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Period: to
The road to War
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The Wall Street Crash
Also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout.The crash began a 10-year economic slump that affected all the Western industrialized countries. -
The beginning of the Great Depression
The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s. It was the longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century -
Salt March
Mohandas Gandhi lead the non-violent Satyagraha movement in the Declaration of the Independence of India and the Salt March in March 1930. -
Japan attack Manchuria
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria by the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan, beginning on September 19, 1931, immediately followed the Mukden Incident. The Japanese occupation of Manchuria lasted until the end of World War II. -
Franklin Roosevelt elected President of the United States.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945) was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war. The only American president elected to more than two terms, he forged a durable coalition that realigned American politics for decades -
Hitler becomes Chancellor
On the night of January 30, 1933, the Nazis organized a massive torchlight parade in Berlin to celebrate the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor of Germany. Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring greet the participants in the parade as they pass beneath the window of Hitler's new office. -
The German Reichstag burns.
The Reichstag building, seat of the German government, burns after being set on fire by Nazis. This enabled Adolf Hitler to seize power under the pretext of protecting the nation from threats to its security. -
Enabling Act gives Hitler dictatorial power.
On March 23, 1933, the newly elected members of the German Parliament (the Reichstag) met in the Kroll Opera House in Berlin to consider passing Hitler's Enabling Act. It was officially called the 'Law for Removing the Distress of the People and the Reich.' If passed, it would effectively mean the end of democracy in Germany and establish the legal dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. -
Germany quits the League of Nations
The Nazi regime’s first measure in foreign policy was to pull out of the League of Nations on October 14, 1933. This step, meant to release Germany from international controls over its rearmament, marked a departure from the Weimar policy. As a result, Germany could no longer claim that it was pursuing the conciliatory policy that it had adopted in the 1920s. The idea of German disarmament gradually receded. -
The Nazi "Night of the Long Knives."
The Night of the Long Knives or "Operation Hummingbird", or, more commonly used in Germany "Röhm-Putsch" was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political executions. Most of those killed were members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary Brownshirts. -
German President Hindenburg dies.
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg , known universally as Paul von Hindenburg (2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal, statesman, and politician, and served as the second President of Germany from 1925 to 1934. -
Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany.
By the summer of 1934, the elderly German President, Paul von Hindenburg, lay close to death at his country estate in East Prussia. He had been in failing health for several months, thus giving Adolf Hitler and the Nazis ample opportunity to make plans to capitalize on his demise.
Reich Chancellor Hitler planned to use President Hindenburg's death as an opportunity to seize total power in Germany by elevating himself to the position of Führer, or absolute leader, of the German nation. -
The Stresa Front
he Stresa Front was an agreement made in Stresa, a town on the banks of Lake Maggiore in Italy, between French foreign minister Pierre Laval, British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald, and Italian prime minister Benito Mussolini on April 14, 1935. Formally called the Final Declaration of the Stresa Conference, its aim was to reaffirm the Locarno Treaties and to declare that the independence of Austria "would continue to inspire their common policy". -
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement
was a bilateral agreement between the United Kingdom and German Reich regulating the size of the Kriegsmarine in relation to the Royal Navy. The A.G.N.A fixed a ratio where the total tonnage of the Kriegsmarine was to be 35% of the total tonnage of the Royal Navy on a permanent basis. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on July 12, 1935. The agreement was renounced by Adolf Hitler on April 28, 1939. -
Italy conquered Abyssinia
Mussolini had imperial ambitions in Abyssinia. Italy was already in possession of neighbouring Eritrea and Somalia. In December 1934 there was a clash between Italian and Abyssinian troops at Walwal, near the border between British and Italian Somaliland, in which Italian troops took possession of the disputed territory and in which 150 Abyssinians and 50 Italians were killed. When Italy demanded apologies and compensation from Abyssinia, Abyssinia appealed to the League. The League persuaded bo -
Hitler invade Rhineland
In a challenge to the Versailles Settlement, Hitler sent German troops into the demilitarised Rhineland. It was a gamble for Hitler and many of his advisers opposed it. German officers had orders to withdraw if they met French resistance, but there was none. -
Civil war erupts in Spain.
The Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) broke out with a military uprising in Morocco on July 17, triggered by events in Madrid. Within days, Spain was divided in two: a "Republican" or "Loyalist" Spain consisting of the Second Spanish Republic and a "Nationalist" Spain under the insurgent generals, and, eventually, under the leadership of General Francisco Franco. -
The conduct of appeasement
In 1937 Stanley Baldwin resigned as Prime Minister and Neville Chamberlain took over. Chamberlain pursued a policy of appeasement and rearmament. Chamberlain's reputation for appeasement rests in large measure on his negotiations with Hitler over Czechoslovakia in 1938. -
Franco declared head of Spanish State
Commonly known as Franco, was a Spanish military general and dictator, head of state of Spain from October 1936, and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November 1975. As head of state, Franco used the title Caudillo de España, por la gracia de Dios, meaning; Leader of Spain, by the grace of God. -
Roosevelt renounces the neutrality policy towards Japan.
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Italy leaves the League of Nations.
After the criticism Italy received for the war against Abyssinia and the involvement in the Spanish Civil War Mussolini decided to follow the example of Germany and leave the League of Nations . -
Schuschnigg's plebiscite
Schuschnigg complied and appointed Arthur Seyss-Inquart, a pro-Nazi lawyer, as interior minister. To forestall Hitler and to preserve Austria's independence, Schuschnigg scheduled a plebiscite on the issue for 13 March. Hitler demanded that the plebiscite be cancelled. -
Hitler's ultimatum
On 11 March, Hitler sent an ultimatum to Schuschnigg, demanding that he hand over all power to the Austrian National Socialists or face an invasion. The British Ambassador in Berlin registered a protest with the German Government against the use of coercion against Austria, but realizing that neither France nor the United Kingdom would support him, Schuschnigg resigned in favour of Seyss-Inquart, who appealed to German troops to restore order. -
The Anschluss
On 12 March the 8th Army of the German Wehrmacht crossed the Austrian border. They met no resistance and were greeted by cheering Austrians. This invasion was the first major test of the Wehrmacht 's machinery. Austria became the province of Ostmark, with Seyss-Inquart as appointed governor. -
The Munich Agreement
It was an agreement permitting Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without the presence of Czechoslovakia.The purpose of the conference was to discuss the future of the Sudetenland in the face of territorial demands made by Adolf Hitler. -
German troops occupy the Sudetenland
The Sudetenland was the portion of Czechoslovakia inhabited by over 3 million Sudeten Germans. Many of them became Nazis and strongly supported the acquisition of the Sudetenland by Hitler. -
Kristallnacht - The Night of Broken Glass.
A massive, coordinated attack on Jews throughout the German Reich on the night of November 9, 1938, into the next day, has come to be known as Kristallnacht or The Night of Broken Glass. -
Chamberlain's promise to Poland
In March 1939 Chamberlain assured the Poles that Britain would support them if their independence was threatened. In April, Hitler began to make demands on the free city of Danzig (now Gdansk). Britain's assurance to Poland became a formal treaty in August, but the Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax urged the Poles to negotiate with Hitler and pressed them to give up Danzig. -
Nazis and Soviets sign Pact.
Soviet Russia' Foreign Minister Molotov signs the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression Pact while German Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop and Soviet leader Josef Stalin look on, while standing under a portrait of Lenin – August 23, 1939. News of the Pact stunned the world and paved the way for the beginning of World War II with Hitler assured his troops would not have to fight a war on two fronts. -
Britain and Poland sign a Mutual Assistance Treaty
he Anglo-Polish military alliance refers to agreements reached between the United Kingdom and the Polish Second Republic for mutual assistance in case of military invasion by "a European Power". According to the secret protocol added to the treaty the phrase "a European Power" used in the Agreement was to be understood as Germany. It was signed in London on August 25, 1939. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on January 3, 1940. -
Invasion of Poland
The Invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II. The invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and ended 6 October 1939 with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland. -
Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany.
France and Britain issued an ultimatum to Germany demanding the immediate withdrawal of the German forces from Poland. When Hitler accused Britain of encouraging the Poles to pursue a policy of provocation, Britain, France, India, Australia, and New Zealand declared war on Germany.
