Case Study 2 Timeline

Liberal unification of Italy under Piedmont, Sardinia, Cavour, and patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi

1861

Rome and the Papal states join the “new Italian Kingdom”

1870

Period of Liberal Italy

1870–1923

Italy takes Eritrea

1885

Italy takes Somaliland

1889

Italian Socialist Party (PSI) is founded

1892

Italy attempts to take Abyssinia but loses at the Battle of Adowa

1896

Italian Nationalist Association founded

1910

Mussolini joins the PSI

1910

Italian-Turkish war occurs, with Italy taking Libya

1911–1912

General strike among the Italian working class

1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated, sparking WWI

June 28, 1914

Italy signs the Treaty of London, switching from the Triple Alliance to the Triple Entente

April 26, 1915

Mussolini is expelled from the PSI after changing from an anti-war to pro-war stance

October, 1915

Italy suffers huge losses at the Battle of Caporetto

October, 1917

Bolshevik Revolution takes place

October, 1917

Franchise Act is passed in Britain

1918

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is signed between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers

March 3, 1918

Italy wins in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto

October, 1918

The armistice ending WWI is signed

November 11, 1918

Anton Drexler’s German Workers Party is founded

January, 1919

Mussolini founds his first Fascist units (“fasico di combattimento”)

March, 1919

Treaty of Versailles is signed

June 28, 1919

Treaty of St. Germain is signed

September 10, 1919

Gabriele D’Annunzio siezes Fiume with 2K ex-soldiers

September 12, 1919

France signs a bilateral agreement with Belgium

1920

France signs one bilateral agreement with Poland

1920

Period of good terms between Italy and Soviet Russia

1920s

Communist/Socialist Party founded in Italy, wins seats in the May, 1921 election

January 21, 1921

Violent crushing of the Libyan Revolt by the Italian government

1922–1928

Rapallo Treaty is signed between Germany and the USSR

April 16, 1922

Socialists and communists in Italy call a general strike, working class believe only Mussolini can restore law and order

August, 1922

March on Rome occurs

October 27, 1922

King Victor Emmanuel III appoints Mussolini as Prime Minister of Italy

October 29, 1922

Mussolini wins a vote of confidence and votes in emergency powers

November, 1922

Ruhr coalfields are returned to Germany, France too weak to intervene

1923

Nationalists join the Fascist Party

February, 1923

Mussolini passes the Acerbo Law

July, 1923

Corfu Affair occurs

August, 1923

Failed Munich Beer Hall Putsch occurs

November 8 and 9, 1923

Mussolini backs Albanian leader Ahmed Zog

1924

France signs one bilateral agreement with Czechoslovakia

1924

Pact of Rome is signed, giving Fiume to Italy

January 27, 1924

Fascist intimidation and violent campaigns increase Fascist representation in Parliament from 7% to 66%

April, 1924

Italian official Giacomo Matteotti condemns Fascist violence and is murdered 11 days later

May, 1924

Hitler is released from prison

December, 1924

The Battle for Grain

1925

France signs another bilateral agreement with Czechoslovakia

1925

France signs another bilateral agreement with Poland

1925

Hitler reorganizes the Nazi Party

1925

Mussolini names himself as “Il Duce”

January 3, 1925

Locarno Treaties are signed

October, 1925

Mussolini passes the Law on Powers of Head of Government, giving Mussolini significant executive powers

December, 1925

The Battle for Lira

1926

France signs a bilateral agreement with Romania

1926

Treaty of Friendship signed between Italy and Albania, Albania becomes an Italian protectorate

1926

Weimar Republic joins the League of Nations

1926

Period of increased Fascist violence (establishment of secret police [OVRA], trial without jury allowed, etc)

November, 1926–January, 1927

France signs a bilateral agreement with Yugoslavia

1927

“Mussolini Law”, a land reclamation effort

1928

Kellogg-Briand Pact is signed

1928

Wall Street Crash, Great Depression begins

October 29, 1929

Nazi Party wins 107 seats (an increase from 12 seats) in an unscheduled election

September, 1930

German reparation payments are cancelled at the Lausanne Conference

1932

Former Chancellor Franz von Papen and army leader Kurt von Schleicher appoint Hitler as Chancellor of Germany

January 30, 1933

Reichstag Fire occurs

February 27, 1933

Hitler enacts the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State (emergency powers)

February 28, 1933

Nazi Party wins 288 seats (44%) in an election called by Hitler

March 5, 1933

Hitler meets at the Kroll Opera House and gets the Enabling Act passed

March 23, 1933

Hitler bans all political parties and trade unions, making Germany a one-party state

July, 1933

Quadripartite Pact is signed between Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Britain, and France

July 15, 1933

Hitler leaves the Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations

October, 1933

Hitler signs a 10-year Non-Aggression Pact with Poland

January, 1934

Hitler purges top members of the Sturmbatailung (SA / Stormtroopers), including Ernst Röhm, on the Night of the Long Knives

June 30, 1934

Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss is murdered by Austrian Nazis

July 25, 1934

President Paul von Hinderberg dies and Hitler combines the offices of Chancellor and President into Führer

August 2, 1934

USSR joins the League of Nations

September, 1934

Wal Wal Incident occurs

December, 1934

Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie asks the League of Nations of arbitrate

December 6, 1934

First Neutrality Act is signed (USA will not provide arms to either side in a war)

1935

USSR signs mutual assistance pacts with France and Czechoslovakia

1935

Franco-Italian agreement is signed

January 7, 1935

Abyssinian Emperor appeals to the League of Nations after the Wal Wal Incident

March 17, 1935

Final Declaration of the Stresa Conference is signed between Italy, Britain, and Germany

April 14, 1935

Franco-Soviet Mutual Assistance Treaty is signed

May 2, 1935

Selassie appeals again

May 11, 1935

League of Nations holds a special session to discuss the Abyssinian Crisis

May 20, 1935

Britain and Germany sign the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, violating Stresa

June 18, 1935

Selassie requests for observers to be sent to Abyssinia, talks break down between Italy and Abyssinia in the Hague

June 19, 1935

Britain declares an arms embargo on Italy and Abyssinia

July 25, 1935

League of Nations resolve neither side could be held responsible for the Wal Wal Incident because the region was disputed

September, 1935

Hitler passes the Nuremberg Laws

September 15, 1935

Italy invades Abyssinia

October 3, 1935

Italy takes Adowa

October 6, 1935

League of Nations condemns Italy and places limited sanctions

October 7, 1935

Hoare-Laval Pact is leaked to the press

December, 1935

Second Neutrality Act is passed (USA will not give loans to belligerents)

1936

Period of the Spanish Civil War

1936–1939

Italy agrees to the German remilitarization of the Rhineland

February 22, 1936

Hitler remilitarizes the Rhineland

March 7, 1936