Modern Era
Battles of Narvik (1940): The Fight for Norway's Iron Ore Port
The Royal Navy destroyed the German destroyer force and Allied troops retook Narvik on 28 May, but the Allies withdrew in early June and the town returned to German control.
Region
Europe
Modern Era
Battle of Taranto (1940): The Fleet Air Arm Strikes Italy's Navy
British victory; one Italian battleship was sunk for good and two others put out of action for months, for the loss of two aircraft.
Modern Era
Siege of Malta (1940–1942): The George Cross Island Under Fire
Malta held out; the convoys of 1942 and the Allied victory in North Africa lifted the siege, and the island was awarded the George Cross.
Modern Era
Katyn Massacre (1940): The Soviet Killing of Polish Officers
About 22,000 Polish officers, police and members of the elite were executed; the Soviet Union denied responsibility until 1990.
Modern Era
Fall of France (1940): Blitzkrieg Through the Ardennes
German victory; France signed an armistice on 22 June 1940, was partly occupied and came under the Vichy regime.
Modern Era
German Invasion of Norway (1940): Operation Weserübung
German victory; Denmark and Norway were occupied until May 1945, while Norway's king and government continued the war from London.
Modern Era
Auschwitz-Birkenau: History of the Largest Nazi Death Camp
About 1.1 million people, around 1 million of them Jews, were murdered; the camp was liberated by the Red Army on 27 January 1945.
Modern Era
The Blitz (1940–1941): German Bombing of British Cities
Around 43,000 British civilians were killed and over a million homes damaged, but Britain's war production and will to fight were not broken.
Modern Era
Dunkirk Evacuation (1940): Operation Dynamo and the Little Ships
About 338,000 Allied troops were evacuated to Britain, but the British Expeditionary Force lost almost all its heavy equipment.
Modern Era
Battle of Britain (1940): The RAF Against the Luftwaffe
British defensive victory; the Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority and the German invasion of Britain was postponed indefinitely.
Modern Era
Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942): The Battle for Crimea
German and Romanian victory; Sevastopol fell in early July 1942 after a long defence, and about 90,000–95,000 Soviet defenders were captured.
Modern Era
Battle of Kiev (1941): The Largest Encirclement of the War
German victory; the Soviet Southwestern Front was encircled and destroyed, Kyiv fell on 19 September and German forces claimed about 665,000 prisoners.