Editing 1939 (section)

===March===

{{main|March 1939}}
* [[March]] &ndash; The [[1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine]] ends.
* [[March 1]] &ndash; An [[Imperial Japanese Army]] ammunition dump explosion on the outskirts of [[Osaka]] kills 94.
* [[March 2]] &ndash; [[Pope Pius XII]] (Cardinal Pacelli) succeeds [[Pope Pius XI]] to become the 260th pope, holding office until 1958.
* [[March 3]] &ndash; In [[Durban]], South Africa the [[Timeless Test]] begins between England and South Africa, the longest game of cricket ever played. It is abandoned 12 days later, when the English team has to catch their ship home.
* [[March 13]] &ndash; [[Adolf Hitler]] advises [[Jozef Tiso]] to declare Slovakia's independence, in order to prevent its partition by Hungary and Poland.
* [[March 14]] &ndash; The [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovak]] provincial assembly proclaims independence; priest [[Jozef Tiso]] becomes president of the independent Slovak government.
* [[March 15]] &ndash; German troops occupy the remaining part of [[Bohemia]] and [[Moravia]]; [[Czechoslovakia]] ceases to exist. The Ruthenian region of Czechoslovakia declares independence as [[Carpatho-Ukraine]].
* [[March 16]]
** Hungary invades Carpatho-Ukraine; final resistance ends on [[March 18]].
** British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]] gives a speech in [[Birmingham]], stating that Britain will oppose any effort at world domination on the part of Germany.
* [[March 17]] &ndash; The nationalist governments of Spain and Portugal sign the [[Iberian Pact]] in Lisbon, pledging mutual defence of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] and [[Country neutrality (international relations)|neutrality]] in the event of a general European war.
* [[March 20]]
** [[1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania]], requiring return of the [[Klaipėda Region]] (Memel Territory) to Germany.
** At an emergency meeting in London to deal with the Romanian crisis, French Foreign Minister [[Georges Bonnet]] suggests to [[E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]] that the ideal state for saving Romania from a German attack is Poland.
* [[March 22]] &ndash; Following the [[1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania|March 20 ultimatum]], [[Nazi Germany]] is granted the [[Klaipėda Region]] (Memel Territory, ''Memelland'') by [[Lithuania]]; on the following day German forces occupy the territory.
* [[March 23]] &ndash; The [[Slovak–Hungarian War]] begins.
* [[March 26]] &ndash; [[Final offensive of the Spanish Civil War]] launched by the Nationalists.
* [[March 28]]
** [[General officer|General]] [[Francisco Franco]] assumes power in [[Madrid]], remaining in power until his death in [[1975]].
** American adventurer [[Richard Halliburton]] delivers a last message from a Chinese junk, before he disappears on a voyage across the Pacific Ocean. In 1945, some wreckage identified as a rudder, and believed to belong to the junk, washes ashore in [[San Diego]], [[California]].
* [[March 31]] &ndash; [[Neville Chamberlain]] gives a speech in the House of Commons, offering the British "guarantee" of the independence of Poland.