Nazi Germany - The Political History

Chronology of Political Events

1813

October 14 - 18 - Battle of Leipzig (Battle of Nations) -
French army defeated by combined armies of Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Sweden
December 22 - Allied armies begin crossing the Rhine River into France, after Napoleon ignores peace offer

1814

March 9 - Battle of Laon -
Prussian army, under General Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, decisively defeats French, seventy-five miles northeast of Paris
March 30 - Battle of Montmartre
French forces defeated in last-ditch defense of Parisw
March 31 - Paris surrenders and Napoleon flees to Fontainebleau
April 4 - Napoleon agrees to abdicate
May 4 - Napoleon lands on Elba, to begin exile
May - First Peace of Paris -
Allies restore Louis XVIII to French throne and conclude treaty
October 1 - Congress of Vienna (October 1, 1814 - June 9, 1815) opens

1815

March - Napoleon escapes exile in Elba and lands in France
June 9 - Final Act of Congress of Vienna adopted
Germanic Confederation -
Congress of Vienna creates Germanic Confederation -
- Number of recognized German political units is reduced from over 300 to just thirty-eight states
- Austria and five kingdoms of Prussia, Hanover, Bavaria, Württemberg, and Saxony become members, as well as free cities of the north
- Austria is assigned permanent presidency of the Confederation
- Federal Constitution creates central legislative body called the Diet to represent member states of the Confederation, although the Diet has little power to force individual member states to accept its decisions
- Rulers of member states are to appoint representatives to the Federal Diet, which will meet periodically at Frankfurt on the Main
- Federal Constitution (Article XIII) provides that member states should have constitutions creating legislative assemblies of the estates
- Constitution authorizes Diet to create a federal army
June 18th - Battle of Waterloo
Napoleon defeated by Anglo-Dutch and Prussian armies under Wellington
October 17 - Napoleon arrives at St. Helena to begin exile
November 20 - Quadruple Alliance treaty signed
Four allied Great Powers (Austria, Britain, Prussia, and Russia) agree to cooperate in maintaining peace in Europe

1816

Student societies - Burschenschaften - are organized at universities across Germany
Branches at sixteen universities form part of a national federation

1817

Burschenschaft of the University of Jena convokes national assembly at Wartburg Castle on the fourth anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig

1819

Karl Sand, a disturbed student, attacks a playwright named Kotzebue, believing him to be a Russian spy, and stabs him to death
August - Clemens von Metternich, Austrian foreign minister, in response to the murder, summons representatives of the principal German states to Carlsbad
Carlsbad representatives draw up a series of decrees, dissolving the Burschenschaften and imposing strict censorship of the press and universities in all the German states
The Federal Diet will later approve the decrees

1830

July Revolution in France
July 27 - Police fire on a crowd gathered at the Place du Palais Royal, killing several protestors
July 28 - July 30 - Three days of street-rioting in Paris force King Charles X to flee
August 2 - Charles X abdicates

1832

June - Federal Diet passes a series of measures intended to limit power of the state representative assemblies
Diet decrees that assemblies do not have the power to limit the authority of their princes and cannot use their financial powers to extract concessions from the princes

1848

February 22 - Opposition forces in Paris assemble for a "reform banquent," likely to include antigovernment speeches
After first refusing to allow the assembly, King Louis Philippe becomes alarmed by the size of the protests on the streets, and dismisses Guizot, his chief minister, in hopes of placating protesters
February 23 - Following an encounter between protesters and soldiers, soldiers fire volley into crowd which kills some fifty people
In response to the shooting, protestors barricade streets at 1500 locations in Paris, and students attack police stations in an attempt to procure arms
Some 370 people have been killed, by the time the clashes between the protesters and the authorities end
February 24 - Louis Philippe abdicates and flees to England
February 29 - Crowds gather in Austrian capital, Vienna, to hear news of unrest in other parts of Europe
unease leads to run on banks, steep rise in food prices, and mounting criticism of government
March 3 - Demonstrators take to streets in Cologne
March 6 - Demonstrations begin in Berlin
March 13 - 15 - Rioting erupts in Vienna and Metternich flees
March 18 - 19 - Protesters in Berlin erect barricades in streets and are fired on by army units.
King Frederick William withdraws troops from Berlin to avoid further bloodshed.
April 28 - France holds elections to Constituent Assembly
May 15 - Radicals in Paris storm the National Assembly but are disbursed by troops and the National Guard
June 21 - Government issues decree requiring recipients of public funds to either leave Paris for public works projects in remote provinces, join the army, or do without public assistance
"June Days" - June 22 - June 26 - unemployed workers and radicals erect barricades and try to take control of Paris
government deploys twenty-four battalions of Mobile Guards in response
some 1,500 revolutionaries are killed by government forces in the initial response; an additional 3,000 are killed in reprisal attacks
October 18 - Street fighting in Frankfort between supporters of the moderate majority and radicals
November 10 - Field Marshall Wrangel, commanding 40,000 Prussian troops, re-enters Berlin, disarms the citizens' guard and restores order.
December 5 - Frederick William IV grants constitution by royal decree
Constitution creates a bicameral legislature - membership in upper house to be mostly hereditary appointments of nobility; membership in lower house elected by district conventions, with voting weighted toward wealthier groups

1849

May 3 - Unrest leads to street fighting in Dresden, capital of the kingdom of Saxony
May 9 - Prussian troops are ordered in to Dresden and some 250 people are killed before order is restored.
May 30 - Frankfurt Parliament's rump votes to meet in Stuttgart
June 18 - Prussian troops enter Stuttgart and disburse rump Parliament meeting
June 23 - Rebels defending Rastatt surrender to Prussian troops, following bombardment

1858

Prussian king Frederick William IV yields throne to brother William, who becomes regent

1860

February - William presents Prussian parliament with army reorganization bill

Bill provides for an increase in number of annual conscripts, effectively doubling size of regular army
Term of service increased to three years
Role of Landwehr (civilian militia) reduced
Military budget increased

Opposition to bill forces William to withdraw proposed legislation, but government requests appropriation of 9,000,000 thaler for the military, an unusually large increase
the Chamber of Deputies approves the request, relying on assurances that the monies will not be used to implement William's reorganization plans
Once money is appropriated, William ignores understanding and begins to put reform plans into effect.

1861

January - William becomes king of Prussia (Kaiser Wilhelm I)

1862

January - William re-submits 1860 proposals, which are rejected by the Chamber of Deputies
William dissolves the Chamber and calls for new elections
May - Elections result in a stronger liberal majority opposing William
September - William appoints Otto von Bismarck as his minister president

1863

November - New Danish constitution declares Schleswig, a province on the border between Prussia and Denmark, to be part of Denmark

1864

Prussia and Austria issue ultimatum to Denmark, demanding revocation of new constitution
Denmark refuses demand, and Prussia and Austria declare war
Danish-Prussian war - Prussian army conducts successful assault of Düppel and final outcome of campaign is a defeat for Denmark

1865

August - Convention of Gastein
Austria and Prussia agree to divide administration of Schleswig and Holstein:
Austria to administer Holstein; Prussia to administer Schleswig

1866

April - Bismarck announces support for reform of Germanic Confederation, which will include the creation of a national assembly elected by universal manhood suffrage
June 1 - Austria brings Schleswig-Holstein dispute with Prussia before the Diet of the Germanic Confederation
Prussia orders troops into Holstein
June 14 - Diet votes in favor of motion to take military action against Prussia
Prussia declares Confederation dissolved

June 24 - Austrians defeat Italians at Custoza
July 3 - Battle of Sadawa (Königgrätz) (Czech Republic, near Elbe River)

Helmuth von Moltke (Moltke the Elder), commanding Prussian forces, defeats larger Austrian army commanded by Lajos von Benedek
Dreyse "needle gun," a breech-loading rifle, employed by Prussian infantry for first time
Prussians are able to fire lying down from concealed positions, with accuracy, before Austrians come into range with muskets
Austrians and Saxons suffer 44,313 casualties; Prussian losses are 9153

Prussian rail network allows Moltke to transport troops quickly

August - Peace of Prague

Austria agrees that it will no longer be a part of Germany
Prussia granted control of the lands of the German allies of Austria
Kingdom of Hannover, free city of Frankfurt, and the duchies of Nassau and Hesse-Cassel become part of Prussia

September - Chamber of Deputies votes to approve compromise proposal by Bismarck
Government admits that it had acted in violation of the constitution by operating without a budget since 1862;
in return Chamber agrees to indemnity bill which legitimizes all past military expenditures
October - Progressive Party splits -
supporters of Bismarck form the National Liberal party

1867

July - Formation of North German Confederation

Comprised of twenty-two German states north of the Main River, now including Saxony
Presidency to be held by the king of Prussia
Bicameral legislature created - consisting of a legislature (Reichstag) and a Federal Council (Bundesrat)
Reichstag members are to be elected by universal manhood suffrage
Reichstag has budgetary powers and the power to debate and approve all laws but not the right to initiate legislation or to control foreign or military policy
Bundesrat delegates are appointed by princes of federal states, the power of veto over Reichstag laws, and the right to approve ammendments proposed by the Reichstag
Prussian dominance reinforced by holding of 17 of 43 seats in the Bundestag, the collection of the federal state delegations which appointed members of the Bundesrat

1870

July 2 - Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, distant relative of Prussian King William I, accepts Spanish throne
July 19 - France declares war on Prussia

August 6 - Battle of Wörth
Prussian Third Army defeats French I Corps in Alsace
August 18 - Battle of Gravelotte
Prussian force of 188,000, under Moltke, attack French force of 113,000, commanded by François Bazain at village of Greavelotte in Lorraine
Despite suffering heavier casualties, Prussians force French to retreat
September 1 - 2 - Battle of Sedan
Prussian and Bavarian force of 200,000 occupy hills above Sedan, trapping French army of 120,000, which is then bombarded by Prussian artillary
September 1 - French suffer over 17,000 casualties in afternoon attempt to dislodge Prussians; 21,000 French troops are captured
September 2 - French emperor Napoleon III, surrenders, along with remaining French army of 83,000

September 3 - October 23 - Blockade of Metz
French Army of the Rhine besieged by Prussians at Metz
French surrender on October 23, after failing to break out of city
September 19 - Prussian army surrounds Paris and begins siege
October 27 - French army fails to break out of Paris

1871

January 19 - Second Paris break-out attempt by French army fails
January 28 - Paris capitulates and concludes armistice treaty with German forces
February 8 - France holds elections for National Assembly
Adolphe Thiers selected as Prime Minister
March 18 - May 28 - Paris Commune

Thiers issues order that National Guard should hand over its artillary to regular army
Troop of cavalry is sent to National Guard munitions park on the Butte Montmartre to remove guns
Cavalry troop is attacked by mob of angry Parisians, and its commanders are killed in the fighting
National Guard forces march on the center of Paris and seize the Hôtel de Ville
Thiers orders government forces to withdraw from Paris; government operations are moved to Versailles
March 26 - General Council of 90 members elected to direct activities of Commune
April 2 - Government forces seize Courbevoie, a suburb of Paris and move to re-take city
May 16 - Army forces enter Paris at undefended point on southwest side
(May 21 - May 28 - Bloody week - army moves to re-capture city
May 28 - End of organized resistance as government forces re-take Paris
Some 20,000 Communards estimated to have been killed in the week following the end of the fighting;
some 40,000 taken prisoner: thousands later deported to New Caledonia, in the South Pacific

April - German imperial constitution promulgated
the newly acquired states, including Alsace-Lorraine, are formally combined with the states of the North German Confederation, created in 1867, to form a united government of Germany
May - Treaty of Frankfurt
France agrees to pay war indemnity of five billion francs
France to be occupied by German troops until indemnity paid
Alsace and most of Lorraine ceded to Germany

1878

May - Assassination attempt on emperor
June - Emperor seriously wounded in second assassination attempt
Bismarck dissolves Reichstag and calls for new elections
October - Anti-Socialist Law introduced and passed by Reichstag
"Subversive" or "socialist" associations and publications were forbidden;
police given broader powers of interrogation, arrest, and expulsion
Socialist leaders leave country or are arrested

1881

Bismarck inaugurates a program of social insurance legislation designed to help workers

1883

Reichstag passes Sickness Insurance Law
employees and employers are to make contributions to finance the plan

1888

March 9 - Kaiser Wilhelm I dies
William's son succeeds to throne, taking tile Frederick III
June 15 - Frederick dies from throat cancer, three months after taking throne
Son, William (Wilhelm II), succeeds to throne

1889

April 20 - Adolf Hitler born

1890

January 24 - Clash between Wilhelm II and Bismarck at privy council meeting over social legislation
March 15 - Meeting between Wilhelm II and Bismarck
Wilhelm has heard that Bismarck has been seeking political support to oppose him
March 18 - Bismarck resigns

1898

July 30 - Bismarck dies at eighty-three

1914

June 28 - Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and wife, assassinated by Serbian separatists in Sarajevo
July 28 - Austria declares war on Serbia
July 29 - Austro-Hungarian forces bombard Belgrade
July 30 - Tsar Nicholas II orders total mobilization in Russia
August 1 - Germany declares war on Russia
August 3 - Germany declares war on France
August 4 - Germany invades Belgium
Britain declares war on Germany
December - German and Allied forces stalemated in trenches along French frontier

1916

July - November - Battle of the Somme
1.2 million men killed or wounded

1917

April 6 - America declares war on Germany
July - November 20 - British commander Haig attempts drive against Germans in Flanders
Third battle of Ypres costs British 150,000 dead and 300,000 wounded or captured

1918

March 3 - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Bolsheviks agree to German demands and pull Russia out of war
March 21 - German spring offensive, planned by General Erich Ludendorff, begins
German army makes huge territorial gains
August 8 - German advance is stopped by English and French counter-attack forcing Germans to retreat
October 3 - Ludendorff, realizing offensive has failed, urges German government to sue for peace
November 4 - Workers in the town of Kiel establish a Workers and Soldiers Council on the Soviet model
November 7 - Bavarian king deposed; Kurt Eisner becomes prime minister
November 8 - Constituent Soldiers, Workers, and Peasants Council established in Munich under the leadership of the Independent Socialist Kurt Eisner
Council proclaims the establishment of a Bavarian Democratic and Social Republic
November 9 - Prince Max von Baden, acting Chancellor, announces that he is relinquishing his duties and turning his office over to Friedrich Ebert, head of the Majority Socialist party, who would serve as Reich Chancellor
Phillip Scheidemann, in the afternoon, in a speech to a mass demonstration in front of the Reichstag declares "long live the great German Republic"
Contingent of 3,000 sailors moves into kaiser's palace to protect the new governement, then refuse to leave
November 9 - Ebert begins working with General Wilhelm Gröner, of Supreme Army Command, to ensure public order against possible Bolshevik opposition
Free corps (Freikorps) beginnings -
Ebert authorizes colleague Gustav Noske to recruit ex-soldiers as a volunteer force to protect government
across Germany, former officers begin organizing ex-soldiers into military bands to cope with local disorder, to fight communism, or to guard the eastern frontiers
November 11 - German representatives sign armistice terms, ending World War I
November 25 - Conference of German states
Representatives of the several states meet in the Berlin Reichs Chancellery to discuss proposals for a constitution
December 16 - 19 - Workers' and Soldiers' Council meets in Berlin
Socialists prevail in voting
December 23 - Spartacists (Spartacus League) (Spartakusbund), a communist group, together with sailors of Volksmarine Division, attempt takeover of government in Berlin
December 25 (Christmas Day) - Army division, commanded by General Lequis, takes up position outside palace, still occupied by sailors, and begins bombardment
Attack destroys much of building, but forces sailors (Spartacists) to capitulate
December 30 - Spartacists rename themseleves Communist Party of Germany (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands)(KPD)

1919

January - Paris Peace Conference begins
January 5 - Street fighting begins in Berlin when Independents and Communists take to streets to oppose Social Democratic government
January 6 - 12 (Bloody Spartacus week)

January 10 - Freikorps units advance into Berlin
Reinhard Brigade re-captures munitions plant at Spandau
Freikorps fighters kill 156 Communists in the battle at the police presidium
Potsdam regiment (Stephani's Free Corps) of the Freikorps massacres defenders of the Vorwärts as they surrender
Attack on the Belle-Alliance Platz involves flame-throwers, machine guns, mortars, and artillery
by the end of the fighting some thousand revolutionaries have been killed

January 15 - Freikorps officers abduct and murder two communist leaders, Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
January 19 - National Assembly elections held across Germany
Social Democrats receive over 11.5 million votes, out of thirty million, giving them 163 seats, out of national assembly's 421
February 6 - Weimar Parliament -
Deputies elected to National Assembly begin meeting in Weimar
February 11 - Weimar delegates elect Friedrich Ebert president of the Reich
Philipp Scheidemann becomes first chancellor
February - Freikorps units move against communists in cities throughout Germany
Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, Halle, and other towns are pacified
February 21 - Bavarian prime minister Kurt Eisner shot to death by Nationalist officer Count Arco-Valley
February 24 - Draft of Weimar Constitution is introduced
March - Communists call general strike in Berlin, which brings renewed fighting
Some 1500 killed in fighting before Freikorps units restore order
March 17 - Social Democrat Johannes Hoffmann chosen minister presiden of Bavaria
March 21 - Bavarian Soviet Republic proclaimed in Munich; Johannes Hoffman and ministers flee
April 7 - Communists, led by Rudolf Egelhofer, oust Bavarian Soviet government
Communists enlist support of workers and unemployed and allow supporters to raid banks, invade homes, and confiscate property
Hoffman government calls for opposition to communist government, asks Berlin government to send Freikorps units
Freikorps units on way to Munich begin killing suspected Communists, including fifty-two Russian war prisoners murdered in their camp, and a group of medics
Communists in Munich, in retaliation for Freikorps killings, shoot members of the nationalistic Thule Society, being held as hostages
May 1 - Freikorps units enter Munich and, after bitter street fighting, retake city
large number of Communists killed in fighting, including many after surrendering
suspected Communist sympathizers killed - twenty-two members of the Catholic St. Joseph's Club are murdered
Communist Fritz Seidel, who had ordered the killing of hostages, is executed, following his capture
April - May - communist uprisings in Magdeburg, Dresden, and Leipzig put down
June 28 - Treaty of Versailles signed by German representatives in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

Under Article 231 of Treaty (War-Guilt Clause), Germany was required to accept responsibility for the war
Treaty includes demand that Kaiser Wilhelm II be tried for war crimes
in 1920 the Netherlands government would refuse Allied demands to surrender Wilhelm, who had taken refuge in Holland at the end of the war, questioning the legality of the request
Germany required to make reparations, although the final amount will not be set until 1921
Size of German army limited to 100,000 officers and men; navy ship size limited to 10,000 tons, with no submarines

August 11 - Weimar Constitution adopted
Article 48 of constitution provides that chancellor can rule by emergency decree
September 12 - Adolf Hitler attends meeting of German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)(DAP), later joins
46 people in attendance
November 18 - General Paul von Hindenburg, appearing before national assembly's committee investigating the conduct of the war, claims that the German army had not lost the war, but had been "stabbed in the back" by the political parties
Nationalists will later use phrase in attacks on the "November criminals" - the representatives who had signed the Armistice Agreement in 1918

1920

February 24 - Hitler speaks before crowd of nearly 2,000 at first mass meeting of the German Workers' Party in Munich's Hofbräuhaus
March - German Workers' Party (DAP) changes name to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) (Nazi Party)
March - Kapp Putsch
Commanders of Freikorps units attempt to set up military dictatorship in Berlin

March 12 - Free Corps units, commanded by General Walther von Luettwitz and Captain Hermann Ehrhardt (Ehrhardt Brigade), advance toward Berlin from Döberitz, some twenty-five miles from Berlin
Reichswehr army units in Berlin do not move to defend city
Ebart government flees Berlin; once reaches Dresden, calls for a general strike in Berlin
March 13 (Saturday) - Free Corps force reaches Berlin and occupies abandoned chancellery and government offices
announce that Ebert government has been deposed
new Reich chancellor is Dr. Wolfgang Kapp, provincial director of East Prussia
workers and trade unionists refuse to work, in response to Ebert government's call for a general strike
strike paralyzes city - streetcars do not run, electricity is cut off, and water supply dwindles
March 17 - Free Corp units, acknowledging that coup has failed, march back to barracks at Döberitz
units, while leaving, fire into crowd at the Brndenburg Gate, killing some bystanders

March 21 - Plebiscite in Silesia
majority - 700,000 - vote to keep Upper Silesia German; supporters of Polish rule receive 479,000 votes
Polish volunteer units clash with German Free Corps units
League of Nations sets up committee which later decides to partition Upper Silesia, contrary to German wishes
April 1 - Adolf Hitler honorably discharged from the German Army
April - Reacting to Kapp Putsch, workers in the Ruhr and Saxon Vogtland, organize armed units to oppose any right-wing coup
June 6 - National elections -
Government coalition suffers major defeat - voting support drops from 19 million to 11 million;
support of rightist parties increases from 5.6 million to 9.1 million;
Communists increase from 2.1 to 5.3 million votes
November - First Assembly of the League of Nations takes place in Geneva

1921

May - Allied Reparations Commission sets total German war reparations at 132 billion gold marks (32 billion dollars)
debt to be repaid at six percent interest over 37 years
August 3 - Sturmabteilung Hitler (SA - Assault Detachment Hitler) (Storm Troopers) (Brown Shirts) - Ernst Röhm's unit of strong-arm recruits receives official designation within Nazi Party
August - Matthias Erzberger, one of Signatories of November 1918 armistice, murdered while walking in the Black Forest
November 4 - Battle in the Hofbräuhaus - SA storm troopers engage in brawl with Social Democratic hecklers at meeting
despite injuries storm troopers and Nazi supporters remain in control of hall
"myth of the SA" as an organization to be feared is created
NSDAP membership reaches 6000

1922

Genoa Conference -
April 16 (Easter Sunday) - Rapallo Treaty - German delegation, under Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau, agrees to pact of friendship and collaberation with Soviet Union
June - Walter Rathenau shot and killed while driving to work in Berlin
November 1 - March on Rome -
Benito Mussolini and Fascist supporters (Blackshirts) enter Rome to take control of government

1923

January - Hermann Göring replaces Ernst Röhm as head of the SA
January 11 - France and Belgian troop occupy Ruhr
French prime minister, Raymond Poincaré, uses German failure to make scheduled timber and coal shipments, as pretext to dispatch troops in
French and Belgian occupation force totals 100,000 men by summer
January 28 - Nazi Party Day -
Hitler defies Munich authorities to hold open-air rally attended by 6,000 storm troopers
March - SS (Schutzstaffel) (protection squad) beginnings -
Hitler creates Headquarters Guard (Saalschutz) as a personal protection force
May - Headquarters Guard is replaced by Raiding Squad (Stosstrup) Adolf Hitler, a larger, more organized unit
Summer - Government support of passive resistance to French occupation of the Ruhr leads to severe inflation
August 1923 - Reichsbank issuing 46 billion fresh marks per day
November 8 - Munich Beerhall Putsch
Hitler attempts ouster of Bavarian government
leads detachment of storm troopers into Bürgerbräukeller, climbs on table and fires shot into ceiling, before declaring that Reich and Bavarian governments deposed
November 9 - Street battle between Bavarian police and Hitler's followers leaves four state policemen and fourteen of Hitler's followers dead
November 11 - Hitler arrested

1924

February 26 - Treason trial of Hitler and followers begins in Munich
March 27 - Treason trial ends
April 1 - Hitler found guilty, sentenced to five years in prison, but eligible for parole in six months
August 16 - Dawes Plan agreement-
Agreement provides for reduction of German reparations payments and withdrawal of French forces from the Ruhr within a year
December 20 - Hitler released from Landsberg prison

1925

January 3 - Mussolini declares himself dictator of Italy
February 28 - Friedrich Ebert, first president of Germany, dies from effects of ruptured appendix
March - SS (Schutzstaffel) (Protection Squad) created
Hitler orders Julius Schreck to re-organize security detail and to create a new unit for personal security
March 29 - German presidential election
Seven candidates run, but none receives a majority
April 26 - run-off election -
Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg wins with 14,655,766 votes, defeating Catholic party's Wilhelm Marx, (13,751,615 votes) and Communist party's Ernst Thälmann (1,931,151 votes)
April 17 - Ernst Röhm resigns as leader of SA
August 2 - Heinrich Himmler joins SS
November 9 - SS officially recognized as an organization within the Nazi Party
NSDAP membership increases to 27,117

1926

April - Josef Berchtold replaces Julius Schreck as leader of the SS
Erhard Heiden becomes Berchtold's deputy
Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugen) established
September 9 - Germany admitted to League of Nations
November - SS subordinated to SA
NSDAP membership increases to 49,573

1927

September - Himmler becomes Erhard Heiden's deputy in SS

1928

General election - NSDAP receives 810,000 votes, for 12 out of 491 seats in the Reichstag

1929

January 20 - Heinrich Himmler becomes National Leader of the SS
October 3 - Gustav Stresemann, German foreign minister, dies suddenly of a stroke
October 24 - Great Crash - New York Stock Exchange Crash

1930

July - Otto Strasser (brother of Gregor Strasser) leaves NSDAP to set up rival Union of Revolutionary Socialists (Black Front)
SA membership increases during year to between 60,000 and 100,000
August 23 - Walter Stennes, SA-Oberführer Ost (SA-Senior Leader East), with SA members, attempts to meet with Hitler to pressure for greater SA funding and influence;
Hitler refuses to meet with delegation
August 28 - SA members invade Berlin NSDAP headquarters and beat up business manager
August 30 - mob of Berlin SA members attacks party headquarters, beats up seven SS guards, and smashes furniture
Berlin police called in and arrest twenty-five SA members
SA dispute leads to recall of Ernst Röhm to head SA
September elections - NSDAP receives 6,371,000 votes, for 107 out of 491 seats in the Reichstag
Nazi Party becomes second-largest party after the Social Democrats

1931

Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst) (SD) established as a separate unit of the SS by Himmler

1932

Hindenburg's presidential term due to expire on May 5
Hindenburg stands for re-election
Elections scheduled for March 13
February 22 - Joseph Goebbels announces Hitler's candidacy for President
February 26 - Hitler becomes German citizen
Hitler had not been a citizen of Germany prior to that time
March 13 election - Nearly 38 million votes cast
Hindenburg receives 18,651,497, 49.7 per cent of votes, but is 170,000 votes short of majority
Hitler receives 11,339,446 million votes, for 30.2 per cent
April 10 - Second presidential election round
Hindenburg re-elected with 19,359,983 million votes (53 per cent)
Hitler increases vote to 13,418,547 million (36.8 per cent)
April 14 - Chancellor Heinrich Brüning decrees suppression of S.A. and S.S.
May 30 - Hindenburg names Franz von Papen chancellor, replacing Brüning
July 31 - Reichstag elections -
Nazi candidates make signifigant gains - delegates increase from 108 to 230 delegates
September 12 - Reichstag dissolved
November 6 - national elections for Reichstag seats
Nazis lose votes, and 34 seats, for 196 deputies
Chancellor Papen's support reduced to 62 delegates, out of 584 seats
December 2 - General Kurt von Schleicher appointed chancellor, replacing Papen
Nazi party membership at end of 1932 is 450,000

1933

January 30 - Hindenburg appoints Hitler chancellor
February 1 - Hindenbeurg dissolves the Reichstag, paving way for new elections
February 27 - Reichstag fire
Reichstag building destroyed by fire
February 28 - Reichstag Fire Decree -
Hitler, as chancellor, persuades Hindenburg to sign emergency decree, suspending civil liberties and freedom of the press
opposition leaders are arrested
March 5 - Reichstag elections
Nazi representation in Reichstag increases from 196 to 288
March 21 - Reichstag opens in Potsdam
March 22 - Himmler establishes centralized concentration camp at Dachau, a Munich suburb
March 23 - Enabling Act passed by Reichstag
Reichstag, by vote of 444 to 94, grants government power to legislate without the Reichstag for next four years
Nazis had used control of the police forces to arrest the 81 Communist delegates
April 1 - Himmler appointed Commander of the Bavarian political police
Reinhard Heydrich becomes executive deputy
Heydrich oversees expanding Bavarian Intelligence Service (Sicherheitsdienst) (SD)
July 14 - law declares NSDAP the only political party in Germany and provides for prison sentences for creating or supporting other parties
September 21 - December 23 - Trial for burning of Reichstag fire
Dutchman Marinus van der Lubbe found guilty and sentenced to death

1934

January 10 - Marinus van der Lubbe, convicted for Reichstag fire, beheaded
January 30 - Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich -
Popular assemblies of the states abolished and sovereign powers transferred to the Reich and governors put under authority of the Reich Ministry of the Interior
April - Göring creates the Secret State Police Office (Geheime Staatspolizeiamt (Gestapo), from section IA, a unit of the Prussian police
Himmler appointed as director
Gestapo officers allowed to arrest and detain suspects on their own authority, without judicial review or authorization
June 30 - July 1 - "Night of the Long Knives"
Purge of the SA - Leaders of the SA and political rivals of Hitler are arrested and executed by firing squad or assassinated by SS and Gestapo units
between 85 and 200 believed to have been killed during purge
former chancellor von Schleicher, along with his wife, shot at their home in Neu-Babelsburg
July 1 - Ernst Röhm shot in his cell in Stadelheim Prison
July 26 - Hitler declares SS is to be considered an independent organization within the NSDAP, rather than an organizational part of the SA
August 2 - Hindenburg dies of lung cancer

1935

January 30 - Formation of the SS Main Office (SS-Hauptamt)
Himmler reorganizes the command structure of the SS
Inspectorate of Concentration Camps created as part of reorganization
February 2 - Hitler decrees that SS-Special Purpose Troops will be organized into a war-time division
effectively turning SS units into army formations

1936

March 7 - German troops occupy the Rhineland (demilitarized zone between Germany and France)
June 17 - Heinrich Himmler appointed chief of German police
June 26 - Reinhard Heydrich appointed head of the SD
July 17 - Spanish Civil War begins
August 1-16 - Summer Olympic Games held in Berlin
September 23 - Sachsenhausen concentration camp opens in Germany
Would hold some 200,000 prisoners during course of its existence, with 30,000 deaths
October 25 - Hitler and Benito Mussolini sign treaty forming Berlin-Rome Axis
November 25 - Anti-Comintern Pact signed between Japan and Germany

1937

July 15 - Buchenwald concentration camp established in Thuringia, close to Weimark
would house over 250,000 prisoners, of which 56,000 would die

1938

March 12 - German troops move into Austria
Pro-Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart appointed chancellor
Seyss-Inquart requests German troops to restore order in Austria
Austria proclaimed province of German Reich
May - Flossenbürg concentration camp, in Bavaria, opens
will operate until April 1945
Some 30,000 prisoners will die, out of 96,000 inmates housed there
September 30 - Munich Conference
Four powers - England, France, Italy, and Germany - agree to German annexation of Sudetenland
(German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia)
German forces move into Sudetenland
Neville Chamberlain, prime minister of Great Britain proclaims "Peace for our Time" on return to England
November 7 - Third secretary of German embassy in Paris, Ernst vom Rath,shot and killed by seventeen-year-old Jewish refugee Herschel Grynszpan
November 9 and 10 - Kristallnacht (Crystal Night or Night of Broken Glass)
S.A. and SS-led mobs attack Jewish businesses and synagogues across Germany and Austria
Ninety-one Jews are killed; 267 synagogues are desecrated and destroyed; store windows of Jewish shops are smashed; more than 7,000 Jewish businesses are looted; insurance claims for broken glass amount to five million marks
December - SS begins renovation of closed factory at Neuengamme
Over the course of the war, Neuengamme will receive over 100,000 prisoners used as forced labor for armaments industry - More than half will die

1939

March 15 - German troops occupy Prague, Czechoslovakia
March 16 - Hitler proclaims Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
All of Czechoslovakia incorporated into Reich
April 1 - Spanish Civil War ends leaving Francisco Franco in control of Spain
May 22 - Pact of Steel
Germany signs agreement with Italy
August 23 - German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact) signed in Moscow
Secret protocol provides that Poland will be divided between Russia and Germany
August - Hitler assigns Himmler and SS task of eliminating members of the Polish ruling class
Himmler and Bernhard Heydrich organize special task units (Einsatzkommandos)
September 1 - Germany invades Poland
September 3 - Britain and France declare war on Germany
September 17 - Eastern Poland invaded by the Soviet Union
September 27 - German troops capture Warsaw, Poland
Himmler reports that special command group (Einsatzgruppen), mobile killing squads, have eliminated most of Polish upper class - civilian deaths numbering in the tens of thousands
September 28 - Poland surrenders and is partitioned between Germany and the Soviet Union
November 8 - Hitler survives bombing assassination attempt in Munich
November 30 - Russian forces invade Finland
Winter War will last until March 12, 1940, when Finland surrenders

1940

April 8 - German forces invade Norway
April 27 - Himmler orders establishment of concentration camp at Auschwitz, 40 miles west of Crakow
May 10 - Operation Yellow - German forces launch attacks against France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg
May 22 - June 4 - British and French forces evacuated from Dunkirk
June - Auschwitz concentration camp opens
June 22 - France surrenders
July - September - Battle of Britain
Luftwaffe bombers attack targets in England

1941

March 1 - Himmler orders expansion of Auschwitz - Auschwitz II (Birkenau)
June 22 - Operation Barbarossa
German army of 3 million men launches invasion of Russia
September - Zyklon B, a delousing agent, first used to gas Russian POWs at Birkenau
September 29 - 30 - Babi Yar massacre
Einsatzgruppen and Security Police commandos execute over 33,000 Jews at Babi Yar, near Kiev, Ukraine
October - Construction of expansion of Auschwitz-Birkenau begins
Estimated 1.1 to 1.5 million people killed during camp's existence
December 5-6 - Russian counter-attacks force German army to pull back after reaching outskirts of Moscow
December 7 - Japanese attack on U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor
Hitler promulgates Night and Fog Decree (der Nacht und Nebel Erlass) - German troops were to execute civilians in occupied nations
prisoners were to "vanish without leaving a trace"
German losses in 1941 in Russia were 918,000 killed, captured, wounded, and missing

1942

February - Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel issues order implementing "Night and Fog Decree" - German troops to execute civilians in occupied nations
May 27 - Reinhard Heydrich, Reichsprotektor, (administrator) of Bohemia and Moravia, mortally wounded in assassination attempt near Prague, when grenade explodes underneath his car
June 4 - Heydrich dies from septicimia
June 9 - 10 - Lidice massacre
SS officers and police, in retaliation for Heydrich's death, execute 199 men and 47 women, in the Czech village of Lidice
August 23 - Battle of Stalingrad begins
German Sixth Army reaches suburbs of Stalingrad
October 23 - November 4 - Battle of El Alamein
British forces, under General Montgomery, defeat Rommel's Afika Korps

1943

February 2 - Battle of Stalingrad ends
German Sixth Army, under General von Paulus, surrenders to Russian forces.
July 4 - August 17 - Operation Citadel (Battle of Kursk)
German offensive against city of Kursk is repulsed by Russians

1944

June 6 - Normandy invasion - D-Day
Allied forces begin invasion of France with landing on beaches of Normandy
July 20 - Hitler survives assassination attempt
Colonel Klaus von Stauffenberg leaves briefcase containing bomb under table near Hitler at Rastenburg headquarters
Explosion kills several generals, but only injures Hitler.
December - Battle of the Bulge
American forces repulse German counterattack

1945

April 30 - Hitler shoots himself in Berlin bunker
May 2 - Berlin falls
Last German fighting units in Berlin surrender to Russian forces
May 7 - General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender of the Third Reich