-
Period: to
Europe 1933 - 1945
-
Hitler is appointed Chancellor
President Von Hindenburg appointed Hitler the Chancellor of Germany -
The Reichstag is set on fire
The German parliament was set on fire. Hitler accused the communists and purged them. -
Roosevelt is appointed president of the United States
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was named the 32nd president of the United States -
Dachau is completed
Germany ´s first concentration camp was created -
Hitler passes the Enabling Law
Hitler passed the Enabling Law, making him the dictator of Germany, as he then had the power to introduce future laws without the agreement of the Reichstag -
All non-Nazi parties are banned in Germany
Hitler banned all non-Nazi parties in Germany to ensure he had all the power -
Germany leaves the League of Nations
Germany walked out of the League of Nations after one year of membership -
German-Polish non-argession pact
Germany and Poland signed the 10 year German-Polish non-argession pact -
The Night of the Long Knives
Hitler had the SA leaders killed, as they were gaining too much power and may have tried a revolution against him. After this purge, the SS were created and reported directly to Hitler -
Soviet Union joins the League of Nations
After not letting the Soviet Union enter in the League of Nations when it was created, she finally became a member in September, 1934 -
Anglo-German Naval Agreement
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement was signed by Germany and Great Britain to limit the size of their navies. The German navy had to be the 35 per cent of the British navy -
Italy invades Abyssinia
Italy invaded Abyssinia with no opposition by the League of Nations, beginning the Second Italo-Abyssinian War -
Germany reoccupies the Rhineland
In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany reoccupied the Rhineland, although she wasn´t prepared to fight the Frenchmen if they called on arms -
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil war began when nationalist forces led by Francisco Franco rose against the current government, supported by Hitler -
Rome-Berlin Axis
Hitler and Mussolini signed a pact which made them allies against the Western powers -
Anti-Comintern Pact
After the Rome-Berlin Axis, the leaders of Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact (Comintern was the Soviet organisation whose job was to spread communism world-wide). One one level, the Anti-Comintern Pact was simply an agreement to work together against communism -
Hitler Youth
Hitler made it mandatory for all males between 10-18 to join the Hitler Youth -
Italy leaves the League of Nations
After Germany had withdrawn from the League, Mussolini decided to walk out too, as he was Germany´s closer ally -
Anschluss
Hitler went ahead with his plan to unifty all German-speaking people. So, he annexed Austria with the support of the Hitler Youth. -
Treaty of Munich
Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier and Mussolini met in Munich and agreed that Hitler should have the Sudetanland of Czechoslovakia. The Czechs were not represented at the meeting and realising that no country would come to their aid were forced to surrender the Sudetenland to Germany. Hitler assured those at the meeting that this was the extent of his ambitions for expansion. -
Sudetenland
After the Anschluss, Hitler continued his expansionist plan by invading the Sudetenland, a territory between Germany and Czechoslovakia. The inhabitants were German-speakers and then they were re-called Sudeten Germans -
Hitler invades Cechoslovakia
Despite the assurances given by Hitler in the Treaty of Munich, he marched into Czechoslovakia and occupied the country. -
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact which included secret clauses for the division of Eastern Europe. In return for allowing the Germans to conquer most of Poland, the USSR would be given control of the Baltic states and parts of Belarus, Ukraine and the remainder of Poland. -
Hitler invades Poland
Adolf Hitler invaded Poland causing the end of the British and French Appeasement. -
Britain and France declares war on Germany
Britain and France declared war on Germany. Neville Chamberlain broadcast the announcement that the country was at war. -
Phoney War
The months following Britain's declaration of war are referred to as the 'phoney war' because Britain saw no military action. It was from September 1939 to May 1940. -
Hitler invades Denmark and Norway
Hitler invaded and occupied Denmark and Norway (May 1940) to safeguard supply routes of Swedish ore and also to establish a Norwegian base from which to break the British naval blockade on Germany. -
Blitzkrieg
Hitler launched his blitzkrieg (lightning war) against Holland and Belgium. Rotterdam was bombed almost to extinction. Both countries were occupied. -
Chamberlain resigns
Neville Chamberlain resigned after pressure from Labour members for a more active prosecution of the war and Winston Churchill became the new head of the wartime coalition government. Chamberlain gave Churchill his unreserved support. Ernest Bevin was made minister of labour and recruited workers for the factories and stepped up coal production. Lord Beaverbrook, minister of Aircraft Production increased production of fighter aircraft. -
Dunkrirk (Operation Dynamo)
The British commander-in-chief, General Gort, had been forced to retreat to the coast at Dunkirk. The troops waited, under merciless fire, to be taken off the beaches. A call went out to all owners of sea-worthy vessels to travel to Dunkirk to take the troops off the beaches of Dunkirk. More than 338,000 men were rescued, among them some 140,000 French who would form the nucleus of the Free French army under a little known general, Charles de Gaulle. -
Italy enter war on side of Axis powers
Italy entered the war on the side of the Axis powers. Italy's motive for entering the war was the hope of rich pickings from the spoils of war. -
France signs armistice with Germany
The French, Marshall Petain, signed an armistice with Germany taking France, which had been devastated, out of the war and into German occupation. -
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain comprised four phases:
1. During July Hitler sent his Luftwaffe bombers to attack British ports. His aim was also to assess the speed and quality of response by the RAF. 2. During August the attacks on shipping continued but bombing raids were concentrated on RAF airfields. 3. The Blitz - From September 7th the city of London was heavily bombed. 4. Night Bombing - With the failure of daylight bombing raids Hitler began a series of night attacks defened by the RAF(October) -
Italy and Germany attack Yugoslavia
German and Italian troops attacked Yugoslavia, Greece and the island of Crete. German field Marshall Erwin Rommel led the axis powers back to North Africa. -
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler sent 3 million soldiers and 3,500 tanks into Russia. The Russians were taken by surprise as they had signed a treaty with Germany in 1939. Stalin immediately signed a mutual assistance treaty with Britain and launched an Eastern front battle that would claim 20 million casualties. The USA, which had been supplying arms to Britain under a 'Lend-Lease' agreement, offered similar aid to USSR. -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese, who were already waging war against the Chinese, attacked the US pacific fleet at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, as a preliminary to taking British, French and Dutch colonies in South East Asia. -
Britain and the US decare war on Japan
Britain and the United States declared war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. -
Battle of Midway
The USA defeated the Japanese navy at the Battle of Midway. Following this victory, the US navy was able to push the Japanese back. -
Battle of El Alamein
Montgomery attacked the German-Italian army in North Africa with a massive bombardment followed by an armoured attack. He then proceeded to chase the routed enemy some 1500 miles across the desert. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Russians won their first victory against Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad. -
Allies push into N. Africa
British and American forces under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower landed in the NW of Africa and assumed control of French Morocco and Algeria. They gradually closed in on the Germans. -
Axis surrender N. Africa
The British and American forces managed to defeat the Axis forces in North Africa. -
Allies take Sicily
The allied troops had won the island of Sicily. -
Italy surrenders
Mussolini had been thrown out of office and the new government of Italy surrendered to the British and the USA. They then agreed to join the allies. The Germans took control of the Italian army, freed Mussolini from imprisonment and set him up as head of a puppet government in Northern Italy. This blocked any further allied advance through Italy. -
Allies meet at Tehran
Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met to co-ordinate plans for a simultaneous squeeze on Germany. They also discussed post war settlements. Churchill mistrusted Stalin; Roosevelt anxious to show that the West would not stand against Russia, went along with Stalin's wishes for a second front in France and no diversions further east. Churchill was over-ruled and the fate of post-war Eastern Europe was thus decided. -
D-Day
The allies launched an attack on Germany's forces in Normandy, Western France. Thousands of transports carried an invasion army under the supreme command of general Eisenhower to the Normandy beaches. The Germans who had been fed false information about a landing near Calais, rushed troops to the area but were unable to prevent the allies from forming a solid bridgehead. For the allies it was essential to first capture a port. -
Paris liberated
The French capital of Paris was liberated from the Germans. -
Battle of the Bulge
Germany launched its final ofensive through the Ardennes region of Belgium. However, they were beaten back by the allies. -
Allies cross the Rhine
The Allies crossed the Rhine while Soviet forces were approaching Berlin from the East. -
Death of Roosevelt
President Roosevelt died. He was succeeded by President Truman -
Russians reach Berlin
The Russians reached Berlin shortly before the US forces. -
Mussolini captured and executed
Italian partisans captured Mussolini and executed him and his lover, Clara Petacci. -
Hitler commits suicide
The German leader, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bombproof shelter together with his mistress, Eva Braun, who he had, at the last minute, made his wife. -
Donitz offers unconditional surrender
Hitler's successor, Admiral Donitz, offerred an unconditional surrender to the allies. -
V.E. day
Victory in Europe was celebrated. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
The Japanese generals refused to surrender. The US dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. -
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
The US dropped an atomic bomb on the port of Nagasaki as the Japanese had not surrendered following Hiroshima. -
Japanese surrender
The Japanese unconditionally surrendered to the allies ending the second world war.
