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Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending hostilities between powers during the First World War. Cruel terms of the treaty led to great economic and social punishment for the German people, and a decline in living conditions (History Learning Site, 2017).
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League of Nations
The League of Nations was formed, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It composed of international delegations, and its purpose was to resolve differences between countries without the use of wars and military conflicts (History.state.gov, 2016).
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Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the NSDAP party
Adolf Hitler claims leadership of the German NSDAP party, succeeding party founder Anton Drexler. This was Hitler’s first real foothold of power (Kershaw, 2008).
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Bolsheviks win Russian Civil War
The Bolsheviks, known otherwise as the communists, win the Russian civil war and establish a communist society in Russia. The Bolsheviks later formed the Soviet Union, who would have a large part to play in the coming war (Bbc.co.uk, 2017).
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Benito Mussolini is appointed Prime Minister of Italy
Benito Mussolini is appointed Prime Minister by then Italian King, Victor Emmanuel III. He implements his fascist ideals into the Italian society, making him popular with leaders such as Adolf Hitler (HISTORY.com, 2015).
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Adolf Hitler attempts to seize power of Germany
Hitler was imprisoned for his attempted coup of the German Weimar Republic government. While imprisoned, he wrote Mein Kampf, in which he blamed the Jews for much of Germany’s hardship. The popularity of Mein Kampf led to both Hitler and the Nazi party being extremely popular with the German people upon his early release in December, 1924 (Eyewitnesstohistory.com, 2005).
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The Great Depression begins in the US
The New York stock exchange crashes, marking the start of the great depression in the United States. It also affected other countries including Australia, Germany and Great Britain, causing mass unemployment and poverty (History.com, 2012).
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Imperial Japan invades Manchuria
The Imperial Japanese invade Manchuria with the intention of gaining territory to support their ever-growing population, as well as access to the vast natural resources present in Manchuria (HistoryLearningSite, 2015).
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Unemployment in Germany reaches 30%
Unemployment rates in Germany reach 30% due to the Great Depression. Adolf Hitler uses this as an opportunity to blame the Jewish population, and rallies support behind his party by promising to recover Germany’s economic strength (AlphaHistory, 2014).
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The Nazi party wins a majority in the Reichstag
The Nazi party win a majority of seats in the Reichstag in the German 1932 general elections, finally giving the party real power over the German people (Darlington, 2012).
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Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany
President Paul von Hindenburg names Adolf Hitler chancellor of Germany. Hitler immediately implements his economic strategies to restore the German economy by reducing unemployment and maximising production (History.com, 2014).
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German Rearmament
Germany announces that it will rearm itself, regardless of the conditions laid by the treaty of Versailles. This involves the development of the Luftwaffe and the expansion of the Wehrmacht to be greater than 100,000, regardless of what was agreed in the Treaty of Versailles (Trueman, 2015).
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Italy invades Abyssinia
Italy invades Abyssinia, today’s Ethiopia. The League of Nations votes for sanctions and embargoes against Italy due to the ferocity during their conquest of Abyssinia. This event drives Italy away from Britain and France, and closer to Nazi Germany (Nationalarchives.gov.uk, 2017).
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Germany remilitarises the Rhineland
Germany remilitarises the Rhineland, directly violating the Treaty of Versailles. The zone bordering France and Germany was demilitarised as part of the treaty due to its tactical importance in the German offensive on France during the First World War (Bbc.co.uk, 2017).
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Nazi Germany annexes Austria
Nazi Germany annexes Austria to reunite the German-speaking countries. Unlike most, the Austrian people welcomed German troops, and agreed to a formal Union between the two nations (Bbc.co.uk, 2017).
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Nazi Germany annexes Czechoslovakia
Nazi Germany annexed a great portion of Czechoslovakia. A large segment of the country was German-speaking, and welcomed the Nazi German forces (Historyplace.com, 2017).
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Italy and Germany form the Anti-Comintern pact
The so-called ‘Pact of Steel’, formed between Italy and Germany in May of 1939 formalised a military alliance between the two countries. The pact was later called the ‘Axis Alliance’, as it was the formal documentation of the alliance between the Axis Powers (Ushmm.org, 2017).
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Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact
Germany and the Soviet Union form the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, otherwise known as the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact. The pact decided that the two powers would not declare war on each other, and would divide Polish territory between the two nations during the annexation (Bbc.co.uk, 2017).
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Nazi Germany invades Poland
Nazi Germany invades Poland using their ‘Blitzkrieg’ military tactic developed by Heinz Guderian. Due to the effectiveness of the German forces, and the disarray on the part of the Polish, Warsaw was captured by September 27 (Darrington, 2012).
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Britain and France Declare war on Germany
Britain and France threaten Germany with the prospect of war, should they refuse to withdraw all forces from Poland immediately. Nazi Germany ignores the terms laid by the British and French, and the Second World War ensues (HistoryNet, 2017).
Picture: (Eyewitnesstohistory, 2017)
