-
June 1919 - Treaty of Versailles is signed
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty that was put upon Germany after the end of WW1. The treaty had put many punishing conditions on Germany and was one of the major reasons for Adolf Hitler seizing power in Germany. -
August 1919 - The Weimar Republic is established in Germany
The Weimar Republic was Germany's government from 1919 to 1933, the time period between after WW1 until the rise of the Nazi Germany. The republic was described by political and economic crises, violence, and drastic social changes in Germany. It was easily replaced by Hitler’s Nazi Party. -
January 1920 - The League of Nation is created
The League of Nations was an organization for international cooperation. It was established with the initiative of the victorious Allied powers at the end of WW1. It was the first international organization for peace but was weakened by the non participation of some of the major powers and the ineffective means of enforcing the decisions. It was formally disbanded on April 19, 1946. -
January 1923 - French occupation of the Ruhr
The Ruhr region bordered France and Belgium and was not to be occupied by French or German armies. In response to the lack of payment of reparations, France sent out their troops and invaded the Ruhr. The Ruhr was a region of Germany which contained resources such as factories. -
November 1923 - Beer Hall Putsch
Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party had been begun to become popular and they believed that they could create a new government in Germany. On November 9th, Hitler and his members attempted in an overthrow of the Weimer Republic but instead got them arrested and thrown in prison. Because of that Hitler became even more popular. -
April 1924 - The Dawes Plan is created
The idea behind the plan was to make it easier for Germany to pay reparations and had two key parts. Apart of the plan is the US loaned money to Germany which it would use to rebuild its economy, and help pay war reparations to Britain and France. In exchange France would remove its troops from the Ruhr. This plan eventually failed due to the Great Depression, and bankrupted Germany. -
June 1925 - Benito Mussolini becomes dictator of Italy
After Benito Mussolini became president and dictator in Italy he brought up first fascist dictatorship. Mussolini then terrorized the people and the king into letting him come into power. This had a great influence on Adolf Hitler. -
October 1925 - The Locarno Treaties are signed
The Locarno treaty is an agreement between Germany and the Allies, it states that the Allies would grant Germany time to recover and rebuild after WW1 and in return Germany had promised not to go to war again. this eventually failed because Germany sent in their troops once again. -
August 1928 - The Kellogg-Briand Pact is signed
This pact was signed by various countries who agreed to not use war as a means of settling their conflicts. It was signed by most countries involved in WW1 including France, Germany, Britain, and the United States. This proved to be ineffective after 11 years prior to signing, WW2 began because of Hitler betraying this pact. -
October 1929 - Beginning of the Great Depression
Because of the crash of the stock market in 1929 it began a worldwide depression and economic crisis, also known as the Great Depression. From this many people were unemployed and economies were in great trouble. Not everyone had a down fall from the Great Depression, Hitler and Mussolini thrived and had the opportunity to take power over Germany and Italy. -
September 1931 - Japan invaded Manchuria
Japan was also suffering from an economic crisis, as a fix they decided to invade Manchuria. Manchuria was a region in China that was high in iron and coal. this also proved how this was ineffective of the League of Nations. -
January 1933 - Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany
With Germany's chaotic political climate, German president Hindenburg decided to appoint Hitler as the next Chancellor in hopes he could help stabilize Germany once again. Now that Hitler had control he began rearming Germany's military and established Germany toward a more fascist dictatorship. His plan, supported by much of his followers, was to decrease with politics and make Germany a powerful, unified one-party state. -
October 1935 - Italy invaded Ethiopia
Benito Mussolini led the invasion of the Italian on Ethiopia in 1935. They invaded with the attempts to build and establish an Italian empire and gain their valuable resources. Ethiopians counterattacked but with very little success against the Italians newly modern weapons. This event also proved the failure of the League of Nations, nor did they try not to stop the invade by Italy but also did no try to help Ethiopia from the invade. -
March 1936 - Germany reoccupied the Rhineland
Hitler violates the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Pact by sending German military forces into the Rhineland. Once again the League of Nations did nothing to stop this and Hitler was able to continue his expansion. This event was one of the many where Adolf Hitler went against the Treaty of Versailles. -
October 1936 - Creation of the Rome-Berlin Axis
A temporary agreement was formed between Italy and Germany in 1936. Both countries were a fascist dictator, the agreement was signed in hopes for them to support each other. Hitler and Mussolini both had interests in expanding their territory. Later on Italy and Germany and their allies became known as Axis Powers. -
November 1936 - Creation of the Anti-Comintern Pact
Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Communist agreement stating that both countries would support each other and fight against communist countries. Later on Italy joined this agreement. The signing of the pact aimed to fight communist countries but more directly towards the Soviet Union. -
March 1938 - Germany’s anschluss with Austria
A political union was achieved by Adolf Hitler between Germany and Austria. According to the Treaty of Versailles Germany was forbidden from having any alliance with Austria, however Adolf believed they should unite. After Germany occupied Austria, there was little resistance from Austria and the allied nations. -
September 1938 - Signing of the Munich Agreement
Hitler and Mussolini entered an agreement with Britain and France which then allowed Hitler to occupy Czechoslovakia, known as the Sudetenland. This agreement also adverted the outbreak of war. After occupying Czechoslovakia conditions were put in place for Hitler, he was to stop annexing more territory. -
March 1939 - Germany occupied Czechoslovakia
After signing the Munich agreement Germany invaded and and occupied all of Czechoslovakia. Hitler had also tried to invade and occupy not just German-speaking Sudetenland. This violated the terms of the Munich Agreement and proved Hitler was lying. Britain did not respond after Hitler failed to follow the agreement -
August 1939 - Creation of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
With Hitler and the Soviet Union at war, Hitler was unable to occupy more of Europe. Hitler needed to create an agreement with the Soviets to agree upon not fighting each other. Hitler and Stalin both agreed and signed a non-aggression pact, Hitler would then later break the pact in 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union -
September 1, 1939 - Germany invaded Poland
Hitler wanted to occupy Poland in 1939 and now partnered up with the Soviet Union. Hitler promised to divide Poland between the two countries, soon after German troops invaded Poland. Germany invading Poland violated the terms of the Munich Agreement and proved that Hitler had failed. The invading of Poland marked the begging of WW2 -
September 3, 1939 - Britain declared war on Germany
In 1939 Britain declared war on Germany after Hitler had sent in his troops to invade Poland. Two days later France had also declared war on Germany. This event is what began the second World War.
