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