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The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, by Serb nationalists in June 1914 was the immediate spark that led to the First World War.
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By 1914, Germany and the United Sates were overtaking England economically and were the world's fastest growing economies.
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Bertha Pappenheim urged members of the League of Jewish Women (JFB), which she had founded, to join the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) which was a pacifist group founded in 1915 and led by Jane Addams.
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In 1917, Russia was unable to supply its soldiers in the field or feed its people at home. A strong desire for an end to Czarist misrule, for bread, and peace led to riots which in turn led to revolution.
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On November 21ST 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II boarded the imperial train for Holland. He signed the official act of abdication as King of Prussia and Emperor of Germany on November 28th with German troops still on foreign soil and the Weimar republic not yet a reality
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In June of 1919, the German government leaders reluctantly signed the Treaty of Versailles. Virtually all Germans considered this Treaty--imposed by the victorious English, French and Americans--to be unfair and humiliating.
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The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” was directed by Robert Wiene in 1919 and released worldwide in 1921.
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On November 8th, 1921, the Bavarian government held a meeting in a Munich beer hall. Adolf Hitler arrived with armed stormtroopers, jumped onto a table, fired two shots in the air and told the audience that the National Revolution had begun.
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The Dawes Plan negotiated international (mainly U.S.) loans to Germany, which introduced stability and a period of prosperity, and contributed to the end of hyper-inflation
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General Paul von Hindenburg became a hero during World War I when he and his second-in-command, General Erich Ludendorff, won dramatic victories on the Eastern Front. In the last two years of the war, Hindenburg and Ludendorff were the chief decision-makers in conducting the war.
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The League of Nations was created by the Paris Peace Conference in April, 1919. In 1924, Germany joined the League demonstrating its move out of economic depression and toward normal diplomatic status. Gustav Stresemann made the first speech by a German representative as Germany became a member of the League. s
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The last Weimar elections were held in March, 1933. Using violence to intimidate their opponents, the Nazis still only received 44 percent of the vote. With the support of nationalists and regional parties that agreed with most of the Nazis’ major ideas, however, Hitler commanded a secure legislative majority.
