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RUSSO-FINNISH PACT :
Date : 12th March 1940.
The Soviet Union and Finland
sign the Russo-Finnish Pact in Russia.
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GERMANY INVADES DENMARK AND NORWAY :
Date : 9th April 1940.
Both Germany, Britain and
France were avoiding confrontation in western Europe, and repeating
the scenes of World War I. They engaged in a 'Distant War'. After
the success of Poland Hitler took his next step and German troops
invaded Denmark and Norway.
Hitler needed to safeguard
German ore supplies from neutral Sweden, which made Norway a target.
Norway
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BATTLE OF NARVIK :
Date : 13th April 1940.
The Norwegian port of Narvik
was used to transport Swedish ore to Germany, and so became a
target for an Allied invasion in the hope to stop Hitler in his
tracks.
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NORWAY SURRENDERS :
Date : 1st May 1940.
The invasion of Norway
by the Nazis saw very little resistance, mostly due to the effects
of 'Blitzkrieg' on Poland and the destruction of Warsaw. Norway
surrendered to Germany and would be occupied during the war under
a puppet government led by Vidkun Quisling.
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THE 'NORWAY DEBATE' :
Date : 7th-8th May 1940.
The failure of the Allied
invasion of Norway instigated the 'Norway Debate' in the House
of Commons. The result would bring down the existing British government.
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NAZIS INVADE THE LOW COUNTRIES :
Date : 10th May 1940.
Hitler looks west and Germany
attacks the Low Countries. The 'Phoney War' is about to become
a real war. Allied
troops advance to block the Nazi invasion.
Due to the 'Norway Debate'
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns. Winston Churchill
becomes the new British Prime Minister and establishes a coalition
government.
Allied
Troops Advance :
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HOLLAND SURRENDERS :
Date : 14th May 1940.
Dutch resistance collapses
against the Nazis and Holland surrenders to German forces.
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ALLIED TROOPS CLASH WITH ADVANCING NAZI
FORCES :
Date : 15th May 1940.
French forces engage and
are defeated by the Germans at Sedan. The
British Expeditionary Force (BEF) are forced back, and retreat
to Dunkirk. The Germans cut between the British and French forces
and head towards the English Channel in a brilliant fast manoeuvre.
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BRUSSELS FALLS :
Date : 17th May 1940.
Belgium capital Brussels
falls, and surrenders to German forces.
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GERMANS REACH ENGLISH CHANNEL :
Date : 20th May 1940.
Germans reach the
coast on the English Channel isolating and trapping the British
Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk.
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BOULOGNE AND CALAIS FALL :
Date : 25th May 1940.
Boulogne in France falls
to the ever advancing Germans. On the following day, 26th May
Calais also falls in to German hands.
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DUNKIRK : OPERATION DYNAMO :
Date : 27th May 1940.
The British and Allies
armies that are isolated and trapped are evacuated from the coastal
town of Dunkirk. The operation of the evacuation of British troops
back to England is called 'Operation Dynamo.
As Dynamo begins the Allies
are racing against the clock as the Germans close in, and it's
only a matter of time before the trap snaps and Dunkirk falls.
The following day, 28th May, Belgium capitulates.
The evacuation continued
and was completed on 4th June, when Dunkirk fell to the Germans.
Over 300,000 Allied troops are saved to fight another day.
Dunkirk
: 'Operation Dynamo' :
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THE NEW GERMAN OFFENSIVE :
Date : 5th June 1940.
The second major German
offensive begins, as the Germans secure the coastline on the English
Channel the new offensive focuses on France, and its target Paris.
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ITALY DECLARES WAR :
Date : 10th June 1940.
Standing in the wings observing
Mussolini watches the war progress. Seeing Hitler's gains and
the recent defeats inflicted on Britain and France by the Germans,
Italy declares war on Great Britain and France.
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FRANCE CAPITULATES :
Date : 14th June 1940.
Nazis troops enter and
capture the French capital Paris.
Date : 22nd June 1940.
French resistance to German
aggression collapses and France capitulates. Hitler visits Paris
and is present when the Franco-German Armistice signed. The armistice
is signed in the same railway carriage that German surrender was
signed in 1918 at the end of World War I. After the signing Hitler
has the carriage destroyed. Hitler further humiliated the French
when the German army marched through Paris in a victory parade,
taking the same route that the French army had taken after the
victory of World War I.
Date : 24th June 1940.
Nazis occupy the Channel
Islands.
The Germans occupy France
and create a puppet government at Vichy led by Marshal Pétain.
Fall
Of France :
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BRITISH ATTACK FRENCH FLEET :
Date : 3rd July 1940.
The British Royal Navy
attacks the French fleet at Oran and Mers-el-Kebir. With a puppet
regime installed at Vichy, falling under the influence of the
Germans, the British fear that the French warships will be seized
by the Germans and used against Britain.
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THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN :
Date : 10th July 1940.
With France defeated
Hitler turns to face Britain, who now stands alone. 'Operation
Sealion', the Nazi invasion of Britain begins. Hitler prepares
an invasion fleet to cross the English Channel.
Date : 12th August 1940.
The Nazi air offensive
against Great Britain is launched, its object was to smash any
British defence against an invasion by sea, this especially includes
domination of the skies over southern England. Without control
of the skies the invasion cannot take place. Concentrated attacks
are focused on RAF airfields, in an attempt to take RAF out of
the equation.
Date : 25th August 1940.
RAF Bomber Command attacks
Berlin in response to bombs being dropped on London.
Date : 7th September 1940.
Angered by the RAF attacks
on Berlin, Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to target London in retribution
for Berlin air raid. The switch of tactics takes the pressure
off the RAF airfields, and gives the RAF valuable time to repair
the airfields and make them operational.
Date : 15th September 1940.
The Luftwaffe is met by
a strong RAF over southern England and is defeated and seriously
mauled by the RAF.
Date : 17th September 1940.
Hitler reconsiders his
invasion plans of Britain and cancels 'Operation Sealion'.
The Royal Air Force is victorious, and saves
Britain from invasion, as the Germans faced their first defeat
is the outbreak of war the previous year.
The
Battle Of Britain :
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THE BLITZ :
Date : 17th September 1940.
Although Operation Sealion
failed Hitler changes tactics and continues to attack Britain.
The new tactic is the systematic bombing of British cities, especially
London. The British have to endure
the devastation night after night, as Hitler attempts to break
British moral.
The
Blitz :
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ITALIANS INVADE EGYPT :
Date : 13th-14th September
1940.
Mussolini expands Italian
interests in North Africa and invades Egypt. The Italian invasion
threatened British interests such as the Suez Canal, and its links
with the rest of its empire.
These links were very important
in supplying the raw materials for the war effort, such as oil
from the middle-east.
Britain had a substantial
garrison in Egypt to protect the Canal Zone. Egypt's western border
became a battlefront.
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TRIPARTITE PACT SIGNED :
Date : 27th September 1940.
The fascist states Germany,
Italy and Japan sign Tripartite Pact.
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ITALY INVADES GREECE :
Date : 28th October 1940.
Mussolini furthers Italian
interests as Italy invaded Greece.
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ROOSEVELT RE-ELECTED :
Date : 5th November 1940.
In America Franklin D.
Roosevelt is re-elected as President of the United States.
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ITALIAN FLEET ATTACKED :
Date : 11th November 1940.
The British attack the
Italian fleet in a daring raid at Taranto. The Japanese admiringly
take note of the attack, and adopt the methods and techniques
when Japan attacks the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.
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BRITAIN STARTS NORTH AFRICAN OFFENSIVE
:
Date : 9th December 1940.
The British launched their
first offensive in the desert.
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