istoryworld
Events relating to europe
Hungary, Romania and Slovakia sign the Tripartite Pact, joining the war on the German side
The de Havilland Mosquito, a multi-purpose wooden aeroplane widely used by the RAF in World War II, makes its first flight
Adolf Hitler orders preparations to be made for Operation Barbarossa, his planned invasion of the Soviet Union
German armies cross the border to invade Russia on a front from the Baltic to southern Poland
British aviator Amy Johnson is reported missing over the Thames estuary when flying on a mission for the Air Ministry
English composer Michael Tippett completes his oratorio A Child of our Time (not performed until 1944)
Henri Matisse, recovering from an operation, develops his technique of gouaches découpées (cut-out patches of painted paper)
Greek soprano Maria Callas sings her first Tosca, in the opera house in Athens
British author Rebecca West publishes an account of Yugoslavia, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon
Archibald Wavell's Allied divisions, after a rapid desert campaign, drive the Italians from the Libyan port of Tobruk
The Italian navy, defeated off Cape Matapan, ceases to be a significant factor in the Mediterranean
The Allies recover Ethiopia from the Italians and Haile Selassie returns to his throne in Addis Ababa
German troops invade and rapidly overrun Yugoslavia
German troops move on from Yugoslavia into Greece, driving a small British force from the mainland across the sea to Crete
Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy in the Nazi party, flies to Britain on a bizarre secret mission
A Gloster E.28/39 air frame becomes the first craft to fly with a Whittle jet engine
Germany's latest battleship, the Bismarck, is sunk in the Atlantic with the loss of nearly all her 2222 crew
With Iceland as an Allied base, convoys can now be escorted by warships for the entire Atlantic crossing
German forces evict the British from the island of Crete after a week-long battle
June 27 - the Communist Party of Yugoslavia appoints Tito to head a guerrilla force to resist the recent German invasion of the country
The systematic shooting of Russian Jews by German Einsatzgruppen is the first step in the development of the Holocaust
Less than four weeks after crossing the Russian border, a German army is within 200 miles of Moscow
Roosevelt and Churchill publish a joint Atlantic Charter, foreseeing a future free from 'Nazi tyranny'
The first of the Arctic convoys leaves Scapa Flow, in the north of Scotland, taking Hurricane fighters and raw materials to the Soviet Union
De Gaulle forms in London the French National Committee, a government in exile in London for the Free French
