Early timeline of Nazism

The early timeline of Nazism begins with its origins in 1896 and continues until Hitler's rise to power.

This timeline is coded with words in parentheses. Key events in the Weimar republic have the words "key event in the Weimar republic" in parenthesis at the end of the sentence. Events solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler have the words "event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler". Events relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors have the words "event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors". Particularly important international events are bolded and also have the words "particularly important international event". Some events have the word "blue" in parenthesis, but it is not clear what this means.

Prehistory of National Socialism

*1896 The Czech National Socialist Party is formed. (particularly important international event)
*1897 Franko Stein moves a small periodical "Der Hammer" from Vienna to Eger. (blue)
*May 1898 Maurice Barrès, while standing as a nationalist candidate for Nancy, France, coins the term "Socialist Nationalism". (particularly important international event)
*1898 German Workers Congress organized by Stein in Eger (Cheb). (blue)
*Apr 1902 Organization of Nationalistic Labor took place in Saaz. (blue)
*Nov 15, 1903 Deutsche Arbeiterpartei in Österreich formed. (DAP) (blue)
*1904 Hans Knirsch proposes to add "National Socialist" to the Austrian DAP name; rejected by party congress confrees. (blue)
*1909 "All-Austrian" congress of the German Workers’ Party held in Prague. (blue)

World War I

1914

*Aug 1, 1914 World War I breaks out.
*Aug 2, 1914 Adolf Hitler receives permission to enlist; joins the 16th Reserve Infantry Regiment in Munich (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Oct 30, 1914 Adolf Hitler transferred to regimental staff as runner. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Nov 1, 1914 Adolf Hitler promoted to "Gefreiter" (senior private). (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)

1918

*Mar 7, 1918 Anton Drexler organized a branch of German Workers’ Peace in Munich. (event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors)
*Jul 17, 1918 Adolf Hitler saves life of 9th Company Commander (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Aug 4, 1918 Adolf Hitler awarded Iron Cross 1st Class. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Oct 13, 1918 Adolf Hitler gassed near Ypres. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Nov 7, 1918 100,000 workers march on the Royal House of Wittelsbach. Kaiser Wilhelm flees.
*Nov 8, 1918 All 22 of Germany’s lesser kings, princes, grand dukes, and ruling dukes had been desposed.
* " " Kaiser Wilhelm told to abdicate
*Nov 9, 1918 Emil Eichhorn, radical leftist of the Independent Socialists, led an armed mob; seized the HQ of Berlin
* " " Kaiser Wilhelm consents to abdicate.
* " " Social Democrats demand government from Prince Max.
* " " Friedrich Ebert assumes the chancellery.
* " " First German Republic established.
*Nov 11, 1918 First World War ended.
*Nov 19, 1918 Hitler discharged from hospital at Pasewalk. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Mid Dec, 1918 First Freikorps unit formed; Maercker Volunteer Rifles.

1919

*Jan 1919 Independent Socialists & Spartacist League staged large protests, known as the Spartacist uprising. Large sections of Berlin seized.
* " " German Workers’ Peace party renamed German Workers Party. (event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors)
*Jan 10, 1919 Battle of Berlin begins; Counter-revolution with Freikorps taking crucial role.
*Jan 13, 1919 Battle of Berlin finished.
* " " German Gov. moved to the city of Weimar.
*Mar 3, 1919 2nd Battle for Berlin; Communists seize Berlin;
* " " Gustav Noske appointed dictator of Germany.
*Mar 7, 1919 Communist Strike Committee withdraws proclamation and makes peace overtures to government.
*Mar 10, 1919 Gustav Noske orders Peoples’ Naval Division disbanded. Battle for Berlin over.
*Mar 1919 Adolf Hitler finishes job of guarding Russian prisoners. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Apr 14, 1919 Freikorps suppress communists in Dresden.
*Apr 16, 1919 "Battle" of the Bavarian government troups at Dachau. Communists defeat republican forces.
*Apr 18, 1919 Freikorps suppress communists in Brunswick.
*Apr 27, 1919 Battle for Munich between Communists and Freikorps units.
*May 2, 1919 City of Munich taken; not declared secure until May 6th; aprox. 1200 Reds slaughtered.
*May 10, 1919 Freikorps suppress communists in Leipzig.
*Jun 22, 1919 German Reichstag ratify the Versailles Treaty.
*Jun 28, 1919 Versailles Treaty signed in the Hall of Mirrors (Palace of Versailles).

Weimar Republic

*Aug 11, 1919 The Weimar Constitution is announced.
*Sep 11, 1919 Adolf Hitler's inspection of the German Workers' Party in the Sterneckerbräu brewery, in Munich.. (blue)

1920

*Jan 1920 The DAP grew to 190 members. (event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors)
*Feb 20, 1920 DAP changes name to National Socialist German Workers’ Party. (event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors)
*Feb 1920 Inter-Allied Control Commission order 2/3 of Freikorps disbanded.
*Feb 24, 1920 First public meeting of the NSDAP. The party announces its first programme, known as the "25 points." (event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors)
*Mar 13-17, 1920 Kapp Putsch
*Mar 31, 1920 Adolf Hitler mustered out of the military. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Apr 3, 1920 21 different Freikorps units, under the command of General Baron Oskar von Watter, annihilate the Ruhr Red uprising in five days; thousands killed.
*Apr 1920 Gov stops paying Freikorps units.
*May 10, 1920 Dr. Joseph Wirth and Walter Rathenau announce their "Policy of Fulfillment"; not received well by nationalist groups.
*Aug 11, 1920 National Disarmament Law takes effect; disbanded civil guards
*Dec 17, 1920 NSDAP buys its first paper, the "Voelkischer Beobachter". (event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors)
*Dec 1920 NSDAP total party membership comes to 2000. (event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors)

1921

*May 23, 1921 German Freikorp smash Polish forces at St. Annaberg.
*May 24, 1921 Under Allied pressure, all Freikorps units outlawed.
*Jul 11, 1921 Adolf Hitler resigns from the party to force the hand of Anton Drexler not to unite with the DSP. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Jul 25, 1921 Adolf Hitler rejoins the party. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*July 29, 1921 Adolf Hitler assumes leadership of the NSDAP. He becomes "Der Führer". (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Sep 14, 1921 Hitler and SA disrupt speech by Otto Ballestedt of the Bayernbund; beaten badly; Hitler with others arrested. (event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors)

1922

*Jan 12, 1922 Adolf Hitler sentenced to three months for disturbance of Sept 14 1921. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Jun 24, 1922 Hitler Incarcerated. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Jul 27, 1922 Hitler released. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Jul 1922 670 RM = 1 USD
*Aug 1922 2,000 RM = 1 USD
*Sep 1922 German foreign minister Walter Rathenau assassinated
*Oct 28, 1922 Benito Mussolini establishes his Fascist dictatorship in Italy.
*Oct 1922 45,000 RM = 1 USD
*Nov 22, 1922 Dr. Wirth leaves office
*Nov 1922 10,000 RM = 1 USD
*Dec 27, 1922 France occupies the Ruhr.

1923

*Feb 1923 Reichsbank buys back RM; stabilizes RM at 20,000 to 1 USD
*May 4, 1923 RM 40,000 = 1 USD
*May 27, 1923 Albert Leo Schlageter, a German freebooter and saboteur was executed by a French firing squad in the Ruhr. Hitler declared him a hero that the German people was not worthy to possess.
*Jun 1, 1923 RM 70,000-1 USD
*Jun 30, 1923 RM 150,000-1USD
*Aug 1-7, 1923 RM 3,500,000-1USD
*Aug 13, 1923 Dr. Wilhelm Cuno (No party affiliation) Leaves office
*Aug 15, 1923 RM 4,000,000-1USD
*Sep 1, 1923 RM 10,000,000-1USD
*Sep 24, 1923 Chancellor Stresemann ends the passive resistance in the Ruhr; infuriates the nationalists.
*Sep 30, 1923 Major Fedor von Bock crushes a coup attempt by the Black Reichswehr.
* " " RM 60,000,000-1USD
*Oct 6, 1923 Dr. Gustav Stresemann (People’s) forms 2nd cabinet
*Oct 20, 1923 General Alfred Mueller marched on Saxony to prevent a communist takeover.
* " " General Otto von Lossow in Bavaria is relieved of command by Berlin; he refuses.
*Oct 23, 1923 Communist takeover of Hamburg
*Oct 25, 1923 Hamburg uprising suppressed
*Nov 8, 1923 Beer Hall Putsch
*Nov 9, 1923 Beer Hall Putsch quelled.

1924

*Feb 26, 1924 Hitlerputsch trial begins. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Dec 20, 1924 Hitler released from the Landsberg Prison. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)

1925

*Jan 4. 1925 Hitler begins his political comeback by meeting with new ministers and President of Bavaria. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Feb 27, 1925 NSDAP refounded (event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors)
* " " Hitler gives his first speech since release from prison. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)
*Jul 1925 French and Belgian troops evacuate the Ruhr completely.
*Nov 22, 1925 Strasser wing of Nazi party goes into rebellion. (event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors)

1927

*May 1927 Hitler speaking ban lifted in Bavaria. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)

1928

*Oct 20, 1928 Alfred Hugenberg becomes head of DNVP
*March 20, 1928 NSDAP gains 2.6% of the vote in Reichstag elections.

1929

*Oct 16, 1929 Liberty Law campaign officially begins. The Nazi Party joins a coalition of conservative groups under Hugenberg's leadership to oppose the Young Plan.
*Dec 22, 1929 The Liberty Law referendum is defeated. Hitler denounces Hugenberg's leadership parlance. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)

1930

*Sep 14, 1930 Reichstag elections; gains by Nazi Party.
*Sep 1930 Hitler at trial of 3 SA Lieutenants disavows the SA goals of replacing the army and hence appeases the army. (event solely pertaining to Adolf Hitler)

1931

*May 11, 1931 Austrian Kreditanstalt collapses
*May 1931 Four million unemployed in Germany.
*Jun 20, 1931 Herbert Hoover puts moratorium on reparations.
*Jul 13, 1931 German bank crisis.
*Sep 18, 1931 Geli Raubal dies
*Oct 11, 1931 Harzburg Front formed of coalition between DNVP, Stahlhelm, and Nazi Party

1932

*Apr 10, 1932 Hindenburg reelected to Reichspresident with over 40% of the vote. Hitler gains 37% and the communist candidate Thälmann gains 10.2%
*May 30, 1932 Henrich Bruening (Center) leaves office.
*Jun 1, 1932 Franz von Papen cabinet
*Jun 16-Jul 9 Lausanne conference
*Jul 20, 1932 "Preußenschlag": Papen dissolves Prussian government.
*Jul 31, 1932 Reichstag elections: Nazi party becomes the largest party.
*Nov 6, 1932 Reichstag elections: Nazi party loses votes.
*Nov 17, 1932 Franz von Papen leaves office
*Dec 3, 1932 Reichswehr General Kurt von Schleicher cabinet

Nazi Revolution

1933

*Jan 28, 1933 Schleicher leaves office
*Jan 30, 1933 President Hindenburg appoints Hitler chancellor of a Nazi-DNVP coalition. (event relating to the Nazi Party and its predecessors)
*Feb 2, 1933 Hitler meets with top military leaders, describes his plans to rearm Germany
*Feb 27, 1933 Reichstag Fire occurred, widely deemed by historians as having been set by SA, at the time officially blamed on Communists
*Feb 28, 1933 Law for the Protection of People and State ("Reichstag Fire Decree"): civil liberties suspended. Gleichschaltung ("coordination"), the process of exerting totalitarian control over Germany, begins. Over the next five months, the Nazis systematically force all opposition political parties to shut down.
*Mar 5, 1933 General Elections result in slim majority of Hitler's coalition, though not a majority for the Nazi Party.
*Mar 23, 1933 Enabling Act, passed with help of Catholic Center Party, effectively hands the legislative powers of the Reichstag over to the Chancellor. Act permits Chancellor and cabinet to issue laws without a vote of Parliament and to deviate from the Constitution.
*Apr 7, 1933 Nazi governors appointed to rule the German states. End of federalism.
*May 23, 1933 Hitler visits Kiel Harbor to see the fleet consisting of the Deutschland, Karlsruhe, Königsberg, Schlesien, Hessen, Schleswig-Holstein, Leipzig. He boards the Leipzig with leading SS and government officials including General von Blomberg, Admiral Raeder, Goering, and von Papen.
*Jul 6, 1933 At a gathering of high-ranking Nazi officials, Hitler declares the success of the National Socialist, or Nazi, revolution.
*Jul 14, 1933 Hitler proclaims the Nazi party "the only political party in Germany." All others banned.
*Jul 20, 1933 Reichskonkordat signed with Holy See. Violations by Germany begin immediately.

1934

*Apr 11, 1934 Pact of the "Deutschland": Hitler persuades the top officials of the army and navy to back his bid to succeed Hindenburg as president, by promising to "diminish" the three-million-man SA and greatly expand the regular army and navy.
*May 16, 1934 German officer corps endorses Hitler to succeed the ailing President Hindenburg.
*Jun 30, 1934 Night of the Long Knives or Blood Purge: On pretext of suppressing an alleged SA putsch, much of the brownshirt leadership is arrested and executed. Schleicher and other political enemies murdered. Papen briefly imprisoned. Hundreds killed.
* Jul 13, 1934 Defending the purge, Hitler declares that to defend Germany he has the right to act unilaterally as "supreme judge" without resort to courts.
*Aug 2, 1934 President Hindenburg dies. Hitler issues a decree appropriating to himself the powers of the President, including supreme military command. The decree is illegal but goes unchallenged. Assumes new title, Führer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor).
* Aug 19, 1934 The German people in a plebliscite overwhelmingly (90%) approve merger of the offices of President and Chancellor.
* Sep 5, 1934 In Nuremberg, Hitler proclaims the advent of a Thousand Year Reich.

ee also

*Hitler's rise to power
*Weimar Republic

References

*"Why Hitler, The Genesis of the Nazi Reich", Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr. Praeger, Westport, CT, 1996. pg 28.
*"The Logic of Evil, The Social Origins of the Nazi Party, 1925-1933", William Brustein, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. 1996. pp 191-193.