WWII History

November 30 spans the opening shots of the Winter War, the deepening global conflict, and the last echoes of World War II. In 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland without declaring war, launching devastating air raids on Helsinki as Britain completed a massive North Sea minefield. By 1940, British civilian casualties mounted while the U.S. increased aid to China. In 1941, mass executions occurred near Riga and Japan finalized its decision to attack America. The 1942 fighting ranged from halted offensives in Tunisia to naval clashes off Guadalcanal, while Italy evacuated major cities under Allied bombing. In 1944, the Majdanek guards faced trial, HMS Vanguard was launched, and Chiang Kai-shek shifted forces to defend Kunming. By 1945, Rudolf Hess shocked the Nuremberg court and the final Japanese troops formally surrendered in Indochina. A day marked by invasion, resolve, and the long reach of a world at war.

November 29 spans the full scope of a global war in motion. In 1939, the USSR imposed Soviet citizenship on all residents of occupied Polish territory. By 1940, Germany drafted its initial plans for invading Russia while Allied forces secured Crete. In 1941, the German drive on Moscow stalled as the Red Army counterattacked at Rostov and Italian troops struck near Sidi Rezegh. Churchill warned Italy in 1942 as British paratroopers dropped near Tunis and U.S. coffee rationing began. Over the next years, Australian and American forces advanced in New Guinea and Italy, the Red Army crossed the Danube, the submarine USS Archerfish sank the carrier Shinano, and two German spies were landed in Maine. In 1945, films of Nazi atrocities shocked the Nuremberg courtroom as the U.S. began demobilization. A day of turning points across multiple fronts.

World War II Today: November 28 A day marked by diplomatic breaks, shifting fronts, high-level Allied strategy, and the slow collapse of Axis power across multiple theaters. 1939 – Treaties Broken and Troops Prepared Tensions in Northern Europe escalated sharply as the Soviet Union formally denounced its 1932 non-aggression pact with Finland. This diplomatic rupture

On November 27, World War II unfolded across multiple fronts—from German raiders returning to port and the launch of the Empire Air Training Scheme, to violent political upheaval in Romania and a tense naval standoff in the Mediterranean. German panzers reached the outskirts of Moscow, the Tobruk garrison linked with the New Zealanders, and Gondar—the last Italian stronghold in East Africa—fell. In 1942, the French scuttled their fleet at Toulon as German troops arrived, while British forces closed on Tunis. The following years saw major offensives, heavy losses at sea, and the UN Charter ratified by 29 nations. A day that reveals the global scale and rapid shifts of a world at war.

1938 Poland renews nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union to protect against a German invasion. 1939 The Soviet Union charges Finland with artillery attack on border. 1940 The Western Desert Force, begins Training Exercise No.1. This was a dress rehearsal for ‘Operation Compass’. Surprise was vital and so not even the troops involved were told

A day marked by sinking ships, political maneuvering, desperate fighting, and the final destruction of the machinery of genocide. 1939 – Conflicting Reports at Sea Germany claimed that four British ships had been sunk in the North Sea. London immediately denied the report, another reminder of how the war at sea became a battlefield of

A day marked by warnings at sea, crackdowns across occupied Europe, daring escapes, and shifting front lines from North Africa to the Pacific. 1939 – Warnings at Sea and Brutality on Land Germany issued a stark warning to all neutral shipping: stay away from British and French coasts—or risk being sunk. Neutral ships had already

1939 – Sacrifice in the North Atlantic Over France, RAF pilots scored a clear victory, shooting down seven German aircraft as the air war intensified even before the Blitz truly began. But events on the ground in occupied Poland carried a far darker weight. The Nazi administration imposed a new decree: all Polish Jews over

On November 22 during World War II, German mines drifted into the Thames Estuary, Birmingham endured its heaviest Luftwaffe raid, and the battle for North Africa shifted in chaos around Sidi Rezegh. The Soviets completed their encirclement at Stalingrad, the RAF delivered a devastating blow to Berlin, and Allied leaders met in Cairo to plan the defeat of Japan. By 1944, Metz fell to the U.S. Third Army, and in 1945 Americans celebrated a peaceful Thanksgiving as the Hollywood Canteen closed after serving four million servicemen. A day marked by destruction, turning points, and the first glimpses of a world emerging from war.

A day marked by rising tensions, shifting fronts, and the gathering storm that would soon engulf the world in war. 1937 – Roads Built for War Germany unveiled the first completed stretch of its new Autobahn—celebrated publicly as a triumph of engineering and national progress. But beneath the polished rhetoric lay its true purpose: a