The Culture of the Weimar Republic

The Grave Of the Weimar Republic

The Great Depression and the Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was devastated by Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and the Great Depression that followed. The Crash had a devastating impact on the American economy but because America had propped up the Weimar Republic with huge loans in 1924 (the Dawes Plan) and in 1929 (the Young Plan), what happened to the American economy had to impact the Weimar Republic’s economy.

Both plans had loaned Weimar money to prop up the country’s economy – especially after the experiences of hyperinflation in 1923. Now America needed those loans back to assist her faltering economy.

Stresemann had died in 1929, but shortly before he died even he admitted that the German economy was a lot more fragile than some would have liked to accept.

“The economic position is only flourishing on the surface. Germany is in fact dancing on a volcano. If the short-term credits are called in, a large section of our economy would collapse.”

After the Wall Street Crash, America gave Germany 90 days to start to re-pay money loaned to her. No other world power had the money to give Germany cash injections. Britain and France were still recovering from the First World War and the Wall Street Crash was to have an impact on industrial Britain. Stalin’s Russia was still in a desperate state and embarking on the 5 year plans. Therefore, an impoverished Weimar Germany could only call on America for help and she was effectively bankrupt by the end of 1929 and quite incapable of lending money.

Companies throughout Germany – though primarily in the industrial zones such as the Ruhr – went bankrupt and workers were laid off in their millions. Unemployment affected nearly every German family just 6 years after the last major economic disaster – hyperinflation – had hit Weimar.

September 1928	650,000 unemployed
September 1929	1,320,000 unemployed
September 1930	3,000,000 unemployed
September 1931	4,350,000 unemployed
September 1932	5,102,000 unemployed
January 1933	6,100,000 unemployed

Most, though not all, of the unemployed were male. These men were almost certainly family men who could see no way ahead with regards to providing for their families. Money was required for food, heating a home, clothes etc. With no obvious end to their plight under the Weimar regime, it is not surprising that those who saw no end to their troubles turned to the more extreme political parties in Germany – the Nazi and Communist Parties.

In 1928, the Nazi Party had nearly gone bankrupt as a result of the spending on street parades etc. which had cost the party a great deal. Bankruptcy would have automatically excluded them from politics – they were saved by a right wing businessman called Hugenburg who owned a media firm in Germany. He financially bailed them out.

In the 1930 Reichstag election, the Nazis gained 143 seats – a vast improvement on their previous showing. Hitler only expected between 50 to 60 seats. A senior Nazi official, Gregor Strasser, claimed that what was a disaster for Weimar was “good, very good for us.”

In the July 1932 Reichstag election, the Nazis gained 230 seats making them the largest party in the Reichstag.

In the same year, Hitler had challenged Field Marshall von Hindenburg for the presidency. Such a move in 1928 would have been laughable but in the presidential election Hitler gained 13,400,000 votes to Hindenburg’s 19,360,000. Thalman, the leader of the Communists, gained 3,700,000. By any showing, Hitler’s achievement in this presidential election was extremely good for a politician whose party was on the verge on bankruptcy just 4 years earlier – but it also showed the mood of the German people in the early 1930’s.

In the November 1932 Reichstag election, the Nazi Party dipped somewhat to 196 seats but this still put them way ahead of their nearest rivals, the Social Democrats on 121 seats.

The Communist Party continued its steady climb from 77 seats the 1928 election, to 89 in the July 1932 election to 100 in the November one.

How did Hitler become chancellor in January 1933?

Despite Hitler being the leader of the largest political party in the Reichstag, Hindenburg had nothing but contempt for “the little corporal”. In keeping with the constitution, Hindenburg selected his own chancellor – Franz von Papen. His support in the Reichstag came from the Centre Party, who in July 1932 only gained 97 seats. However, with the backing of the president and the constitution, von Papen could push through legislation. However, in September 1932, the Reichstag overwhelmingly expressed its no confidence in his leadership by 513 votes to 32. He called the November ’32 election in an attempt to get more support within the Reichstag. The number of Centre Party seats dropped to 70. It was clear that von Papen had barely any support in the Reichstag.

After the results of the November election were announced, Hitler again demanded to be made chancellor. Again, Hindenburg refused. However, this time the army via General Kurt von Schleicher, informed Hindenburg that any continuation of von Papen’s leadership could lead to civil war. It was made clear to the elderly President that the army did not support von Papen. As a result of this, Hindenburg appointed von Schleicher chancellor – a man whose only experience was in the military as opposed to politics.

Why did Hindenburg do this?

By 1933, he could been suffering from some form of dementia but it is also likely he had an instinctive alliance with the army, so he felt that he could work with a general rather than a politician. Why did Schleicher accept a position he was hopelessly prepared for ? It is probable that he simply responded to an order by a superior officer or that he wanted to use the opportunity of chaos in Germany to advance the power of the army in the country. Regardless of this, he only last 57 days as chancellor. He had no support from the Reichstag and Hindenburg had to dismiss him.

The only person with any form of credibility left was Hitler. He had the support of the Reichstag and his party was the most popular in Germany. On January 30th 1933, Hitler was summoned to Hindenburg’s chambers and sworn in as chancellor. Hindenburg expected the vice-chancellor- von Papen – to control Hitler as one had the experience of leading the nation while the other did not. Within one month, Hitler would be on the way to dictatorial power.

World War One and The Weimar Republic

World War One had a devastating impact on Germany. Throughout World War One, the people of Germany had been led to believe by their government that they were winning the war. Government propaganda had been used to great effect. When the temporarily blinded Adolf Hitler had gone into hospital in 1918 (the result of a gas attack), he, along with many German soldiers, was convinced that Germany was not only winning the war but was in the process of putting together a major military assault on Allied lines.

Only the military leaders such as Luderndorff and Hindenburg knew the true state of Germany’s military plight which had become even more apparent when America had joined in the war in 1917. The success of the Luderndoff Offensive in 1918 was only paper-thin as Germany had lost many of her most able officers in battle.

Germany itself was being starved of food and all goods as a result of the British Navy’s blockade of her ports in the north. With such a small coastline, the British Navy found it a relatively easy task to blockade her. German troops were poorly equipped and what food there was went to the war effort leaving the people of Germany very short of food.

In the autumn of 1918, the Allies launched a massive attack on the German lines. The German Army could not stand up to such an attack and in just a few weeks the German Army had collapsed. The euphoria of the success of the Luderndorff Offensive was quickly forgotten. Many Germans could not accept that they had lost the war. The blame was put on weak politicians rather than on military exhaustion. In the space of two months, Germany had gone from being a fighting nation to a defeated one; from a nation with a leader – Kaiser William II – to one with politicians leading the country. William II had been forced to abdicate – give up the throne.

The two months of October and November 1918 are crucial in setting the scene of why Germany got off to such a bad start immediately after the war.

In October 1918, Germany’s naval command at Kiel decided to take on the might of the British Navy which was blockading Germany’s northern ports and starving out the nation. British submarines patrolled off the north German coast and such a mission would have been all but suicidal. The sailors of Kiel mutinied rather than go on such a mission. Officers were killed and naval boats were taken over. This one incident seemed to have been the catalyst that sparked off total anger in Germany. The navy had been the Kaiser’s, and therefore, Germany’s pride and joy and here were the sailors rebelling against authority.

The army was not sent to crush this mutiny as the Kaiser and his government could not trust that they would not join the sailors. In fact, demonstrations took place all over Germany and those who worked went on strike. Soldiers did join the protests.

By early November 1918, many cities had been taken over by workers’ and soldiers’ councils. This was very similar to what had happened in Russia during the communist take over of 1917 and politicians were fearful of another communist takeover in Germany itself.

The leading party in Germany’s Reichstag (Parliament), was the Social Democrat Party. It was lead by Friedrich Ebert and the party pleaded with the Kaiser to abdicate to save Germany from mayhem. On November 9th, the Social Democrats announced that the Kaiser had abdicated – at that particular time he had not. But there was a general strike in Berlin at that time and the Social Democrats feared that extremists would take over and anarchy would occur. The Social Democrats announced that Germany was now a republic (lead by a civilian government and not by a monarch), and that the country would be run by the Reichstag. On the following day, the Kaiser fled to Holland and on November 11th, 1918, an armistice was declared.

Food shortages in Germany itself had pushed many civilians to the brink of starvation. Farmers were short of labourers to bring in the harvest as young men had been drafted into the military. By 1918, Germany was producing only 50% of the milk it had done before the war. By the winter of 1917, the supply of potatoes had run out and the only real alternative was turnips. This is why the winter of 1916 to 1917 is known as the “Turnip Winter“. Turnips were used as animal foodstuff and the thought of eating them repelled many as they were the food of cows, pigs etc. Lack of food had seriously weakened the ability of people to fight off disease. Flu had a terrible impact on Germans as the people had little bodily strength to fight the illness. It is thought that nearly 750,000 died of a combination of flu and starvation – this figure included mainly civilians but it also included soldiers who had survived the horror of war, returned to Germany and had died of the disease.

By Christmas 1918, Germany was at peace with regards to the war. The Armistice held out – though Germany was incapable of fighting anyway. However, the shock of defeat combined with the state of Germany caused the new government lead by Ebert to inherit many problems.

Friedrich Ebert

The most obvious was Ebert’s inability to control Berlin. Such was the violence and chaos in Germany’s capital city between the German Communists and the Freikorps and army, that the government moved to the nearest large city which was ‘peaceful’ and set up government there. This was the city of Weimar. Hence the name of Germany from 1919 to 1933. However, how could Ebert’s government appear strong when it had fled its own capital?

Ebert had inherited a far worse problem. Many soldiers had returned from the war with their weapons. Their retreat had been so haphazard that there had been no formal disarming of soldiers. Germany was littered with weapons. Soldiers had been greatly angered by the defeat and they blamed the government – which happened to be Ebert’s. These men could not be disarmed nor were they loyal to the government. They were potentially a serious source of trouble. Ironically, it was not Ebert’s fault that Germany had lost the war. The incompetence of the military leaders was forgotten and the government of the time of the Armistice was blamed.

Also Germany had lost 2 million men in the war. These were the core of Germany’s work force and Germany’s industrial base could not recover without them. Therefore, it seemed that in December 1918, Germany was condemned to economic weakness.

Communism had also taken a hold in Germany – and this group, known as the Sparticus, were determined to bring down Ebert and set up a communist style government in Berlin.

The Fall of the Weimar Republic

Fall of the Weimar Republic

1929 Germany is ruled by a grand coalition stretching from the Social Democrats to the Peoples Party and the Social Democrat Muller is Chancelor. Unemployment is rising and the unemployment insurance is in heavy deficit. The Social Democrats want to increase employer’s contributions while the People’s Party want to cut benefits. A compromise is patched together.

1930 Rising unemployment puts the unemployment insurance into greater crisis. Meyer of the Democrats and Bruning of the Centre Party propose a new compromise. Three of the four Social Democrat Ministers accept the compromise but the Social Democrat group in the Reichstag rejects it. On 27th March Muller resigns as Chancellor.

30th March Bruning forms a minority government. By including a program of agricultural support he gets the National Party to vote for the government – against the wishes of the National Party leader, Hugenberg.

July Bruning’s government proposes a finance package in response to the growing economic crisis. The Nationalists are divided but mainly against. Bruning needs Social Democrat support and the Social Democrat offers this on condition of changes. Bruning rejects the compromise and the measure is defeated. Bruning then goes to the President, the conservative Hindenburg, and imposes the finance reforms by emergency decree under Article 48. Article 48, intended to be used only in times when security and public order were seriously disrupted or imperilled (but this was never defined) gave the President far reaching powers. The Social Democrats move suspension of the decree which passes. Bruning asks the President to dissolve the Reichstag.

14th September. Elections are held while unemployment is around 3 million. The Nazis make sweeping gains and smaller gains are made by the Communists. To form a new coalition now would need everyone from the Social Democrats to the right wing ’splinter’ parties. Bruning knowing he can rely on Article 48 dosn’t even try. From now on Germany ceases to be a parliamentary regime but Presidential regime ruling through the Chancellor appointed by the President. Bruning now imposes a policy of deflation which the Social Democrats reluctantly ‘tolerate’ by voting against motions suspending the decrees. Unemployment continues to rise.

March/April 1932: Hindenburg’s term expires. Bruning persuades him to stand again. The Social Democrats and the Democrats support him as the lesser evil and he is elected on the second ballot – but Hitler gains 37%.

13th April: In response to growing NAZI violence Bruning’s government persuades Hindenburg (very reluctantly) to ban the SA.

June 1932: Hindenburg fed up with issuing unpopular decrees on Bruning’s behalf replaces him by von Papen. Papen, reactionary, stupid and arrogant, was however an officer and fine horseman and so the ideal Chancellor in the eyes of the ageing President.

Papen meets Hitler and Hitler hints that the Nazis might support the new government in exchange for lifting of the ban on the SA and new elections. Papen falls for it and the Reichstag is dissolved (4th June).

20th July Presidential rule is imposed on the Prussian Land – using SA-communist clashes as a pretext. This gives the Chancellor direct control of the police force of 2/3rds of Germany.

31st July Elections to the Reichstag. Hitler makes sweeping gains. The Nazis, along with the communists have a blocking majority in the Reichstag and as Hitler breaks his promise to support Papen once again Germany is ruled by emergency decree.

12th September The new Reichstag meets. The communists move to repeal one of the emergency decrees and to no-confidence the government. Papen, to forestall this, attempts to immediately dissolve the Reichstag but not before the vote is counted – 512-42 against the government. The new elections show some losses for Hitler but gains by the communists keep the Reichstag deadlocked.

By now Germany is already a Presidential dictatorship in which any attempt to oppose the emergency decrees by the Reichstag will be met by dissolution. However Papen loses the support of his cabinet and Hindenburg reluctantly agrees to Papen’s resignation.

2 Dec 1932: Schleicher, former friend of Papen and former minister heads the new government. Papen then , driven by a desire for revenge, seeks out Hitler. Hitler demands the Chancelorship, the Ministry of Interior, and Commissioner for Prussia. Papen wants to be Prussian Commissioner himself but offers the Interior Ministry of Prussia. As this is what Hitler really wanted he agrees and all that is required now is to get the consent of the virtually senile Hindenburg.

Jan 30 1933: Hindenburg appoints Hitler as Chancellor.

March 1933: During the election campaign massive intimidation by the SA means that only, apart from the Nazis, only the Nationalists are able to campaign. The Prussian police, now under Nazi control, employs 50,000 ‘auxiliaries’ who are mainly SA to be used against the opposition. Many Nazi opponents are beaten up , some 50 killed. Despite this the Nazis only get 43.9% of the vote but with the Nationalists they have a majority. With the election over the communists are banned and their Riechstag deputies arrested.

23rd March: An enabling act giving dictatorial powers to Hitler’s government is put to the Reichstag. A 2/3rds majority is required and 2/3rds of the Riechstag must be present. However along with the Nationalists, the Peoples Party and the Catholics vote for. The Democrats (all five of them ) are split but decide to vote for, on the grounds that as Hitler is going to establish a dictatorship anyway it is better to let him do it legally. Only those Social Democrats who attended (many are already under arrest) have the courage to vote against.

The Reichstag Fire

Initial Situation

Hitler is Chancellor but Nazis are only a minority in the government. They crucially control the Ministry of the Interior of Prussia (Prussia had been brought under direct rule the previous summer as the result of an emergency decree by Hindenburg, the President). This gives control of the police in two thirds of Germany to the Nazis.

What happened

On the 27th February the Reichstag is empty as it had been in recess since December. At around 20:30 one of the caretakers checks the building and finds nothing unusual. At 20:50 a postman is passing the entrance to the session chamber and notices nothing unusual.

At 21:05 a student sees a man carrying a burning brand on the first floor. By 21:14 the fire alarm is received by the local firestation and the firemen are in the building by 21:24 but fires are breaking out everywhere. At 21:27 there is a huge explosion and the great chamber is enveloped by flames. In the rear of the building a half naked dutchman, Marinus van der Lubbe is discovered and arrested. He claims to have done it as “a protest”.

Hitler and Goring arrive on the scene. Goring at once accuses the communists. The next day the ageing President signs a decree which allows the nazis to suspend freedom of speech which they use to ban virtually the entire opposition press. Communists are arrested wholesale though the party is not banned until after the elections so that the left vote will remain split.

Did the communists do it?

Torgler, the chairman of the Communist deputies to the Reichstag and a number of other communists are arrested including several Bulgarians. There is absolutely no evidence that they were involved and at the trial bought by the Nazis collapsed some months latter the prosecution case collapsed for this reason.

Did the van der Lubbe act alone?

That Lubbe was guilty there is little doubt. Not only was he discovered on the spot he also proudly claimed responsibility. But he did have a history of taking responsibility for things he had not done. While working for the Tielmann factory a strike broke out. Van der Lubbe claimed to the management to be one of the ringleaders and offered to accept any punishment as long as no one else was victimised even though he was clearly too inexperienced to have been seriously involved. During the trial he seemed to concerned only to establish his sole responsibility and was almost hostile to any attempts to get him off. In short he seems to have been suffering from a mental disorder that led him to seek both fame and the role of victim.

But did he act alone? The Reichstag fire was clearly well planned and speedily done. The building had clearly been prepared in advance with some kind of inflammatory chemical and this had been done quickly and smoothly. Van der Lubbe might well have been able to run round with a brand once others had prepared the building for the conflagration. It is doubtful however if any one person could have managed to complete the preparation in the limited time available and it was clearly quite beyond van der Lubbe. He was half blind as a result of a unpleasant act of bullying when some of his fellow workers put a mason’s sack over his head and the chalk dust permanently damaged his eyes He had to bring a piece of paper to within a couple of inches of his eyes before he could read it. He showed himself barely capable of organising his own life let alone the smooth operation that the Reichstag fire clearly was.

It is true he made several attempts to swim the channel. These consisted him greasing himself up in front of the press, swimming a short distance out and then returning to announce that the currents were currently unfavourable. It is a further sign of van der Lubbe’s desperate desire for fame (that would be pathetic if it did not end with the executioner’s axe) but hardly a sign of athletic ability.

Did the Nazis do it?

The Nazis clearly gained and for that reason were the prime suspects from the first. However given Germany was immediately plunged into a state of total dictatorship it was initially difficult to gather hard evidence. There is circumstantial evidence that points to the Nazis. First van der Lubbe was, in the period, immediately before the fire in the clutches of a couple of a couple of SA men. Karl Ernst head of the SA in Berlin when asked by a fellow Dutch rightist whether his Storm Troopers were responsible for the fire answered “If I said Yes, I’d be a bloody fool, if I said no I’d be a bloody liar.”

The SA clearly had access to incendiary materials as they made a habit of setting fire to election displays of rival political groups.

Did the German State do it?

The Nazis were in power, they directly controlled the police in Berlin. Could they have used the state itself? But there is absolutely no evidence for this and in any case the SA were to hand to do the job. The evidence suggests the fire was the work of the Nazi party but not the state.

This account rest heavily on The Hundred Days to Hitler by Roger Manvell and Heinrich Frankel

A Chronological History of the Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic and the Third Reich

1918	Oct. 28	Mutinies by sailors and soldiers begin in the home garrisons in Germany, followed by the formation of workers’ and soldiers’ councils.
	Nov. 9	Revolution in Germany: The Empire collapses, the Kaiser abdicates, and a republic is proclaimed.
	Nov. 10 – Feb. 6	A provisional government of socialists is established, nominally responsible to the workers’ and soldiers’ councils; until Dec. 29 it includes the radical USPD as well as the moderate SPD.
	Nov. 11	Armistice: The end of the war.
1919	Feb. 6	The National Assembly (elected on Jan. 19) meets in Weimar because Berlin is too violent. A government of the “Weimar Coalition” (SPD, DDP, Center) is formed with Philipp Scheidemann as Chancellor.
	Feb. 11	The National Assembly elects Friedrich Ebert (SPD) as first President of the Republic.
	April 4 – May 1	A Soviet Republic in Bavaria is the most dramatic of a series of revolts and military conflicts during the spring between government troops and radical workers.
	June 23	Versailles Treaty: The Treaty, drafted by Britain, France, and the United States, is imposed on the protesting German government. Germany is forced to yield up territory to France (Alsace-Lorraine), Poland (the Polish Corridor, Silesia), Denmark, and Belgium, and is forbidden to unite with Austria. Germany is also forced to limit its army to 100,000 men; forbidden to keep troops in its Western provinces (the “demilitarized” Rhineland); required to make heavy reparations payments for damage caused in the war; and barred from the League of Nations.
	July 31	Weimar Constitution: The National Assembly, sitting in Weimar, adopts a constitution for the Republic.
	Sept.	Adolf Hitler joins the tiny German Workers Party (later renamed the National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP, or Nazi Party) in Munich.
1920	March 13 – 17	The Kapp Putsch, an unsuccessful military revolt against the Republican government. It is followed over the next two weeks by armed radical revolts in the Ruhr and elsewhere, also unsuccessful.
	June 6	The parties of the “Weimar Coalition” lose their Reichstag majority in national elections; they never again have enough seats to form a majority coalition.
1921	May 11	The German government (under duress) accepts the Allies claims for reparations, the amount of which was left open in the peace treaty.
	Oct. 12	After a plebiscite, the League of Nations partitions Upper Silesia and awards a large part to Poland.
1922	April 16	The Treaty of Rapallo between Germany and Soviet Russia opens a diplomatic back door for Germany.
	June 24	Foreign minister Walter Rathenau is assassinated by right-wing anti-Semites. In reaction to this outrage, Republican institutions are consolidated for a time.
1923	Jan. 11	Occupation of the Ruhr and Great Inflation: Germany’s main heavy industrial area is occupied by French and Belgian troops in an attempt to force payment of reparations. The local population practices passive resistance, subsidized by the German government; these expenditures lead to rapid escalation of the already steep inflation in Germany.
	Aug. 12 – Nov. 23	A “Great Coalition” government (SPD, DDP, Center, DVP) led by Gustav Stresemann (DVP) ends the passive resistance and the inflation. Stresemann remains as foreign minister in every succeeding government until 1929.
	Nov. 8 – 11	“Beer Hall Putsch”: Hitler’s failed coup d’état takes place in Munich. Afterwards Hitler flees, is arrested and spends about a year in prison during 1924-25.
	Nov. 15	The currency is stabilized on terms that bankrupt many savers: each new Mark is worth one trillion of the old ones.
1924	April 9	The Dawes Plan eases Germany’s reparations obligations and leads to an influx of American loans.
1925	April 26	Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg is elected as President of the Republic, following the death of Ebert.
	Oct. 16	Germany signs the Locarno Treaties are signed, voluntarily guaranteeing her Western borders. This restores normal relations with the Western powers.
1926	Sept. 8	Germany is admitted to the League of Nations.
1928	June 13	A “Great Coalition” government (the first since 1923) is formed under Hermann Müller (SPD), after national elections that seems to confirm the stabilization of the Republic. This cabinet survives until March 1930.
1929	June 7	The German government accepts the Young Plan, which further eases German reparations obligations. In the ensuing nationalist campaign to force rejection of the Young Plan (unsuccessfully) Hitler gains his first national prominence.
	Oct.	The Wall Street crash, symbolic start of the Great Depression, finds the German economy already in decline, and leads to the withdrawal of American short-term loans.
1930	March 27	Brüning cabinet: After the collapse of the Great Coalition government, a minority government of the center and right-wing parties is formed under Heinrich Brüning (Center). When the Reichstag fails to cooperate with his program, Brüning resolves to rely on President von Hindenburg’s powers of emergency decree. He remains Chancellor until May 1932.
	Sept. 14	National elections, called by Brüning to strengthen his position in the Reichstag, result in a big surge in the Nazi and Communist vote. The “Great Coalition” loses its ability to form a majority coalition, and Brüning now has no way to legislate except by Presidential decree.
1931	May 11	The collapse of the Austrian Credit-Anstalt starts a banking crisis in Germany that accelerates the slow decline of the German economy and makes it clear that the depth and duration of the depression will be extraordinary.
1932	April 10	Hindenburg is reelected President by a small margin over Hitler.
	May 31	Franz von Papen becomes Chancellor after Brüning loses Hindenburg’s confidence and resigns.
	June	An international conference effectively ends German reparations obligations.
	June 16	The Papen government lifts a ban on the SA.
	July 20	The Papen government takes over the government of Prussia, Germany’s largest federal state, dismissing the Weimar Coalition government that had ruled there until this point.
	July 31	National elections, called by Papen to strengthen his position in the Reichstag, result in doubled Nazi representation. Now no coalition government of any kind is possible without either the Nazis or the Communists.
	Aug. 13	Hitler declares that he will not serve in the government in any office other than as Chancellor.
	Nov. 6	National elections fail to resolve the deadlock; the Nazis lose some seats, but the Communists gain.
	Dec. 2	General Kurt von Schleicher becomes Chancellor.
1933	Jan. 30	Nazi “seizure of power”: Hitler becomes Chancellor with a cabinet numerically dominated by conservatives.
	Feb. 27	Fire partly destroys the Reichstag building. The government takes the occasion to step up persecution of the opposition parties.
	March 5	In national elections the NSDAP wins 44%, the Nationalists 8%, for a majority between them; after the Communist deputies are arrested or forced underground the Nazis themselves have a majority.
	March 23	Enabling Act: This bill, which receives the necessary two-thirds majority with the aid of the Center Party, grants full legislative powers to the cabinet without requiring the assent of the Reichstag. It is the formal basis of Hitler’s power for the remainder of the Third Reich.
	April 1	An official national boycott of Jewish businesses, which lasts only a few days because of public resistance.
	April 7	The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service provides for the dismissal of all Jews and opponents of the regime from the civil service.
	May – July	All political parties other than the Nazis are disbanded and all trade unions are absorbed into the Labor Front.
	June	Inauguration of the Reinhardt Plan of expanded public works expenditure, including construction of superhighways (Autobahns).
	Oct. 14	Germany withdraws from the Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations. In a referendum 93% of the voters approve of these actions.
1934	Jan. 26	A non-aggression treaty with Poland begins Hitler’s display of peaceful intentions; it also serves to undercut France’s policy of defensive alliances against Germany.
	June 30	Röhm Purge (“Blood Purge”, “Night of the Long Knives”): Hitler uses the SS to assassinate the leaders of the SA, representing the radical wing of the Nazi party, who had come to seem a threat to his plans; there are also a number of other well-known victims.
	Aug. 2	President von Hindenburg dies, and Hitler assumes the Presidency as well as the Chancellorship. 88% of the voters endorse this step in a plebiscite.
1935	March 16	Hitler repudiates the disarmament clauses of the Versailles Treaty and Germany begins to rearm openly.
	June 18	Britain signs Naval Agreement with Germany, a sign that the Western powers will try to tame Hitler by accommodation (“appeasement”).
	Sept. – May 1936	Crisis over the Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), during which Germany supports Italy and thereby cements a habit of mutual support.
	Sept. 15	The Nuremberg Laws deprive Jews of citizenship rights.
1936	March 7	Reoccupation of the Rhineland: Hitler repudiates the demilitarization clauses of the Versailles Treaty and the Locarno Treaties (1925), and German troops march into the demilitarized Rhineland.
	July	The Spanish Civil War begins. German and Italian forces support the insurgent Nationalist (Franco) side, the ultimate victors (in 1939).
	Oct. – Nov.	German treaties with Italy (the “Rome-Berlin Axis”) and Japan (the “Anti-Comintern Pact”).
	Oct. 19	Inauguration of the Four-Year Plan intended to make Germany economically self-sufficient.
1937	Nov. 24	Hjalmar Schacht loses his post as Minister of Economics.
1938	Feb. 4	Hitler dismisses the two top military commanders, Blomberg and Fritsch, and assumes direct personal command of the armed forces. He also replaces Foreign Minister von Neurath and other leading conservatives. This amounts to the last stage of dissolving the Nazi alliance with the conservatives.
	Mar. 12 – 13	Anschluss: Germany abruptly invades and annexes Austria.
	Sept. 12 – 29	Munich: A crisis over the Czechslovak Sudetenland ends in the Munich Agreement and German annexation of large areas of western Czechoslovakia; this is the peak of Western appeasement.
	Nov. 9 – 10	Kristallnacht (“night of broken glass”): Nazis burn synagogues, destroy Jewish property, and beat and arrest thousands of Jews. This is the start of the harsher phase of persecution.
1939	March 15	Germany violates the Munich agreement and suddenly occupies the rest of western Czechoslovakia, turning Slovakia into a client state.
	Aug. 23	The Nazi-Soviet Pact (or Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) provides that Germany and Russia will observe benevolent neutrality towards each other if either becomes involved in a war.
	Sept. 1	Outbreak of World War II: German armies invade Poland, followed two days later by declaration of war on Germany by Britain and France.
1940	April 9	German armies invade Denmark and Norway.
	May 10	German victory in the West: German armies invade the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and two days later enter France. Thoroughly defeated, France signs an armistice on June 22.
	Aug. – Nov.	The Battle of Britain, consisting of sustained air attacks intended as a prelude to invasion. In the end no invasion is attempted.
	Oct. – Nov.	The Jews of Warsaw are herded together into the Warsaw Ghetto.
1941	April 6	German armies invade Yugoslavia and Greece.
	June 22	Invasion of Russia: German armies sweep into the Soviet Union, making vast gains at first.
	Summer	Start of the Holocaust: The Einsatzgruppen begin operating behind the advancing German armies in Russia, rounding up and killing various undesirables, principally Jews, by the tens of thousands.
	Aug. 28	Hitler ends the euthanasia program for the mentally deficient in Germany as a result of public protest mainly from Catholic quarters.
	Nov.	Death camps: Chelmno, considered the first of the death camps, goes into operation, followed within months by Belzec, Sobibor, Majdanek, Treblinka, and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
	Dec. 11	Hitler declares war on the United States, four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
1942	Jan. 20	The Wannsee Conference, called to coordinate “the Final Solution to the Jewish Problem” under the direction of the SS.
	Feb. 8	Albert Speer is put in charge of German war production, which is only just beginning to organize for a long war.
	Oct. 23	El Alamein: British forces push back the German armies at El Alamein; the turning point of the war in North Africa.
	Nov. – Feb. 1943	Stalingrad: Soviet forces counter-attack at Stalingrad on the Volga, surround a large German army, and force its surrender. This is the turning point of the war in Russia.
	Nov. 8	American forces land to join the war in North Africa.
1943	April 19 – May 16	The Warsaw Ghetto is destroyed by military action when the inhabitants offer armed resistance.
	July 10	Allied forces land in Sicily.
	Sept.	Allied forces land on the Italian peninsula and begin their slow advance northwards.
1944	Feb. 13 – 15	Allied aircraft fire-bomb Dresden, an open city.
	June 6	D-Day: Allied armies land in Normandy.
	July 20	An attempt is made on Hitler’s life by a group of mainly upper-class conspirators with army or government connections. It fails, and wide-spread executions follow.
	Aug. 1 – Oct. 2	Warsaw uprising: Polish partisans revolt, but are eventually crushed by German armies while nearby Russian armies fail to intervene.
	Dec. 16 – 25	German forces mount a briefly successful counter-offensive against American forces in the Ardennes (Belgium), the so-called Battle of the Bulge.
1945	Jan. 12	Russian armies begin their final attack, which within a week takes Warsaw and crosses the Vistula.
	March 7	American forces cross the Rhine.
	April 30	Hitler commits suicide.
	May 8	End of the war: The remnants of the Nazi government surrender unconditionally.