- January 6
- US President Franklin Roosevelt gives "Four Freedoms" speech (speech, worship, from want, and from fear). [1]
- January 8
- British Air Marshal Richard Peirse resigns. [1]
- January 9
- Columbia Broadcasting System gives its first demonstration of small-screen color television; the TV failed miserably. [457]
- 6,000 Jews exterminated in pogrom in Bucharest Romania. [1]
- Maiden flight by Canada's Avro Lancaster military plane. [1]
- January 10
- Seyss-Inquart begins registration of Jews. [1]
- Graf von Schulenburg of the German Government and V. Molotov of the USSR sign a secret protocol transferring a small piece of Lithuanian territory to the USSR for 31.5 million reichmarks (US$7.5 million). [10]
- January 11
- Princess Irene Brigade established in Congleton. [1]
- January 15
- Former King of Spain Alfonso XIII abdicates rights to throne in favor of son Juan. [1157.94]
- January 16
- US vice admiral Bellinger warns of an assault on Pearl Harbor. [1]
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- January 17
- (morning) French forces with one old light cruiser and four old gunboats, attack Siam along the Koh-Chang island anchorage. They sink the new battleship Dhonburi, force the new battleship Ayuthia to run aground, and sink three small destroyers. [10]
- January 19
- British offensive in Eritrea. [1]
- British troops occupy Kassalaf Sudan. [1]
- January 21
- First anti-Jewish measures in Bulgaria. [1]
- Australian infantry with 16 Matilda tanks attacks Tobruk, Libya, forcing the surrender of 25,000-30,000 Italians and 87 tanks. [10]
- British communist newspaper Daily Worker banned. [1]
- January 22
- First mass killing of Jews in Romania. [1]
- British/Australian troops capture Tobruk from Italians. [1]
- January 23
- Rule of government in Romania by the Iron Guard ends. [1191.325]
- January 24
- British troops march into Abyssinia. [1]
- January 27
- Peruvian agent Rivera-Schreibér warns of Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor. [1]
- January 28
- Vichy France ceases hostilities with Siam. [10]
- January 29
- Greek Prime Minister General Ioannis Metaxas dies unexpectedly. The new Greek prime minister invites British forces in for protection against Germany and Italy. [1] [10]
- January 30
- Australian troops conquer Derna Libya. [1]
- January 31
- Anti-German demonstration in Haarlem Netherlands. [1]
- A formal armistice is signed by Siam and Indochina. [10]
- January (month)
- 21 German submarines sunk this month (127,000 tons). [1]
- February 4
- British tanks occupy Maus Libya. [1]
- February 5
- Dutch Premier De Geer returns from Lisbon to Netherlands. [1]
- February 6
- Battle of Beda Fomm: Italian 10th army is destroyed. [1]
- British troops conquer Bengazi, Libya. [1]
- Adolf Hitler puts Erwin Rommel in command of the new Deutsches Afrika Korps (German Africa Corps) with 15th Panzer Division and 5th Light Motorized Division, to rescue the Italians in North Africa. [10]
- February 8
- Japanese armored barges cross Strait of Johore to attack Singapore. [1]
- NSB'er Max Blokzijl begins Nazi propaganda on Dutch radio. [1]
- February 9
- British troops conquer El Agheila. [1]
- Nazi collaborators destroy pro-Jewish café Alcazar Amsterdam (Alcazar refused to hang "No Entry for Jews" signs in front of cafe). [1]
- February 10
- Anti-Nazi "Het Parool" begins publishing in Netherlands. [1]
- February 12
- Jewish Council for Amsterdam forms, under Ascher/Cohen. [1]
- Holland Occupation Police arrest "Jewish Foursome". [1]
- February 13
- Nazi leaders attack Dutch Jewish Council. [1]
- February 14
- German Africa Corps lands in Tripoli, Libya. [1]
- February 19
- Nazis raid Koco Amsterdam and round up 429 young Jews for deportation. [1]
- February 20
- First transport of Jews to concentration camps leave Plotsk, Poland. [1]
- Germans order Polish Jews barred from using public transportation. [1]
- Romania breaks relations with Netherlands. [1]
- February 22
- Arthur T "Bomber" Harris becomes British Air Marshal. [1]
- German assault on El Agheila, Libya. [1]
- I G Farben decides building Buna-Werke in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. [1]
- German SS begin rounding up Jews of Amsterdam. [1]
- February 24
- 43 Geuzen resistance fighter trial opens in The Hague. [1]
- Anti-Nazi meeting at Noordermarkt, Amsterdam. [1]
- February 25
- February strike against persecution of Jews, in Amsterdam. [1]
- February 26
- Utrecht and Zaandam strike against raid on Jews. [1]
- Vichy-France makes religious education in school mandatory. [1]
- February 28
- British-Italian aerial dogfight above Albania. [1]
- February (month)
- 39 German submarines (197,000 ton) sunk this month. [1]
- March 1
- Bulgaria formally agrees to adhere to the Tripartite Pact of the Axis powers. German troops enter the country. [10]
- Heinrich Himmler inspects Auschwitz concentration camp. [1]
- March 4
- Eighteen Geuzen resistance fighters sentenced to death in The Hague. [1]
- British commandos make a large-scale raid on Lofoten Islands, Norway. The raid is a complete success, capturing 225 prisoners and evacuating 315 Norwegian volunteers. [10]
- March 7
- 50,000 British soldiers lands in Greece. [1]
- British troops invade Abyssinia (Ethiopia). [1]
- March 11
- In the United States, Congress passes "An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States", known as the Lend-Lease Act, authorizing the President to sell, lease, lend, transfer, or exchange war supplies to any nation deemed vital to defence of the US. Total value is US$1.3 billion. [10]
- March 12
- German occupiers confiscate AVRO studios in Netherlands. [1]
- March 13
- A Bougne forms AGRA (Amis du Grand Reich Allemand). [1]
- March 14
- German occupiers of Holland forbid Jewish-owned companies. [1]
- March 15
- Blizzard in North Dakota kills 151. [1]
- March 16
- Blizzard hits North Dakota and Minnesota killing 60. [1]
- Dmitri Shostakovich receives the Stalin Prize. [1]
- March 20
- German/Yugoslav pact is written. [1]
- March 24
- British troops defeat British Somalia. [1]
- German troops occupy El Agheila Libya. [1]
- March 25
- In Vienna, Austria, Yugoslav premier Prince Paul and foreign minister sign on to the Tripartite Pact in the presence of Adolf Hitler and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. [10]
- March 26
- (0020 hours) A military revolt in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, lead by General Dusan Simovic, overthrows the Regency and pro-Axis government. [10]
- March 27
- Britain leases defense bases in Trinidad to US for 99 years. [1]
- Adolf Hitler issues Directive No. 25, ordering the military annihilation of Yugoslavia in retaliation for its coup. Operation Barbarossa, the planned attack on the Soviet Union, is postponed from May 15 for at least a month. Yugoslavia and Greece are to be attacked on April 6. [10]
- March 28
- Sea battle at Cape Matapan: British fleet under Cunningham defeats Italy. [1]
- March 30
- German counter offensive in North-Africa. [1]
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