Download 1939 Jan 17, The Reich issued an order forbidding Jews to practice

TIMELINE OF THE EVENTS
1933
Feb 24 The Reichstag burns.
1933
Mar 12 The Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act pass
0934
Aug 29 Adolf Hitler becomes Führer.
1938
Oct- Germany invades Sudetenland
1939
Jan 17, The Reich issued an order forbidding Jews to practice as dentists,
veterinarians and chemists.
1939
Jan 20, Hitler proclaimed to German parliament his intention to exterminate all
European Jews.
1939
Feb 14, The Reich launched the battleship Bismarck.
1939
Mar 16, Germany occupied the rest Czechoslovakia.
1939
Mar 21, Nazi Germany demanded Gdansk (Danzig) from Poland.
1939
Mar 22, Germany marched into Klaipeda (Memel), Lithuania. The Lithuanian
warship Prezidentas Smetona was left without a harbor. The ship soon settled at Latvia’s port
of Liepaja. In December Ltn. P. Labanauskas was named captain. In 1940 Soviet occupiers
called for the ship to raise the Soviet flag, but Captain Labanauskas sailed the ship out of
Soviet territory. The ship was later handed over to the Soviet Baltic fleet. On Jan 11, 1945, it
hit a mine and sank off the coast of Finland.
1939
Mar 31, Britain and France agreed to support Poland if Germany threatened to
invade. Seven French islands were annexed by Japan.
1939
Apr 5, Membership in Hitler Youth became obligatory.
1939
Apr 6, Great Britain and Poland signed a military pact.
1939
Apr 16, Stalin requested a British, French and Russian anti-Nazi pact.
1939
Apr 28, Hitler claimed the German-Polish non-attack treaty to be still in effect.
1939
May 23, Hitler proclaimed he wants to move into Poland.
1939
Jul 6, Nazis closed the last Jewish enterprises
1939
Aug 2, Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Roosevelt urging creation of an
atomic weapons research program.
1939
Aug 27, Nazi Germany demanded Danzig and Polish corridor.
1939
Sep, 1, at 4:40 a.m., World War II began. The Germans attacked Poland with their
strategy of Blitzkrieg, or lightning war.
1939
Sep 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany, two days after the Nazi
invasion of Poland. After Germany ignored Great Britain's ultimatum to stop the invasion of
Poland, Great Britain declares war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II in
Europe. France follows 6 hours later quickly joined by Australia, NZ, South Africa & Canada
1939
Sep 4, The Nazis marched into Czestochowa, Poland, two days after they invaded
Poland.
1939
Sep 5, The United States under FDR proclaimed its neutrality in World War II.
1939
Sep 6, The 1st WW II German air attack on Great Britain took place.
1939
Sep 7, In response to the German invasion of Poland a week earlier, France invaded
its neighbor Germany. In Operation Saar, French forces marched into the Cadenbronn and
Wendt Forest near Saarrucken. The French met little or no opposition as they drove five miles
into Germany. The sluggish advance was hindered by low troop morale and lack of support.
The Soviet Union’s invasion of Poland from the east on September 17 prompted the French
withdrawal to the Maginot Line in anticipation of a German counterattack. The only French
offensive of WWII lasted 14 days.
1939
Sep 17, The Soviet Union attacked Poland, more than two weeks after Nazi
Germany launched its assault. They took 217,000 Poles prisoner and occupied eastern Poland
within a week with losses of 737 dead and 2,000 wounded. The Polish submarine Orzel
escaped from internment and went on to fight the Germans against long odds.
1939
Sep 29, Germany and the Soviet Union reached an agreement on the division of
Poland.
1939
Sep 30, Germany and Russia agreed to partition Poland.
1939
Oct 11, Albert Einstein wrote his famous letter to FDR about the potential of the
atomic bomb. Einstein, a long time pacifist, was concerned that the Nazis would get the bomb
first. In the letter, Einstein argued the scientific feasibility of atomic weapons, and urged the
need for development of a US atomic program.
1939
Oct 30, USSR and Germany agreed on partitioning Poland. Hitler deported Jews.
1939
Nov 15, Nazis began their mass murder of Warsaw Jews.
1939
Jan 18 German scientists split the uranium atom with a slight loss of total mass
that is converted into energy.
1940
Jan 25, Nazis established a Jewish ghetto in Lodz, Poland.
1940
Feb 12, The USSR signed a trade treaty with Germany to aid against the
British blockade.
1940
Mar 18, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini held a meeting at the Brenner Pass
across the Alps during which the Italian dictator agreed to join in Germany’s
war against France and Britain.
1940
Mar 27, Himmler ordered the building of Auschwitz concentration camp.
1940
Apr 9, The Nazi army invaded and occupied Denmark and Norway. German
forces landed along the Norwegian coast and made a paratrooper assault on
Oslo and Stavanger
1940
May 12, The Nazi blitz conquest of France began with the crossing at the
Meuse River.
1940 May 14, British and French forces began a general retreat from Belgium,
heading southwest toward France.
1940
May 17, Germany occupied Brussels, Belgium, and began the invasion of France.
1940
Jun 5, The Battle of France began during World War II. Germany attacked
French forces along the Somme line.
1940
Jun 10, Italy declared war on France and Britain; Canada declared war on Italy.
The Supreme War Council
The Supreme War Council was a central command created
by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George to coordinate Allied military
strategy during World War I. It was founded in 1917, and was based
in Versailles. The council served as a forum for preliminary discussions of
potential armistice terms and peace treaty settlement conditions.
The main purpose of these sessions were initially to establish a common
war strategy against the brutal advance of the Third Reich, which was Hitler’s
Nazi Party’s manic renaming of the German Republic designed to create the
feeling of a successor to the historical Germanic empires. The first meetings
took place during the so-called Phoney War when Germany was trying to invade
Poland and both France and Britain were obligated by the virtue of their
agreements with Poland to enter the war against Germany. At this first phase of
the Second World War, no major military conflicts occurred. The Allies and the
Axis Powers have largely prepared for the prospects of inevitable and
devastating warfare that would result from the clash of the world’s military and
economic superpowers. Logistic and strategic agreements were reached at this
point. For example, the possibility of conducting a pre-emptive strike was
lengthily thought upon.
Over the following meetings, the new Prime Minister of the British
Empire Winston Churchill joined in. As Germany began its “Blitzkrieg” into
France, obliterating everything
in its path and advancing in a never before witnessed haste, an emergency
session for the SWC was demanded. Over the three consecutive meetings in
France, the situation had reached a bottom point with pure desperation reigning
at the deliberations. We will be commencing our debates under the harsh
conditions of the war to end all wars. It is absolutely crucial to understand the
conditions the original ones were, in order to be able to come to historically
accurate conclusions and to make adequate decisions.
Winston Churchill
Sir Leonard Winston Spencer
Churchill was born on 30 November 1874
and passed away on 24 January 1965. He
was a man of various traits, being a soldier,
a Nobel Prize winning author, a historian, a
politician and perhaps most crucial of all,
one of the most influential leaders of the
20th Century. He had fought in the First
World War and in several other wars for
Britain. He had served as the Member of
Cabinet for many governments. But most
importantly he led the government of the
British Empire through the Second World
War.
Paul Reynaud
Paul Reynaud was a French politician born on
15 October, 1878 in Barcelonnette, Alpes-de-HauteProvence and passed away on 21 September 1966. He
was a lawyer having studied in Sorbonne, most
prominent during the time between the two world
wars.
General Charles de Gaulle
General Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle
(born 22 November 1890 – died 9 November 1970) was
another French politician who served as the head of the
French resistance movement against the Nazis during their
invasion of France in the Second World War. During the
war, de Gaulle led a French government in exile from
England and afterwards he came back to found the postWar French Republic.
Marshal Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain was an
important general of the pre-War France and served as the
Commander in Chief and the “Chief of France” for a brief
period. His legacy remains largely disputed even today due
to his cooperation with the invading Nazis and he has been
therefore convicted of treason3 after the war. He was born
on 24 April 1856 and died on 23 July 1951.
Maxime Weygand
Maxime Weygand was another French military
general who served in both World Wars and had
accumulated a great deal of influence thereby. He was a
decorated member of military, however as France lost the
Battle of 1940 almost immediately, he did not join the
resistance and quite unexpectedly helped the Nazis
maintain control by collaborating with them. He was also later judged and found
guilty of treason. He was born on 21 January 1867 and died on 28 January 1965.
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon was a
British politician who served in a variety of positions
including Foreign Secretary for three periods between
1935 and 1955, including the last five years of World
War II. He was very popular in public opinion for a long
time but he had to resign because of the Suez Canal
incident. Although he couldn’t find support for his case
at the time, nowadays he is seen to be largely right in his
judgement. He was born on 12 June 1897 and passed
away on 14 January 1977.
Major-General Edward Louis Spears
Sir Edward Louis Spears was a great military leader
of the Second World War, especially excelling with the
communications he set up between English and the
French. He was a decorated general (Knight Commander
of the Order of the British Empire 1941, Companion of
the Order of the Bath 1919, Military Cross 1915) and was
a 1st Baronet. He was born on 7 August 1886 and died on
27 January 1974
General Sir John Dill Field
Marshal Sir John Greer Dill was one of the most
important military commanders of the British army in
both World Wars. He had played a vital role in the strengthening of the
cooperation between the United States of America and the British Empire. This
relation had helped Britain a great deal during and after the war and because of
his services John Dill was greatly decorated. Although his legacy remains a
current topic of controversy due to his alternative plan of using mustard gas, he
is still seen as a war hero in Britain. He was born in 25 December 1881 and died
on 4 November 1944.
General Hastings Ismay
General Hastings Lionel "Pug" Ismay was an
English general who served in various positions during the
First and the Second World War. He was also the first
Secretary General of NATO and is mostly remembered for
his time as the Chief Military advisor to Churchill during
the days of the most heated fights in the WWII. He was
born on 21 June 1887 and died on 17 December 1965.
Prior to formation
Status of France
Much alike the rest of the world, an uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty was
eminent during the period between two world wars in France. The French
Republic had lost at least %10 of its working population in the Great War, and
came out of it in a state of utter economic and political confusion. Although the
GDP growing rates during the first years of the interwar period were relatively
high, sometimes even reaching %4.74 and the peasant population was rapidly
renewing itself, the political trauma caused partially by the state of affairs in the
world prevented France from fully regaining its former economic strength. With
the arrival of the Great Depression (although somewhat later than the rest of the
world), the Third French Republic‟s economy stagnated and experienced a
heavy fall. French people put the blame on the government and this started a
chain reaction of unhealthily founded political alterations and a resulting
inability to recover. This made France of the time gradually weaker and
disorganized. Many think that French defeat of 1940 was caused by what they
regard as the innate decadence and moral rot of France.
Status of England
The British Empire had emerged victorious from the First World War,
however it too was severely wounded. In addition to losing a hefty sum of
financial resources in order to win the war, the quality of the manpower of the
British Empire fell dramatically. The commanders of the old order who weren’t
just English but have been working in parts of the Empire all over the world
have either resigned or died much like low-ranking but perfectly experienced
soldiers they’ve commanded. In addition to the quantitative and qualitative loss
of people, British Empire has also found itself amidst of internal problems.
Many ethnic minorities saw this weakening of the central power as an
opportunity to demand more economic, social and political autonomy (in India
and Ireland’s case even complete independence). These internal factors,
combined with international events deteriorated the overall standing of the
British Empire and crippled its preparative efforts before the Second World War
commenced.
HİTLER’S CABINET
Rise to Power
At the end of World War I, the draconian terms in the Treaty of
Versailles, coupled with the severe economic setbacks such as hyperinflation
provoked bitter indignation throughout Germany. Radical political factions
united, and found significant support among the desperate people. The
concomitant civil unrest greatly debilitated the democratic regime of the young
Weimar Republic. The National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP, also
known as the Nazi Party) was one of the handful of active far-right political
parties in Germany at the time. The party platform included the rejection of the
terms of the Treaty of Versailles, replacement of the Weimar Republic, radical
anti-Semitism and anti-communism. They advocated a strong central
government and the formation of a national community based on race.
Furthermore, they promised increased Lebensraum6 for people of Germanic
descent. The already grim situation of the post-war German economy was
exacerbated by the US stock market crash of 1929. Millions of citizens were
thrown out of work, and several large firms collapsed. Hitler and the Nazi Party
took advantage of the emergency to gain public support. Hitler gave a series of
highly orchestrated, emotionally manipulative speeches in which he promised to
provide jobs and strengthen the economy. This strategy turned out to be a huge
success: in the federal election of 1932, the Nazis were by far the largest party in
the Reichstag, holding 230 seats with more than 37 per cent of the popular vote.
Führer and Reichskanzler
In the months following the election, the NSDAP rapidly brought all
aspects of German life under the control of the party. Civilian organizations
such as sports clubs and volunteer organizations and academic institutions had
their leadership replaced with Nazi sympathizers and party members. On the
night of 27 February 1933, the Reichstag was set on fire. Hitler laid the blame
on the Communist Party, and violent suppression of communists by the
Sturmabteilung (SA) followed. In total, over four thousand members of the
Communist Party were arrested. Most German civil liberties such as rights of
assembly and freedom of the press were abrogated by the Reichstag Fire Decree.
The decree also allowed the police to detain people indefinitely without charges
or a court order.
In March 1933, the Enabling Act passed the Reichstag 444 to 94 and
endowed upon Hitler plenary authority. In order to acquire the two-thirds
majority to pass the bill, the Nazis leveraged the provisions of the Reichstag Fire
Decree to keep several Social Democratic representatives from attending
parliament. Almost all political parties were subsequently dissolved; and on 14
July 1933, Germany effectively became a single-party state when the founding
of new parties was illegalized. The regional state parliaments and the Reichsrat
were all abolished the following year. As millions of Germans were still
unemployed, Hitler sought to revive the economy. Massive public works were
undertaken using deficit spending. More than 1.7 million Germans were put to
work in 1934 alone. Average wages began to rise significantly. Shortly before
the death of President von Hindenburg on August the 2nd 1934, the cabinet
enacted the "Law Concerning the Highest State Office of the Reich", according
to which the office of president would be abolished and its powers merged with
those of the chancellor. Hitler thereby became head of state as well as head of
government. He was formally named Führer und Reichskanzler. Germany
thereby became a totalitarian state with Hitler as its undisputed leader. As head
of state, Hitler also became the Supreme Commander of the armed forces. The
new law altered the traditional loyalty oath of servicemen so that they affirmed
loyalty to Hitler personally rather than the office of supreme commander or the
state. On 19 August, the merger of the presidency with the chancellorship was
approved by 90 per cent of the electorate in a public referendum. To give his
dictatorship the appearance of legality, Hitler explicitly based many of his
decrees on the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act. The deluge of
propaganda by Joseph Goebbels, along with the long yearned-for economic and
political stability also served to reinforce his popularity. Nevertheless, the Nazis
continued to take repressive measures against their political opposition and
marginalized those whom they considered socially undesirable. The campaign
against Jews living in Germany thereby gained momentum.
Adolf Hitler
The Reichskanzler and Führer of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. After
serving in the army during World War I, Hitler joined the German Workers’
Party in 1919, and quickly rose in ranks, becoming the party leader by 1921.
During the so-called Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, Hitler attempted a coup to seize
Munich and later use it as a base to march against the Weimar Republic.
Although the coup attempt failed, it brought Hitler to national headlines,
whereupon he used his nationalist rhetoric to gather new supporters. 15 The
coastal region of northwestern Europe, consisting of the Netherlands and
Belgium. 12 Following the German federal elections of March 1933, the Nazi
Party (the successor to the German Workers’ Party) registered a substantial
increase in votes, which facilitated the passing of the Enabling Act. The act
effectively rendered the Reichstag powerless, and gave Hitler absolute control
over the state. In the following six years, the Nazi Party restored economic
stability and ended the mass unemployment that followed the Great Depression
through military spending. His aggressive policy of acquiring Lebensraum
through conquest eventually caused the outbreak of World War II in Europe.
Hermann Göring
The President of the Reichstag and the designated
successor to Hitler. One of the early members of the NSDAP,
he fought by Hitler during the Beer Hall Putsch. After helping
Hitler take power in 1933, he became on of the most powerful
figures in the country. After serving as the head of several
Government offices, he was promoted to the rank of
Reichsmarschall, which put him above all other Wehrmacht
commanders.
Joseph Goebbels
The Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to
1945. Hitler’s closest associate and one of his most
devoted followers, he was known for his deep, virulent
anti-Semitism, which is thought to have influenced
Hitler himself in his extermination of the Jews. From
the beginning of his tenure in 1933, Goebbels
organized actions against Jews living in Germany,
which culminated in the violence of the Kristallnacht16
of 1938. During World War II, he gave a series of
speeches urging the German people to embrace the idea
of total war and mobilization.
Heinrich Himmler
The Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel. From 1929 to
1940, he developed the SS from a 300-man squadron into a
powerful army of its own. One of the most powerful figures
of Nazi Germany, he was the one most directly responsible
for the atrocities committed during the Holocaust17 such as
the formation of the concentration and extermination camps.
Walter von Brauchitsch
The Commander-in-Chief of the German Army.
A decorated World War I veteran, Brauchitsch was put
in charge of the East Prussian Military District
immediately after Hitler’s rise to power in 1933.
Although his kind personality did not really bond well
with the ferocity of Nazism, he persisted for his country
and was the chief military officer of the campaigns in
Greece and Yugoslavia.
Wilhelm Keitel
The Supreme High Commander of the German
Armed Forces and Hitler’s senior military advisor. He
was personally responsible for the armistice agreement
with the French Republic.
Alfried Jodl
The Colonel-General of the Supreme Command of the
Armed Forces and deputy to Wilhelm Keitel. He acted as the Chief
of Staff during the occupations of Denmark and Norway.
Erich Raeder
The preeminent naval leader of Germany throughout most
of World War II. He is renowned for his strategy of dispersing
the relatively weak German Navy around the world so that the
stronger British Royal Navy would have to do the same, thereby
impeding British naval dominence in any one area.