyness. Once disarmed, it gave away the secret of its firing unit.
- Hodža’s Slovak National CouncilOn 22 November 1939 Milan Hodža founded the Slovak National Council in Paris, a rival to Beneš’s Committee, which France had just recognised.
- The Polish government moves to AngersIn November 1939 Sikorski’s government moved from Paris to Angers on the Loire, where it got an extraterritorial seat. It reached London only in June 1940.
- 23
- The sinking of HMS RawalpindiOn 23 November 1939 the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sank the armed merchant cruiser Rawalpindi between Iceland and the Faroes. About 265 men died.
- Star of David armbandsOn 23 November 1939 Hans Frank ordered Jews in the General Government aged 10 and over to wear a white armband with a blue Star of David from 1 December.
- 26
- The shelling of MainilaOn 26 November 1939 Moscow blamed Finland for shelling Soviet troops at Mainila, though the shots came from the Soviet side. It cut relations on 29 November.
- Germany hands Polish land to SlovakiaIn November 1939 Germany gave Slovakia Poland's part of Spiš and Orava and the land Poland took in 1938, about 770 km², as a reward for joining the war.
December
- 07
- Scandinavia, Italy and the Winter WarIn early December 1939 Norway and Denmark declared neutrality in the Winter War, Italy reaffirmed its “non-belligerence”, and Sweden declared no neutrality.
- The Battle of Suomussalmi beginsOn 7 December 1939 the Soviet 163rd Division reached Suomussalmi, burnt by the Finns. The Finnish command sent Colonel Hjalmar Siilasvuo's brigade there.
- The Battle of Kollaa beginsOn 7 December 1939 the Soviet 56th Rifle Division attacked Finnish positions on the Kollaa river in Ladoga Karelia. The Finns held them to the end of the war.
- 18
- Canadian and Indian troops reach EuropeOn 17 December 1939 the 1st Canadian Division’s first flight reached Greenock, as Churchill announced. Indian mule companies landed at Marseille on 26 December.
- The air battle of the Heligoland BightOn 18 December 1939 German fighters, alerted by Freya radar, shot down 12 of 22 RAF Wellingtons. Bomber Command then switched to night raids.
- 28
- Britain extends food rationingAt the end of December 1939 Food Minister William Morrison confirmed that from 8 January 1940 bacon, ham, butter and sugar would be rationed.
- U-30 hits HMS BarhamOn 28 December 1939 Lemp’s U-30 torpedoed the battleship HMS Barham off the Hebrides. Two weeks earlier Barham had sunk her own destroyer Duchess in fog.