Timeline

24-01-1939: Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring charges Reinhard Heydrich chief of the R.S.H.A. with the "Endlösung der Judenfrage" (final solution of the Jewish question) by emigration or evacuation.

26-01-1939: The city of Barcelona is captured by Franco’ s troops.

10-02-1939: Japan occupies the island of Hainan.

15-02-1939: German decree about the deployment of female laborers in agriculture and in the household.

21-02-1939: All German Jews are obliged by the Nazis to hand over all their gold and silver possessions.

01-03-1939: Entartete Kunst (degenerate art) is burned in Berlin.

14-03-1939: Hungary occupies the Czechoslovakian region of Ruthenia.

18-03-1939: Dictator Franco of Spain and president Salazar of Portugal sign a pact of mutual friendship and a non-aggression treaty, the so- called Iberian Pact.

26-03-1939: Franco joins the Anti Kominternpact.

31-03-1939: The British and French Treaty of Guarantee for the protection of Poland is signed.

01-04-1939: End of the Spanish civil war. Franco gains the victory over the Republicans with the support of Germany and Italy.

07-04-1939: Italy invades Albania

22-04-1939: Italy and Germany sign the so-called Steel Pact.

28-04-1939: Hitler cancels the 1935 German-British naval treaty.

15-05-1939: The Lichtenburg concentration camp, initially intended as a camp for women, is closed and transferred to Ravensbrück in Mecklenburg

22-05-1939: Von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano sign the Steel Pact between Germany and Italy, the military version of the Anti - Kominternpact.

20-06-1939: Germany. First test flight of the Heinkel He 176, the first rocket powered aircraft.

01-07-1939: In the Netherlands the distribution law of 1939 is proclaimed.

04-07-1939: German Jews are excluded from government offices

25-07-1939 - 25-07-1939: Period of the fifth Colijn cabinet.

26-07-1939: The United Staten renounces the trade agreement with Japan.

10-08-1939: De Geer forms his second cabinet. For the first time socialist ministers have a seat in the cabinet (ir.J.W.Albarda and dr. J. van den Tempel).

22-08-1939: Hitler addresses his generals at the Obersalzberg on the eve of the attack on Poland.

25-08-1939: Great Britain and Poland sign a mutual assistance treaty.

26-08-1939 - 26-08-1939: France and England negotiate with Hitler about the Danzig issue and the Corridor.

27-08-1939: The Red Army defeats Japan's 6th Kwantung Army in the Battle of the Khalkhin Gol River.

29-08-1939: Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and King Leopold III of Belgium offer their services as mediator in the German-Polish conflict.

31-08-1939: Hitler issues Weisung 1 (instruction): The German Kriegsmarine is to wage a trade war against England with 23 U-boats.

01-09-1939: A German army of 53 divisions supported by 1,600 airplanes invades Poland across the German and Slovakian borders. Plan White under command of General Walther von Brauchitsch is intended to disable 24 Polish divisions by a rapid encirclement and the severing of lines of supply and communications.

01-09-1939: Reichstag speech by Hitler: "Und von jetzt ab wird jede Bombe mit Bombe vergolten ..." "Ich will nichts anderes sein als der erste Soldat des deutschen Reiches".

01-09-1939: At 4:45 AM, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opens fire on the Polish garrison on the Westerplatte peninsula.

02-09-1939: France and Great Britain discuss the possibility of interfering in the German-Polish conflict.

02-09-1939: In Poland German troops obtain easy victories in Silesia, Pommerania, eastern Prussia and in Czestochowa.

02-09-1939: Germany agrees to respect the neutrality of Norway.

03-09-1939: 11:00 hours, Great Britain declares war on Germany.

03-09-1939: The German U 30 sinks the British passenger liner SS Athenia, resulting in 112 dead including 28 Americans.

03-09-1939: Australia, India and new Zealand declare war on Germany

04-09-1939: Japan declares itself neutral in the Polish-German conflict.

04-09-1939: Prime Minister de Geer delivers a government statement to the Tweede Kamer pertaining to Dutch neutrality.

05-09-1939: German troops reach the line on the river Weichsel in Poland.

06-09-1939: The Polish government leaves Warsaw.

07-09-1939: French patrols cross the German border in several places.

08-09-1939: British merchant ships in the North sea and the Atlantic Ocean are obliged to sail in protected convoys from now on.

09-09-1939: A German tank unit launches its first attack on Warsaw but is driven back.

09-09-1939: Instruction from the government to General Reijnders for the defense of Fortress Holland and the Grebbeberg.

10-09-1939: The British submarine HMS Triton mistakenly torpedoed the British submarine HMS Oxley. Only two of the 53 crew survive.

12-09-1939: Small-scale French actions against Germany without success.

13-09-1939: The 1st Squadron of the Polish 27th Cavalry Regiment breaks through the German lines at Maliszew, takes the village and takes many prisoners.

14-09-1939: German troops encircle the Polish capital of Warsaw.

17-09-1939: The Polish government goes into exile in Romania.

17-09-1939: The Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Molotov declares a Polish government no longer exists.

18-09-1939: Fierce fighting along the river Bzura in Poland. 19 Polish divisions are surrounded and eliminated.

19-09-1939: Hitler holds a triumphal entry into the city of Danzig Poland.

19-09-1939: The first British B.E.F. troops arrive in France.

19-09-1939: Conference of the Oslo states in Copenhagen.

20-09-1939: Engagements between German and French fighters.

21-09-1939: A Fascistic Romanian group the Iron Guard murders the Romanian Prime Minister Armand Calinescu.

22-09-1939: In Lvov Poland Soviet troops relieve German troops.

23-09-1939: Local skirmishes on the French-German border.

26-09-1939: The Soviet-Union carries through reforms in Eastern Poland after the Soviet model.

27-09-1939: A German military government is established in western Poland.

28-09-1939: Ten Polish divisions are surrounded near the fortress of Modlin near Kutno and surrender.

29-09-1939: The Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Von Ribbentrop of Germany and Molotov of the Soviet-Union agree on a new partition of Poland.

30-09-1939: In Paris a Polish government in exile is established led by General Sikorski.

30-09-1939: The German battleship Graf Spee sinks the British ship Clement.

01-10-1939: Polish defenders of the Hela peninsula surrender.

02-10-1939: Representatives of 21 countries on continental America declare a safety zone off the coast of each country. Any act of war within the zone is a hostile act.

05-10-1939: Estonia and the Soviet Union sign a treaty of mutual assistance; the Soviet Union gains access to various air and naval bases.

06-10-1939: German troops break the last Polish resistance.

07-10-1939: Hungary and Romania demobilize their troops on their common border.

08-10-1939: A German flying boat is shot down by British fighters.

10-10-1939: Admiral Reader draws Hitler’s attention to the strategic importance of Norway to Germany.

12-10-1939: The British Prime Minister Chamberlain rejects Hitler’s peace proposals of October 6.

12-10-1939: Hans Frank is named Gauleiter (governor) of Poland.

12-10-1939: In Austria, the first Jewish civilians are deported.

13-10-1939: The British navy sinks three German U boats.

15-10-1939: Germany and Estonia sign a treaty on the Germanisierung (Germanization) of Estonians of German descent.

16-10-1939: Skirmishes on the French-German border between French and German troops.

17-10-1939: French troops evacuate a part of occupied Germany.

17-10-1939: German air strikes on the British naval base at Scapa Flow.

19-10-1939: The Scandinavian countries declare themselves strictly neutral in the Soviet-Finnish border conflict.

19-10-1939: Hitler finalizes his first plan of attack on the West, Fall Gelb.

24-10-1939: British planes fly reconnaissance missions over Berlin, Hamburg and Magdeburg.

26-10-1939: Krakow becomes the capital of occupied western Poland.

28-10-1939: On Czechoslovak Independence Day in Prague, disturbances erupt.

29-10-1939: Second revised Marschanweisung (schedule) for Fall Gelb

30-10-1939: The Soviet Union annexes its occupied territory in eastern Poland.

31-10-1939: The British navy starts a world wide hunt for the German battleship Graf Spee.

02-11-1939: The American House of Representatives passes a new Neutrality Act which enables belligerent countries to buy weapons in the United States using cash and carry.

03-11-1939: Finland refuses to give up the island of Hango.

06-11-1939: French-German dogfights over the French-German border.

08-11-1939: Hitler escapes an attempt at murder in the Bürgerbraukeller in Munich.

08-11-1939: The Netherlands and Belgium congratulate Hitler with his escape from the attempt in the Bürgerbraukeller in Munich.

09-11-1939: All military leave is cancelled. Increased alert on the border. Partial inundation is started.

12-11-1939: British and French Prime Ministers reject the Belgian-Dutch offer at mediation.

13-11-1939: Finland ends negotiations with the Soviet Union and mobilizes her army.

14-11-1939: Hitler refuses the Belgian-Dutch offer at mediation.

16-11-1939: All belligerent parties reject the mediation offer by King Carol of Romania.

17-11-1939: France and Great Britain decide to coordinate their warfare.

18-11-1939: The "Simon Bolivar" a Dutch passenger liner is sunk by a magnetic mine. An estimated 86 out of the 400 passengers lose their lives, mainly women and children.

22-11-1939: German aircraft lay magnetic mines off the British coast.

23-11-1939: Polish Jews over 10 years of age are obliged to wear a yellow Star of David.

28-11-1939: According to a Soviet declaration, Soviet troops north of Leningrad are shot at by the Finns.

29-11-1939: Romania declares itself neutral in the Finnish-Soviet conflict.

30-11-1939: Swedish protest against mine laying in her territorial waters by Germany.

01-12-1939: The Finnish cabinet resigns and is succeeded by a cabinet led by Ryti.

02-12-1939: The German battleship Graf Spee sinks the British ship Doric Star.

03-12-1939: Finnish troops withdraw to the Mannerheim line a 15.5 miles long defensive line across the Karelian isthmus.

04-12-1939: The British battleship H.M.S. Nelson is damaged by a magnetic mine.

07-12-1939: A Soviet unit reaches Lake Kiant in central Finland.

07-12-1939: The British destroyer H.M.S. Jersey is damaged by a torpedo.

08-12-1939: Three German submarines are sunk.

09-12-1939: The German vessel Adolf Leonhart is sunk by its own crew in the Atlantic ocean off the coast of Angola after it has been intercepted by British H.M.S. Shropshire. The British take the crew aboard.

11-12-1939: The League of Nations wants to know within 24 hours whether the Finland and the Soviet Union are willing to end hostilities.

12-12-1939: France and Great Britain send weapons to Finland.

13-12-1939: During the battle of the River Plate the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee engages the British cruisers H.M.S. Exeter, H.M.S. Ajax and H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles. The Graf Spee seeks shelter in Montevideo harbor.

14-12-1939: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations, after being declared the aggressor in the war with Finland.

18-12-1939: British air raid on the German ships in Wilhelmshafen with 22 bombers. More than half of the participating aircraft are shot down or have to make an emergency landing. No hits are posted.

19-12-1939: In order to prevent passengers and crew from being taken prisoner-of-war by H.M.S. Hyperion, the German passenger liner Columbus is scuttled by her own crew in the Atlantic Ocean, 450 nautical miles east of Cape May, New Jersey, U.S.A. Passengers and crew are taken aboard the American heavy cruiser U.S.S. Tuscaloosa as ship wrecked persons, not as PoWs since the U.S. is still neutral.

21-12-1939: Dogfights between French and German aircraft over the Maginot line.

23-12-1939: The first Canadian troops (7,500 men) arrive in Great Britain.

25-12-1939: Soviet attacks on the Mannerheim line are repulsed.

31-12-1939: Finnish forces gain a victory over Soviet forces near Somussala, Finland.