Timeline Friday 6 October 1939

Events on Friday 6 October 1939 4

• 1939 German invasion of Poland Germany attacks Poland without a declaration of war German forces crossed into Poland on 1 September, and the invasion is usually taken as the start of the Second World War in Europe. Polish forces were overwhelmed by attacks from the west, north and south. The last Polish field units surrendered on 6 October.
• 1939 Invasion of Poland Start of WWII Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland, marking the beginning of the Second World War.
• 1939 First Battle of Changsha Chinese forces repel a Japanese offensive in Hunan Japanese troops advanced on Changsha, the capital of Hunan, and were forced back by the National Revolutionary Army. It was the first big Chinese defensive success after the fall of Wuhan. Chinese morale improved as a result.
• 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland The Red Army invades eastern Poland Under the secret terms of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Soviet forces entered eastern Poland on 17 September. Germany and the Soviet Union then divided the country between them. Hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers were taken prisoner.