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1919 - Treaty of Versailles - Under its
provisions, Germany was to be disarmed, the Rhineland
occupied and reparations paid. At this time Poland was
recreated from parts of Germany and Russia, as were other
Central European states out of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire. Japan was given a mandate over the ex-German
islands in the Pacific. The League of Nations was formed.
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1921-22 - Washington Naval Treaty
- Britain,
United States, Japan, France and Italy agreed to limit
the displacement and main armament of capital ships,
aircraft carriers and cruisers, and total tonnage and age
of the first two categories.
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1922 - Benito Mussolini and his Fascist
Party came to power in Italy.
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1922
- Japanese carrier Hosho completed.
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1926
- The German Weimar Republic joined
the league of Nations.
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1927 - Geneva Naval Conference
failed to reach agreement on total tonnage of cruisers,
destroyers and submarines. Major warships completed - British
battleships Nelson and Rodney, French carrier Bearn, US carriers Lexington and
Saratoga, and Japanese carrier Akagi".
1928
- Japanese carrier Kaga completed.
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1930 - Following the Wall Street Crash
of 1929 the world moved into major economic
depression. 1931 - An incident in the Chinese province of Manchuria led to the Japanese invasion which was completed by early 1932.
The puppet state of Manchukuo was declared. By then
Japanese forces had taken control of the Shanghai area in
further fighting.
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1930 - London Naval Treaty - Britain, US
and Japan agreed on total tonnage, tonnage and armament
limitations for cruisers, destroyers and submarines. Also
that no new capital ships were to be laid down until
1937. Neither France nor Italy were signatories. |
1933 - Following earlier Nazi Party election
successes, Adolph Hitler became Chancellor of
Germany in January. He took the country out of the League
of Nations later in the year, by which time the Japanese
had already walked out over the Manchurian issue.
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1933
- Major warships completed - German
pocket battleship Deutschland and Japanese carrier Ryujo.
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1934 - Russia joined the League of
Nations. Meanwhile Hitler
consolidated his power and in August proclaimed himself
Fuehrer.
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1934 - The 1932 Geneva Disarmament Conference
finally broke down and Japan announced its intention to
withdraw from the 1922 and 1930 Naval Treaties when they
expired in 1936. Planning started on the giant
battleships of the Yamato class. Major warships completed - US carrier
Ranger and German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer.
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1935 March - Hitler
introduced military conscription.
April - The United
States passed the Neutrality Act forbidding the supply of
arms to belligerents in the event of war.
October - Following border
disputes between Italian Somaliland and Abyssinia, Italy
invaded. League of
Nations sanctions had little effect and by May 1936 the
country had been taken over by Mussolini's forces.
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1935 June - Anglo-German Naval
Agreement - Germany was allowed to build a fleet up
to 35% of British total tonnage and 45% of submarines.
Parity in numbers of submarines was allowed if notice was
given.
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1936 March - German troops were
sent to reoccupy the Rhineland.
July - The
Spanish Civil War started; Italy and Germany became aligned
with one side and Russia with the other.
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1936 November - London Protocol
-The major powers including Germany agreed to prohibit
unrestricted submarine warfare against unarmed ships.
December -The 1922
and 1930 Naval Treaties were allowed to lapse and the
major powers moved towards rearmament. In Britain this
effectively started with the 1936/37 Estimates.
Completed - German
pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee.
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1937 July - Further incidents
in China this time
near Peking, led to Japan extending its hold over
northeastern China and the major port areas by the
end of 1938.
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1937 Major warships completed -
French battlecruiser Dunkerque, US carrier Yorktown, Japanese carrier Soryu.
Italian battleships Littorio and Vittorio Veneto were launched.
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1938 March - German troops
marched into and annexed Austria.
September - In the
Munich Crisis, Czechoslovakia was forced to cede Sudetenland to
Germany.
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1938 Germany drew up the major naval rearmament
programme, the 'Z' plan, to bring the Navy closer
to equality to Britain by the mid-1940s.
Major warships
completed - British carrier Ark
Royal, French battlecruiser Strasbourg, German battlecruiser Gneisenau, and US carrier Enterprise. German carrier Graf
Zeppelin was
launched but never completed.
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1939 March - Germany completed
its
occupation of Czechoslovakia and took back Memel on the Baltic coast from Lithuania.
Now Britain and France guaranteed Poland's independence.
The Spanish Civil War came
to an end.
April - Italy invaded
Albania.
May - Britain
reintroduced military conscription. Germany and Italy
joined forces in the Pact of Steel.
August - Following
secret negotiations the Russian-German Non-Aggression
Pact was signed in Moscow to the world's amazement. Its
provisions included the dismemberment of Poland.
1st
September - Germany invaded
Poland.
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1939 April - Germany abrogated
the 1935 Anglo-German Naval Agreement.
June - The Reserve
Fleet of the Royal Navy was manned.
August - Full
mobilisation of the Royal Navy was ordered and the Admiralty took control
of all merchant shipping.
German U-boats and
two pocket battleships sailed for their war stations in
the Atlantic.
Major warships
completed to 3rd September 1939 - German
battlecruiser Scharnhorst and Japanese carrier Hiryu. Launched in the same period -
British battleships King George V, Prince of
Wales, fleet
carriers Illustrious, Formidable,
French battleship Richelieu (right - Maritime Quest), German battleships Bismarck
and Tirpitz, Japanese carrier Shokaku and US carrier Wasp
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revised 08/04/09 |
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