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At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France. -
The Treaty of Versailles officially ends World War One and imposes heavy reparations payments on Germany. -
The Assembly of the League of Nations meets for the first time in Geneva, Switzerland. The US is notably absent, the Senate has voted against joining the League in November 1919. -
The United States convenes the Washington Conference, attended by Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Japan, and Portugal. The Conference results in a naval armaments treaty that sets a ratio for the tonnage of capital ships (over 10,000 tons, with guns bigger than eight inches) for Great Britain, the US, Japan, France, and Italy. The ratio agreed upon, in that order, is 5:5:3:1.67:1.67. -
King Victor Emmanuel declares Mussolini premier in an attempt to head off the violent conflicts between the Fascists and the Communists. -
Adolf Hitler and General Ludendorf, a World War One hero, lead a small contingent of followers in a harmless, comical attempt at rebellion, for which Hitler is imprisoned for two years. -
Lenin's death leaves some questions as to who will be his successor. Joseph Stalin eventually beats out Leon Trotsky to take control of the Soviet government. -
The Cartel displaces the ruling Bloc National, in a marked victory for the left, but proves unable to govern effectively. -
The Dawes Plan restructures the schedule of German reparations payments so as to reduce the number of annual payments, and grants Germany a large loan. -
The Locarno Pacts are signed in an effort to stabilize relations with Germany and its neighbours. The pacts usher in a period of peace and prosperity. -
Pilsudski maintains this position until his death in May 1935. -
The Samuel Commission, under the Conservative government, releases a report which advises wage cuts for miners. The Triple Alliance responds by striking, which is emulated by many other industries in England to protest the Conservative government's policies. -
A provisional government is established to take Spain from monarchy to republicanism. -
Gombos becomes prime minister, an office he uses like a dictatorship, setting the tone for the Hungarian government during the remaining inter-war years. -
The last major League of Nations-sponsored disarmament conference meets from February to July 1932 at Geneva, with 60 nations in attendance, including the United States. However, this conference, like its predecessors, fails to secure an agreement, and organized disarmament remains an unaccomplished goal. -
Stalin's Central Purge Commission, created in 1933, publicly investigates and tries many party members for treason as Stalin seeks to rid the party of opposition. -
In an attempt to reel in the chaos of the German government, President Paul von Hindenburg declares Hitler chancellor, the first major step in Hitler's ascent to dictatorship. -
The Enabling Act gives Hitler the power to issue decrees with the status of law. -
The Popular Front, a leftist party, institutes social legislation and allows wide public participation in the government, but ultimately fails to curtail the depreciating economy. -
Generals Goded, Mola, and Francisco Franco lead troops in rebellion against the republic, sparking the Spanish Civil War. -
The small northern town of Guernica is bombed, and civilians are gunned down as they flee the scene. In this brutal massacre, 1500 die and 800 are wounded, but the military targets in the town remain intact. -
Britain and France appease Hitler by signing the Munich Pact, which grants Hitler control of the Czech Sudetenland. -
Madrid falls to Francisco Franco's forces, effectively ending the Spanish Civil War. Franco's oppressive dictatorship begins. -
In response to Hitler's continued aggression in Eastern Europe, Britain and France go to war with Germany in an attempt to stop Hitler's bid for global hegemony.