What happened in 1940 January?

Answer 1

During the "sitzkrieg" (phony war) of 1939-1940, there was little military action despite declarations of war by the European Allies and Germany. The German plan for the invasion of Belgium and the Netherlands (Fall Gelb) was discovered by the Allies in January, bad weather delaying its implementation by 4 months (to May 1940) but not effectively changing it. German U-boats were continuing attacks against Allied shipping.

In January, 1940, Great Britain began food rationing and nationalized the meat industries.

There was Allied aid sent to Finland following a 1939 invasion (the Winter War) by Soviet Russia, which joined the Allies only after the German invasion of June 1941. The Finns surrounded and destroyed two Soviet divisions in the Battle of Raate Road at the beginning of January, before massive reinforcements gave the Soviets the upper hand by March, 1940.