The Belgians surrender to the German armies encircling them north and south

Some 340,000 British and French troops have by now been rescued from Dunkirk, but a million Allied soldiers are now prisoners of the Germans

The last Allied forces withdraw from Norway, leaving the country entirely in the hands of its German occupiers

Mussolini declares war on a France already on the verge of defeat

German and Italian planes begin a prolonged assault on the Mediterranean island of Malta

June 14 - a German army takes Paris and pushes on further south into the Rhone valley

Marshal Pétain, French hero from World War I, becomes France's prime minister

Marshal Pétain, as the new premier of France, immediately asks Germany for an armistice

Charles de Gaulle broadcasts to the French nation from London, declaring himself the leader of the Free French

Mussolini invades France in the last-minute hope of gaining some territory in the armistice settlement

Adolf Hitler attends the signing of the armistice with France, in the railway carriage used for the armistice after the German defeat in 1918

The armistice leaves France with the southern part of the country, with a new capital at Vichy

A delegation from France, defeated and partly occupied by Germany, signs in Rome an armistice with Mussolini's Italy

The British government gives recognition to Charles de Gaulle as official leader of the Free French

Increased German U-boat activity after the fall of France launches the crucial Battle of the Atlantic

Germany takes control of Romania, to secure the country's rich oil fields

Hitler orders preparations for the invasion of England, under the codename Operation Sea Lion

The Battle of Britain reaches its most intense phase, with 1500 German planes involved in a single day's assault

Churchill says of the Battle of Britain pilots that never has so much been owed by so many to so few

The first German night-time bombing raid on London signals the start of the Blitz on British cities

Germany, Italy and Japan form a Tripartite Pact as a military alliance

The US government provides 50 destroyers to boost the British escort of convoys in the Atlantic

After the summer's losses in the air, Hitler orders the effective cancellation of operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of Britain

Mussolini plans a new Roman empire, reaching like the first one round the entire Mediterranean

Moscow appoints Tito to head the Communist Party of Yugoslavia