Curated playlist
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 prize in mind: the Suez Canal. The operation had a name, Operazione E, and a…
- 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 door forever. What actually unfolded over the nine days that followed shattered…
- 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 arguments about what a defeat should cost. When it was over, the Royal Navy had taken…
- 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. France, the largest army on the continent, with more tanks than Germany and a defensive…
- 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 surrender, the Allied forces that had rushed to defend Belgium would be trapped with…
- 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 across some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth. Desert, heat, and vast…
- Attack on Mers-el-KébirThe third British salvo struck Bretagne's magazine at Mers-el-Kébir, and by 6:09 p.m. on the 3rd of July 1940, 977 French sailors had died. Days earlier, Britain and France had been fighting the same enemy. Churchill wrote, 'This was the…
- 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. The entire country was under German occupation seven days after that. What makes that…
- 1939–1940 Winter OffensiveThe 1939-1940 Winter Offensive pitted the National Revolutionary Army against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War. It marked the first time Chinese forces struck back on multiple fronts at once. The attack fell short…
- 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 War. By the time most Danes had started their working day, their country had…
- Japanese invasion of French IndochinaThe Japanese invasion of French Indochina lasted just four days - from the 22nd to the 26th of September 1940 - yet its consequences stretched across decades of war. Seven and a half hours before a Japanese ultimatum was set to expire, two…
- 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 House of Commons and declared: "What General Weygand called the 'Battle of…
- 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. Within hours, bombers struck Helsinki, killing around 100 civilians and leveling more than 50 buildings.…
- 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, Italy declared war on France and Britain. Within hours, Italian troops were moving…
- 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 months. That single act of aggression did not unfold as Benito Mussolini planned.…
- 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 unconventional military gambits of the entire war. Within a single day, port cities…
- 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 War. This new colony combined the colonies of Italian Eritrea and Italian…
- 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 minister in the small hours of the morning. Mussolini demanded free passage for his…
- Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern BukovinaAt 22:00 on the 26th of June 1940, Soviet People's Commissar Vyacheslav Molotov summoned the Romanian minister to Moscow and handed him an ultimatum. Romania had four days to withdraw its military and civil administration from Bessarabia…
- 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 carried out the strategic bombing of cities. Aircraft also delivered the only…
- 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 defenders of a small British island in the heart of the Mediterranean. At its…
- 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 guns or the fastest ships. It was won by slow, fabric-covered torpedo bombers…
- 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 China endured 268 air raids. Some brought a few dozen aircraft. Others brought over…
- Hundred Regiments OffensiveThe Hundred Regiments Offensive began at midnight on the 20th of August 1940, when gunfire and explosions erupted simultaneously along thousands of kilometers of the North China front. Signal flares lit the sky as the Eighth Route Army,…
- 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. Two of the world's great powers had declared war on Nazi Germany. Their armies sat fully…