Germany: The Nazi Party is officially declared as the only legal political party in Germany. All others are banned.
Germany: The idea of regular plebiscites is also introduced into German law. Hitler explains this action as a way to ensure a better government, but ultimately his new system allows him to bypass the Reichstag.
Germany: Other new laws are passed allow the revocation of citizenship for naturalized Jews. Furthermore, the new laws give the Nazis full control over the German Church.
1937 — , July 14
Spain: Day 363 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 8 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 8 of 33 of the 2nd Battle of Hebei.
Day 1 of 22 of the Battle of Tainjin-Beijing. Japanese troops clash with Chinese troops between Tainjin and Beijing.
1938 — , July 14
USSR: Japanese diplomats in Moscow demand that Russian troops be removed from the contested regions on the northeastern Chinese border. The Soviets reject the Japanese demands, citing Japanese violation of the First Convention of Peking of 1860 by occupying Chinese territory.
Spain: Day 728 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 373 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 34 of 139 of the Battle of Wuhan.
1939 — , July 14
CBI - China: Day 738 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 31 of 68 of the Battle of Tianjin.
CBI - Mongolia: Day 65 of 129 of the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, a border dispute between the Soviet Union and Japan.
1940 — , July 14
UK: In a worldwide broadcast, Winston Churchill proclaims the intention of Great Britain to fight alone against Germany whatever the outcome, saying "We shall seek no terms. We shall tolerate no parley. We may show mercy. We shall ask none."
Spotlight...
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
If Hitler had been half as smart as he thought he was, he would've known that the best he could have done against the British was to achieve a stalemate, like Germany did in World War One. Britain had far more experience in warfare and had literally ruled the seas for the past three and a half centuries. They also had the world's oldest and best intelligence (spy) network.
With the sun never setting on the British Empire, encompassing one-fifth of the world's population, they had the resources, manpower and material to sustain themselves for as long as required, but yet not enough to defeat the Axis powers. To do that, Britain would need either the United States or the Soviet Union to join them. Or both.
Winston Churchill related dates...
01 Nov 36: "It's only fair. We had to have them in the last war."
21 Sep 38: Warns of futility of appeasing Adolf Hitler
03 Jun 39: Predicts war with Germany will come this year
20 Jan 40: Famous "feed the crocodile" line to neutral nations
10 May 40: Asked by King to replace Chamberlain as PM
13 May 40: Famous "Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat" speech
04 Jun 40: Gives his stern "never surrender" speech
14 Jul 40: "We may show mercy, We shall ask none" speech
20 Aug 40: "Never ... was so much owed by so many..."
23 Dec 40: "Because of one man" broadcast to Italians
20 Jul 41: Inaugurates the "V for Victory" campaign
Atlantic: British armed merchant cruiser HMS ESPERANCE BAY departs from Plymouth, England, with £10,000,000 in gold. She gets bombed by the Luftwaffe 100 miles west of the port, but is able to return to Plymouth without losing her cargo.
Atlantic: German sub U-52 sinks the Greek ship THETIS A off the coast of Brest, France.
Atlantic: German sub U-A sinks the Norwegian tanker SARITA 100 miles west of Cape Verde.
Atlantic: German armed merchant cruiser THOR sinks the British ship GRACEFIELD 500 miles off the coast of Brazil.
ETO - UK: Day 5 of 114 of the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe bombs shipping in the Channel and attacks an airfield in Kent. RAF pilots are told to ignore any Red Cross markings found on German planes.
ETO - UK: Operation AMBASSADOR: 140 British commandos begin a night raid on Guernsey in the Channel Islands.
ETO - UK: To celebrate Bastille Day, Charles de Gaulle lays wreaths at Cenotaph in London and declares this Bastille Day as a day of meditation.
ETO - Germany: The RAF bombs two Luftwaffe bases in Germany.
MTO: Vichy French bombers attacked Gibraltar, but cause no real damage.
East Africa: Day 35 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt. Italian troops attack the British garrison at Moyale in Abyssinia.
CBI - China: Day 1,104 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 243 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
1941 — , July 14
South America: Day 10 of 27 of the Ecuadorian-Peruvian War, a territorial dispute between Peru and Ecuador.
Germany: Expecting a rapid victory in Russia, Hitler orders the German war industry to shift its production away from guns and armoured vehicles to U-boats and planes.
Germany: Nazi racial philosopher Alfred Rosenberg is appointed Reich Minister for the Eastern Occupied Territories to administer all territories seized from the Soviet Union.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 16 of 142 of Operation SILVER FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign to capture the Russian port of Murmansk in the Arctic.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 14 of 140 of Operation ARCTIC FOX, a joint German-Finnish campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 23 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 5 of 18 of Finland's reconquest of Ladoga, Karelia. The Finns continue their offensive toward Lake Ladoga northeast of Leningrad.
Russian Front: Day 23 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA, the invasion of the USSR.
Russian Front - North: German Army Group North in now only 80 miles from Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 9 of 31 of the 1st Battle of Smolensk, Russia. The infamous Russian Katyusha rocket launchers are used in combat for the first time at Rudnya.
Russian Front - Center: Day 2 of 12 of the Battle of Zhlobin, Belarus.
Russian Front - South: In Ukraine, units of German Army Group South continue preparing for a major assault on Kiev.
Russian Front - South: Day 13 of 21 of the Battle of Bessarabia, Russia. German and Romanian troops continue their attack at Bessarabia to take the land and city that Romania was forced to cede to the USSR a year ago.
Russian Front - South: German and Romanian troops keep advancing toward Vinnitsa and the Black Sea port of Odessa, Ukraine.
MTO - Libya: Day 96 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk.
MTO - Egypt: German JU-88s bomb at Suez, damaging the harbor facilities and ships in port.
Middle East: Day 37 of 37 of the Battle for Syria and Lebanon. The Vichy French High Commissioner in the Middle East signs the Armistice of Saint Jean d'Acre at Acre in Palestine.
East Africa: Day 400 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,469 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
1942 — , July 14
USA: President Roosevelt orders the Joint Chiefs of Staff to abandon major offensive operations in the Pacific Theater and instead direct planning efforts for the invasion of North Africa.
USA: The US Army Air Force establishes the China Air Task Force with Claire Chennault in command. This unit is assigned to the US 10th Air Force.
Atlantic: South of the Azores islands, the HMS LULWORTH forces the Italian sub PIETRO CALVI to surface, then the Italian crew scuttles the sub.
ETO - France: Charles de Gaulle renames the Free French to the Fighting French, a name that will not stick.
Germany: The deportation of Dutch Jews to the Auschwitz concentration camp begins.
Russian Front - North: Day 310 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 71 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
Russian Front - Center: Day 13 of 22 of Germany's Operation SEYDLITZ, a plan to trap and capture numerous Soviet troops.
Russian Front - South: Day 17 of 27 of the Battle of Voronezh, Russia.
Russian Front - South: Day 17 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields. German Army Group A heads toward Rostov, meeting little resistance.
MTO - Yugoslavia: In reprisal for the assassination of German Gestapo chief SS Major Helm, the Germans kill 700 people in Zagreb.
MTO - Egypt: Day 14 of 27 of the 1st Battle of El Alamein. Under the cover of darkness, Indian and New Zealand troops overrun two Italian divisions.
East Africa: Day 71 of 186 of the Battle of Madagascar.
CBI - China: Day 1,834 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 61 of 124 of Japan's Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, launched to punish anyone suspected of aiding the Doolittle raiders in China. Roughly 250,000 Chinese will be killed.
PTO - Alaska: Day 38 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. Japanese sub I-7 sinks the US freighter ARCATA east of Dutch Harbor.
PTO - Malaya: Day 146 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island.
1943 — , July 14
USA: President Roosevelt dedicates $30,000 for the George Washington Carver National Monument near Diamond, Missouri. This future monument is the first national monument dedicated to an African-American and the first to a non-president.
Atlantic: Aircraft from carrier USS SANTEE sink the German sub U-160 south of the Azores islands. Meanwhile off Venezuela, German sub U-572 sinks the sailing ship HARVARD.
ETO - France: US 8th Air Force bombs aircraft factories and airfields in France.
Russian Front - North: Day 675 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 436 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket.
Russian Front - Center: Day 10 of 50 of the Battle of Kursk, Russia. Another Soviet Army joins the battle and attacks 4th Panzer Army in the southern sector.
Russian Front - Center: Day 3 of 38 of the Battle of Orel, Russia.
Russian Front - South: Day 2 of 48 of the USSR's Lvov-Sandomierz Offensive, a Soviet drive pushing the Germans from western Ukraine and eastern Poland.
Russian Front - South: At Krasnodar in southern Russia, the Soviets begin the trial of 11 Germans accused of murdering 7,000 civilians by gas vans, shootings and hangings.
MTO - Italy: Day 6 of 40 of the Battle of Sicily. RAF and US Air Forces provide air support. US troops capture Niscemi and Biscari airfield while British troops capture Vizzini.
CBI: German sub U-178 attacks the transport ship ROBERT BACON in the Indian Ocean 35 miles off the Mozambique Light. After allowing the crew to evacuate, U-178 sinks her.
CBI - China: Day 2,199 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 403 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. The destroyer USS MONAGHAN bombards the Japanese positions at Gertrude Cove on Kiska Island.
PTO - Gilbert Islands: US troops occupy the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu) and prepare for the construction of airfields.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 84 of 148 of the 2nd Battle of Lae-Salamaua. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 25 of 67 of the Battle of New Georgia. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
1944 — , July 14
Atlantic: German sub U-415 hits a mine and sinks off the coast of Brest, France.
ETO - UK: Day 32 of 86 of the V-1 "Buzz Bomb" offensive on Britain.
ETO - France: Day 39 of 49 of Operation OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, known forever simply as D-Day. D-Day+38: Allied Air Forces provide air support. US troops make slow gains as they advance toward St Lo.
ETO - France: Day 39 of 62 of the Battle of Caen. Although the town has been captured, the surrounding area still needs to be cleared of German troops.
ETO - France: Prisoners in the Santé prison in Paris revolt and start a fire in the prison compound.
ETO - France: US 8th Air Force B-17s drop supplies to the Free French troops in southern France.
ETO - Netherlands: German SS member Heinrich Boere takes part in Operation SILBERTANNE during which 54 Dutch civilians are killed in retaliation for the assassination of Dutch Nazi leaders by Dutch resistance fighters.
Germany: Hitler leaves Berchtesgaden for the last time. Meanwhile, Claus von Stauffenberg is summoned to see Hitler in Rastenburg, East Prussia, on the following day.
Russian Front - Finland: Soviet ambassador to Sweden announces that the USSR is interested in peace discussions with Finland without any mention of the unconditional surrender that Stalin had previously demanded.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 24 of 50 of the Battle of Karelia. Soviet troops continue their offensive against the Finns in eastern Karelia between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in northern Russia.
Russian Front - North: Day 164 of 191 of the Battle of the Narva Isthmus, Estonia. Both German and Soviet troops remain locked in their defensive positions.
Russian Front - Center: Day 10 of 16 of the Battle of Vilnius, Lithuania.
Russian Front - Center: Day 10 of 27 of the Battle of Siauliai, Lithuania.
Russian Front - Center: Day 10 of 23 of the Battle of Belostock, Poland.
Russian Front - Center: Day 2 of 15 of the Battle of Lvov, Poland.
Russian Front - Center: Day 2 of 15 of the Battle of Stanislav, Poland.
Russian Front - Center: The Soviets capture Pinsk in northern Ukraine.
MTO - Hungary: US 15th Air Force bombs oil refineries at Budapest and Petfurdo.
MTO - Italy: Day 29 of 34 of the Battle of Ancona (north of Rome). Allied Air Forces provide air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 132 of 166 of the UK's Operation THURSDAY. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 127 of 147 of the Battle of Myitkyina. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - Burma: Day 105 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive. US 14th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,565 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 89 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
Day 23 of 48 of the Battle of Hengyang. US 14th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Dutch New Guinea: Day 13 of 61 of the Battle of Noemfoor. Although the island has been declared secured, bitter fighting from Japanese continues.
PTO - Japan: The Japanese government announces the conscription of females between the ages of 12 and 40 for war related work.
PTO - Mariana Islands: US 7th Air Force attacks targets on Tinian Island.
PTO - Mariana Islands: The destroyer USS WILLIAM C MILLER sinks the Japanese sub I-6 off Saipan.
PTO - Mariana Islands: US battleships join in on the pre-invasion bombardment of Guam while the transport USS DICKERSON delivers US Navy underwater demolition specialists to survey landing beaches on the island.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 49 of 83 of the Battle of Biak. There are still 3,000 Japanese soldiers on the island who won't give up.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 213 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 84 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 31 of 80 of the Battle of Lone Tree Hill.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 5 of 47 of the Battle of Driniumor River, a failed Japanese attack on US troops near Aitape.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 257 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1945 — , July 14
France: The French celebrate Bastille Day for the first time since 1940.
CBI: US 14th Air Force attacks several areas in China and French Indochina.
CBI - China: Day 2,930 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
The USS BLUEFISH sinks the Japanese sub I-351 in the South China Sea.
PTO - Borneo: Day 35 of 67 of the Battle of North Borneo. US 5th and 13th Air Forces provide air support.
PTO - Dutch East Indies: Day 14 of 21 of the 2nd Battle of Balikpapan.
PTO - Japan: The US 3rd Fleet shells Kamaishi, 275 miles north of Tokyo.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 565 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 449 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 267 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 212 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. The battle is said to over but hold-outs will continue fighting until the end of the war.
PTO - Philippines: Day 127 of 159 of the Battle of Mindanao Island. The battle is said to over but hold-outs will continue fighting until the end of the war.
PTO - Philippines: Day 119 of 135 of the Battle of the Visayas region. The battle is said to over but hold-outs will continue fighting for several weeks.
1949 — , July 14
USSR: The Soviet Union successfully detonates an atomic bomb.
Spotlight...
