CBI - China: Day 64 of 154 of the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria.
1936 — , November 20
Spain: Day 127 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
1937 — , November 20
Spain: Day 492 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 137 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 100 of 106 of the 2nd Battle of Shanghai.
1938 — , November 20
Spain: Day 857 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 502 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 40 of 81 of Japan's Operation GUANGDONG.
1939 — , November 20
CBI - China: Day 867 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 6 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
1940 — , November 20
ETO - UK: Day 76 of 258 of the Blitz.
Eastern Europe: Hungary joins the Tripartite Pact.
East Africa: Day 164 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,233 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 371 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
CBI - Thailand: Day 51 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1941 — , November 20
ETO - Norway: The exiled Norwegian Government in London officially backs Milorg, the largest resistance organization in Norway.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 152 of 164 of the Battle of Hanko. The Soviets will be forced off their leased naval base.
Russian Front: Day 152 of 167 of Germany's Operation BARBAROSSA.
Russian Front - North: Day 74 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 50 of 98 of the Battle of Moscow.
Russian Front - South: Day 22 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula. German troops take Rostov.
MTO - Libya: Day 225 of 256 of the Siege of Tobruk. The British garrison is ordered to break out and link up with XXX Corps. However, Rommel, now realizing this threat, sends his Afrika Korps to attack at Sidi Rezegh, Egypt.
East Africa: Day 529 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt.
CBI - China: Day 1,598 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Japan: The Japanese high command issue their attack orders against Pearl Harbor, although no action is to be taken until the results of the latest diplomatic negotiations are known.
1942 — , November 20
Russian Front - North: Day 439 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 2 of 59 of the Battle of Velikiye Luki, near Leningrad. This stalemate does help ease the siege a little, but mostly it keeps German troops from being sent to other fronts.
Russian Front - North: Day 200 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket, USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - South: Day 146 of 150 of Germany's CASE BLUE, the failed offensive to take the Caucasus oil fields.
Russian Front - South: Day 91 of 165 of the Battle of Stalingrad, bloodiest battle in human history.
Russian Front - South: Day 2 of 5 of the USSR's Operation URANUS.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 4 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. US 12th Air Force provides air support.
MTO - Libya: The British 8th Army captures Benghazi. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 1,963 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Alaska: Day 167 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. The US and Canada will defeat the Japanese invaders.
PTO - Malaya: Day 275 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island, a long guerrilla war ending in Japanese victory.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 2 of 66 of the Battle of Buna-Gona.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 106 of 187 of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
1943 — , November 20
Russian Front: To date, over five million Russian soldiers have been captured and taken prisoner.
Russian Front - North: Day 804 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 565 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket. USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - South: Day 89 of 122 of the Battle of the Lower Dnieper River, USSR. The Soviets achieve a breakthrough near Kremenchug and begin advancing toward Kirovograd.
MTO - Greece: 4,800 British prisoners are taken at Samos in the Aegean.
MTO - Italy: Jews in northern Italy are ordered sent to concentration camps.
MTO - Italy: The British 8th Army crosses the Sangro River for first time. US and Royal Air Forces provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,328 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 19 of 49 of the Battle of West Changde.
PTO - Gilbert Islands: Day 1 of 4 of the Battle of Tarawa. US Marines make a beach landing.
PTO - Gilbert Islands: Day 1 of 5 of the Battle of Makin. US Marines storm the beach.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 63 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 60 of 162 of the Battle of the Huon Peninsula.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 20 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands.
1944 — , November 20
ETO - France: Day 112 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 67 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO - France: French troops drive through the Belfort Gap to reach the Rhine.
ETO - Germany: Day 63 of 145 of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force B-17s hit the oil plant at Gelsenkirchen and the marshalling yard at Munster.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 67 of 223 of the Lapland War. Finland and Russia have joined forces to kick the Germans out of Finland's most northern province.
Russian Front - Center: Day 37 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 30 of 99 of the Siege of Memel, a border town of Lithuania and East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 68 of 72 of the Battle into East Prussia and northern Poland. With artillery audible in the distance, Hitler leaves his headquarters, Wolfschanze (Wolf's Lair), near Rastenburg and heads to Berlin. He will never return.
Russian Front - South: Day 23 of 108 of the Battle of Budapest, Hungary.
Russian Front - South: Day 68 of 72 of the Battle of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
MTO: US 15th Air Force B-24s and B-17s bomb strategic targets in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Austria.
MTO - Italy: US and Royal Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground units.
CBI - Burma: Day 234 of 302 of the Chinese Salween Offensive.
CBI - Burma: Day 7 of 31 of the Battle of Bhamo.
CBI - China: Day 2,694 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 218 of 259 of Japan's Operation ICHI-GO.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 329 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 213 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea.
PTO - Palau Islands: Day 67 of 74 of the Battle of Peleliu (Operation STALEMATE II).
PTO - Philippines: Day 32 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 32 of 73 of the Battle of Leyte.
PTO - Philippines: Day 10 of 41 of the Naval Battle of Ormoc Bay.
1945 — , November 20
Germany: The Nuremberg trials begin, with Goering, Ribbentrop, Hess, Keitel, Jodl, Raeder, Doenitz, Streicher and other top Nazis on trial for war crimes.
Spotlight...
20 Nov 45: The Nuremberg Trials begin
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals held by the Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany. The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, in 1945-46, at the Palace of Justice. The International Military Tribunal was given the task of trying 23 of the most important political and military leaders of the Third Reich.
The Tribunal is celebrated for establishing that "crimes against international law are committed by men, not by abstract entities, and only by punishing individuals who commit such crimes can the provisions of international law be enforced." It served as the model for the International Military Tribunal for the Far East which tried Japanese officials for crimes against peace and against humanity.
Critics of the Nuremberg trials argued that the charges against the defendants were only defined as "crimes" after they were committed and that therefore the trial was invalid as a form of victors' justice. With well over 40 million dead at the hands of the Nazis, however, to let the atrocities which had been committed go unpunished was simply out of the question.
Spotlight...
