Causes / Events that led to

World War Two Timeline

Joshua Feneley
Treaty of Versailles
Written and signed June 28, 1919
Main clauses that Germany objected to –
• War guilt clause – When it was signed, most of
the blame was put on Germany’s hostility for
starting the First World War. But Germans felt
that all the countries involved in the War were
responsible.
• Territorial losses – When Germany had lost its
claimed territory, it deprived it of industrial and
natural resources. One of these being 40% of their
coal production, 10% of its population, and 13%
of its territory.
• Disarmament – This act placed major restriction
on German military. It reduced Germany’s army
to 100,000 soldiers.
• Reparations - It also caused major poverty after
they had to pay back £6.6 billion (12.8in
reparation costs.
Adolf Hitler joins the Nazi Party
Joined September 1919
Hitler joined the Deutsche
Arbeiterpartei (DAP; German
Workers' Party) in September 1919.
This was the first step to his rise in
power. The strong nationalist and anti-
Semitic beliefs of the political party
drew Hitler in which was what made
him join. He also joined because he
claimed, “it was small, and he could
eventually become its leader”
(Wikipedia, 2024). This would help
Hitler rise to power quicker to get
more control over Germany.
The Great Depression
Started October 1929
This is the biggest economical decrease
in stock market history. In October of
1929, the stock market crashed, wiping
out billions of dollars of wealth and
heralding the Great Depression. As a
result, banks began to fail, hundreds of
thousands of business had shut down,
and millions were unemployed. This
“economic instability led to political
instability in many parts of the world”
(Library of Congress, no date), which
allowed for other foreign countries to
rise in political power, like Hitler for
example.
Japanese seizure of Manchuria Happened
September 18, 1931
Japan needed an economic
improvement after The Great
Depression. And it also needed
more raw material suppliers, and
Manchuria had lots of them. The
League of Nations showed
significant disapproval in what
Japan was trying to do, and as a
result, Japan withdrew from the
league in 1933.
Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
Appointed January 30, 1933
Although the Nazi vote share
dropped by 4%, on January 30,
1933, Hindenburg invited Hitler
to serve as Chancellor of the
right-wing coalition government.
In less than two months,
Germany would transform into a
Nazi dictatorship. Now Hitler
was able to turn Germany into a
Nazi Dictatorship, which could
later be used to attack Poland in
1939.
Night of the Long Knives
Happened 30 June 1934-2 July 1934
The Night of the Long Knives, also
known as Operation Hummingbird, was
when Hitler called upon the SS, also
known as the Schutzstaffel (his
bodyguards) and asked them to eliminate
any political opponents that could stand
in his way. These being from the
Sturmabteilung, the SA. There were
almost 400 victims who died because of
this act of genocide. Hitler said that they
were planning an uprising in order to
cover up what really happened. This was
initially done to keep the SA from
growing too high in power. This would
get Hitler higher up in power and would
help him become absolute ruler.
President Hindenburg dies
Happened August 2, 1934
Hindenburg was 87 when he
died and had been president over
Germany for nearly 10 years. He
died of lung cancer. After his
death, Adolf Hitler became the
new Führer (absolute ruler) of
Germany. This was what he
needed to invade other countries
before WW2 began.
Italian invasion of Abyssinia
Happened October 3, 1935
Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator, and
founder of the National Fascist Party had
set to invade Abyssinia. This was so they
could improve their wealth and
reputation. Abyssinia demanded to the
league that they needed to fight against
Italy. In November 1935 the League gave
Italy “no arms sales to Italy and a ban on
importing Italian goods” (Jacaranda, no
date) to force an Italian withdrawal.
Because the league didn’t fully
acknowledge the situation, Hitler tried to
invade Czechoslovakia and Poland later
right under their noses.
German troops move into the Rhineland
Happened March 7, 1936
Hitler sent about 20,000 troops into
Rhineland. This was because the Treaty of
Versailles seemed like a hostile threat to
Germany and Hitler claimed that
Rhineland could “be used by France to
invade Germany” (ohc_admin, 2023).
Thus, breaking the rules of the established
treaty. Neither France nor Britain knew
that there was going to be a militarised
response. They also couldn’t do anything
because at the moment, both nations were
not willing to risk the outbreak of another
war. So, because they failed to act, Hitler
began taking over other nations from all
around and kept defying more and more
rules of the treaty. This growth in territory
would later give Hitler domestic support in
Japanese invasion of China
Happened July 7, 1937
This attack on China marked the
start of the Second Sino-
Japanese War. They wanted to
gain access to the raw materials
and markets that China had and
exploit it for their own benefit.
This was known as the Marco
Polo bridge incident. This lead to
increased tensions between the
two nations and in a few years
end up being a part of WW2.
German Anschluss with Austria
Happened March 11-13, 1938
The Anschluss (annexation) of
Austria for Germany was done
because of what Hermann Göring,
a German politician, said about
the country. He said that Austria
was rich of iron, and that
Germany needed iron in order to
fix the problem with not meeting
demand for steel in Germany. This
allowed for Germany to be
strengthened throughout its
southern borders.
Munich Agreement/German invasion of
Czechoslovakia
Happened September 30, 1938
After the Anschluss of Austria,
the Munich Agreement
(September 30, 1938), was an
agreement between Germany,
Britain, France, and Italy that
enabled Germany to annex the
Sudetenland in western
Czechoslovakia. And during the
war, the country served as “a
reliable source for industrial
goods” (Malloryk, 2020).
Italian seizure of Albania
Happened 7 April 1939
Despite Albania's historical
alliance with Italy, Italian troops
invaded the country on 7 April
1939, five months prior to the
outbreak of the Second World
War. They again did this to boost
Italian prestige. Italy had used it
as a puppet state during WW2.
German invasion of Poland
Happened September 1, 1939
With Hitler’s sudden increase of
power, he would be able to attack
Poland. He attacked because he
considered the Polish people
“only fit as a work force” (Anne
Frank Website, no date). This
was because he wanted to regain
territory he had lost because of
the Treaty of Versailles. This
move was the first move to be
made for World War 2.
Bibliography (1)
The Treaty of Versailles (article) (no date) Khan Academy. Khan Academy. Available at:
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/rise-to-world-power/us-in-wwi/a/the-treaty-of-versailles#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20most%20controversial,staggering%20amount%20of%20%245
%20billion
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The Treaty of Versailles (no date) Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/The-Treaty-of-Versailles (Accessed: 27 February 2024).

(No date) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Available at: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/treaty-of-versailles (Accessed: 27
February 2024).

Resentment towards the Treaty of Versailles - Why the Nazis achieved power - Higher History Revision - BBC Bitesize (no date) BBC News. BBC. Available at:
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Great Depression (2024) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression (Accessed: 4 March 2024).

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The start of the Second World War: Germany invades Poland (no date) Anne Frank Website. Available at:
https://www.annefrank.org/en/timeline/24/the-start-of-the-second-world-war-germany-invades-poland/#:~:text=S%C4%99p%C3%B3lno%20Kraje%C5%84skie%20(Poland)%2C%201%20September%20
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Bibliography (2)
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ohc_admin (2023) Hitler Reoccupies the Rhineland, Ohio History Connection. Available at:
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Anschluss (2024) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anschluss#:~:text=In%20April%201937%2C%20in%20a,noted%20was%20rich%20in%20iron. (Accessed: 4 March 2024).

Munich Agreement (2024) Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/Munich-Agreement (Accessed: 4 March 2024).

Malloryk (2020) Calling All Czechs! The Prague Uprising of 1945: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans, The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. The National World War II Museum. Available at:
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Invasion of Manchuria (no date) Invasion of Manchuria | Harry S. Truman. Available at: https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/presidential-inquiries/invasion-manchuria (Accessed: 4 March 2024).
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