-
1939 BCE
Occupation of Albania and Somalia
Albania and Somalia were occupied in 1939. -
1936 BCE
Conquest and annex of Abyssinia
Mussolini meant to create an Italian empire and he conquered and annexed Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1936. -
1936 BCE
The Rome-Berlin Axis
Due to international conflicts with France and Great Britain, Mussolini got closer to Hitler’s
Germany. The Rome-Berlin Axis was created on 1st November 1936. -
1934 BCE
The Night of the Long Knives
On the 30th June 1934, Hitler ordered to arrest Röhm and others. Several hundred people were killed.
This was called the Night of the Long Knives. Röhm
was shot the next day. When Hindenburg died, Hitler became Chancellor, President and Commander-in chief of the army. He was called Der Führer (the leader). Democracy was dead. -
1933 BCE
Hitler decided to call for another election
In January 1933 Hitler decided to call for another election (March 1933) hoping to make the Nazis stronger in the Reichstag (Parliament) -
1932 BCE
German elections 1932
The Depression hit Germany deeply. By 1932 conditions were serious in Germany. Over five million people were unemployed and the country was desperate for a strong government.
President Hindenburg called an election (April 1932) but did not get the majority. The new government still could not govern properly, and after the new elections (November 1932)
Hindenburg offered Hitler the post of Chancellor (head of government) -
1929 BCE
The Lateran Treaty
Mussolini signed the Lateran Treaty in 1929
with the Pope Pius XI: Italy acknowledged the independence of the Vatican as a
sovereign state. -
1926 BCE
Germany joined the League of Nations
Germany joined the League of Nations (1926) and became one of the permanent members of the Council.
Reparations would be reduced by one-quarter of the amount, and Germany was given 58 years to pay them. Stresemann won the Nobel Price for his efforts. He died in October 1929, just before the disaster of the Wall Street Crash. His plans would only work with some help from the USA.
So everything got worse ... and Hitler came back -
1924 BCE
Elections (1924)
Mussolini changed the election system and in the next elections
(1924) fascists got the power. He began
to change Italy into a dictatorship where
people had to
do as they were told. He got rid of the other political parties and became the head of the
state; the king had no real power any more. Mussolini was now called il Duce (=the leader) -
1923 BCE
Germany suffered a hyperinflation
In 1923 Germany suffered a hyperinflation. This happens
when production can ́t keep up with the amount of money
there is, so money keeps losing its value. As result of this,
prices could increase every day, middle classes lost their
savings and the German market became worthless. -
1923 BCE
Germany was starting to recover
In 1923 there was a new chancellor, called Stresemann, and Germany was starting to recover. The National Socialist German Worker ́s Party (Nazis), created by Adolf Hitler tried to take over Munich (Munich Putsh). They were defeated and Hitler went to prison for nine months.
Stredemann ́s efforts to improve the life of Germans were getting results. -
1919 BCE
The elections (1919 and 1921)
In the elections Mussolini didn't get many votes. -
1919 BCE
A republic was set up in Germany
After the Great War a republic was set up in February 1919 at. It was a democratic government. The Weimar republic had many problems:
Thousands of people were poor and starving. The society was divided, they did not accept losing the war and they thought that the conditions of the Peace Treaties were very unfair
for Germany.
In 1919, Communists tried to take over Berlin in the Spartacist Revolt, but they were defeated. -
A general strike in 1922 in Italy.
After the war in Italy there was a great political, social and economic crisis. The fascists led by Mussolini began to control many parts of Italy. When the Socialists called a general strike in 1922, Mussolini's men terrified and controlled the situation. -
March on Rome
On 27th and 28th
October 1922 Mussolini marched on Rome
with his 30,000 Blackshirts in order to
seize the power. King Victor Emmanuel III
was terrified so Mussolini was asked to
become Prime Minister. He changed the
election system. -
A fire broke out in the Reichstag
A fire broke out in the Reichstag (February, 1933)
building, and Hitler blamed the communists. He used emergency
decrees against terrorists, so communists were arrested and soon he declared the Communist party illegal. The
Enabling Bill let him govern for four years without a
Parliament and made all other parties illegal.
Hitler still had opposition. Ernst Röhm controlled the SA (over 400.000 men). -
The Pact of Steel
The Pact of Steel was
signed between Hitler and Mussolini on 22nd May 193
9. Japan also joined this pact to fight
against communism (Anti-Comintern Pact).
