World War II Chronology 1941

January
20. British attack Italians in Eritrea.
		



February
5. British drive Italians from the Sudan.



March
1. German-occupied Bulgaria joins Axis.
7. British win Italian Somaliland.
11. Roosevelt signs Lend-Lease Act. French Indochina cedes territory to Thailand.
25. Yugoslavia joins Axis.
28. British sink 5 Italian warships off Cape Matapan.
30. United States seizes Axis ships in American ports.



April
3. British yield Bengasi, Libya, to Axis attack.
6. Germany attacks Yugoslavia, Greece. British take Addis Ababa, Ethiopian capital.
9. United States takes Greenland under protection.
12. British lose Bardia, Libya.
17. Yugoslav army surrenders.
18. Britain occupies Iraq.
27. Germans occupy Athens.
30. British forces leave Greece.



May
10. Hess flies to Scotland, interned by British.
16. Iceland ends Union with Denmark.
19. British complete liberation of Ethiopia.
20. German paratroops invade Crete.
21. U-boat sinks American freighter Robin Moor in Atlantic.
24. German Bismarck sinks British Hood.
27. British fleet and air units sink Bismarck.



June
1. British evacuate Crete.
8. British and Free French invade Syria.
14. United States freezes German and Italian assets in America.
22. Germany invades Soviet Union. Italy declares war on Soviet Union.
26. Finland enters war against Soviet Union.



July
7. United States occupies Iceland, as requested July 1 by the government of Iceland.
14. British occupy Syria; Vichy French sign armistice.
21. French give military control of Indochina to Japan.
25. United States and Britain freeze Japanese assets.



August
1. United States bans gasoline export to Japan.
6. Germans capture Smolensk, Soviet Union.
14. Roosevelt, Churchill announce Atlantic Charter.
25. Britain, Soviet Union occupy Iran to prevent Nazi coup.



September
11. Roosevelt orders Navy to fire on Axis raiders in American defense zones.
19. Germans enter Kiev, Soviet Union.
29. United States pledges materiel to Soviet Union.



October
9. Turkey signs trade treaty with Germany.
11. United States Navy announces capture of German radio station in Greenland.
16. Germans take Odessa.
18. Tojo appointed premier of Japan.
19. Moscow declares state of siege.
24. Khar'kov falls to Germans.
31. U-boats sink United States destroyer Reuben James off Iceland.



November
17. Neutrality Act amended to arm American merchant ships.
20. Japanese envoys submit "last proposals" to United States.
22. Germans take Rostov, Soviet Union.
26. United States proposes economic cooperation to Japan.
29. Soviets recapture Rostov, take offensive in Ukraine.



December
6. Roosevelt appeals to Hirohito to intervene for peace.
7. Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and Midway. Canada declares war on Japan. On same day 
(Dec. 8, Far Eastern time), Japanese strike at Wake, Guam, Philippines, British Malaya, 
Hong Kong; invade Thailand. Netherlands Indies declares war on Japan.
8. United States, Britain declare war on Japan.
9. China declares war on Japan, Germany, Italy. Thailand surrenders to Japan.
10. Japanese planes sink British ships off Malaya. Japanese land on Luzon in the Philippines.
11. United States declares war on Germany, Italy. Germany, Italy declare war on United 
States. Japanese occupy Guam.
12. Japanese invade Burma from Thailand.
16. Japanese invade Borneo.
19. Hitler takes personal command of German army.
22. Churchill discusses united war effort with Roosevelt.
23. Wake Island surrenders to Japanese.
25. Hong Kong falls to Japanese.