1918 |
|
October |
Start of the ‘German Revolution’. |
9 November |
The German Kaiser, William II, abdicates. |
9 November |
Friedrich Ebert proclaims Germany a republic. |
11 November |
Germany’s defeat and the end of the First World War. |
1919 |
|
5 –12 January |
Spartacists, German communists, stage an uprising in Berlin. |
19 January |
First German democratic elections. |
11 August |
Weimar Republic constitution ratified. |
28 June |
Treaty of Versailles signed in the Hall of Mirrors. |
12 September |
Hitler attends a meeting of DAP, the German Workers’ Party. |
1920 |
|
24 February |
DAP becomes the Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party, or NSDAP. |
13 March |
The Kapp Putsch fails in Berlin. |
1921 |
|
29 July |
Hitler becomes leader of NSDAP. |
1923 |
|
11 January |
French and Belgian forces occupy the Ruhr. |
8 November |
The Munich Putsch, led by Hitler, fails. |
1924 |
|
1 April |
Hitler is sentenced to five years but serves less than nine months. |
1925 |
|
18 July |
First of two volumes of Hitler’s autobiography, Mein Kampf, is published. |
July |
French and Belgian forces withdraw from the Ruhr. |
1926 |
|
8 September |
Germany joins the League of Nations. |
1932 |
|
31 July |
Reichstag elections – the Nazis poll almost 40 per cent of the vote. |
1933 |
|
30 January |
Hitler appointed chancellor within a coalition government. |
27 February |
The Reichstag Fire. |
20 March |
Dachau, the first concentration camp, is opened. |
23 March |
Passing of the Enabling Act. |
26 April |
The Gestapo, the Nazi secret police, is formed. |
10 May |
25,000 ‘un-German’ books burnt across Germany. |
14 October |
Germany withdraws from the League of Nations. |
1934 |
|
30 June–1 July |
‘Night of the Long Knives’. |
2 August |
President Hindenburg dies. |
1935 |
|
13 January |
Saar plebiscite – 90.7 per cent vote to rejoin Germany. |
15 September |
Nuremberg Race Laws come into effect. |
1936 |
|
7 March |
German army enters the Rhineland. |
17 July |
Start of the Spanish Civil War. |
1 August |
Start of the Berlin Olympics. |
25 October |
Signing of the Rome-Berlin Axis. |
25 November |
Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact. |
1937 |
|
26 April |
The Luftwaffe bomb the Basque town of Guernica. |
6 November |
Italy joins Germany and Japan in the Anti-Comintern Pact. |
1938 |
|
4 February |
Hitler appoints himself commander-in-chief of the armed forces. |
12 March |
German army enters Austria and Anschluss is declared the following day. |
29 September |
Munich Agreement signed. |
1 October |
German army occupies the Sudetenland. |
9 November |
Kristallnacht or the ‘Night of Broken Glass’. |
1939 |
|
15 March |
German invasion of Czechoslovakia. |
22 May |
Germany and Italy sign the ‘Pact of Steel’. |
23 August |
Germany and Soviet Union sign the Non-Aggression Pact. |
1 September |
Germany invades Poland – start of Second World War. |
3 September |
Britain and France declare war on Germany. |
27 September |
Surrender of Warsaw. |
1940 |
|
9 April |
Germany invades Denmark and Norway. |
10 May |
Germany invades Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. |
15 May |
Holland surrenders to Germany. |
28 May |
Belgium surrenders to Germany. |
10 June |
Capitulation of Norway. |
22 June |
France signs armistice with Germany. |
13 August |
Battle of Britain begins. |
1941 |
|
30 March |
German Afrika Korps begin offensive in North Africa. |
6 April |
Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece. |
17 April |
Yugoslav army surrenders to Germany. |
22 June |
Operation Barbarossa – Germany invades Soviet Union |
11 December |
Germany declare war on US. |
1942 |
|
23 August |
Stalingrad offensive begins. |
October 23 |
Second Battle of El Alamein begins. |
1943 |
|
2 February |
German surrender at Stalingrad. |
13 May |
Axis forces in North Africa surrender. |
13 October |
Italy declares war on Germany. |
1944 |
|
6 June |
Operation Overlord – Allied invasion of Normandy. |
20 July |
Attempted assassination of Hitler. |
25 August |
Allies liberate Paris. |
3 September |
Allies liberate Brussels. |
23 October |
Soviets enter East Prussia. |
4 November |
Surrender of Axis forces in Greece. |
1945 |
|
27 January |
Soviets liberate Auschwitz. |
23 April |
Soviets enter Berlin. |
30 April |
Hitler commits suicide. |
7 May |
German unconditional surrender to the Allies and Soviet Union. |