Timeline of events preceding World War II
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Contents |
[edit] 1932
[edit] January
January 7
- The Stimson Doctrine is proclaimed by United States Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson in response to Japan invading Manchuria.
January 28
- There is the beginning January 28 Incident between the Republic of China and Japan with fighting around Shanghai.
[edit] February
February 2
- The League of Nations recommends negociations the Republic of China and Japan.
February 4
- Japan occupies Harbin, China.
February 11
- Pope Pius XI meets Benito Mussolini in Vatican City.
February 25
- Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship.
[edit] March
March 18
- Peace negociations begin between China and Japan.
[edit] April
April 10
- Paul Von Hindenburg is elected President of Germany.
[edit] May
May 15
- Japanese troops leave Shanghai.
May 30
- German chancellor Heinrich Brüning resigns. President Hindenburg asks Franz von Papen to form a new government.
[edit] August
August 30
- Hermann Göring is elected as chairman of the German Senate.
[edit] November
November 21
- Paul Von Hindenburg begins talking to Adolf Hitler about forming a new government.
[edit] December
December 3
- Hindenburg names Kurt von Schleicher as the German Chancellor.
[edit] 1933
[edit] January
January 30
- Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul Von Hindenburg.
[edit] February
February 1
- Hitler gives his "Proclomation to the German People" in Berlin.
February 27
- Germany's parliament building the Reichstag is set on fire (see Reichstag Fire).
February 28
- The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed, nullifying several German civil liberties.
[edit] March
March 20
- Germany's first concentration camp, Dachau, is completed.
March 23
- The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
March 24
- Jews call for a boycott of German goods.
March 27
- Japan leaves the League of Nations.
[edit] April
April 1
- The recently elected Nazis start a one-day boycott of Jewish businesses.
April 26
- The Gestapo is established in Germany.
[edit] May
May 2
- Hitler outlaws trade unions.
May 10
- Nazis start massive public book burnings.
[edit] June
June 21
- All non-Nazi parties are banned in Germany.
[edit] July
July 14
- Forming new political parties is forbidden in Germany.
[edit] October
October 16
- Germany announces its intention to leave the League of Nations.
October 17
- Albert Einstein arrives in the United States of America as a refugee from Nazi Germany.
[edit] 1934
[edit] January
January 26
- Germany and Poland sign the 10 year German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact.
[edit] March
March 1
March 20
- All German police forces come under the command of Heinrich Himler.
[edit] June
June 30
- The Night of Long Knives occurs where Germany executes most members of the Sturmabteilung (SA).
[edit] July
July 25
- Austrian Nazis assasinate Engelbert Dollfuss during a failed coup attempt.
[edit] August
August 2
- Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of Germany, becoming head of as well as chancellor.
August 8
- The Wehrmacht swears a personal oath of loyalty to Hitler.
[edit] September
- The Soviet Union joins the League of Nations.
[edit] December
December 5
- There is the Abyssinia Crisis where Italian and Ethiopian troops exchange fire.
December 29
- Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty and the London Naval Treaty.
[edit] 1935
[edit] June
June 18
- The Anglo-German Naval Agreement is signed by Germany and the United Kingdom to limit the size of their navies.
[edit] October
October 2
- Italy invades Ethiopia beginning the Second Italo–Abyssinian War.
[edit] 1936
[edit] March
March 7
- In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany reoccupies the Rhineland.
[edit] May
May 5
- Italian forces occupy Addis Ababa in East Africa.
May 7
- Italy annexes Ethiopia.
[edit] July
July 18
- The Spanish Civil War begins when nationalist forces led by Francisco Franco rise against the current government.
[edit] October
October 25
- Rome-Berlin Axis is formed.
[edit] November
November 26
- The Anti-Comintern Pact is signed by Japan and Italy.
[edit] December
December 1
- Hitler makes it mandatory for all males between the ages 10-18 to join Hitler Youth.
[edit] 1937
[edit] July
July 7
- There is the Marco Polo Bridge Incident which most historians regard as the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
[edit] August
August 13
- The Battle of Shanghai begins between Japan and China.
[edit] September
September 1
- The Battle of Taiyuan begins between China and Japan.
[edit] November
November 9
- Japan wins the Battle of Taiyuan.
November 26
- The Battle of Shanghai ends in Japanese victory.
[edit] 1938
[edit] July
July 29
- The Soviet-Japanese Border Wars begins with the Battle of Lake Khasan.
[edit] August
- Soviet Union wins the Battle of Khasan against Japan.
[edit] September
September 30
- Munich Agreement is signed.
[edit] December
December 6
- The German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop visits Paris, where he was allegedly informed by the French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet that France now recognized all of Eastern Europe as Germany’s exclusive sphere of influence. Bonnet's alleged statement (Bonnet always denied making the remark) to Ribbentrop was to be a major factor in German policy in 1939
[edit] 1939
[edit] January
January 23
- The British government in the grip of the “Dutch War Scare”. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris of the Abwehr leaks misinformation to the effect that Germany planned to invade the Netherlands in February with the aim of using Dutch air-fields to launch a strategic bombing offensive against Britain. The “Dutch War Scare” leads to a major change in British policies towards Europe.
January 27
- Adolf Hitler orders Plan Z, a 5-year naval expansion programme intended to provide for a huge German fleet capable of crushing the Royal Navy by 1944. The Kriegsmarine given the first priority on the allotment of German economic resources. First and only time the Kriegsmarine given the first priority in the history of the Third Reich.
[edit] February
February 6
- In response to the "Dutch War Scare", the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain states in the House of Commons that any German attack on France would be automatically considered an attack on Britain.
[edit] March
March 14
- The pro-German Slovak Republic is created with Jozef Tiso as its first prime minister.
March 15
- The German Army invades Czechoslovakia. They take control of it.
- Germany establishes the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The protectorate includes those portions of Czechoslovakia not incorporated into Germany, Poland, Hungary, or the new Slovak Republic.
March 17
- Neville Chamberlain gives a speech in Birmingham stating Britain will oppose any German effort to dominate the world.
March 18
- The beginning of the “Romanian War Scare” when Virgil Tilea, the Romanian Minister in London spreads false rumours that Romania was under the verge of a German attack.
March 20
- German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop delivers an oral ultimatum to Lithuania demanding to return Klaipėda Region.
- At an emergency meeting in London to deal with the Romanian crisis, the French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet suggests to Lord Halifax that the ideal state for saving Romania from a German attack is Poland.
March 21
- Adolf Hitler demands return of the Free City of Danzig to Germany.
March 31
- The United Kingdom and France offer the "guarantee" of Polish independence.
[edit] April
April 1
- End of Spanish Civil War
April 3
- Adolf Hitler orders German military to start planning for Fall Weiss, the codename for the attack on Poland to be launched on August 25, 1939.
April 7
April 12
- Albania surrenders to Italy.
April 13
April 18
- The Soviet Union proposes a triple alliance with the United Kingdom and France. The British and French agree to take up the offer.
April 28
- In a speech before the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler renounces the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact
[edit] May
May 3
- Vyacheslav Molotov succeeds Maxim Litvinov as Soviet Foreign Commissar.
May 6
- Carl Friedrich Goerdeler tells the British government that the German and Soviet governments are secretly beginning a rapprochement with the aim of dividing Eastern Europe between them. Goerdeler also informs the British of German economic problems which he states were threatening the survival of the Nazi regime, and advises that if a firm stand is made for Poland, then Hitler would be deterred from war.
May 11
- Battle of Khalkhin Gol begins with Japan and Manchukuo against the Soviet Union and Mongolia.
May 17
May 22
- The Pact of Steel, known formally as the Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy, was an agreement between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany signed on May 22, 1939, by the foreign ministers of each country and witnessed by Count Galeazzo Ciano for Italy and Joachim von Ribbentrop for Germany.
[edit] June
June 14,
- Tientsin Incident, Japanese blockade the British concession in the North China Treaty Port of Tientsin.
[edit] July
July 10
- Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain reaffirms support for Poland and makes it clear that Britain did not view Free City of Danzig as being an internal German-Polish affair and would intervene on behalf of Poland if hostilities broke out between the two countries.
[edit] August
August 23
- Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, is signed between Nazi Germany and Soviet Union with secret provisions for the division of Eastern Europe - joint occupation of Poland and Soviet occupation of the Baltic States, Finland and Bessarabia. This protocol gave Hitler the green light for his invasion of Poland, which began on September 1.
August 25
- In response to a message from Benito Mussolini that Italy would not honor the Pact of Steel if Germany attacked Poland in 1939, Hitler delays the launch of Fall Weiss by five days to provide more time to secure British and French neutrality.
[edit] See also
- Timeline of World War II
- Events preceding World War II in Europe
- Events preceding World War II in Asia
[edit] External links
- French Yellow Book
- Nazi-Soviet relations 1939-1941 Nazi-Soviet relations 1939-1941 (complete)
- British War Bluebook
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