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Period: to
Nazi Germany
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina provoking World War I.
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Germany declares war on Russia and France. The United Kingdom declares war on Germany
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Germany is declared a republic.
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The Treaty of Versailles ends World War I and the Rhineland is placed under Allied occupation for 15 years.
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A national assembly meets in Weimar to write a new German Constitution. Weimar Republic established.
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Adolf Hitler becomes leader of National Socialist (Nazi) Party.
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"Beer Hall Putsch": Hitler’s failed coup d'état takes place in Munich. Afterwards Hitler flees, is arrested and spends about a year in prison during 1924-25.
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Germany is admitted to the League of Nations.
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The Wall Street crash, symbolic start of the Great Depression, finds the German economy already in decline, and leads to the withdrawal of American short-term loans.
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Hindenburg is reelected President by a small margin over Hitler.
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Rally of Victory
This rally was a celebration of the seizure of power. "Rally of Victory" was designed to celebrate the end of the unpopular, weak Weimar Germany and to further the propaganda victory for the NSDAP. From this year on, all Nuremberg Rallies would portray the Nazis as Germany, and vice-versa. -
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Fire partly destroys the Reichstag building. The government takes the occasion to step up persecution of the opposition parties.
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First concentration camp opened at Oranienburg outside Berlin.
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Enabling Act
Following the passage of the Reichstag Fire Decree & establishing a single-party government, Hitler & the Nazis used the controversy to force President Hindenburg and the Weimar Parliament to pass the Enabling Act, which effectively ended democracy in Germany. It gave power to the government to rule without consulting the Parliament (Reichstag) or the President (Hindenburg). -
Enabling Act gives Hitler dictatorial power.
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Nazis open Dachau concentration camp.
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Increase in Size of German Army
Defying the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler announces that the German Army will be increased from 100,000 to 600,000. -
Night of the Long Knives: Hitler uses the SS to assassinate the leaders of the SA, representing the radical wing of the Nazi party, who had come to seem a threat to his plans.
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Adolf Hitler declared himself der Fuhrer. The Nazi German government is called the Third Reich.
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Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.
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Saar Plebiscite
In a plebiscite on its long-term place in relation to other countries, over 90% of the residents of the Saarland voted in favour of returning to Germany. This was an immense propaganda coup for Hitler, as it showed there was some legitimacy to his exapnsionist policies & demands. -
Hitler introduces Military Conscription
In response to the fact that the other major powers had not disarmed, Hitler introduced a two-year period of military conscription. He claimed that he was merely defending Germany and rightfully protecting her from countries surrounding it. He also declared that he would create a new airforce (Luftwaffe) and greatly expand and upgrade the Naval Fleet (including submarines) -
The Nuremberg Laws deprive Jews of citizenship rights
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German troops march into the demilitarized Rhineland.
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Berlin Olympics
Beginning on the 1st of August 1936, the 11th Olympic Games were held in Berlin. The now synonymous Olympic Flame was one of Nazi Germany's lasting contributions to the Olympic Games. The Games themselves saw Germany emerge as the victorious nation, winning more medals than any other nation competing. Anti-Semitism was suppressed and down-played during the games, with Goebbels keeping a firm control of all press releases and commentary, especially regarding the African-American athletes. -
Anschluss
The annexation (takeover) of Austria by German forces had been in progress since the mid-1930's. The pressure applied by the Austrian National Socialist Party (Austrian Nazi Party) had fuelled calls both in Germany & Austria for a combined German Reich of German-speaking peoples. With the help of Austrian Nazis, Hitler was able to force the Austrian Chancellor, Schuschnigg, to accept Nazis in powerful positions in Vienna. Following an ultimatum by Hitler on 11th March, Hitler annexed Austria. -
German troops occupy the Sudetenland; Czech government resigns.
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Kristallnacht
The 'Night of the Broken Glass' became synonymous with the ever-increasing demonisation and targeting of Jewish people, their businesses and way of life. -
Germany occupies Czechoslovakia
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Nazis begin euthanasia on sick and disabled in Germany.
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Germany captures Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Luxembourg.
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Nazis invade France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister.
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German Blitz against Britain begins.
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Operation Barbarosa
When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. -
Germany attacks Soviet Union as Operation Barbarossa begins.
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Chelmo Was Established
Chelmo Was Established -
Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor; Hitler issues the Night and Fog decree.
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United States and Britain declare war on Japan.
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Hitler declares war on the United States.
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The Wannsee Conference
When the Nazis decided how to implement the Final Solution. -
Belzec Was Established
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Treblinka Was Established
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British Foreign Secretary Eden tells the British House of Commons of mass executions of Jews by Nazis; U.S. declares those crimes will be avenged.
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Germans surrender at Stalingrad in the first big defeat of Hitler's armies.
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Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Waffen-SS attacks Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto.
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Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto ends.
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Himmler orders the liquidation of all Jewish ghettos in Poland.
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Auschwitz was Opened
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Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin meet at Teheran.
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D-Day
The Invasion of Normandy was the invasion and establishment of Allied forces in Normandy, France, during Operation Overlord in 1944 during World War II. At the time it was the largest amphibious invasion to ever take place -
Assassination attempt by German Army officers against Hitler fails.
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Last use of gas chambers at Auschwitz.
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Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes begins.
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Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin meet at Yalta.
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German troops in Italy surrender.
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Unconditional surrender of all German forces to Allies.
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V-E (Victory in Europe) Day.
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June: Germany divided into four zones of military occupation (United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union)
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Allies divide up Germany and Berlin and take over the government.
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First atomic bomb dropped, on Hiroshima, Japan.
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Second atomic bomb dropped, on Nagasaki, Japan.
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Japanese agree to unconditional surrender.
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Japanese sign the surrender agreement; V-J (Victory over Japan) Day.
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The Allies approve a constitution for western Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) and East Germany adopts a Communist-prepared constitution.
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West Germany obtains independence and later joins NATO
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