Timeline of World War II (1941)
1941 marked a pivotal year in World War II, seeing the expansion of the conflict to include the Soviet Union and the United States. Key events shifted the balance of power and set the stage for the Allied victory.
January:
- January 6: President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his "Four Freedoms" speech, outlining principles for a post-war world and implicitly signaling support for the Allies.
- January 21: Australian and British forces begin their offensive in North Africa, capturing Tobruk from Italian forces.
February:
- February 9: British forces capture Benghazi in North Africa.
- February 12: General Erwin Rommel arrives in North Africa to command German forces, beginning the German counter-offensive.
March:
- March 1: Bulgaria joins the Axis powers.
- March 11: The U.S. Congress passes the Lend-Lease Act, authorizing the president to provide material aid to Allied nations.
- March 27: A coup d'état in Yugoslavia overthrows the pro-Axis government.
April:
- April 6: Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece (Operation Marita).
- April 17: Yugoslavia surrenders to the Axis powers.
- April 27: German forces enter Athens, Greece.
May:
- May 10: Rudolf Hess, Deputy Führer of Nazi Germany, flies to Scotland on a self-proclaimed peace mission. He is immediately arrested.
- May 20: German paratroopers invade Crete (Operation Mercury).
- May 27: The German battleship Bismarck is sunk by the British Royal Navy.
- May 31: The Battle of Crete ends with a German victory.
June:
- June 1: The Manchukuo government establishes the Lungkiang National Park.
- June 8: Allies invade Syria and Lebanon, then controlled by Vichy France.
- June 22: Germany launches Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Finland, Hungary, and Romania also participate in the invasion.
- June 25: Finland declares war on the Soviet Union (the Continuation War).
July:
- July 7: U.S. forces occupy Iceland to prevent German occupation.
- July 12: The Anglo-Soviet Agreement is signed, pledging mutual assistance against Germany.
- July 16: German forces capture Smolensk in the Soviet Union.
August:
- August 14: President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill issue the Atlantic Charter, outlining common principles for the postwar world.
- August 25: British and Soviet forces invade Iran to secure oil supplies and a supply route to the Soviet Union.
September:
- September 8: The Siege of Leningrad begins, cutting off the city from the rest of the Soviet Union.
- September 19: German forces capture Kyiv.
October:
- October 2: Germany launches Operation Typhoon, the offensive to capture Moscow.
- October 16: The Soviet government evacuates Moscow.
November:
- November 18: British forces launch Operation Crusader in North Africa.
- November 26: The Hull Note, a final proposal by the United States to Japan regarding trade and expansion, is delivered.
December:
- December 5: Soviet forces launch a counter-offensive against the German forces outside Moscow.
- December 7: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, bringing the United States into World War II.
- December 8: The United States and the United Kingdom declare war on Japan. China declares war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.
- December 11: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.
- December 19: Hitler assumes personal command of the German Army.
- December 25: British forces recapture Benghazi.