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Contents |
1938
September
September 30
- Munich Agreement is signed.
December
December 6
- The German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop visits Paris, where he was allegedly informed by the French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet that France now recognized all of Eastern Europe as Germany’s exclusive sphere of influence. Bonnet's alleged statement (Bonnet always denied making the remark) to Ribbentrop was to be a major factor in German policy in 1939
1939
January
January 23
- The British government in the grip of the “Dutch War Scare”. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris of the Abwehr leaks misinformation to the effect that Germany planned to invade the Netherlands in February with the aim of using Dutch air-fields to launch a strategic bombing offensive against Britain. The “Dutch War Scare” leads to a major change in British policies towards Europe.
January 27
- Adolf Hitler orders Plan Z, a 5-year naval expansion programme intended to provide for a huge German fleet capable of crushing the Royal Navy by 1944. The Kriegsmarine given the first priority on the allotment of German economic resources. First and only time the Kriegsmarine given the first priority in the history of the Third Reich.
February
February 6
- In response to the "Dutch War Scare", the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain states in the House of Commons that any German attack on France would be automatically considered an attack on Britain.
March
March 14, 1939
- The pro-German Slovak Republic created with Jozef Tiso as its first prime minister.
March 15, 1939
- The German Army invades Czechoslovakia. They take control of it.
- Germany establishes the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The protectorate includes those portions of Czechoslovakia not incorporated into Germany, Poland, Hungary, or the new Slovak Republic.
March 17, 1939
- Neville Chamberlain gives a speech in Birmingham stating Britain will oppose any German effort to dominate the world.
March 18
- The beginning of the “Romanian War Scare” when Virgil Tilea, the Romanian Minister in London spreads false rumours that Romania was under the verge of a German attack.
March 20, 1939
- German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop delivers an oral ultimatum to Lithuania demanding to return Klaipėda Region.
- At an emergency meeting in London to deal with the Romanian crisis, the French Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet suggests to Lord Halifax that the ideal state for saving Romania from a German attack is Poland.
March 21, 1939
- Adolf Hitler demands return of the Free City of Danzig to Germany.
March 31, 1939
- The United Kingdom and France offer the "guarantee" of Polish independence.
April
April 1, 1939
- End of Spanish Civil War
April 3, 1939
- Adolf Hitler orders German military to start planning for Fall Weiss, the codename for the attack on Poland to be launched on August 25, 1939.
April 7, 1939
April 13, 1939
April 18, 1939
- The Soviet Union proposes a triple alliance with the United Kingdom and France. The British and French agree to take up the offer.
April 28, 1939
- In a speech before the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler renounces the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact
May
May 3, 1939
- Vyacheslav Molotov succeeds Maxim Litvinov as Soviet Foreign Commissar.
May 6, 1939
- Carl Friedrich Goerdeler tells the British government that the German and Soviet governments are secretly beginning a rapprochement with the aim of dividing Eastern Europe between them. Goerdeler also informs the British of German economic problems which he states were threatening the survival of the Nazi regime, and advises that if a firm stand is made for Poland, then Hitler would be deterred from war.
May 17, 1939
June
June 14, 1939
- Tientsin Incident, Japanese blockade the British concession in the North China Treaty Port of Tientsin.
July
July 10, 1939
- Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain reaffirms support for Poland and makes it clear that Britain did not view Free City of Danzig as being an internal German-Polish affair and would intervene on behalf of Poland if hostilities broke out between the two countries.
August
August 23, 1939
- Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact,also known as the Nazi-Soviet pact, a non-aggression treaty, is signed between Nazi Germany and Soviet Union with secret provisions for the division of Eastern Europe - joint occupation of Poland and Soviet occupation of the Baltic States, Finland and Bessarabia. This protocol gave Hitler the green light for his invasion of Poland, which began on September 1.
August 25, 1939
- In response to a message from Benito Mussolini that Italy would not honor the Pact of Steel if Germany attacked Poland in 1939, Hitler delays the launch of Fall Weiss by five days to provide more time to secure British and French neutrality.
See also
- Timeline of World War II
- Events preceding World War II in Europe
- Events preceding World War II in Asia
External links
- French Yellow Book
- Nazi-Soviet relations 1939-1941 Nazi-Soviet relations 1939-1941 (complete)
- British War Bluebook
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