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Third Reich

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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.

February

27
- The Reichstag fireOn 27 February 1933 the Reichstag chamber burned. Dutchman Marinus van der Lubbe was arrested, and the Nazis declared it the signal for a Communist uprising.
28
- The Reichstag Fire DecreeOn 28 February 1933 Hindenburg signed a decree suspending civil rights. It allowed people to be locked up without trial and underpinned Nazi terror until 1945.

March

April

May

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.

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.

November

24
- The persecution of “asocials”On 24 November 1933 Germany passed the Habitual Criminals Act. Indefinite detention, workhouses and castration struck beggars, vagrants and the poor.

1934

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.

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.

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.

1935

January

13
- The Saar plebisciteOn 13 January 1935 over 90 per cent of Saar voters chose a return to Germany. On 1 March the territory rejoined the Reich as Hitler's first acquisition.

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.

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.

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

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

October

13
- The German guarantee for BelgiumOn 13 October 1937 the Reich assured Belgium it would not violate its territory unless Belgium took up arms against Germany. In May 1940 it broke its word.

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.

July

06
- The Évian ConferenceOn 6 July 1938 delegates of 32 countries met at Évian-les-Bains to help refugees from the Reich. Nearly all expressed sympathy and declined to take in Jews.

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