1940 Timeline

By Hmarra
  • Battle of the Atlantic

    Battle of the Atlantic
  • Battle of Britain

    Battle of Britain
    German and British air forces fought in the skies above the UK. It is the largest airforce operation yet. This battle marked Hitler’s forces first defeat, and was a huge turning point in the war.
  • The Military Draft

    The Military Draft
  • Pearl Harbor

    Pearl Harbor
    On December 7th, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked Pearl Harbor; a military base located near Honolulu, Hawaii. Pearl Harbor was attacked in order to weaken the United States defenses.
  • Rationing

    Rationing
  • Japanese Internment

    Japanese Internment
    The executive order known as Executive Order 9066, created by President Roosevelt, forced Japanese Americans on the west coast to move to internment camps, with Executive Order 9102 and officially ceased to exist June 30, 1946. They were targeted by this law because after pearl harbor many people thought they may be spies helping Japan.
  • Invasion of Italy

    Invasion of Italy
    The Allies decided to invade Italy in order to remove them from World War II and force the enemy troops to redirect their focus from Russia.
  • D Day

    D Day
    The Allies invaded at Normandy, hoping to surprise Germany. D-day has come to be known as the largest air, land, and sea invasion to date.
  • Mussolini’s Execution

    Mussolini’s Execution
    After Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci, his mistress were captured attempting to flee from Italy to Switzerland, they were executed by Italian peasants at gunpoint.
  • Hitler Committed Suicide

    Hitler Committed Suicide
    Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun, hid in his underground air-raid shelter, used a cyanide pill and took their own life using a pistol.
  • Cold War Begins

    Cold War Begins
  • Berlin Airlift

    Berlin Airlift
  • Stalin has a Heart Attack

    Stalin has a Heart Attack
    After continuing to rein over the Soviet Union since 1924 and being responsible for anywhere between 8 and 20 million deaths, the dictator died due to a heart attack in Moscow, Russia.