The new German technique of blitzkrieg ('lightning war') is demonstrated with devastating effect against Poland

Hitler's armies smash their way into Czechoslovakia and enter Prague, against all his previous promises

The recent fate of Czechoslovakia prompts France and Britain to guarantee the security of Poland

Adolf Hitler launches a massive attack on Poland, with tanks crossing the border and air raids on Warsaw

Britain and France, receiving no answer from Hitler to their ultimatum over his attack on Poland, declare war on Germany

French troops rush to defend France's border with Germany, along the heavily fortified Maginot Line

In spite of the Axis agreement of 1936, Mussolini declines to bring Italy into the war on Hitler's side

Warsaw falls, after a brave resistance, whereupon Germany and Russia carve up Poland

Nazi murder squads (Einsatzgruppen) kill Poland's elite

Adolf Hitler orders the 'mercy killing' of all those with specified categories of infirmity, beginning with newborn babies and young children

Charlie Chaplin ridicules Hitler in The Great Dictator, the first film in which he speaks coherent dialogue

Inactivity during the Phoney War prompts Neville Chamberlain to assure the House of Commons that Hitler has 'missed the bus'

German ships and marines occupy the harbours of neutral Denmark and Norway

German tanks cross the borders into neutral Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium

After the German invasion of the Netherlands and Belgium, Winston Churchill replaces Chamberlain as the British prime minister

German troops force their way into France through the Ardennes, launching the Battle of France

Only two days after crossing the Netherlands border, a German division reaches the coast near Rotterdam

The caretaker government of the Netherlands surrenders to the German invaders

A German army races west through northern France, aiming to cut off the Allied troops in Belgium

Fishing smacks and private launches are enlisted from southern England's coasts and rivers for a rescue mission across the Channel

German tanks reach the French coast at Abbeville, nine days after crossing the border from Germany

Evacuation begins from Dunkirk, and over the next ten days some 860 vessels ferry troops across the Channel

The Belgians surrender to the German armies encircling them north and south

The last Allied forces withdraw from Norway, leaving the country entirely in the hands of its German occupiers

Mussolini declares war on a France already on the verge of defeat