1871

German Empire (Second Reich) founded.

1889

Adolf Hitler born in Austria.

1907-14

Hitler’s Vienna and Munich years.

1914

World War I begins.

1918

World War I ends

1919

German (Weimar) Republic established.

Treaty of Versailles signed 

Hitler joins German Workers’ Party (later NSDAP, or Nazi Party).

1922

Mussolini seizes power in Italy.

1923

France occupies Germany’s Ruhr District after Ger­man default on reparations payments.

Hyperinflation in Germany wipes out savings of most middle-class families.

Failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich (November) leads to Hitler’s arrest and imprisonment

1924

Hitler writes Mein Kampf and is released from prison

1924-30

Relatively prosperous period in Germany.

1927

 Ban on Hitler’s speeches is lifted.

1928

NSDAP receives 2.6 percent of votes in elections for Reichstag.

1929

Stock-market crash on Wall Street marks onset of Great Depression.

1930

NSDAP receives 18.3 percent of votes in elections for Reichstag.

1931

Collapse of Creditanstalt Bank in Vienna plunges Germany into financial crisis and depression.

1932

Hitler runs second to Hindenburg in presidential election; NSDAP becomes largest German party with 37.4 percent of votes in Reichstag elections.

1933

Hitler becomes chancellor (January).

Reichstag fire and Enabling Act pave way for establishment of the Nazi dictatorship (February-March).

NSDAP declared only legal political party in Ger­many (July).

Secret German rearmament begins

1934

Blood purge” of Rohm and SA, as well as of other opponents (June).

Nazi coup in Austria fails (July

1935

Hindenburg dies; Hitler becomes Fuhrer (August).

 Saar district returns to Germany after plebiscite (January).

Germany begins open rearmament in violation of Versailles Treaty

Anglo-German agreement permits Germany to re­build navy.

Nuremberg Laws define Jews’ degraded status in Germany

1936

Rhineland remilitarized (March). Four Year Plan marks onset of economic planning for war.

Olympic Games in Berlin.

Civil war erupts in Spain, in which Germany aids Franco’s Nationalists (July).

Hitler and Mussolini announce “Rome-Berlin Axis” followed by the Anti-comintern Pact (Germany, Italy, and Japan).

1937

Hitler reveals plans for systematic conquests at secret meeting with military leaders

1938

Germany annexes Austria (March). Czechoslovak crisis and Munich conference lead to German annexation of Sudetenland (September).

Kristallnacht marks the beginning of violent persecution of German Jews (November).

1939

Germany occupies Bohemia-Moravia; Slovakia be­comes a German puppet state (March).

Franco triumphs in Spanish Civil War (March).

Hitler-Stalin pact (August).

Germany invades Poland, precipitating World War II (September).

1940

Germany conquers Denmark, Norway, Low Coun­tries, and France (March-June). Battle of Britain (June-September).

1941

Germany conquers Yugoslavia and Greece (April). Germany attacks Soviet Union (June). Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and Germany declares war on the United States (December).

1942

Mass extermination of European Jews begins.

Germany fails to take Suez Canal (March-November). Battle of Stalingrad marks turn of tide against Ger­man army in Soviet Union (September-November).

Allies invade North Africa (November).

1943

Allies begin massive air raids on German cities.

Allies invade Italy; Germans rescue Mussolini (July).

1944

Allies invade France (June).

Attempt on Hitler’s life fails; anti-Nazi conspirators are purged in July.

German counterattack on western front fails (December).

1945

Allied armies cross the Rhine and Soviet army be­sieges Berlin (March-April).

Hitler commits suicide (April). Third Reich collapses (May).

Surviving major Nazi leaders are tried at Nuremberg, and most of them are executed (November).