After a week of heavy fighting Canadian troops broke through the Drocourt-Quéant Line at Arras, France.

Britain, France, Austria and New Zealand declared war on Germany.

1939 U-30 sank the British liner Athenia as it sailed from Glascow to Montreal.

1940 The London Blitz started. The Luftwaffe directed its bombing offensive at London and other major populated centres.

Corporal Leo Clarke led an attack to clear the enemy at the Battle of Courcelette. A counterattack was repelled by his exceptional bravery. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for […]

The Americans gained control of the upper Great Lakes after they defeated the British at the Battle of Lake Erie.

Allied forces attacked along the Western Front, regaining almost all the ground lost to the Germans during the spring and summer offensive.

General James Wolfe led the British in an attack against the French, led by General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm at the Plains of Abraham. Both generals died from their wounds sustained […]

The first overseas expedition by Canadians began as several hundred boatmen departed Canada en-route to Egypt to take part in the Nile Expedition.

With unemployment at 3 million, the Nazi Party made its first electoral breakthrough in the Reichstag elections, winning 107 seats.

The Nuremberg Laws were passed which deprived Jews of full German citizenship.

Sir John Hamilton Gordon, 7th Earl of Aberdeen, was sworn in as Canada's 7th Governor-General.

The Newfoundland Regiment landed (September 19-20) at Sulva Bay, on the western side of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

William Lyon Mackenzie King was sworn in as Prime Minister for the second time.

The long process of loading men, animals and equipment into transport ships for overseas duty began at Quebec City.

The Hudson Strait Expedition began, which led the RCAF to explore the eastern Arctic and to establish radio stations.

The Munich Pact was signed in which Britain, France and Italy agreed to the transfer of Sudetenland (northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were primarily Sudeten Germans) […]

Hitler ordered the creation of an air force and the expansion of the army and navy.

More than 30,000 men of the Canadian Expeditionary Force departed en-route to Europe, the largest convoy ever to sail from Canada.

The Polish Army surrendered to the Germans. Germany and the Soviet Union gained full control of the country.

King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 which announced the new administrative structure for British North America as the Treaty of Paris went into effect, nullifying the government […]

Private James Richardson stood in full view of the enemy, playing his bagpipes as his company attacked Regina Trench, which inspired the men to capture their objective. He then helped […]

Round the Sky, Bad Arrow, Miserable Man, Iron Body and Little Bear were tried in Battleford, Saskatchewan for their involvement in the Frog Lake Massacre. They were all found guilty […]

British Major-General Sir Isaac Brock was killed at the Battle of Queenston Heights.

Germany left the League of Nations.

Canada's first all-female flying club, The Flying Seven, was established.

Troops from the 1st Canadian Division entered the village of Pecquencourt, France, and were greeted by 2,000 starving citizens.

The Americans defeated the British in the Battle of Cook's Mills, the penultimate engagement fought on Canadian soli during the War of 1812. The victory was short-lived, however, as the […]

Troopship Empress of Britain, already damaged by enemy fire, was torpedoed by U-32, while being towed by HMS Marauder and HMS Thames. She was the largest ship sunk by German U-boats during the Second […]

The collapse of the U.S. stock market in the Wall Street Crash signaled the start of the Great Depression.

Daily coast-to-coast flights are launched by Trans-Canada airlines.

Hitler and Mussolini signed the Berlin-Rome Axis an agreement formulated by Italy's foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano which formally linked the two fascist countries.

A proclamation announces the creation of the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint.

The Hamilton Foot Ball Club was formed.

The 1st vehicular tunnel to a foreign country was opened between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan.

Sergeant Colin Barron and Private James Robertson earn the Victorai Cross for actions in the Battle of Passchendaele.

RCN cruiser HMCS Rainbow arrives at Esquimalt, B.C. after becoming the first Canadian ship to sail around South America by the Strait of Magellan.

As chairman of the infant National Socialist Workers' (Nazi) Party, Hitler launched an unsuccessful armed coup in Munich.

The Armistice brings an end to the First World War. Nearly 620,000 Canadians served, more than 66,000 gave their lives and some 172,000 were wounded.

The Battle of Ancre, November 13 - 18, 1916, the final large British attack of the Battle of the Somme, results in a British victory.

A large-scale trench raid at night (November 16-17) by Canadian troops serves as a blueprint for how future raids should be conduced.

The U.S. Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles which officially ended World War I.

Convicted in Canada's first piracy trial, Edward Jordan was hanged in Halifax.

The Lucarno Pact was signed by Germany with Britain, France, Belgium, and Italy and which confirmed Germany's western borders with France and Belgium - as was established by the Treaty […]

The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was announced.

The Newfoundland Regiment was among the last to be evacuated (December 19-20) from Suvla Bay after the disastrous Battle of Gallipoli, Turkey.

The Royal Canadian Dragoons and the Royal Canadian Regiment were formed.

As Christmas approached, soldiers of the Canadian Corps suffered through a cold, wet winter in Flanders.

Britain's Constitutional Act created Upper and Lower Canada and set the stage for rebellion.

Germany dropped incendiary bombs on London, England.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was created.

French and Belgian troops began the occupation of the Ruhr following German failure to maintain reparation payments.

Japan withdrew from the Second London Naval Conference after its request that its fleet be granted parity with the fleets of Britaain and the U.S. was refused.

President Hindenburg appointed HItler as chancellor.

1941 The RAF raided oil-storage facilities in Rotterdam.

The Nazi Party secured 44% of the national vote.

Hitler adopted "Plan Sickle" for the invasion west, with the main thrust made through Ardennes (Belgium. Luxembourg, France).

Germany reoccupied the Rhineland.

German troops marched into Austria and Anschluss (political union) was proclaimed.

Hitler came second to Hindenburg in presidential elections, having gained 30% of the vote.

Mussolini was among those who formed the Fascist Fighting Corps.

Italy, Austria, and Hungary signed the Rome Pact.

The German Workers' Party, with a program drafted by Hitler, was renamed the Nazi Party.

Germany invaded Denmark, and Norway. Copenhagen was occupied within 12 hours.

Germany and Russia signed the Treaty of Rapallo which enabled the Germans to establish arms factories in Russia.

U.S., Britain and Japan signed the London Naval Treaty in which they agreed to restrict tonnages of warships.

In the Battle of Cut Knife, Chief Poundmaker's Cree warriors dealt Canadian troops their last defeat of the Northwest Rebellion.

Nearly 500 Germans were captured as Canadians attacked at Fresnoy, east of Vimy Ridge.

The Royal Canadian Navy was established.

The Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry helped prevent a German break-through in the Ypres Salient.

Maj.-Gen. Henry Procter and Tecumseh were forced to end a 10-day siege at Fort Meigs in Ohio.

1941 The British captured an Enigma cipher machine and codebooks after it boarded U-110 south of Iceland.

Germans launched the invasion of the Low Countries and France.

Queen Victoria asked her subjects to remain neutral in the U.S. Civil War.

1940 A German bombing raid caused massive damage in Rotterdam.

Canadian air force pilot training, in hiatus since 1918, resumed at Camp Borden, near Barrie, Ontario.

Canadians launched initial attacks at Festubert, France.

John Franklin departed England in search of the Northwest Passage.

Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Steel which created a military alliance.

S.S. Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver, but 352 Sikh, Muslim and Hindu refugees from India were turned away.

The first seven corvettes for the Newfoundland Escort Force arrived in St. John's.

Civilian barges, yachts, motorboats, fishing boats and ferries made possible the rescue (May 26 - June 4) of 340,000 mainly British soldiers being shelled on the beaches of Dunkirk, France.

The British retreated to Burlington Heights Ontario, abandoning Fort Erie on May 27th, 1813.

Operation Dynamo, which was the evacuation of British, French and Belgian troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. It was executed between May 26th and May 4th, 1940.

The Bismarck was hunted down and sunk on May 26th & 27th, 1941. This ended German warship operations in the Atlantic.

The Dionne quintuplets were born in Callander, Ontario on May 28th, 1934.

On May 31st the Boer War ended. Canada's contribution: $3 million and 7,368 troops.

June 3rd, 1940 was the last night of the evacuation from Dunkirk, bringing the total number of men rescued to 220,000 British and 120,000 French and Belgians.

On June 3rd, 1940, Germans launched a 300-bomber raid on Paris.

On June 22nd,1940, France signed an armistice with Germany. Did the same with Italy on June 24, 1940.

June 25th 1940  France signed an Armistice after its defeat by Germany. Germany had invaded France 6 weeks earlier.

On June 28th, 1919, Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles with the Allies, which officially ended World War I.

The Nazi Party won 230 of 609 seats in national elections, but Hitler refused to join a coalition.

Hitler merged the offices of president and chancellor to become Fuhrer and Supreme Commander.

The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was signed.

Germany and the USSR signed a Non-Aggression Pact.

The Kellog-Briand Pact was drawn up, which renounced war as a means of settling international disputes. It was eventually signed by nearly all of the world's nations.