istoryworld
All Events
Adolf Hitler uses threats of force to browbeat the Austrian chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, into granting special favours to Austrian Nazis
The Austrian chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, defies Hitler by announcing a referendum on his country's independence
The Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg resigns in the face of threats from Hitler, and broadcasts that he is doing so under duress
German tanks cross the border into Austria, on the official invitation of Austrian Nazis
Adolf Hitler, following his troops into Austria, announces the Anschluss (union of Germany and Austria)
The Sudeten German National Socialist Party demands secession from Czechoslovakia, in keeping with Hitler's plans for the Sudetenland
Left-wingers and Jews suffer immediate persecution in Nazi Austria, now part of Germany
Voters in both Germany and Austria give massive approval for Hitler's annexation of Austria
Neville Chamberlain makes the first of three flights to Germany, this time to negotiate with Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden
Neville Chamberlain and Édouard Daladier fly to Munich to discuss Hitler's designs on the Czech Sudetenland
Chamberlain and Daladier agree at Munich that Hitler may annexe the Czech Sudetenland, with its largely German population
Neville Chamberlain returns to Britain from Munich claiming to have achieved 'peace for our time... peace with honour'
Poland insists that the industrial area of Teschen Silesia, largely inhabited by Poles, be ceded by Czechoslovakia
The Sudetenland is transferred from Czechoslovakia to Germany, in accordance with the Munich agreement
Adolf Hitler makes unacceptable demands upon Poland, including the transfer of the free port of Danzig to Germany
Adolf Hitler demands a strip of territory through the Polish corridor to reunite Germany with East Prussia
Nazi gangs smash the premises of Jews throughout Germany and Austria in a night that becomes known as Kristallnacht, the night of cut glass
A Russian army invades Poland from the east, fulfilling the secret protocol of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
The new German technique of blitzkrieg ('lightning war') is demonstrated with devastating effect against Poland
On the very first day of the war a U-boat sinks a British liner, the Athenia, with the loss of 112 civilian lives
Two million Anderson air-raid shelters are distributed to British homes, to be constructed in the garden from corrugated steel panels
German physicists, led by Otto Hahn, announce their discovery of nuclear fission
W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood emigrate together to the USA, later becoming US citizens
James Joyce's Finnegans Wake is published after 17 years in the making
Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson move their studios to St Ives
