Timeline

11th November 1918- The Armistice takes place. November 1918- New states set up in Yugoslavia, Poland and Czechoslovakia. 1919- Wilson makes an open statement that America is the hope of the world. January 1918- Wilson delivers his famous Fourteen Points Speech. January 1919- Peace talks began. 1920- John Maynard Keynes, a British official at the Peace Conference and later a famous economist, wrote a famous attack on the Treaty of Versailles (his book The Economic Consequences of The Peace) 1919- Treaty of St Germain with Austria 1919- Treaty of Neuilly with Bulgaria 1920- Treaty of Trianon with Hungary 1920- Treaty of Svres with Turkey 1923- Treaty of Svres is replaced with the Treaty of Lausanne. January 1920- League of Nations begins its work. March 1920- US Senate stops USA from joining the League. 11th January 1923- French troops invade the Ruhr region. 1921-Reparations Commission announces that Germany should pay 6600 million pounds over 42 years. 1923- A draft treaty of mutual assistance was discussed 1924-A document called the Geneva Protocol was discussed and later on, thanks to Britain, was thrown out. 1922- The league successfully organised a rescue plan for the Austrian economy. 1923- Italy invaded the Greek island of Corfu. Greece and Italy later came to an agreement but the League had nothing to do with it. November 1923-There was a review of the reparations by an American banker, Charles Dawes April 1924- Dawes Plan is agreed to. 1929- There was a review of the reparations by an American called Owen Young 1932-People involved in the Young Plan meet and agree on the problem of the Reparations (after a 3yr freeze Germany was to pay a full and final amount) 1921 and 1922- USA organises conferences of their own, undermining the authority of the League of Nations by discussing problems that were to be originally solved by them. February 1922-The Washington Treaty is signed, where USA and Britain agree to have Navies of the same size. And the Japanese navy limited to 3/5 of the size of the British and American Navy. (Therefore, Ratio= 5:5:3) 1922, Genoa- Lloyd George organises an international conference in Genoa to solve the argument between Germany and France over the payment of the Reparations, this was a disastrous failure. April 16 1922-The Treaty of Rapallo between Germany and the Soviets in signed; A direct blow to the terms and rules of the Treaty of Versailles.

1925, Locarno- Major conference in Locarno. Brought peace, though temporary, in Europe, key players are Aristide Briand, Austin Chamberlain and Gustav Stresemann September 1926- German delegates took their places in the League Assembly Hall, in Geneva 1927- The French build the Maginot Line 1929-1939- The French Govt. Spent huge amounts on building fortifications along the border of Germany. April 1927- Briand suggests a pact of peace between USA and France. August 29 1928- 15 powerful government leaders sign the Pact of Paris (later known as the Kellogg-Briand Pact) and agree not to go to war against each other. 1889, Austria- Birth of Adolf Hitler 8th November 1923- Hitler tried to use the SA (Storm Troops) his private army to forcefully seize control of Bavaria. He had planned to march into Berlin and force a Nazi govt on the whole of Germany, but the putsch was a disastrous failure and Hitler was arrested. 9th November 1923- SA troops led by Hitler marched out of the beer cellar and were stopped by armed police. 24th October 1929- the day of the Wall Street Crash. The beginning of the Great Depression. 11th January 1923- French and Belgian forces occupy the industrial heartland of Germany, the Ruhr. April 1924- The allied countries agree on the Dawes Plan 1929- The allied countries agree in the Young Plan. 1921-1922- Conferences held in Washington that dealt with issues initially supposed to be solved by the League of Nations, showing the lack of authority of the League. February 1922- The Washington treaty is signed by USA and Britain. 1922- Lloyd George organises a conference in Genoa to find a solution to the argument between Germany and France on the topic of Reparations. 16th April 1922- Treaty of Rapallo between the Germans and the So viets. 1925- Major peace conference takes place in Locarno, attended by the Foreign Ministers of Britain, France and Germany- Austin Chamberlain, Aristide Briand and Gustav Stresemann. September 1926- Germany joins the League of Nations. April 1927- Aristide Briand suggests that France and USA sign a pact, promising not to go to war against each other. 29th August 1928- 15 countries gathered together to sign the Pact of Paris. 8th November 1923-Beer Hall Putsch. 9th November 1923- The Police comes as the Nazis are leaving the beer cellar and 16 Nazis get killed when the police opened fire. Hitler and the rest ran away. 11th November 1923- Hitler gets arrested and put to trial. 1925- Hitlers autobiography cum a list of his political ideas, Mein Kampf or My Struggle was published. He wrote it during the nine months he spent in prison. 1925-1930- Decrease in the support for the Nazis. 24th October 1924- The day of the Wall Street Crash. 1936- Hitler sent troops into the Rhineland as a direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles.

January 1938- It was discovered by the Austria Government that the local Nazis had been planning to kill the German ambassador in the hope that during the turmoil caused by the assassination Germany would take over Austria. February 1938- Chancellor Schuschunigg visits Hitler for crisis talks where he was treated very badly. 9th March 1938- Schuschunigg announced there would be a plebiscite conducted to see whether the people of Austria wanted a German take-over. 11th March 1938- The German army invaded Austria just before the plebiscite. 12th March 1938- Hitler himself crosses the border and goes to his hometown Linz. January 1934- Stalin made it clear that USSR was ready to work with any country that did not threaten it, implying that he was willing to sign a treaty with Nazi Germany. However, Hitler wasnt interested in a deal with the Soviet Union and ignored Stalins early attempts to build friendly relationships. September 1934- Soviet Union joins the League of Nations. 1935- Communist forces around the world are asked to stop trying to revolt and instead cooperate with any anti-fascist forces. 17th April 1939- Maxim Litvinov outlines the basis of a treaty to Britain and France stating that the three countries would defend the borders of Eastern Europe from German attacks and that the three countries agreed to help each other if Germany attacked any one of them. 12th August 1939- British, French and Soviet delegates meet for talks at Leningrad 21st August 1939- Talks between the Western democracies and the Soviets end in complete failure. 20th August 1939- Hitler sends Stalin a private letter offering high-level talks in Moscow. 21st August 1939- Stalin replies Hitlers letter in the positive. 23rd August 1939- Stalin meets with Ribbentrop, the Nazi-German foreign minister, and signs a non-aggression treaty. 1st September 1938- Chamberlain was told that the South African and Australian governments would not give military support if war broke out with Germany regarding Czechoslovakia. 24th September 1938- South African government voted in the favour of neutrality if war broke out between Germany and Britain. 1937- USA spent only 1.5% of their national income on defence as compared to Germany spending 23.5% of its national income on defence. 1935- A temporary Neutrality Act was passed 1938- The Neutrality Act was made permanent 1937- Stalins purges reach the Red Army and 35,000 of the leading officers were executed, including the top military experts, and of the 80 members of the Supreme Military Council, 75 were killed. This convinced British leaders that the Soviet military were no help against Germany. 1934-1938- Britain increases by four-fold the amount it us spending on defence. 1938- Munich crisis. 1st September 1939- Germany invades Poland; start of the Second World War 3rd September 1939- France and Britain declare war on Germany.

17th September 1939- Soviet forces take control of eastern Poland. October 1939: April 1940- There was little fighting taking place between Britain, France and Germany. This period was called the phoney war. October 1939: March 1940- Fighting between USSR and Finland. USSR finally defeats Finland in March 1940. (Finland was forced to give up its territory and naval base to USSR) April 1940- France and Britain start mining in Norwegian waters to stop trade in iron ore. May 1940- Winston Churchill comes to power. May 1940- Hitler strikes the west. June 1940- Mussolini joins forces with Germany. August and September 1940- Germany airforce, Luftwaffe, bombs several military sites and factories in Britain as well as the capital city of London. 22nd June 1941- Germany invaded the Soviet Union in an operation referred to as the Barbarossa. July 1941- Germany attacks the Soviet Ukraine. 7th December 1941- Japanese attack US naval base Pearl Harbour, bringing USA into the war. November 1942- Stalin launches counter-attack and the German army is finally surrounded. January 1943 (end) - German army at Stalingrad is surrounded. June 1942- USA stops the tide of Japanese conquests at the Battle of the Midway Island. October 1942- German army in North Africa gets defeated by Britain in the Battle of El Alamein. May 1943- Germans and Italians are completely driven out of North Africa. July 1941- Final Solution is passed. (Holocaust) 6th June 1944- France was invaded. 25th August- British and American forces reached Paris. April 1945- German power in Europe collapsed. Soviet forces captured Berlin, and Hitler committed suicide. 8th May 1945- German forces finally surrender. August 1945- Two atomic bombs are dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 14th August 1945- Japanese forces surrender. The Second World War is finally over. June 1945 (end) London Poles were included in the Polish Government. 5th July 1945- Western Allies recognize the communist dominated Polish government. (To recognize meant that USA and Britain accepted that the communists were in charge of Warsaw) January 1947- Rigged elections take place in Poland. (Leader of London Poles, Mikolaczyk, fled from Poland fearing for his life) February 1945- Soviet politician, Andrei Vyshinsky used intimidation to force the King of Romania to appoint a new prime minister selected by Stalin. November 1945- Rigged elections take place in Bulgaria. (The communist Fatherland Front won) September 1946- Monarchy is abolished in Bulgaria. 1947- Monarchy is abolished in Romania.

November 1945- Free elections take place in Hungary and a non- communist party (Smallholders Party) wins. August 1947- Rigged elections take place in Hungary, the communists win. November 1947- All non communist parties are banned in Hungary. 1948-Communists seize power in Czechoslovakia, completing the Soviet take over. March 1946- Soviet Union was supposed to withdraw from Persia, present day Iran. April 1946- The Council of Foreign ministers meet in Paris. 1946- Poor harvest in Europe as well as the winter unusually fierce. February 1947- British government sends message to Washington informing them that without US support they will be unable to pay their troops in Greece and Turkey. 12th March 1947- President Truman announces that American support would be provided to every country who wants to fight communism, this is now known as the Truman Doctrine. June 1947- General George Marshall makes a speech at Harvard University about the Marshall Plan 1952- Marshall Plan officially ended. September 1947- USSR organised an international conference to condemn the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan. January 1949- Comecon is set up. 1948- New currency introduced in West Germany, Deutschmark. 23rd June 1948- Berlin blockade begins. May 1949- Stalin calls off the Blockade. May 1949- Federal Republic of Germany is established. October 1949- German Democratic Republic is formally founded. August 1949- West Germany holds its first elections. April 1949- NATO is set up. 1953- Five divisions of US troops were permanently based in Germany 1955- USSR sets up its own military alliance based on a treaty called the Warsaw Pact. 1959- Fidel Castro comes to power after over-throwing Batista , an American based dictator. April 1961- US CIA attempts an attack on Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro, later called the Bay of Pigs Invasion this was a complete failure 1962 (early) - USA places a number of nuclear missiles in Turkey within easy range of major cities in USSR. January 1961- Diplomatic relations between Cuba and America break off. 14th October 1962- American U2 flight over Cuba took photographs that proved that USSR was building a nuclear base in Cuba. 16th October 1962- Kennedy was shown the pictures taken by the U2 plane. 21st October 1962- The British government was told about the missiles. 22nd October 1962- American shops formed a blockade around Cuba to stop trade with USSR 26th October 1962- Khrushchev sends Kennedy a letter stating that the missiles would be removed from Cuba if they stop the blockade and promise not to invade Cuba. 27th October 1962- Khrushchev sends Kennedy a second letter stating that the US missiles in Turkey should be removed as well if they want the missiles to be removed from Cuba.

27th October 1962- Robert Kennedy meets the Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. 28th October 1962- Anatoly Dobrynin gets back to Robert Kennedy stating that USSR is willing to agree to USAs demands. 1964- Khrushchev falls from power. 1965:1973- USA fights a disastrous war against communists in Vietnam. 1954- The French pull out of Vietnam and Vietnam is divided into two- North Vietnam (communist) and South Vietnam (anti-communist). 1959- The communist govt. of the north decided to start a revolution in the south by the southern communists who had fled to the north. These forces were called the Vietcong. November 1961- Kennedy starts providing wide-range support to the South Vietnamese, including some US soldiers as combat advisors. November 1963- South Vietnamese generals overthrew Ngo Dinh Diem in a coup under American approval. 1964- North Vietnamese troops comes South to help the Vietcong in their revolution. August 1964- Clash at sea between North Vietnam and USA, called the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. July 1965- President Johnson sent 180,000 American troops into Vietnam. 1968- Number of American troops in Vietnam increase to 540,000. 1965:1967- Heavy fighting between North and South Vietnam, with USA playing an active part on the southern side. January 1968- North Vietnamese launch Tet Offensive. March 1968 (end)- President Johnson admits he failed in Vietnam and declares he will not be seeking re-election. May 1968- Peace talks and negotiations with North Vietnam begin in Paris. November 1968- President Richard Nixon is elected; he was determined to end the war. April 1969- There were 543,000 US troops in Vietnam. 1971- There were only 157,000 US troops in Vietnam. 16th March 1968- American troops massacred the villagers of a place called My Lai. 1975- The Khmer Rouge, Cambodian Communists won control of Cambodia. 1975- Pathet Lao, the communists of Laos took control of the country 1972- The communists launch another attack similar to the Tet Offensive January 1973- A cease fire is agreed. March 1975- After the agreement in Paris the North launched a major offensive against the South. 29th April 1975- War ends when the communists capture the southern capital of Saigon. 1971- Nixon announced he is going to visit China. 1969- The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) took place. 1972- Signing of the agreement on Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles 1945- United Nations was formed after the 2nd World War to replace the League of Nations. 7th April 1948- World Health Organization was established in Geneva, Switzerland. 16th November 1945- United Nations establishes UNESCO. 11th December 1946- UNICEF is established 1953- UNICEF becomes a permanent member of the UN.