Timeline of the Eastern Front of World War II

1939

* March 14–15, 1939 Under German pressure, the Slovaks declare their independence and form a Slovak Republic. The Germans occupy the dismantled Czech lands in violation of the Munich agreement and form the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
* March 31, 1939 France and Great Britain guarantee the integrity of the borders of the Polish state.
* April 7–15, 1939 Fascist Italy invades and annexes Albania.
* August 23, 1939 Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression agreement and a secret protocol dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence.
* September 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe.
* September 3, 1939 Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
* September 17, 1939 The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east. The Polish government flees into exile via Romania, first to France and then later to Great Britain.
* September 27–29, 1939 Warsaw surrenders on September 27. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between them.

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1940

* November 30, 1939–March 12, 1940 The Soviet Union invades Finland, initiating the so-called Winter War. The Finns sue for an armistice and cede the northern shores of Lake Ladoga to the Soviet Union. They also cede the small Finnish coastline on the Arctic Ocean.
* April 9, 1940–June 9, 1940 Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders on the day of the attack. Norway holds out until June 9.
* May 10, 1940–June 22, 1940 Germany attacks western Europe, specifically France and the neutral Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). Luxembourg is occupied on May 10; the Netherlands surrenders on May 14; and Belgium surrenders on May 28. On June 22, France signs an armistice agreement by which the Germans occupy the northern half of the country and the entire Atlantic coastline. In southern France, a collaborationist regime with its capital in Vichy is established.
* June 10, 1940 Italy enters the war. Italy invades southern France on June 21.
* June 28, 1940 The Soviet Union forces Romania to cede the eastern province of Bessarabia and the northern half of Bukovina to Soviet Ukraine.
* June 14, 1940–August 6, 1940 The Soviet Union occupies the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) on June 14–18. On July 14–15, it engineers Communist coup d’états in each of these countries and then annexes them as Soviet Republics on August 3–6.
* July 10, 1940–October 31, 1940 The air war known as the Battle of Britain ends in defeat for Nazi Germany.
* August 30, 1940 Second Vienna Award: Germany and Italy arbitrate a decision on the division of the disputed province of Transylvania between Romania and Hungary. The loss of northern Transylvania forces Romanian King Carol to abdicate in favor of his son, Michael, and brings to power a dictatorship under General Ion Antonescu.
* September 13, 1940 The Italians invade British-controlled Egypt from Italian-controlled Libya.
* September 27, 1940 Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.
* October 1940 Italy invades Greece from Albania on October 28.
* November 1940 Hungary (November 20), Romania (November 23), and Slovakia (November 24) join the Axis.

Source:https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/world-war-ii-key-dates

1941

* 1941-06-22 Operation Barbarossa launched – Axis invasion of the Soviet Union
* 1941-06-22 – Battle of the Baltic (1941)
* 1941-06-22 – 1941-07-09 Battle of Bialystok-Minsk – Soviet 3rd and 10th armies encircled
* 1941-06-23 – 1941-06-30 Battle of Brody – Soviets lose hundreds of tanks in a staggering defeat
* 1941-07-01 – German army entered Latvian capital Riga
* 1941-07-10 – 1941-09-10 Battle of Smolensk – Soviet 16th and 20th armies encircled with over 300,000 troops
* 1941-07-15 – 1941-08-08 Battle of Uman (1941) Battle of Western Ukraine – destruction of Soviet tank armies
* 1941-08-08 – 1941-09-19 Battle of Kiev – Soviet Southwestern Front encircled with over 600,000 red army troops, which will later be known as the largest encirclement in the world
* 1941-09-08 – 1944-01-18 Siege of Leningrad – the city of Leningrad and armies of the Leningrad Front encircled, deadliest siege in history
* Operation Silver Fox German and Finnish forces advance north of Leningrad on Murmansk
* Battle of Roslavl
* 1941-10-24 – 1942-01-07 Operation Typhoon – German advance on Moscow
* 1941-10-21 – 1941-10-27 Battle of Rostov – Germans initially occupied Rostov but were over-extended and driven back along shore of Sea of Azov by the Red Army
* Battle of Vyazma-Bryansk— see Battle of Moscow
* 1941-10-10 – Battle of Vyazma – occupied by Germans
* 1941-10-06 – Battle of Bryansk – occupied by Germans
* 1941-10-02 – 1942-01-07 Battle of Moscow – Operation Typhoon stalls. Soviet Winter counter-offensive
* Crimean Campaign – eight-month-long campaign by Axis forces to conquer the Crimea peninsula
* First Battle of Kharkov— Germans occupy Kharkov
* 1941-11-16 – 1942-07-04 Siege of Sevastopol – Crimea is occupied by the Germans
* 1941-12-05 - 1942-04-30 Winter Campaign of 1941–1942

1942

* January–April Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive (1942) – disastrous Soviet attempt to cut off the Rzhev salient
* 1942-02-08 Demyansk Pocket
* 1942-05-12 – 1942-05-30 Second Battle of Kharkov – The Soviet spring offensive to re-take the city that ended in encirclement by elements of the 6th Army and 1st Panzer Army.
* July Battle of Voronezh (1942)
* 1942-06-28 Operation Blue The Axis summer offensive to capture the oil fields in the Caucasus. Later on the goal of capturing Stalingrad was added.
* July First Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive
* 1942-07-23 – 1943-02-01 Battle of the Caucasus – German troops climb Mount Elbrus but Axis cannot fight their way through to the Caspian Sea oilfields
* 1942-08-23 – 1943-02-02 Battle of Stalingrad – Bloodiest battle in history
* 1942-11-19 Operation Uranus launched – Romanian 3rd and 4th armies destroyed; 300,000 Axis troops trapped at Stalingrad
* November–December Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive – another disastrous Soviet attempt to cut off Rzhev salient; Georgy Zhukov's worst defeat
* 1942-12-12 – 1942-12-29 Operation Winter Storm – fails to relieve Stalingrad
* 1942-12-15 – 1943-02-25 Operation Saturn – Soviet offensive destroys the Axis position in the Caucasus and Donbas

1943

* March Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive (1943)
* 1943-02-16 – 1943-03-15 Third Battle of Kharkov – Erich von Manstein traps over-extended Red Army
* 1943-07-05 – 1943-08-01 Battle of Kursk – largest tank battle in history; Germans defeated by defense in depth
* 1943-07-30 Battle of the Mius
* August Battle of Belgorod
* August Fourth Battle of Kharkov
* Battle of Smolensk (1943)
* September–November Battle of the Dnieper
* October Battle of Lenino
* November Battle of Kiev
* December–August 1944 Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive

1944

* January – Korsun Pocket
* 1944-01-18 – Siege of Leningrad raised
* 1944-01-14 – 1944-03-01 – Leningrad-Novgorod Strategic Offensive
* 1944-04-08 – 1944-05-12 – Battle of the Crimea
* February–July – Battle of Narva – Soviet Leningrad-Novgorod Strategic Offensive brought to a halt by German forces including Estonian conscript formations
* June–August – Operation Bagration – destruction of German Army Group Centre
* July–August – Lvov-Sandomir Offensive – destruction of German Army Group South
* July – Soviet Narva Operation – Soviet capture of Narva town
* 1944-07-26 – 1944-08-12 – Battle of Tannenberg Line – Soviet advance to Tallinn harbour brought to a halt by German forces
* August – Operation Iassy-Kishinev (German ''"Operation Jassy-Kischinew"'') – defeat of German forces in Romania and switching of sides of Romania
* 1944-08-23 – In a coup led by young King Michael, a pro-Allied government ousts the pro-Nazi regime of Romania and declares war on Germany
* August–September – Warsaw Uprising – failed due to lack of outside support
* 1944-08-29 – 1944-10-28 – Slovak National Uprising – Failed coup of Slovak-Soviet irregular forces in Slovakia
* August–October – Battle of the Baltic (1944) – German Army Group North trapped in Courland
* 1944-09-19 – Soviet Union signs Moscow Armistice with Finland
* 1944-10-06 – 1944-10-28 – Battle of Debrecen – German Army Group Fretter-Pico surrounded and destroyed Soviet Mobile Group Pliyev of the 2nd Ukrainian Front
* 1944-10-16 - 1944-10-30 - Gumbinnen Operation (First East Prussian Offensive) - Soviet forces unsuccessfully try to advance into East Prussia after the Battle of Memel
* October – Battle of Belgrade
* 1944-12-29 – 1945-02-13 – Battle of Budapest

1945

* 1945-01-12 – 1945-02-02 – Vistula-Oder Offensive – Soviet advance from Poland to deep within the borders of Germany (seen from the location of the borders then)
*1945-01-13 – 1945-04-25 – Second East Prussian Offensive – Soviet forces advance in East Prussia and besiege Königsberg.
* 1945-02-02 – 1945-02-24 – Lower Silesian offensive
* 1945-02-13 – 1945-05-06 – Siege of Breslau
* 1945-03-06 – 1945-03-17 – Lake Balaton Offensive – Last German offensive of the war
* 1945-03-15 – 1945-03-31 – Upper Silesian offensive
* 1945-04-02 – 1945-04-13 – Vienna Offensive
* 1945-04-16 – 1945-04-19 – Battle of the Seelow Heights – Zhukov's costly frontal assault on Berlin
* 1945-04-16 – 1945-05-02 – Battle of Berlin – One month of street-by-street fighting
* 1945-04-24 – 1945-05-01 – Battle of Halbe – Elements of German 9th Army escape to the west
* 1945-04-30 – Death of Adolf Hitler
* 1945-05-07 – Unconditional surrender of Germany in Rheims
* 1945-05-08 – Unconditional surrender of Germany in Berlin
* 1945-05-08 – End of World War II in Europe
* 1945-05-06 – 1945-05-11 – Prague Offensive
* 1945-05-08 – 1945-05-09 – Liberation of Bornholm

See also

* List of Military operations on the Eastern Front European Theater during WW2
* Strategic operations of the Red Army in World War II
* Timeline of the Second World War

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timeline Of The Eastern Front Of World War Ii
Eastern Front (World War II)
Chronology of World War II