Nazi Germany Timeline of Events

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Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

Timeline of Events

1933

3.21.1933

Construction of Dachau, the first Nazi Germany concentration camp, is completed.

4.26.1933

The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, is established.

10.14.1933

Nazi Germany withdraws from The League of Nations.

10.17.1933

Albert Einstein, fleeing Nazi Germany, moves to the U.S..

10.21.1933

Adolf Hitler withdraws Nazi Germany from the League of Nations

1934

1.1.1934

Nazi Germany passes the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring".

7.25.1934

The Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in a failed coup attempt.

1935

9.15.1935

Nazi Germany adopts a new national flag with the swastika.

1937

5.6.1937

Hindenburg disaster: The German zeppelin ''Hindenburg'' catches fire and is destroyed within a minute while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six people are killed.

1938

3.12.1938

''Anschluss:'' German troops occupy Austria.

3.13.1938

Anschluss of Austria to the Third Reich.

10.10.1938

The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.

1939

3.14.1939

Slovakia declares independence under German pressure.

3.15.1939

World War II: German troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist.

8.31.1939

Nazi Germany mounts a staged attack on the Gleiwitz radio station, creating an excuse to attack Poland the following day thus starting World War II in Europe.

9.1.1939

World War II: Nazi Germany invades Poland, beginning the war in Europe.

9.2.1939

World War II: following the start of the invasion of Poland the previous day, the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) is annexed by Nazi Germany.

9.10.1939

World War II: Canada declares war on Nazi Germany, joining the Allies of World War II|Allies

9.17.1939

World War II: The Soviet Union joins Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.

9.28.1939

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland after their invasion during World War II.

10.16.1939

World War II: First attack on British territory by the German Luftwaffe.

1940

4.8.1940

World War II: The United Kingdom and France announce that they have mined Norwegian territorial waters to prevent their use by German supply ships.

4.15.1940

The Allies begin their attack on the Norwegian town of Narvik which is occupied by Nazi Germany.

5.9.1940

World War II: The German submarine ''U-9'' sinks the French coastal submarine Doris near Den Helder.

5.13.1940

World War II: Germany's conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse. Winston Churchill makes his "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech to the House of Commons.

5.14.1940

World War II: Rotterdam is bombed by the German Luftwaffe.

5.15.1940

World War II: After fierce fighting, the poorly trained and equipped Dutch troops surrender to Germany, marking the beginning of five years of occupation.

5.27.1940

World War II: In the Le Paradis massacre, 99 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops. Two survive.

6.3.1940

World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk ends with a German victory and with Allied forces in full retreat.

6.22.1940

France is forced to sign the Second Compiègne armistice with Germany.

6.23.1940

World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler surveys newly defeated Paris in now occupied France.

11.11.1940

The German cruiser ''Atlantis'' captures top secret British mail, and sends it to Japan.

11.14.1940

World War II: In England, the city of Coventry is heavily bombed by German Luftwaffe bombers. Coventry Cathedral is almost completely destroyed.

1941

4.6.1941

World War II: Nazi Germany launches Operation 25 (the invasion of Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and Operation Marita (the invasion of Greece).

4.17.1941

World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.

5.10.1941

World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.

8.18.1941

Adolf Hitler orders a temporary halt to Nazi Germany's systematic T4 euthanasia program of the mentally ill and the handicapped due to protests.

9.16.1941

World War II: concerned that Reza Pahlavi the Shah of Persia is about to ally his petroleum-rich empire with Nazi Germany during World War II, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union invade Iran in late August and force the Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

9.22.1941

World War II: On Jewish New Year Day, the German SS murder 6,000 Jews in Vinnytsya, Ukraine. Those are the survivors of the previous killings that took place a few days earlier in which about 24,000 Jews were executed.

10.23.1941

World War II: Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov takes command of Red Army operations to prevent the further advance into Russia of German forces and to prevent the Wehrmacht from capturing Moscow.

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