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1930
Britain, U.S., Japan, France, and Italy sign naval
disarmament treaty. Nazis gain in German
elections. Cyclotron developed by Ernest O.
Lawrence, U.S. physicist. Pluto discovered by
astronomers.
1931
Spain becomes a republic with overthrow of King
Alfonso XIII. German industrialists finance
800,000-strong Nazi party. British parliament
enacts statute of Westminster, legalizing dominion
equality with Britain. Mukden Incident begins
Japanese occupation of Manchuria. In U.S., Hoover
proposes one-year moratorium of war debts. Harold
C. Urey discovers heavy hydrogen. Gangster Al
Capone sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax
evasion (freed in 1939; dies in 1947). Notorious
Scottsboro trial begins, exposing depth of
Southern racism. “The Star Spangled Banner”
officially becomes national anthem.
1932
Nazis lead in German elections with 230 Reichstag
seats. Famine in USSR. In U.S., Congress sets up
Reconstruction Finance Corporation to stimulate
economy. Veterans march on Washington—most leave
after Senate rejects payment of cash bonuses;
others removed by troops under Douglas MacArthur.
U.S. protests Japanese aggression in Manchuria.
Amelia Earhart is first woman to fly Atlantic
solo. Charles A. Lindbergh's baby son kidnapped,
killed. (Bruno Richard Hauptmann arrested in 1934,
convicted in 1935, executed in 1936.)
1933
Hitler appointed German chancellor, gets
dictatorial powers. Reichstag fire in Berlin; Nazi
terror begins. Germany and Japan withdraw from
League of Nations. Giuseppe Zangara executed for
attempted assassination of president-elect
Roosevelt in which Chicago mayor Cermak is fatally
shot. Roosevelt inaugurated (“the only thing we
have to fear is fear itself”); launches New Deal.
Prohibition repealed. USSR recognized by U.S.
1934
Chancellor Dollfuss of Austria assassinated by
Nazis. Hitler becomes führer. USSR admitted to
League of Nations. Dionne sisters, first
quintuplets to survive beyond infancy, born in
Canada. Mao Zedong begins the Long March north
with 100,000 soldiers.
1935
Saar incorporated into Germany after plebiscite.
Nazis repudiate Versailles Treaty, introduce
compulsory military service. Mussolini invades
Ethiopia; League of Nations invokes sanctions.
Roosevelt opens second phase of New Deal in U.S.,
calling for social security, better housing,
equitable taxation, and farm assistance. Huey Long
assassinated in Louisiana.
1936
Germans occupy Rhineland. Italy annexes Ethiopia.
Rome-Berlin Axis proclaimed (Japan to join in
1940). Trotsky exiled to Mexico. King George V
dies; succeeded by son, Edward VIII, who soon
abdicates to marry an American-born divorcée, and
is succeeded by brother, George VI. Spanish civil
war begins. Hundreds of Americans join the
“Lincoln Brigades.” (Franco's fascist forces
defeat Loyalist forces by 1939, when Madrid
falls.) War between China and Japan begins, to
continue through World War II. Japan and Germany
sign anti-Comintern pact; joined by Italy in 1937.
1937
Hitler repudiates war guilt clause of Versailles
Treaty; continues to build German power. Italy
withdraws from League of Nations. U.S. gunboat
Panay sunk by Japanese in Yangtze River. Japan
invades China, conquers most of coastal area.
Amelia Earhart lost somewhere in Pacific on
round-the-world flight. Picasso's Guernica mural.
1938
Hitler marches into Austria; political and
geographical union of Germany and Austria
proclaimed. Munich Pact—Britain, France, and Italy
agree to let Germany partition Czechoslovakia.
Douglas “Wrong-Way” Corrigan flies from New York
to Dublin. Fair Labor Standards Act establishes
minimum wage. Orson Welles's radio broadcast War
of the Worlds.
1939
Germany invades Poland; occupies Bohemia and
Moravia; renounces pact with England and concludes
10-year non-aggression pact with USSR.
Russo-Finnish War begins; Finns to lose one-tenth
of territory in 1940 peace treaty. World War II
begins.(For detailed chronology, see World War
II.) In U.S., Roosevelt submits $1,319-million
defense budget, proclaims U.S. neutrality, and
declares limited emergency. Einstein writes FDR
about feasibility of atomic bomb. New York World's
Fair opens. DAR refuses to allow Marian Anderson
to perform. Gone with the Wind premieres |
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