TheSecondWar.pl

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1905

September

05
- The Treaty of PortsmouthOn 5 September 1905 Russia and Japan made peace at Portsmouth. Japan won a free hand in Korea, Port Arthur, a South Manchurian railway and half of Sakhalin.

1910

August

22
- The Japanese annexation of KoreaOn 22 August 1910 in Seoul, Prime Minister Yi Wan-yong and General Terauchi signed the annexation treaty. Proclaimed on 29 August, it ended the Korean Empire.

1917

March

12
- The February RevolutionOn 12 March 1917 the Petrograd garrison joined the strikers. Within days the monarchy fell, and power was shared by the Provisional Government and the Soviet.

1918

October

28
- The German Revolution beginsOn 28 October 1918 Germany became a parliamentary monarchy while its admirals readied the fleet for a last battle. A sailors' revolt set off a revolution.

November

13
- The Hungarian–Romanian War beginsOn 13 November 1918 Hungary signed an Allied military convention in Belgrade as Romanian patrols crossed the Carpathians. The fight for Transylvania began.

1919

January

18
- The Paris Peace Conference opensOn 18 January 1919, at the French Foreign Ministry on the Quai d'Orsay, President Poincaré opened the peace conference. The defeated and Russia were absent.

February

March

June

28
- Key eventThe Treaty of VersaillesOn 28 June 1919 Germany signed the peace in the Hall of Mirrors. It lost land and colonies, was disarmed, and Article 231 laid the blame for the war on it.

August

01
- The fall of the Hungarian Soviet RepublicOn 1 August 1919, as the Romanians advanced on Budapest, Béla Kun's government resigned and he fled to Austria. Social Democrat Gyula Peidl took power.

September

November

27
- The Treaty of NeuillyOn 27 November 1919 Bulgaria signed peace with the Entente at Neuilly. It lost Western Thrace and access to the Aegean, and its army was cut to 20,000.

1920

February

24
- The founding of the NSDAPOn 24 February 1920 in Munich's Hofbräuhaus Hitler read out the 25-point programme, and the DAP took the name National Socialist German Workers' Party.

March

13
- The Kapp PutschOn 13 March 1920 the Ehrhardt Brigade seized Berlin and Kapp declared himself chancellor. The army stood aside, but a general strike toppled him in four days.

June

04
- The Treaty of TrianonOn 4 June 1920 Hungary signed peace with the Entente at Versailles. It lost two thirds of the kingdom's lands and over three million Hungarians ended up abroad.

October

09
- Żeligowski's mutinyOn 9 October 1920 General Żeligowski's division, staging a mutiny on Piłsudski's orders, took Wilno. The dispute split Poland and Lithuania until 1938.

November

15
- The creation of the Free City of DanzigOn 15 November 1920 the Free City of Danzig was proclaimed under League of Nations protection. A German city with Polish rights in its port satisfied no one.

1921

April

24
- Elections in the Free State of FiumeOn 24 April 1921 Fiume elected a Constituent Assembly. Riccardo Zanella's autonomists, opponents of annexation, won, and the fascists burned the ballot boxes.

July

13
- The Russian famineOn 13 July 1921 Maxim Gorky appealed to the world to save starving Russia. The Volga famine, caused by drought and requisitions, killed an estimated 5 million.

August

29
- The US peace treaty with HungaryOn 29 August 1921 in Budapest the US made a separate peace with Hungary, taking its rights under the Treaty of Trianon but no responsibility for the borders.

October

05
- The founding of the SAOn 5 October 1921 the NSDAP's “gymnastics and sports section” took the name Sturmabteilung (SA). A squad guarding meetings grew into the brownshirt army.

1922

February

06
- The Washington Naval TreatyOn 6 February 1922 the US, Britain, Japan, France and Italy signed a naval treaty in Washington that limited their battleship fleets.

April

16
- The Treaty of RapalloOn 16 April 1922 Germany and Soviet Russia, outcasts of post-war Europe, established relations at Rapallo and waived all claims, alarming the West and Poland.

October

1923

January

11
- The occupation of the RuhrOn 11 January 1923 French and Belgian troops marched into the Ruhr to force Germany to pay reparations. Berlin responded with passive resistance.

July

24
- The Treaty of LausanneOn 24 July 1923 at Lausanne, Turkey made peace with the Allied powers and Greece. The treaty replaced Sèvres and recognised the new Turkish state's sovereignty.

August

31
- The Corfu incidentOn 31 August 1923 the Italian fleet shelled Corfu and landed troops. Mussolini avenged the killing of General Tellini and defied the League of Nations.

November

08
- Key eventThe Beer Hall PutschOn 8 November 1923 Hitler proclaimed a “national revolution” in the Bürgerbräukeller. Next day Bavarian police broke up the putschists' march.

1924

January

21
- The death of LeninOn 21 January 1924 Lenin died at Gorki near Moscow. His body was placed in a mausoleum, and a struggle for power began in the party, which Stalin won.

March

16
- Italy annexes FiumeOn 16 March 1924 King Victor Emmanuel III formally proclaimed Fiume's union with Italy in the city. Mussolini had forced Yugoslavia to partition the Free State.

April

06
- The Italian general election of 1924On 6 April 1924 Mussolini's list won about 65% of the vote and 374 of 535 seats. The election under the Acerbo Law was marred by violence and fraud.

August

16
- The adoption of the Dawes PlanOn 16 August 1924 the Dawes Plan was adopted in London. It put German reparations into instalments, gave Germany a loan and opened the way out of the Ruhr.

1925

January

20
- The Soviet–Japanese Basic ConventionOn 20 January 1925 in Beijing, Japan and the USSR established relations. Japan gave up northern Sakhalin for oil concessions; Moscow recognised Portsmouth.

May

12
- Hindenburg becomes presidentOn 12 May 1925 Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, elected in the run-off of 26 April, swore in the Reichstag to uphold a republican constitution he disdained.

July

18
- The publication of Mein KampfOn 18 July 1925 the first volume of Mein Kampf, written by Hitler in prison, appeared. In it he announced a war for living space and a fight against the Jews.

1926

January

September

08
- Germany joins the League of NationsOn 8 September 1926 the League of Nations Assembly admitted Germany with a permanent seat on the Council – the crowning of Stresemann’s Locarno policy.

1927

April

12
- The Shanghai massacreOn 12 April 1927 Chiang Kai-shek’s troops and Shanghai gangsters crushed the Communist workers’ militias, starting a purge that ended the alliance with the CCP.

May

20
- The Treaty of JeddahOn 20 May 1927 Britain recognised the full independence of Ibn Saud’s Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd. It took the name Saudi Arabia in 1932.

June

07
- The assassination of Pyotr VoykovOn 7 June 1927 at Warsaw station the White émigré Boris Koverda shot the Soviet envoy Pyotr Voykov, who shared responsibility for killing the imperial family.

1928

May

03
- The Jinan incidentOn 3 May 1928 Japanese troops clashed with Chiang Kai-shek's forces in Jinan. The Japanese took the city, and thousands of Chinese, mostly civilians, died.

August

02
- The Italo-Ethiopian treatyOn 2 August 1928 Italy and Ethiopia signed a 20-year treaty of friendship and arbitration in Addis Ababa. Seven years later Mussolini invaded Ethiopia.

October

01
- The first Five-Year PlanOn 1 October 1928 the first Five-Year Plan began. Stalin built heavy and arms industry at the expense of the countryside, and collectivisation led to famine.

November

06
- Hoover wins the presidential electionOn 6 November 1928 the Republican Herbert Hoover soundly beat Al Smith. A year later the Wall Street Crash began the Great Depression, which changed the world.

1929

March

28
- The end of the Jinan incidentOn 28 March 1929 Japan and the Nanjing government settled the Jinan affair. Japan left Shandong in May, and the question of the victims was shelved for good.

April

03
- Persia joins the Litvinov ProtocolOn 3 April 1929 Persia joined the Litvinov Protocol, renouncing war with the USSR – which in 1941, together with Britain, marched into its territory.

June

07
- The ratification of the Lateran TreatyOn 7 June 1929 Mussolini and Cardinal Gasparri exchanged ratifications of the Lateran Treaty in the Vatican. At noon the Vatican City State was born.

July

24
- The Kellogg–Briand Pact comes into forceOn 24 July 1929 Hoover announced at the White House that the Kellogg–Briand Pact was in force. It bound 46 states, while a railway dispute brewed in Manchuria.

1930

September

14
- Key eventThe Reichstag election of 1930On 14 September 1930 the NSDAP won 18.3 per cent and 107 seats. Hitler’s party leapt from the fringe to second place, and the republic lost its majority.

1931

September

18
- Key eventThe Mukden incidentOn 18 September 1931 Kwantung Army officers blew up a stretch of railway near Mukden, blamed the Chinese and that same night attacked the Chinese barracks.

1932

January

March

01
- The proclamation of ManchukuoOn 1 March 1932 the “independent” state of Manchukuo was proclaimed in Japanese-occupied Manchuria. At its head stood Puyi, the last emperor of China.

May

August

30
- Göring becomes President of the ReichstagOn 30 August 1932 the new Reichstag elected Hermann Göring its president. The NSDAP, the largest party, took the third office of state with Centre Party votes.

November

1933

January

01
- The defence of the Great Wall beginsOn the night of 1 January 1933 the Japanese provoked a shoot-out at Shanhaiguan. On 3 January they took the fortress at the Great Wall's eastern end.

February

March

April

01
- The boycott of Jewish businessesOn 1 April 1933 SA men took up posts outside Jewish shops across Germany. It was the Nazi state's first nationwide action against the Jews.

May

July

14
- The NSDAP becomes the only partyOn 14 July 1933 Hitler’s government passed a law declaring the NSDAP the only party in Germany. The same day it adopted a law on compulsory sterilisation.

August

25
- The Haavara AgreementIn August 1933 Zionists and the Reich Ministry of Economics concluded a transfer agreement that let Jews leaving for Palestine save part of their property.

September

12
- Szilard and the chain reactionOn 12 September 1933 in London the Hungarian physicist Leó Szilárd conceived the idea of a nuclear chain reaction, later the basis of work on the atomic bomb.

November

1934

February

09
- The Balkan PactOn 9 February 1934 in Athens Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania and Turkey guaranteed each other’s Balkan borders. Bulgaria and Albania stayed out of the Entente.

April

20
- Himmler takes over the political policeBy spring 1934 Himmler headed the political police of almost every German state except Prussia. He took over the Gestapo on 20 April, all police only in 1936.

May

05
- The extension of the Polish–Soviet non-aggression pactOn 5 May 1934 in Moscow Poland and the USSR extended their non-aggression pact to the end of 1945. Moscow also confirmed it did not dispute Polish Wilno.

July

20
- The SS independent of the SAOn 20 July 1934 Hitler rewarded the SS for the Night of the Long Knives by freeing it from the SA. It became an independent NSDAP body answerable only to him.

August

02
- Hitler becomes FührerPresident Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934. Under a law of 1 August Hitler took over his powers and became head of state as “Führer and Reich Chancellor”.
- The Wehrmacht's oath of loyalty to HitlerOn 2 August 1934, the day Hindenburg died, Reichswehr soldiers swore unconditional obedience not to the constitution but to Adolf Hitler in person.

October

December

1935

June

18
- The Anglo-German Naval AgreementOn 18 June 1935 Britain agreed that Germany's navy could reach 35 per cent of British tonnage, setting aside the naval limits of Versailles on its own.

August

31
- The Neutrality ActOn 31 August 1935 Roosevelt signed the first Neutrality Act. It banned arms sales to all belligerents, aggressors and victims alike.

October

03
- Key eventItaly attacks EthiopiaOn 3 October 1935 Mussolini's troops crossed into Ethiopia without a declaration of war. The League of Nations imposed sanctions but left out oil.

1936

January

20
- The death of George VKing George V died at Sandringham on 20 January 1936. He was succeeded by his eldest son, who reigned as Edward VIII for less than eleven months.

February

06
- The Winter Olympics in Garmisch-PartenkirchenOn 6 February 1936 Hitler opened the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Antisemitic signs came down and the regime showed the world a gentle face.

March

07
- Key eventThe remilitarisation of the RhinelandOn 7 March 1936 the Wehrmacht entered the demilitarised Rhineland, breaking the Versailles and Locarno treaties. France and Britain did not respond with force.

May

05
- The Italians take Addis AbabaOn 5 May 1936 Marshal Badoglio led his troops into Addis Ababa. Mussolini declared the war over, but Ethiopia never surrendered; resistance lasted until 1941.

June

03
- The death of Walther WeverOn 3 June 1936 General Walther Wever, the Luftwaffe’s first chief of staff and an advocate of long-range bombers, was killed in an air crash near Dresden.

August

01
- The Berlin OlympicsOn 1 August 1936 Hitler opened the Games of the XI Olympiad in Berlin. The regime staged a huge propaganda spectacle, and Jesse Owens won four gold medals.

October

November

December

1937

January

20
- Roosevelt's second termOn 20 January 1937 Roosevelt took the oath for a second term in the rain. It was the first inauguration held on that date, moved by the 20th Amendment.

April

26
- The bombing of GuernicaOn 26 April 1937 aircraft of the Condor Legion and the Italian air force bombed the Basque town of Guernica. Most researchers put the dead at 150–300.

May

28
- Neville Chamberlain becomes prime ministerOn 28 May 1937 Baldwin resigned and Neville Chamberlain became prime minister, determined to pacify Europe actively through concessions to Germany and Italy.

June

21
- The fall of Léon Blum's governmentOn 21 June 1937 Léon Blum resigned when the Senate refused him emergency financial powers. A year of Popular Front government in France was over.

August

08
- The Japanese take BeijingOn 8 August 1937 the Japanese made a ceremonial entry into Beijing, abandoned by the Chinese 29th Army on 28–29 July. The occupation lasted until 1945.

October

November

06
- Italy joins the Anti-Comintern PactOn 6 November 1937 in Rome, Ciano, Ribbentrop and Japan's ambassador signed Italy's accession to the pact, creating the Berlin–Rome–Tokyo triangle.

December

1938

January

26
- The Allison incidentOn 26 January 1938 a Japanese soldier in Nanjing slapped the US diplomat John M. Allison, who was investigating a rape. Japan apologised.

March

July

September

27
- Roosevelt's appeal to HitlerOn 27 September 1938, at the height of the Sudeten crisis, Roosevelt again urged Hitler to keep negotiating and proposed a conference of the nations concerned.

October

05
- The “J” stamp in passportsOn 5 October 1938 the Reich invalidated Jews’ passports. New ones bore a red J so Switzerland and other countries could easily turn refugees away.

November

07
- Grynszpan's attackOn 7 November 1938, at the German embassy in Paris, 17-year-old Herschel Grynszpan shot the diplomat Ernst vom Rath to avenge his family’s expulsion to Zbąszyń.