Linz, Austria • March 12, 1938 After abolishing Germany’s Ministry of War on February 4, 1938, and creating in its place the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, or Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) with himself at its helm, Adolf Hitler now focused on a peaceful takeover of Europe beginning with his native Austria, an Alpine country…
Munich, Germany • March 8, 1922 Adolf Hitler was just over a decade away from being appointed chancellor of Germany when he announced his intention on this date in 1922 of forming a youth wing for his Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), or Nazi Party, of which he was party leader. At first the Nazi youth…
Berlin, Germany • March 1, 1935 On this date in 1935 Adolf Hitler appointed World War I air ace Hermann Goering, last commander of the famous “Red Baron” Richthofen Fighter Squadron, to the position of Luftwaffe Commander-in-Chief. Goering held the post until the final days of the Third Reich. A faithful Nazi from the earliest days…
Berlin, Germany • February 12, 1945 On this date in 1945 German women were called up for service in the Volkssturm (Home Guard, or national militia). Adolf Hitler was playing his final card in World War II by mobilizing practically every German civilian for an apocalyptic defense of the Third Reich, a 20th‑century Wagnerian Goetterdaemmerung. Nazi…
Berlin, Germany • December 18, 1940 On this date in 1940 in Berlin, one day before receiving the credentials of the new Soviet ambassador to Germany, Adolf Hitler signed Fuehrer Directive 21, Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa), thereby initiating the secret preparations and military operations that led to the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22,…
Washington, D.C. • September 11, 1941 Starting on September 1, 1941, 2 years into the Battle of the Atlantic, U.S. warships began escorting convoys of eastbound merchantmen from the North American coast. Convoys departed from Newfoundland, Canada, and ended in the mid-Atlantic at the Danish dependency of Iceland, the halfway point to ports in the British…
Berlin, Germany • May 12, 1941 On this date in 1941, two days after Deputy Reich Fuehrer Rudolf Hess had embarked on his historic “peace mission” to England (see story below), Adolf Hitler finally confirmed June 22 as the start date for Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa), the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Moving toward the…
Narvik, Norway • April 29, 1940 Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, and Oslo, Norway’s capital, succumbed to German invaders on April 9, 1940, the first day of Operation Weseruebung. Though planning for Weseruebung had begun the previous December, Adolf Hitler did not order full speed ahead until British warships entered the territorial waters of neutral Norway in February…
Berlin, Germany • March 3, 1945 Round-the-clock bombing operations against Nazi Germany began on March 3, 1944, with a U.S. 800‑plane daylight raid that dropped 2,000 tons of bombs on Berlin. On this date in 1945 American bombers mounted a daylight raid on Berlin that left 3,000 people dead and 100,000 homeless. Luftwaffe bombers retaliated, attacking Britain for…
Berlin, Germany • January 18, 1942 On this date in 1942 Axis partners Germany, Italy, and Japan renewed their military and economic alliance just one and a half years into their 10‑year convention. The Tripartite Pact had come into being on September 27, 1940, when the foreign ministers of the 3 nations met in Berlin. Originally a…
