British government declares India at war without consulting Indian representatives

The military uprising began in Spanish Morocco and spread to mainland Spain. Franco’s Army of Africa, including Moroccan troops recruited under colonial rule, became central to the Nationalist...

Japanese forces captured Nanjing after the city’s defense collapsed. For weeks, soldiers killed civilians and prisoners, committed mass sexual violence, and looted homes and institutions. Chinese...

The constitution of Ireland came into force, replacing the Free State framework and reducing the formal role of the British Crown. It followed a decade of political struggle to unwind provisions of...

Delegates from 32 countries met at Evian to discuss the growing refugee crisis after Nazi persecution and Germany’s annexation of Austria. Many expressed sympathy but refused to expand admission....

The British government announced a policy limiting Jewish immigration and land purchases in Palestine while promising eventual independence under conditions that Palestinian Arabs and Zionist...

Governor Félix Éboué and military commander Pierre Marchand declared Chad’s alignment with Charles de Gaulle’s Free French movement. Chad became its first African territorial base, and other French...

Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter, declaring that peoples should be able to choose their form of government and that sovereign rights should be restored. Churchill...

Japanese forces landed at Kota Bharu in British Malaya and at Pattani and Songkhla in Thailand, opening a rapid campaign down the peninsula. The invasion exposed the vulnerability of British...

After Japanese troops crossed from Malaya onto the island, British forces surrendered at the Ford Motor Factory. Singapore entered nearly four years of Japanese occupation, marked by scarcity,...

The All-India Congress Committee adopted the Quit India resolution in Bombay, calling for British withdrawal and mass nonviolent resistance. The colonial government immediately arrested Gandhi and...