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Hitler Joins the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis) - Social
Because Adolf Hitler was so angered by Germany’s defeat in WWI, he joined the developing National Socialist German Workers Party, also known as the Nazi Party. This group promoted German nationalism and antisemitism because of the terms set in the Treaty of Versailles, which were extremely unjust to Germany. The Nazi Party is what drove Adolf Hitler to power. Without the ideas spread by the Nazi Party and the organizational power it had, Hitler would not have gained as much power as he did. -
Mussolini Forms the Fascist Party in Italy - Political
The Fascist Party led to many people supporting many unemployed war veterans. He organized these veterans into a group called The Black Shirts, who were used to terrorize political opponents.
The formation of the Fascist party led people to believe that Mussolini was the only man who could bring greatness back to Italy. Mussolini was also able to form a government and dismantle the institutions of democratic government. -
Treaty of Versailles is Signed - Political
Done at the Palace of Versailles in France, the signing of this treaty ended WWI, divided up Germany, and created the League of Nations to prevent another world war. It also made Germany pay for many war expenses. Even though the U.S., Britain and France tried to stop another world war, the Treaty ultimately caused another war. The treaty also crippled the German economy which lead to Hitler's rise with the Nazi Party. -
Washington Naval Conference - Political
This was a conference held in Washington D.C., between the world’s largest naval powers in order to discuss disarmament and ways to relieve the growing tensions in East Asia.This conference led to three major treaties: the Five-Power Treaty, the Four-Power treaty, and the Nine-Power treaty. In summary, these treaties had to do with naval ratios between countries, protection from conflict of one another, and the ensuring of countries’ power over certain territories. -
Mussolini Threatens to March on Rome - Political
At the time, Italy seemed to be slipping into political chaos. Mussolini marched on Rome in hopes to bring Fascists into Rome from all over Italy, and to ensure that the Fascist Party could take over the current government. This march marked the beginning of the Fascist rule and threatened the prior governments of socialists and liberals. It also lead people to thinking that Mussolini was the only man with the power to bring Italy back to greatness. -
Hitler Attempts to Overthrow the Weimar Government (Beer Hall Putsch) - Political
The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed takeover of the Weimar government, lead by Adolf Hitler in Munich, Germany. Hitler took hundreds of his followers to the Beer Hall, surrounded it, and declared a “national revolution.” After the attempt, Hitler was arrested. This increased his popularity, as his defense papers were printed in newspapers. It also helped Hitler realize that the Nazis must manipulate the political system in Weimar, Germany rather than taking it down through revolution. -
Hitler Goes to Prison and Writes Mein Kampf - Social
In his attempt to overthrow the government, Hitler was tried and put in Landsberg Prison, where he wrote Mein Kampf, or “My Struggle”. This autobiography made Hitler a major public figure. People learned about Hitler’s past, his future plans for Germany and his ideas for politics and race. The book put humans in categories based on race and physical appearance. Top = Germanic man, fair skin, blonde hair, blues eyes (Aryan). Hitler assigned the inferior race (Untermenschen) to Jews and the Slavs. -
Japan, Italy, and Germany Sign the Tripartite Pact - Political
This Pact ensured that if any of the nations associated with the Pact was attacked by any nation not already involved in the war, that the other countries in the Pact would provide mutual assistance to that nation. The Pact was aimed at the U.S., to force them to think twice about joining the war for the Allies. Japan accepted the leadership of Germany and Italy in the establishment in Europe, and Japan was also granted lordship over “Greater East Asia”. This Pact strengthened alliances in war. -
Hitler Militarizes the Rhineland - Economical
This event took place because when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, Germany was forced to pay stiff reparations, have its military reduced, and completely demilitarize the Rhineland. However, when Hitler and the Nazis seized full power over Germany, he promised vengeance against the Allied Nations. Hitler cancelled the military clauses of the treaty and began remilitarizing the Rhineland. This also helped Hitler to invade Poland later in 1939, leading to the beginning of World war II. -
Kellogg Briand Pact - Political
Signed in Paris, this Pact was an agreement to outlaw war between nations like the U.S., France, and the U.K. It is known as one of the many international efforts to help prevent another world war. This Pact focused on things such as disarmament, cooperation with the League of Nations, and the newly formed World Court. Some nations even initiated a movement to outlaw war completely. This was one of the many events with the reason of preventing any other world wars to happen after the first one. -
Japan Occupies Manchuria, China - Economical
The Japanese army invaded Manchuria, China with the purpose of gaining control over the province of Manchuria. Japan wanted to start there and eventually control all of East Asia. This is a major cause of World War II. -
Hitler Places Second in German National Elections for President - Political
Hitler ran against Paul Von Hindenburg in the national election for president in Germany. Because people were so afraid of Marxism, Hitler's slogan was “freedom and Bread.” Even though Hitler lost he gained a tremendous amount of supporters for himself and the Nazi party. This event is what helped Hitler gain popularity from the public and make himself well known. -
Geneva Disarmament Conference - Political
This was a gathering of 60 countries to discuss and consider reductions in armaments. Because Germany was angered by the fact that the Treaty of Versailles had already limited its army and navy, they demanded that other countries reduce their armaments to German level. This conference was a failure, however. A few days later, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany. The withdrawal of Germany from the conference led to Germany being rearmed. This then led to the scaling of militarism. -
Germany Withdraws from the League of Nations - Political
The cause of Germany’s withdrawal from the League of Nations was because of the refusal of Western powers to provide Germany with military equality. Germany’s departure of the League of Nations allowed for a massive military increase, undertaken in violation of international agreements set in the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. This also caused Germany to invade Poland, which is said to be the beginning of World War II. -
President Von Hindenburg Dies - Political
President Von Hindenburg died before the end of his term as president. Hitler was appointed as the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and the death of the President opened a door for him to take over and rule Germany with the Nazi Party. -
Hitler Merges Offices Chancellor & President - Political
After Hitler had became the Chancellor of Germany, the president died and the Brown Shirts started to turn against the Nazi Party. Hitler had Ernst Rohm, the leader of the Brown Shirts, executed without trial. This caused reactionary forces to want Hitler to consolidate his power by merging the two positions of President and Chancellor together. A plebiscite vote was held where Hitler had a 90% majority because of the fear of communism. -
Mussolini Invades Ethiopia - Economical
Mussolini incorporated what at the time was known as Abyssinia, but is now called Ethiopia, into his new Italian Empire. He also provided military support to Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Mussolini invaded Ethiopia because he adopted Hitler’s plans to expand German territories by gaining control over all territories he considered German. This boosted Italian prestige and helped Hitler carry out his plan of acquiring all territories he thought should be German. -
Hitler Signs Alliance with Mussolini - Political
This was an alliance signed by Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. The document was formulated by the Italian foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano. This alliance had military protocols for both of the countries that signed the agreement. This alliance later turned into the Pact of Steel. Eventually, Japan joined the Axis powers as well. Mussolini also ended Italy's alliance with Britain and France because Italy became a Fascist state. -
Japanese Invasion of China - Economical
This invasion was a clash between Chinese and Japanese troops. It was sparked from the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937 which escalated into a battle. The war was a result of a decades-long Japanese Imperialist policy to expand its influence both politically and militarily to ensure the protection of raw material reserves, food, and labor. This invasion became known as the Second Sino-Japanese War, which eventually led to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. -
Italy Withdraws from League of Nations - Political
Italy eventually withdrew from the League of Nations for two reasons. One was because Germany had left the League. The second is because the League had imposed economic sanctions on Italy. There were now two countries that had left the League. What this meant is that Italy no longer followed the League’s terms, which included things like disarmament, preventing war through selective security, settling disputes between countries through negotiation, diplomacy, and improving the global welfare. -
Hitler and Nazi Germany Gain Sudetenland - Political
When Adolf Hitler started to take back lands that were lost to the Treaty of Versailles, Neville Chamberlain, the prime minister of Britain, met with him three times to try to come to a peaceful agreement. In the Munich Agreement, Chamberlain ended up giving Hitler Sudetenland granted that he wouldn’t invade the rest of Czechoslovakia. -
Hitler and Nazi Germany Annex Austria - Political
Before Anschluss, Hitler pressured Kurt von Schuschnigg, the Austrian Chancellor, into resigning and telling the country not to resist the German advance. Germany annexed Austria with hardly any resistance. Not creating an alliance or a group with Austria was one of the properties of the Treaty of Versailles. In annexing Austria, Nazi Germany blatantly ignored the treaty. -
Great Depression Ends in Germany - Economical
Heinrich Bruning tried to fix the German economy by increasing taxes to cover the budget deficit instead of increasing government spending to boost the economy. His plans didn’t work and he was replaced by Adolf Hitler. The economy got worse and as the rate of discontent soared so did the support for the Nazi party. -
Hitler Occupies Czechoslovakia - Economical
Hitler signed the Munich Pact with Italy, Britain, and France which gave Germany the Sudetenland. This had a lot of Czechoslovakia’s coal and resources in it, as well. This made it very easy for Germany to march into Czechoslovakia and take it over, which went against the Munich Pact. This showed that Hitler wouldn’t honor his word and also enlarged the Reich when Hitler made Czechoslovakia a protectorate of Germany. -
Hitler and Stalin sign Non-Aggression Pact - Political
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a Nonaggression Pact saying that they wouldn't attack each other for the next 10 years. The pact included a secret part that said they would divide up Eastern Europe. Having a secret part to this pact goes against the Treaty of Versailles because it says that secret treaties are illegal. The pact ended when the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in June of 1941. It let the Soviet Union build up their army and let Germany invade Poland without fighting Russia. -
Germany Invades Poland - Economical
Adolf Hitler invaded Poland in hopes to gain it back because it was taken away after WWI in the Treaty of Versailles.
Poland was the beginning of Hitler's use of the “blitzkrieg” strategy. Using this strategy, he bombed early on to destroy the enemy's air capacity, railroads, communication lines, and munition dumps. This was followed by a heavy land assault with troops, tanks and lots of artillery. Great Britain bombed Germany three days later in response to this action. -
Britain and France Declare War on Nazi Germany`- Political
Because both Britain and France were allies of Poland, they declared war on Nazi Germany after Poland was taken over. Britain dropped 13 tons of anti-Nazi propaganda leaflets over Germany. The next day they started bombing Germany. This event marked the beginning of World War II. -
France Surrenders and is Occupied by Nazi Germany - Political
Marshal Henri Petain became the new Vice Premier of France to boost morale in the country because of the force of the Nazi invasion. Petain did the opposite by signing an armistice with Germany which allowed Germany to occupy most of France. The armistice was signed on June 22 and went into effect on June 25.
