<< 1937 World War II Timeline 1939 >>
15 January -
China: The
Japanese air force begins regular bombing of
Chungking.
25 January -
Europe: The
Gestapo is given the authority to detain prisoners under "protective custody" without charging them with a crime.
28 January -
United States:
American President Franklin D. Roosevelt calls for the rearmament of his nation.
4 February -
Europe:
Chief of the High Command of the German Army Werner von Fritsch is removed from his position by
Hitler on fabricated charges of
homosexuality. Hitler assumes direct personal control over the
Wehrmacht.
18 February -
Europe: In a protest of the policy of
appeasement,
British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden resigns.
20 February -
Europe:
Edward Wood,
Lord Halifax, is appointed to succeed Eden as Foreign Secretary.
2 March -
Czechoslovakia:
Neville Chamberlain,
Prime Minister of
Great Britain, openly rejects supporting
Czechoslovakia against
German aggression.
4 March -
Czechoslovakia: The Czech government states that it will respond in kind to any military attempt to breach her borders. In Germany, Hitler refuses Britain's offerings of territory in Africa in
an effort to appease the dictator.
12 March -
Europe: German troops enter
Austria; they face no opposition.
13 March -
Europe: Germany annexes
Austria in the "
Anschluss" (Union or connection), making the nation a province of the
Third Reich.
Adolf Hitler returns to his homeland, parading through welcoming
Vienna as a conqueor.
18 March -
Europe: The
Gestapo is granted powers to act in Austria.
24 March -
Europe:
Neville Chamberlain declares to
Parliament that Britain is not bound to aid
France in the event of war with
Germany.
25 March -
China: Chinese forces win the
Pyrrhic Battle of Taierchuang; 15,000 Chinese die in the fighting, compared to 16,000 Japanese.
10 April -
Europe: In a national referendum, 99% of
Austrians support unification with
Germany.
11 April -
Europe:
Bulgaria outlaws the
Nazi party in that country.
15 April -
Spain: Nationalist troops capture
Vinaroz, splitting the Loyalist forces in
Castile province.
16 April -
Europe:
Britain and
Italy sign a treaty of friendship, in which Britain recognizes Italy's control of
Ethiopia.
23 April -
Czechoslovakia: German citizens of the
Sudetenland, a
Czech province, demand their independence.
24 April -
Europe: German Jews are required to register their property with the government.
3 May -
Europe: The
Flossenbürg concentration camp opens in
Bavaria,
Germany, near the
Czech border. Hitler visits
Benito Mussolini in
Rome, but forgoes the traditional audience with the
Pope.
14 May -
China: The
League of Nations issues a condemnation of
Japan for her use of poison gas in the China
campaign.
17 May -
United States: The
United States Congress begins the process of rearmament, giving the authorization for the Navy to begin expansion.
19 May -
Czechoslovakia:
Britain and
France jointly reject Hitler's demands for
Czechoslovakia.
20 May -
Czechoslovakia:
Czechoslovakia mobilizes its armed forces in response to German aggression along the border.
24 May -
Europe: The German
Nuremberg Laws are extended into Austria, with the effect of having all Jew-authored and remotely anti-Nazi books removed from Austria libraries and bookstores.
30 May -
Japan: The Japanese government orders the arrest of some 1300 alleged
Communists.
Europe: Hitler publicly announces his aim to destroy Czechoslovakia.
7 June -
Europe: Germany signs non-aggression pacts with
Estonia and
Latvia.
25 June -
Europe: In Germany, an edict goes into effect permitting
Jewish doctors are to treat only Jewish patients.
28 June -
Europe: The
neutrality of
Switzerland is officially recognized by
Italy and
Germany.
2 July -
Europe: Nearly 40,000 Jews in Austria are taken into "protective custody".
5 July -
Europe: A conference begins at
Evian,
France to discuss the problem of Jewish refugees from Germany.
11 July -
Europe: The French
Prime Minister is given the authority to govern by decree in the event of war.
12 July -
Czechoslovakia:
France recommits herself to the independence of
Czechoslovakia.
15 July -
Europe: The Evian conference ends. The attitude of those nations present are summed up by the
Australian delegate, "since we have no racial problem, we are not desirous of importing one."
21 July -
Europe: The German government passes legislation to require
identity cards for Jews.
27 July -
Europe: Throughout Germany, streets with Jewish names are renamed in favor of more German-sounding titles.
30 July -
Europe: Germany begins to fortify her western border.
3 August -
Europe: The first
Italian anti-Semitic laws are enacted.
8 August -
Europe: The first
concentration camp in
Austria,
Mauthausen, begins operations.
11 August -
Europe:
Poland withdraws her delegation to the
League of Nations.
12 August -
Europe: Germany begins to mobilize her full military.
17 August -
Europe: The
Waffen-SS (Armed Protection Unit) is formed as a division of the
SS. Hitler intends it to be a combat unit that will fight in the coming war and police the following Nazi superstate.
18 August -
Europe: The German
Chief of Staff of the Army, General
Ludwig Beck, resigns as a protest of
Hitler's policies toward
Czechoslovakia.
1 September -
Czechoslovakia: Hitler issues a demand for Czechoslovakia to immediately
cede the
Sudetenland to
Germany.
7 September -
Czechoslovakia:
France mobilizes a portion of her army in response to Hitler's demands for Czech territory. The Sudetenland seperatists suspend talks with the Czech government.
15 September -
Czechoslovakia:
Neville Chamberlain meets
Adolf Hitler for the first time to discuss the Czechoslovakia crisis at Hitler's mountain retreat,
Berchtesgaden.
18 September -
Czechoslovakia: Members of the British and French
cabinets meet in
London to discuss a joint plan to
appease Hitler in relation to Czechoslovakia.
20 September -
Czechoslovakia: The Czech government accepts the Anglo-French appeasement plan after being informed that if they do not, Czechoslovakia can expect no aid if attacked by Hitler.
22 September -
Spain: The
International Brigades, groups of volunteers from around the world, withdraw from the
conflict in Spain.
Europe: Chamberlain and Hitler meet again at Berchtesgaden.
25 September -
Czechoslovakia: The government of France alters its position on the appeasement of Hitler, declaring that France will aid the Czechs if Germany invades.
27 September -
Europe: Jews are prohibited from
practicing law in Germany.
Britain mobilizes the
Home Fleet in response to the Czech crisis.
29 September -
Czechoslovakia: The
Munich Conference begins between
Germany,
Italy,
Britain, and
France to develop a solution to the problems over Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia is excluded from the conference.
30 September -
Czechoslovakia:
France,
Great Britain,
Germany, and
Italy sign the
Munich Pact. The
democracies capitulate totally, giving to Hitler
Austria and
Czechoslovakia in exchange for a promise to not make advances on Germany's neighbors;
Neville Chamberlain, the British
PM, declares, "
I believe it is peace in our time".
1 October -
Czechoslovakia: German forces begin a takeover of the
Sudetenland, a
Czech province containing several important
munitions plants.
2 October -
Czechoslovakia: Troops from
Poland occupy the Czech province of
Teschen, as per the
Munich Pact.
5 October -
Czechoslovakia:
Winston Churchill describes the
Munich Pact as a "disaster of the first magnitude" and a "total and unmitigated defeat" in
a speech to the
House of Commons.
6 October -
Czechoslovakia:
Dr. Eduard Benes, the President of Czechoslovakia, resigns his position.
10 October -
China: Japanese troops again close in on the Chinese capital, this time located in
Wuhan.
15 November -
Europe: Jewish children are expelled from their schools throughout the
Reich.
21 October -
China:
Canton falls to the Japanese.
Nationalist China is now without a
seaport.
25 October -
China: The Japanese army captures
Wuhan, forcing the Chinese government to relocate to
Chongqing.
2 November -
Czechoslovakia:
Hungary annexes the southern territories of
Czechoslovakia as it was promised in the
Munich Pact.
7 November -
Europe: An officer of the German
embassy in
Paris,
Ernst vom Rath, is shot by
Herschel Grynszpan, a Jewish teenager whose family had been expelled from the Reich on 28 October.
9 November -
Europe:
Ernst vom Rath dies of his wounds. In retaliation,
Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass), a night of violence against Jewish-owned businesses and houses, is organized by the Nazis.
11 November -
Europe: Hitler orders
Hermann Goering to find a solution to the "
Jewish question", and frees him to use whatever resources are necessary.
12 November -
Europe: The German government orders the Jewish population of the
Reich to pay upwards of 1 billion
Reichsmark to pay for the damages inflicted during
Kristallnacht.
1
13 November -
Europe: German officials begin considering a plan to deport all Jews to
Madagascar.
14 November -
United States: President
Roosevelt withdraws the American ambassador to Germany in protest of Kristallnacht.
19 November -
Europe: The government of
France formally recognizes the
Italian Empire as a reward for that nation's signature on the
Munich Pact.
26 November -
Europe: The
USSR and
Poland renew their non-aggression pact.
6 December -
Europe:
France signs a non-aggression treaty with Hitler's government.
12 December -
Europe:
Neville Chamberlain announces that Britain has no obligation to help
France, should she find herself at war with
Italy.
23 December -
Spain: Nationalist forces begin a push to capture the region of
Catalonia.
24 December -
Peru: 24 nations of
North and
South America sign the
Declaration of Lima, a pledge of collective protection against foreign aggression.
31 December -
United States:
Washington, DC rejects
Tokyo's claim of the existence of a "
New Order" in
Asia.
1 : This seems pretty bizarre, even for Hitler. Did I miss something or is this right?
- SS by mawa, Waywatcher, and sauron
- http://www.thirdreichruins.com/flossenburg.htm
- http://www.euronet.nl/users/wilfried/ww2/tot-1939.htm
- http://www.humanitas-international.org/showcase/chronography/timebase/1938tbse.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