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THE COLLAPSE OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE (1930S)
YEAR
DATE
EVENT
30th January 1933
1933
1934
Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
Hitler instructs the German general, von Fritsch to end German disarmament by ‘creating an army of the
February 1933
greatest possible strength’. This is his first step in reversing the Treaty of Versailles.
1.
The end of German democracy – Hitler becomes dictator after having the Reichstag pass the “Enabling
23rd March 1933
Law” that gives him the power to introduce future laws without the agreement of the parliament.
July 1933
Germany begins to produce tanks.
October 1933
Hitler withdraws Germany from the League of Nations and the Disarmament Conference.
Japan withdraws from the League of Nations after the Manchurian Crisis.
January 1934
Stalin, the Russian leader, proposes an alliance with Hitler. Hitler denies due to opposite political ideals.
Hitler signs a ten-year non-aggression pact with Poland. This convinces Britain of his peaceful intentions,
26th January 1934 it ruins the Little Entente (between Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia), which depends on Poland,
and it guarantees Polish neutrality whenever Germany should move against Austria and Czechoslovakia.
2.
The Night of the Long Knives – Hitler, newly appointed to power, feared the military body called the
Sturm Abteilung (SA) since it was not under his direct control. On the 29 th June, its leader Ernst Roehm
June 1934
was arrested and on the nights that followed, many of its other leading members were executed or
arrested. Hitler used this opportunity to place radical thinkers or weak, easily manipulated people in
charge of government bodies to assert a larger level of control.
Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss is assassinated by Austrian Nazis, causing instability in Austria. Kurt von
Schuschnigg, whose political campaign focused on an independent Austria, replaces Dollfuss. Hitler then
25th July 1934
tries to take advantage of the instability, but is prevented by Mussolini who sends Italian troops to the
Austrian border (Brenner Pass).
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September 1934
1935
Soviet Union joins League of Nations, and starts building relations with the Western powers (Britain and
France) after being rejected by Germany.
 France leaves the Geneva Disarmament Conference and builds a line of fortifications along its border (Maginot Line).
 Germany begins to produce warships and aircraft. The number of aircrafts reaches from an initial of 36 in 1932 to 5,112 in
1936.
A plebiscite is held in the Saarland, an area that was taken away from Germany during the Treaty of
13th January 1935
Versailles. The vote is a success for Hitler with 90% votes in favor of a union with Germany.
Hitler introduces conscription to increase the size of the German army and holds a massive ‘Proclamation
16th March 1935
of Freedom to rearm’ rally to boost morale.
3.
Italian leader, Benito Mussolini, meets the leaders of France and Britain. They form the Stresa Pact, an
April 1935
agreement to work against and resist German breaches of the Treaty of Versailles, particularly
rearmament.
4.
France and Russia sign the Franco–Soviet Mutual Assistance Pact after Germany declares its rearmament
May 1935
in order to contain German aggression. Germany uses this ‘encirclement’ as an excuse to remilitarize the
Rhineland in 1936.
Britain signs the Anglo-German naval pact with Germany, allowing Germany to increase the size of its
th
18 June 1935
navy to 35% of Britain’s and to build submarines. This caused a sense of betrayal between the other two
members of the Stresa Front, France and Italy, weakening the Stresa Pact greatly.
rd
3 October 1935 Italy invades Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), endangering the Stresa Front even further.
5.
Britain and France design a compromise called the Hoare-Laval Pact under which Italy would be given the
larger and richer part of Abyssinia. This marked the beginning of French and British appeasement.
December 1935
However, the pact is leaked to the press, causing uproar among civilians – the pact was scrapped. Hitler,
who had previously declared German neutrality, now condemns the actions of France and Britain.
Late 1935
France is caught in a financial crisis. The treasury has insufficient cash reserves and the value of the Franc
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7th March 1936
29th March 1936
1936
March 1936
May 1936
6.
7.
15th July 1936
8.
17th
July 1936
21st October 1936
9.
th
25 November10.
1936
January 1937
1937
is on the verge of collapsing.
Hitler marches German troops into the Rhineland with orders to withdraw on encountering minimum
resistance since the German army was not yet strong enough to resist a possible French or British attack.
Even though this is a breach of the Locarno and Versailles Treaties, no active resistance is offered. To
pacify the British and French, Hitler proposes a 25-year long peace pact.
German nationwide referendum reveals a 98.8% vote in favour of Hitler’s remlitarization of the
Rhineland.
The League of Nations introduces oil and petrol sanctions against Italy.
Italy wins the war and takes control of Abyssinia.
The League of Nations ends the sanctions against Italy. Having failed, for the second time now, the
League is discredited.
The Spanish Civil War begins. Italy and Germany combine their military forces to help the fascist antigovernment side, lead by Fransisco Franco. In the process, Hitler tests out the newly remilitarized
German army.
Italy and Germany sign the Rome-Berlin Axis, an agreement of fascist states.
Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, an alliance of expansionist countries directed towards
the event of a military confrontation with communist USSR.
Stalin has almost all the Soviet army generals executed due to paranoia. This is the greatest military
purge yet, but it leaves the Russian army crippled, causing Britain and France to doubt the value of an
alliance with communist Russia.
27th February
1937
France extends the Maginot Line along its border with Germany.
11.
26th April 1937
German air force (the Luftwaffe) bombs Guernica in Spain. Guernica, located in the Basque market town,
is defenceless.
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1938
 Hitler adopts the Four-Year Plan, proposed by Hermann Goering. It argues that Germany invest money mainly in
rearmament to provide military strength and leave Germany in a position to conquer foreign territory and resources
within four years. In the Hossbach Memorandum of 1937, Hitler calls a meeting of his generals and tells them that the only
way of stopping a drastic fall in living standards in Germany was to embark on a policy of aggression to provide sufficient
Lebensraum (living space) by seizing Austria and Czechoslovakia.
 Italy joins the Anti-Comintern Pact and leaves the League of Nations.
Austrian authorities discover a plot by Austrian Nazis to assassinate the German ambassador in order to
Early 1938
increase the instability to pave way for a German invasion.
Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg goes to meet Hitler for ‘peace talks’, and gets humiliated and badly
February 1938
treated.
Schuschnigg announces a plebiscite in Austria to decide whether it wants to remain independent or be
9th March 1938
united under a common German rule. He sets the age limit at 24, so that most of the young Nazi
members are unable to vote.
German army invades Austria and arrests more than 76000 Nazi enemies. This rigs the plebiscite; the
11th March 1938
majority vote in Hitler’s favor is 99.75%.
Konrad Henlein, leader of the Sudeten Nazis is given instructions from Hitler to make impossible
28th March 1938
demands from the Czechoslovakian government in order to increase instability.
30th March 1938
Hitler decides to “smash Czechoslovakia by military action in the near future”.
th
7 April 1938
Spain joins the Anti-Comintern Pact.
British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, is told that South African and Australian governments will
1st September
not give military support if war breaks out. Thus showing that if Britain adopts an aggressive policy, they
1938
would split their Empire.
th
15 September
Chamberlain meets Hitler at the Berchtesgaden Conference. They agree to allow Hitler to annex parts of
1938
Sudetenland, but without the use of force. A plebiscite will be held in any area containing more than 50%
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18th September
1938
22nd September
1938
28th September
1938
29th September
1938
1st October 1938
12.
15th March 1939
31st March 1939
1939
17th April 1939
May 1939
12th August 1939
of a German population.
French leaders Daladier and Bonnet support partition of Czechoslovakia in return for a British promise to
defend the rest of Czechoslovakia. The Czech president, Benes, feels betrayed, as France had promised to
protect Czechoslovakia under the 1925 Locarno Treaties.
Hitler refuses to compromise. He reverts on what was decided during the Berchtesgaden Conference and
makes more unreasonable demands.
Hitler agrees to a Munich conference with Britain, France, and Italy for a peaceful solution over
Czechoslovakia and the Sudetenland.
British and French Prime Ministers agree to let Hitler annex the entire region of the Sudetenland on
condition that he will leave the rest of Czechoslovakia alone. War, which had become very likely, is now
averted. Czechoslovakia loses its industrial resources and military defenses against Germany.
German troops marched unopposed into Sudetenland.
At the same time, Hungarians and Poles enter Czech territory that was taken from them during the
Treaty of Versailles.
Germany invades the rest of Czechoslovakia, going against what was agreed during the Munich
Conference. Chamberlain realizes that Hitler and his promises cannot be trusted.
British government agrees to support Poland in case of a German invasion in order to stop Hitler before
he challenges British Empire.
Soviet Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov, outlines the basis for a treaty with Britain and France in which all
three promise to defend existing borders of Eastern Europe from German attack, and each promises to
help other in case of German attack.
Germany and Italy sign the Pact of Steel, a guarantee by each nation to support the other in case of war.
British, French and Soviet military leaders meet for talks in Leningrad. British and French do not send
leaders powerful enough to sign treaties. This angers Russian leader, Stalin, and makes him doubt the
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21st August 1939
23rd August 1939
1st September
1939
3rd September
1939
allies’ sincerity in case of an alliance. Litvinov is sacked, Molotov replaces him as foreign minister.
The pact between the Allies and USSR fails. Decision is announced one day after Hitler sends Stalin a
personal written letter regarding a Soviet-German alliance.
German foreign Minister Ribbentrop meets Stalin in Moscow, and bargains with him. A pact is signed
called the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, in which both nations agree to carve up most of the territory
that lay between their two countries, specifically Poland.
German army invades Poland from the west.
Britain and France declare war on Germany. World War Two begins.
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