Causes and Origins of WWII: 1939-1941

CAUSES AND ORIGINS OF WWII: 1939-1941

April, 1940

The Enigma code is deciphered by the intelligence group at Bletchley Park in England for the first time.

March, 1941

Another bombing of London, notable because Buckingham Palace is hit.

August, 1941

October, 1940

The US announces an oil embargo against "aggressors."

September, 1939

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1940

Warsaw's Jews are directed to move into the Warsaw ghetto.

November, 1939

The Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany begins at 4:45 a.m. with the Luftwaffe attacking several targets in Poland.

The U.S. Neutrality Act is passed: the French and British may buy arms, but on a strictly cash basis. American isolationists find the act an "outrage."

May, 1940

September, 1939

Crucial British Cabinet meeting: Churchill wins a vote on continuing the war, in spite of vigorous arguments by Lord Halifax and Chamberlain.

December, 1941

Following a massive artillery bombardment, the Germans launch a major infantry assault on the center of Warsaw.

The United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and New Zealand declare war on Japan

December, 1941

Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The United States reciprocates and declares war on Germany and Italy.

December, 1940

September, 1939

Large German air-raids on London; St Paul's Cathedral is damaged.

May, 1940

March, 1941

December, 1941

The USA publicly declared neutrality.

• Germany invades Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
• Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom upon the resignation of Neville Chamberlain

Japan launches an attack on Pearl Harbor, declares war on the United States and the United Kingdom and invades Thailand and British Malaya and launches aerial attacks against Guam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Shanghai, Singapore and Wake Island. Canada declares war on Japan.

United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs the Lend Lease Act (now passed by the full Congress) allowing Britain, China, and other allied nations to purchase military equipment and to defer payment until after the war.

December, 1939

October, 1939

The USSR is expelled from the League of Nations in response to the Soviet invasion of Finland on November 30.

November, 1940

Portions of Poland are formally inducted into Germany; the first Jewish ghetto is established at Lublin

July, 1940

President Roosevelt wins a third term. The British see the event as promising of more help from the US.

Cardiff is bombed by the Luftwaffe for the first time.

Luftwaffe attacks on Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.