World War II Timeline 1933 >>
1918
4 August -
Europe:
Adolf Hitler is awarded the German
Iron Cross, First Class.
13 October -
Europe: Hitler is temporarily blinded by a British
gas attack.
9 November -
Europe: The
Weimar Republic is proclaimed in Germany.
10 November -
Europe: Hitler is informed of Germany's decision to surrender while recovering in
hospital.
11 November -
Europe:
World War I ends at 5
AM with the signing of an
armistice. It goes into effect six hours later, at 11AM.
1919
28 June -
Europe: The
Treaty of Versailles is adopted. Notably, the
United States is one of the few nations that choose not to ratify the document.
31 June -
Europe: In Germany, the
Weimar Constitution is ratified.
11 August -
Europe: The Weimar Constitution becomes law.
12 September* -
Europe:
Gabriel d'Annunzio, an Italian poet, leads a troop of Italian volunteers into the city of
Fiume and declares the existence of an independent
Republic of Fiume.
1920
10 January -
Europe: The
Leauge of Nations is formed by 31 nations. The Treay of Versailles goes into effect. The treaty's overly-harsh treatment of Germany will prove to be one of the
catalysts for the rise of
Nazism.
24 February -
Europe: The
German Workers' Pary announces a change of name to the
National Socialist German Workers' Pary, the
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (
NSDAP).
3 December -
Fiume: d'Annunzio declares war on Italy, but is soon driven from Fiume when the Italian navy bombards the city.
1921
11 July -
Europe:
Adolf Hitler threatens to resign from the
Nazi Party unless he is made the authoritarian leader of the party.
29 July -
Europe: At a Nazi gathering, Hitler is introduced as "
der Führer" of the Nazis, the first time that title is used to address him.
5 October -
Europe: The
Ordnertruppe, the
paramilitary wing of the
Nazis, is renamed to the
Sturmabteilung, or
SA (Storm Troopers).
6 October -
Fiume: An elected government takes power in the city, ending its flirtation with statehood.
1922
17 August -
United States: The
United States,
Britain,
France,
Italy, and
Japan sign the
Washington Naval Treaty, voluntarily limiting the size of their respective naval forces.
1923
11 January -
Europe:
Germany falls behind on
war reparations, prompting
France and
Belgium to invade the
Ruhr valley.
9 November -
Europe: Hitler's attempt to overthrow the
Bavarian government, the
Beer Hall Putsch, fails miserably.
11 November -
Europe:
Adolf Hitler is arrested on charges of treason.
1924
26 February -
Europe: Hitler's trial for
treason commences.
1 April -
Europe: Hitler is sentenced to serve five years in
Landsberg prison. It is during this time that he begins work on
Mein Kampf.
20 December -
Europe: Hitler is released from prison after having served only nine months.
1925
27 February -
Europe: The
Nazis hold their first public meeting since the
Beer Hall Putsch. For his
anti-Semitic remarks, Hitler is banned from public speaking for two years.
18 July -
Europe:
Mein Kampf is published. Hitler had originally wanted it to be titled "
Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice".
1926
8 September -
Europe: The
League of Nations admits Germany to membership.
25 December -
Japan:
Taisho,
Emperor of Japan, dies.
Hirohito becomes the 124th emperor.
1927
10 March -
Europe: The ban on Hitler speaking publicly is revoked.
1928
4 June -
China: The Communist governor of
Manchuria,
General Chang, is assassinated by the Japanese.
10 October -
China:
Chiang Kai-Shek moves the Chinese capital to
Nanking.
10 November -
Japan:
Hirohito is formally installed as emperor in an elaborate
coronation at
Kyoto Imperial Palace.
1929
23 October -
United States: The
New York Stock Exchange begins to crash, marking the beginnings of a
worldwide economic depression.
1930
30 June -
Europe: The last French troops withdraw from the
Ruhr area.
16 July -
Europe: Chancellor
Brüning invokes
Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, opening the way for Hitler's rise to the
chancellory.
14 September -
Europe: The
Nazis take second place in the German parliamentary elections.
14 November -
Japan:
Hamaguchi Osachi, Prime Minister of Japan, is wounded in an assassination attempt.
1931
14 April -
Japan:
Hamaguchi Osachi dies of his wounds. With him goes the last real opposition to Japan's increasing militarism.
25 July -
China: The perpetrators of the
Manchurian Incident receive two heavy
howitzer cannons, which they will use to destroy the local
Chinese airfield.
18 September -
China: Japanese soldiers destroy a portion of the
Southern Manchurian Railway near
Liutiaohu.
19 September -
China: The Japanese
Kwantung Army captures the Chinese military
barracks in
Mukden (now
Shenyang) under the
ruse of self-protection.
21 September -
China: The Kwantung forces invade all of
Kirin province.
22 September -
China: The
League of Nations passes a resolution urging
China and
Japan to withdraw their troops.
28 September -
China: Thousands demonstrate in
Nanking, China, demanding that war be declared on Japan.
9 October -
China: The Japanese government responds to the
League of Nations with an absolute refusal to withdraw from
Manchuria.
24 October -
China: The
League of Nations moves, in a 13 to 1 vote, to require that Japan abandon her aggression in China.
13 December -
Japan: A new, more militant, Japanese
cabinet is installed. It immediately approves additional funding for the war effort in China.
1932
9 January -
Japan:
Korean nationalists attempt, unsuccessfully, to assassinate Emperor
Hirohito.
18 January -
China: Two Japanese
monks are assaulted in the streets of
Shanghai.
20 January -
Shanghai: The Japanese
consul demands that the mayor apologize for the assault on the two monks, as well as take steps to curb anti-Japanese sentiments in the city.
21 January -
Shanghai: Japan's military commander in the city threatens action if the consul's demands are not met.
28 January -
Shanghai: The government of Shanghai accedes to the Japanese demands.
29 January -
Shanghai: In spite of Shanghai's agreement to their demands, the Japanese military shells the Chinese section of the city into dust.
1 February -
China: A Japanese warship attacks
Nanking,
China.
5 February -
China: Japanese forces capture
Harbin,
Manchuria.
18 February -
China:
Manchuria is renamed
Manchukuo, and is declared to be an independent state.
29 February -
China:
Henry Pu Yi,
the last emperor of China, is named President of
Manchukuo.
3 March -
Shanghai: After capturing key portions of the city, the Japanese agree to a ceasefire.
5 May -
China: China and Japan sign an
armistice.
15 May -
Japan:
Inukai Tsuyohi,
Prime Minster of Japan, is assassinated in an attempted coup by the navy.
29 May -
Europe: The
Nazis take control of the
Prussian legislature after winning general elections there.
31 May -
Shanghai: Japan withdraws its troops.
10 April -
Europe:
Paul von Hindenburg is reelected to the German Presidency.
16 June -
Europe: Von Hindenburg revokes the ban on the two paramilitary groups of the
Nazi Party, the
SS and the
SA.
20 July -
Europe:
Martial law is declared in
Berlin in reaction to the political violence of the SA.
13 August -
Europe: The Nazis demand that Hitler be appointed
chacellor, or else they will not enter into the government.
30 August -
Europe:
Hermann Goring is elected to the presidency of the
Reichstag, the German
parliament.
19 October -
Europe:
Britain decides to allow its trade agreement with the
Soviet Union to lapse.
8 November -
United States:
Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected to his first of four terms as the
President of the United States.
17 November -
Europe:
Franz von Papen resigns from the German chancellorship.
7 December -
China: The
League of Nation censures Japan for its military action on the Chinese mainland.
12 December -
China: China reestablishes
diplomatic relations with the
Soviet Union.
* - Thanks to CatherineB for her contributions concerning Spanish history.
- http://www.euronet.nl/users/wilfried/ww2/tot-1939.htm
- http://www.humanitas-international.org/showcase/chronography/timebase/1932tbse.htm
- http://www.humanitas-international.org/showcase/chronography/timebase/1931tbse.htm
- http://www.humanitas-international.org/showcase/chronography/timebase/1923tbse.htm
- http://www.teachers.nl/_download/ eng_TIMELINES%20anne&.doc
- http://www.blountweb.com/blountcountymilitary/wars/ww2/timelines/up_to_1941.htm
- http://www.usd230.k12.ks.us/PICTT/timelines/prewar.html
- http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~ww2oh/Timeline.htm