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Adolf Hitler

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1919

September

12
- Key eventHitler at a German Workers' Party meetingOn 12 September 1919 Gefreiter Adolf Hitler, sent by Reichswehr propagandists, attended a meeting of Munich's tiny DAP. He soon joined it.

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.

1921

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.

1923

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

April

01
- Hitler sentencedOn 1 April 1924 a Munich court gave Hitler five years’ fortress confinement for the putsch, the minimum. Ludendorff was acquitted; Hitler was out by December.

1925

April

04
- The founding of the SSOn 4 April 1925 an eight-man guard for Hitler was formed in Munich. That autumn it became the Schutzstaffel (SS); under Himmler, an apparatus of terror.

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.

1929

August

31
- The Young PlanOn 31 August 1929 the Young Plan was adopted at The Hague. Reparations ran until 1988, and the Allies promised to leave the Rhineland by 30 June 1930.

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.

1932

April

10
- Hindenburg re-electedOn 10 April 1932 Paul von Hindenburg won the run-off with 53 per cent of the vote. Hitler took almost 37 per cent; the president owed his victory to the left.

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

21
- The Hindenburg–Hitler talksOn 21 November 1932 Hindenburg told Hitler to build a Reichstag majority. Hitler demanded a presidential chancellor's powers and was refused on 24 November.

1933

January

30
- Key eventHitler becomes chancellorOn 30 January 1933 Hindenburg made Hitler Reich Chancellor. Papen's conservatives believed they could “fence him in”. Within months he built a dictatorship.

March

23
- Key eventThe Enabling ActOn 23 March 1933 the Reichstag voted 444 to 94 to let Hitler’s government pass laws bypassing parliament and the constitution. Only the SPD opposed it.

May

01
- The Day of National LabourOn 1 May 1933 the Nazis turned the workers’ holiday into a state Day of National Labour. At Tempelhof Hitler addressed a crowd estimated at over a million.

June

21
- The banning of parties in GermanyIn June 1933 the SA began the Köpenick week of blood, the SPD was banned on 22 June, and by 5 July every other party had dissolved. Only the NSDAP remained.

October

19
- Germany leaves the League of NationsOn 19 October 1933 Berlin formally gave notice of leaving the League of Nations. Hitler had announced it on 14 October, also quitting disarmament talks.

1934

June

30
- Key eventThe Night of the Long KnivesOn 30 June 1934 Hitler had the SA leadership under Röhm murdered, along with old opponents such as Schleicher. At least 85–90 people were killed.

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.

1935

September

15
- Key eventThe Nuremberg LawsOn 15 September 1935 the Reichstag, meeting at the Nazi rally in Nuremberg, passed laws that stripped Jews of civil rights and banned their marriage to Germans.

1936

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.

October

18
- Göring in charge of the Four-Year PlanOn 18 October 1936 Hitler gave Göring power over the German economy. Within four years the army was to be ready for action and the economy fit for war.

December

01
- The Hitler Youth LawOn 1 December 1936 a law made the Hitler Youth the state organisation for all German youth. Compulsory service for boys and girls followed in 1939.

1937

November

05
- The secret meeting at the Reich ChancelleryOn 5 November 1937 Hitler set out to the Wehrmacht chiefs and Neurath a plan to win “living space” by force, starting with Austria and Czechoslovakia.

1938

March

13
- Key eventThe AnschlussOn 13 March 1938 Seyss-Inquart's government and Hitler in Linz proclaimed Austria's union with the Reich. The day before, German troops crossed unopposed.

September

1939

March

April

May

17
- The Scandinavian countries reject pacts with GermanyIn mid-May 1939 Sweden, Norway and Finland declined non-aggression pacts with the Reich, citing their neutrality. Only Denmark agreed.

August

September

01
- Hitler’s Reichstag speechOn 1 September 1939 Hitler told the Reichstag at the Kroll Opera House that since 5.45 Germany had been “returning fire”. He cast the war as self-defence.

October

November

08
- Elser’s assassination attemptOn 8 November 1939 a bomb built by the carpenter Georg Elser exploded in Munich’s Bürgerbräukeller. Hitler had left 13 minutes earlier. Eight people died.

December

31
- Goebbels’s New Year speechOn 31 December 1939 Joseph Goebbels gave the Third Reich’s version of 1939 on the radio. He passed over the pact with Stalin and warned that 1940 would be hard.

1940

January

16
- Hitler postpones the attack in the WestOn 16 January 1940 Hitler put off the attack in the West until spring, swayed by snow, frost and the plans lost at Mechelen. It was to be rebuilt anew.

February

17
- Key eventManstein presents his plan to HitlerOn 17 February 1940 Manstein, removed from planning, put his Ardennes idea to Hitler. On 24 February the OKH shifted the main thrust to Army Group A.

March

May

24
- The halt order before DunkirkOn 24 May 1940 Hitler approved halting the tanks before Dunkirk. By 26 May the Allies had strengthened their defence, and the Germans took Boulogne and Calais.

June

22
- Key eventThe Armistice of CompiègneOn 22 June 1940, in Foch’s carriage in the Forest of Compiègne, Huntziger and Keitel signed an armistice. Germany took three-fifths of France.

July

16
- Key eventDirective No. 16: Operation Sea LionOn 16 July 1940 Hitler issued Directive No. 16 on preparing a landing in England, Operation Sea Lion. It required the defeat of the RAF and a mined Channel.

September

17
- Hitler postpones Operation Sea LionOn 17 September 1940 Hitler postponed the landing in England indefinitely. The RAF was unbeaten and British bombers were wrecking barges in the Channel ports.

October

November

12
- Key eventMolotov in BerlinOn 12–14 November 1940 Molotov discussed dividing the world with Hitler and Ribbentrop in Berlin. He pressed on Finland, Bulgaria and the Straits, in vain.

December

1941

January

March

April

27
- Key eventThe Germans enter AthensOn 27 April 1941 the Germans entered Athens and raised their flag on the Acropolis. The Greek army had capitulated, but the King fought on from Crete.

May

June

August

December

1942

January

April

May

June

10
- Key eventThe destruction of LidiceOn 10 June 1942 the Germans shot 173 men of the Czech village of Lidice, sent the women to Ravensbrück and the children to Łódź, and razed the village.

July

23
- The Germans take RostovOn 23–24 July 1942 the Wehrmacht took Rostov-on-Don for a second time. That day Directive No. 45 ordered simultaneous drives on the Caucasus and Stalingrad.

September

October

November

December

22
- The retreat from the Caucasus beginsIn late December 1942 defeats at Stalingrad and on the Don threatened to cut off Army Group A. On 28 December Hitler agreed to a withdrawal from the Terek.

1943

January

February

16
- The liberation of KharkivOn 16 February 1943 Voronezh Front troops entered Kharkiv, abandoned by an SS corps against Hitler's orders. A month later the Germans retook the city.

March

April

07
- The Hitler–Mussolini meeting at KlessheimOn 7–10 April 1943 Hitler hosted a sick and dispirited Mussolini at Klessheim Palace near Salzburg. The Duce failed to press through a peace with the USSR.

July

1944

April

08
- Key eventThe Crimean offensive beginsOn 8 April 1944 the 4th Ukrainian Front attacked Crimea via Perekop and the Sivash. Simferopol fell on 13 April and the Germans fell back to Sevastopol.

May

09
- Key eventThe liberation of SevastopolOn 9 May 1944 the 4th Ukrainian Front took Sevastopol, two days after storming Sapun Ridge. The remnants of the German 17th Army fell back to the Chersonese.

July

August

07
- The trial of the 20 July plottersOn 7 August 1944 the first 20 July conspirators stood before Roland Freisler's People's Court. All eight were hanged at Plötzensee on 8 August.

September

22
- The surrender of BoulogneOn 22 September 1944 the Boulogne garrison surrendered to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Calais fell on 30 September; Dunkirk was besieged until May 1945.

October

21
- Key eventThe capture of AachenOn 21 October 1944, after three weeks of fighting and shelling, Colonel Gerhard Wilck surrendered Aachen – the first large German city taken by the Allies.

November

20
- Hitler leaves the Wolf's LairOn 20 November 1944 Hitler left his headquarters near Rastenburg for good. In Berlin he had throat surgery; he moved into the Führerbunker only in January 1945.

December

16
- Key eventThe Ardennes offensive beginsOn 16 December 1944 three German armies struck a thin American line in the Ardennes. Hitler aimed to retake Antwerp and split the Allies.

1945

January

19
- Hitler's order of 19 JanuaryAfter the loss of Warsaw, Hitler ordered commanders from division level upwards to report every intended retreat, attack or abandonment in advance.

March

April

May