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Conflicts in 1940

  • Italian invasion of EgyptThe Italian invasion of Egypt began on the 13th of September 1940, when an army of tens of thousands crossed from Libya into British-held territory with one…
  • Dunkirk evacuationThe Dunkirk evacuation began on the 26th of May 1940 with a single, sober target: save 45,000 men within two days, then accept that Germany would close the…
  • Italian invasion of British SomalilandThe Italian invasion of British Somaliland lasted just sixteen days, from the 3rd to the 19th of August 1940, yet it produced one of the war's sharpest…
  • Battle of FranceThe Battle of France began on the 10th of May 1940, and within six weeks an empire that had survived the carnage of the First World War had collapsed.
  • German invasion of Belgium (1940)On the 10th of May 1940, Germany invaded three countries simultaneously: Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Within 18 days, the Belgian Army would…
  • North African campaignThe North African campaign of World War II began on the 11th of June 1940 and did not end until the 13th of May 1943 - nearly three years of brutal fighting…
  • Attack on Mers-el-KébirOn the 25th of June 1940, the armistice between France and Nazi Germany came into effect. This agreement left the French Navy intact but under a new…
  • German invasion of the NetherlandsThe German invasion of the Netherlands began in the pre-dawn hours of the 10th of May 1940. Within five days, the main Dutch forces had surrendered.
  • 1939–1940 Winter OffensiveThe 1939-1940 Winter Offensive pitted the National Revolutionary Army against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
  • German invasion of Denmark (1940)The German invasion of Denmark on the 9th of April 1940 lasted approximately six hours, making it one of the shortest military campaigns of the Second World…
  • Japanese invasion of French IndochinaJapan moved troops into southern Guangxi and Longzhou County in early 1940. Their goal was to seize the eastern branch of the Kunming, Hai Phong Railway at…
  • Battle of BritainThe Battle of Britain earned its name before a single aircraft took to the skies in its defense. On the 18th of June 1940, Winston Churchill stood before the…
  • Winter WarThe Winter War began on the 30th of November 1939, when the Soviet Union sent 21 divisions and 450,000 men across the Finnish border.
  • Italian invasion of FranceThe Italian invasion of France lasted fifteen days in June 1940 and yet managed to change the shape of the entire war. On the evening of the 10th of June…
  • Balkans campaign (World War II)On the 28th of October 1940, Italian troops crossed into Greece, setting off a chain of events that would consume the entire Balkan peninsula within seven…
  • Operation WeserübungOperation Weserübung began at 05:15 on the morning of the 9th of April 1940, when German forces struck Denmark and Norway in one of the most daring and…
  • East African campaign (World War II)On the 9th of May 1936, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaimed the formation of Italian East Africa from Ethiopia after the Second Italo-Abyssinian…
  • Greco-Italian WarThe Greco-Italian War began on the 28th of October 1940, when Italy's ambassador in Athens, Emanuele Grazzi, delivered an ultimatum to the Greek prime…
  • Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern BukovinaIn 1812, the Treaty of Bucharest transferred Bessarabia from the Ottoman Empire to the Russian Empire. This region had been a vassal state of the Ottomans as…
  • World War IIWorld War II killed between 60 and 75 million people, making it the deadliest conflict in history. Tanks and aircraft reshaped the battlefield, and aircraft…
  • Siege of Malta (World War II)The Siege of Malta was a military campaign that ran from June 1940 to November 1942, pitting the air and naval forces of Italy and Nazi Germany against the…
  • Battle of TarantoOn the night of the 11th of November 1940-21 obsolete biplanes changed the way navies would fight forever. The Battle of Taranto was not won by the biggest…
  • Bombing of ChongqingThe Bombing of Chongqing began on the 18th of February 1938 and did not end until the 19th of December 1944. For nearly seven years, the wartime capital of…
  • Hundred Regiments OffensiveThe Hundred Regiments Offensive began at midnight on the 20th of August 1940, when gunfire and explosions erupted simultaneously along thousands of…
  • Phoney WarThe Phoney War lasted eight months, from September 1939 to May 1940, and it may be one of the strangest intervals in the history of modern warfare.