1889 Hitler born in Austria
Adolf Hitler is born in Braunau am Inn, in Austria, the son of Alois and Klara

1903 Hitler's violent father dies
Alois Hitler, violent, feared and greatly disliked by his son Adolf, dies

1905 Hitler rejected as art student
Hitler moves to Vienna, hoping to be a painter, but is twice rejected as a student by the Academy of Fine Arts

1907 Hitler's mother dies
Hitler's mother Klara, to whom he was devoted, dies at the age of forty-seven

1908 Impoverished Hitler paints postcards
Without financial support from his mother, Hitler ekes out a meagre living painting postcards and advertisements

1913 Hitler moves to Munich
Hitler moves to Munich to begin a new life, and in an attempt to avoid Austrian military service

1914 Hitler rejected as unfit for military service
Summoned to Austria for military service, Hitler is rejected as being physically unfit

1914 Hitler joins German army
On the outbreak of war, Hitler applies to join the German army and is enlisted in the Sixteenth Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment

1914 Hitler awarded Iron Cross, Second Class
In action as a front-line HQ runner Hitler is awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class, for bravery

1916
Hitler is wounded in the leg at the Battle of the Somme

1917 Hitler promoted to lance-corporal
Returning to the front after being wounded in the leg, Hitler is promoted to the rank of lance-corporal

1918 August 4 Iron Cross First Class for Hitler
Adolf Hitler is awarded the Iron Cross, First Class, a decoration rarely given to a corporal

1919  February Hitler returns to Munich
Hitler returns to Munich and in the prevailing mood of post-defeat resentment begins to take an interest in extremist politics

1919 Hitler joins German Workers' party
Adolf Hitler joins the tiny German Workers' party, the members of which share his own virulent anti-semitism

1920 Nazi party emerges
The German Workers' Party, with Adolf Hitler as one of its leading members, changes its name to the Nazi party

1921 Hitler leads the Nazi party
Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the Nazi party, which now has about 3000 members

1923 Hitler's beer-cellar putsch
Adolf Hitler, launching a putsch in a Munich beer cellar, announces the birth of a new national government

1923 Abrupt end to Hitler putsch
Adolf Hitler's beer-cellar putsch ends in ignominious failure, as he turns and flees under fire

1923 Goering wounded in Nazi fiasco
Hermann Goering is wounded in the aftermath of the Munich beer hall putsch, but unlike Hitler manages to escape

1923 Mein Kampf begun in prison
Adolf Hitler dictates Mein Kampf to Rudolf Hess in their shared prison cell after the failed Munich putsch

1923 Lebensraum for Germans
Rudolf Hess suggests to Hitler the policy of Lebensraum or 'living space' for the German people

1925 Mein Kampf
The first volume of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf is published

1926 Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) is established by the Nazi party for teenage boys

1929 Himmler commands SS
The SS, which has evolved from Hitler's personal bodyguard, is put under the command of Heinrich Himmler

1930 Goebbels in charge of propaganda
Adolf Hitler puts Joseph Goebbels at the head of the Nazi party's propaganda campaign

1931 Hitler becomes the Führer
Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels makes Der Führer a compulsory term for Hitler in the Nazi party

1932 Hitler becomes a German
Adolf Hitler finally exchanges Austrian for German nationality, just in time to run for the German presidency

1932 Hitler polls well as presidential candidate
Adolf Hitler stands for election as president of the German republic and wins 36% of the vote

1933 Hitler is German chancellor
President Hindenburg appoints Adolf Hitler chancellor of the German republic

1933 Sterilization in Germany
German chancellor Adolf Hitler orders the sterilization of carriers of hereditary mental diseases, in one of his government's first pieces of legislation

1933 Nazi terror in new election campaign
The electoral campaign for a new Reichstag, demanded by Hitler, is conducted with escalating Nazi violence

1933 Reichstag burns, Hitler benefits
The burning of the Reichstag during the German election enables Adolf Hitler to introduce emergency measures restricting liberty

1933 Hitler claims unrestricted powers
Adolf Hitler puts a bill before the first meeting of the newly elected Reichstag, giving himself unrestricted powers

1933 Krupp joins Nazis
Gustav Krupp and his son Alfried, Germany’s main manufacturers of armaments, join the Nazi party

1933 Hitler dismisses Jewish state employees
Adolf Hitler passes a law forcing the 'retirement' of all Jews working in the civil service, schools and universities

1933 Germany withdraws from League of Nations
Adolf Hitler, the new German chancellor, pulls Germany out of the League of Nations and its disarmament conference

1933 Germany leaves League of Nations
Adolf Hitler wins massive referendum support for his withdrawal of Germany from the Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations

1934 Riefenstahl films Nuremberg rally
German photographer Leni Riefenstahl glorifies Hitler and the Nuremberg rally in her film Triumph of the Will

1934 Mussolini and Hitler meet
Benito Mussolini plays host in Venice to Adolf Hitler, the newcomer among European dictators

1934 Hitler orders death of Roehm
Adolf Hitler visits his SA commander, Ernst Roehm, in his hotel before having him shot

1934 Night of the Long Knives
Multiple murders are carried out on Hitler's orders during the Night of the Long Knives

1934 Schuschnigg becomes Austrian chancellor
Kurt von Schuschnigg succeeds the murdered Dollfuss as Austria's chancellor and Hitler's opponent

1934 Hindenburg dies
Paul von Hindenburg dies, enabling Adolf Hitler to combine the roles of president, chancellor and supreme commander of the German armed forces

1934 German voters want Hitler as Führer
In a referendum 38 million German voters say yes to Adolf Hitler becoming Führer, Germany's supreme leader

1934 "1000-year Reich"
Hitler tells the party faithful in a Nuremberg rally that their new third Reich will last for 1000 years

1935 Hitler openly rearms Germany
Adolf Hitler informs Britain and France that he is building up the German armed forces, in contravention of the Versailles treaty

1935 Goering to head Luftwaffe
Adolf Hitler reinstates Germany's airforce, the Luftwaffe, putting Hermann Goering in command

1935 Hitler brings in conscription
Adolf Hitler gets away with a calculated international risk when he reintroduces conscription in Germany

1935-1938 Germans find work in weapons
Adolf Hitler's rearmament programme begins to reduce German unemployment, and by 1938 eliminates it entirely

1935 Dönitz in charge of U-boats
Adolf Hitler gives Karl Dönitz, a submarine commander from World War I, responsibility for Germany's U-boat programme

1935 Hitler curtails sexual freedom of Jews
Adolf Hitler promulgates a law prohibiting any sexual relationship between Jews and 'Aryans'

1936 Hitler moves troops into Rhineland
The rest of Europe offers no effective objection when Adolf Hitler moves his troops into the demilitarized Rhineland

1936 Nazi youth groups compulsory
Membership of the Hitler Youth (for boys) or the League of German Maidens is made compulsory

1936 Heydrich heads Gestapo
Hitler gives Reinhard Heydrich control of the Gestapo

1936 Four Olympic golds for Owens
At the Berlin Olympics, attended by Hitler, the African-American athlete Jesse Owens sets three new Olympic records and equals a fourth

1936 Germany and Italy form axis
Hitler and Mussolini form an axis, or alliance, causing Germany and Italy to become known as the Axis powers

1937 Guernica is bombed
German planes bomb the Basque capital, Guernica, in support of the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War

1937 Buchenwald set up as labour camp
Buchenwald, near Weimar, is set up as a concentration camp providing forced labour for local arms manufacturers

1937 Mussolini impressed by German might
Adolf Hitler, entertaining Mussolini in Germany, puts on spectacular demonstrations of German military and industrial might

1938  February 4 Ribbentrop is foreign minister
Adolf Hitler appoints Joachim von Ribbentrop as Germany's foreign minister

1938  February 12 Austrian chancellor threatened by Hitler
Adolf Hitler uses threats of force to browbeat the Austrian chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, into granting special favours to Austrian Nazis

1938  March 9 Austrian chancellor defies Hitler
The Austrian chancellor, Kurt von Schuschnigg, defies Hitler by announcing a referendum on his country's independence

1938  March 11 Austrian chancellor resigns
The Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg resigns in the face of threats from Hitler, and broadcasts that he is doing so under duress

1938  March 1 Hitler marches into Austria
German tanks cross the border into Austria, on the official invitation of Austrian Nazis

1938  March 12 Hitler announces Anschluss
Adolf Hitler, following his troops into Austria, announces the Anschluss (union of Germany and Austria)

1938  April 24 Germans in Sudetenland demand autonomy
The Sudeten German National Socialist Party demands secession from Czechoslovakia, in keeping with Hitler's plans for the Sudetenland

1938 Voters say yes to Anschluss
Voters in both Germany and Austria give massive approval for Hitler's annexation of Austria

1938 September 15 Chamberlain flies to meet Hitler
Neville Chamberlain makes the first of three flights to Germany, this time to negotiate with Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden

1938 September 29 Chamberlain and Daladier in Munich
Neville Chamberlain and Édouard Daladier fly to Munich to discuss Hitler's designs on the Czech Sudetenland

1938 September 29 Munich agreement appeases Hitler
Chamberlain and Daladier agree at Munich that Hitler may annexe the Czech Sudetenland, with its largely German population

1938 October Sudetenland becomes part of Germany
The Sudetenland is transferred from Czechoslovakia to Germany, in accordance with the Munich agreement

1938 October Hitler demands Danzig
Adolf Hitler makes unacceptable demands upon Poland, including the transfer of the free port of Danzig to Germany

1938 October Hitler wants right of way through Poland
Adolf Hitler demands a strip of territory through the Polish corridor to reunite Germany with East Prussia

1939 September 17 Russia invades Poland
A Russian army invades Poland from the east, fulfilling the secret protocol of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact

1939 Poland the first victim of German blitzkrieg
The new German technique of blitzkrieg ('lightning war') is demonstrated with devastating effect against Poland

1939 September 3 U-boat sinks liner on day one of war
On the very first day of the war a U-boat sinks a British liner, the Athenia, with the loss of 112 civilian lives

1939  March 15 Hitler's tanks roll into Prague
Hitler's armies smash their way into Czechoslovakia and enter Prague, against all his previous promises

1939  March 31 Pledges of support for Poland
The recent fate of Czechoslovakia prompts France and Britain to guarantee the security of Poland

1939 September 1 Hitler invades Poland
Adolf Hitler launches a massive attack on Poland, with tanks crossing the border and air raids on Warsaw

1939 September 3 Britain and France declare war on Germany
Britain and France, receiving no answer from Hitler to their ultimatum over his attack on Poland, declare war on Germany

1939 French await Germans on Maginot Line
French troops rush to defend France's border with Germany, along the heavily fortified Maginot Line

1939 Mussolini stays outside the fray
In spite of the Axis agreement of 1936, Mussolini declines to bring Italy into the war on Hitler's side

1939 September 27 Germany and Russia share Poland
Warsaw falls, after a brave resistance, whereupon Germany and Russia carve up Poland

1939 September Nazi murder squads
Nazi murder squads (Einsatzgruppen) kill Poland's elite

1939 November Hitler decrees 'mercy killing'
Adolf Hitler orders the 'mercy killing' of all those with specified categories of infirmity, beginning with newborn babies and young children

1940 The Great Dictator
Charlie Chaplin ridicules Hitler in The Great Dictator, the first film in which he speaks coherent dialogue

1940  April 5 Hitler 'misses bus'
Inactivity during the Phoney War prompts Neville Chamberlain to assure the House of Commons that Hitler has 'missed the bus'

1940  April 9 Hitler invades Denmark and Norway
German ships and marines occupy the harbours of neutral Denmark and Norway

1940  May 10 German invasion of Benelux countries
German tanks cross the borders into neutral Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium

1940  May 10 Churchill replaces Chamberlain
After the German invasion of the Netherlands and Belgium, Winston Churchill replaces Chamberlain as the British prime minister

1940  May 10 German invasion of France
German troops force their way into France through the Ardennes, launching the Battle of France

1940  May 12 Germans reach Dutch coast
Only two days after crossing the Netherlands border, a German division reaches the coast near Rotterdam

1940  May 14 Dutch surrender to Germans
The caretaker government of the Netherlands surrenders to the German invaders

1940  May Germans race west through northern France
A German army races west through northern France, aiming to cut off the Allied troops in Belgium

1940  May Small craft needed for Channel rescue
Fishing smacks and private launches are enlisted from southern England's coasts and rivers for a rescue mission across the Channel

1940  May 19 Germans reach the coast in France
German tanks reach the French coast at Abbeville, nine days after crossing the border from Germany

1940  May 26 Evacuation from Dunkirk
Evacuation begins from Dunkirk, and over the next ten days some 860 vessels ferry troops across the Channel

1940  May 27 Belgium surrenders
The Belgians surrender to the German armies encircling them north and south

1940 June 7 German occupation of Norway completed
The last Allied forces withdraw from Norway, leaving the country entirely in the hands of its German occupiers

1940 June 10 Italy at war with France
Mussolini declares war on a France already on the verge of defeat

1940 June 16 France sues for peace
Marshal Pétain, as the new premier of France, immediately asks Germany for an armistice

1940 June 18 De Gaulle leads Free French
Charles de Gaulle broadcasts to the French nation from London, declaring himself the leader of the Free French

1919 June 20 Italy invades France
Mussolini invades France in the last-minute hope of gaining some territory in the armistice settlement

1919 June 22 Armistice signed in historic carriage
Adolf Hitler attends the signing of the armistice with France, in the railway carriage used for the armistice after the German defeat in 1918

1940 July 16 Hitler plans invasion of England
Hitler orders preparations for the invasion of England, under the codename Operation Sea Lion

1940 August 13 Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain reaches its most intense phase, with 1500 German planes involved in a single day's assault

1940 September 7 Blitz on British cities
The first German night-time bombing raid on London signals the start of the Blitz on British cities

1940 October 2 Invasion of Britain cancelled
After the summer's losses in the air, Hitler orders the effective cancellation of operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of Britain

1940 December 18 Hitler plans to attack Soviet Union
Adolf Hitler orders preparations to be made for Operation Barbarossa, his planned invasion of the Soviet Union

1940 June 22 Germany invades Russia
German armies cross the border to invade Russia on a front from the Baltic to southern Poland

1941  February 3 Rommel posted to north Africa
Adolf Hitler sends Erwin Rommel to save the Italians from looming disaster in north Africa

1941&nbIsp; May Hitler sets up murder squads
In preparation for the invasion of Russia, Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler set up Special Task Commandos (Einsatzkommando) to exterminate Communists and Jews

1941  May 10 Hess flies solo to Britain
Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy in the Nazi party, flies to Britain on a bizarre secret mission

1941 July First steps taken in Holocaust
The systematic shooting of Russian Jews by German Einsatzgruppen is the first step in the development of the Holocaust

1941 July 16 Germans 200 miles from Moscow
Less than four weeks after crossing the Russian border, a German army is within 200 miles of Moscow

1941 July 31 Plans for Final Solution
Goering orders Reinhard Heydrich to prepare plans for the 'final solution of the Jewish queston'

1941 August Nazis experiment in murder by gas
Nazi experiments are carried out on Jews and Soviet prisoners of war to find effective means of murder by gas

1941 September 8 Germans besiege Leningrad
A week or two after reaching Leningrad a Germany army establishes a siege that will last 900 days

1941 October 16 'Final solution' in use as a phrase
Adolf Eichmann, in an official letter about policy in relation to the Jews, uses the phrase 'the final solution'

1941 December 5 Winter saves Moscow
The German advance is held just short of Moscow as winter arrives

1941 December 7 Germans use gas to kill Polish Jews
In three adapted vans at Chelmno, in western Poland, the Germans begin using poison gas to kill Jews

1942  January 20 Death camps planned at Wannsee
Reinhard Heydrich convenes a meeting at Wannsee to discuss the practical details of the 'final solution'

1942  February Speer responsible for armaments
Hitler's chief architect, Albert Speer, is put in charge of Germany's armaments programme

1942  March Concentration camp at Auschwitz
The Nazis build a new style of concentration camp, at Auschwitz in Poland, in which the fit will work and the unfit will be killed

1942  from March Factories move to Auschwitz
German industrial enterprises are moved from the vulnerable Ruhr valley to the slave labour facilities of Auschwitz

1942  May Bonhoeffer makes secret overture to Britain
German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer flies to neutral Sweden to contact the British on behalf of conspirators against Hitler

1942 June 9 Massacre at Lidice
Hitler orders a massacre at Lidice, a village near Prague, in retaliation for the death of Heydrich

1942 June 21 Rommel takes Tobruk
German general Erwin Rommel captures Tobruk, along with 33,000 British soldiers and valuable supplies

1942 July Treblinka is purpose-built death camp
Treblinka is constructed, in Poland, as the Nazis' first large-scale and purpose-built death camp

1942 July 4 First battle of El Alamein
Auchinleck finally stops Rommel's advance, in the first battle of El Alamein

1942 November 11 Hitler invades Vichy France
Hitler, disregarding the armistice, sends German troops to take control of Vichy France

1942 November 25 Germans encircled at Stalingrad
Soviet tanks complete the encirclement of 20 German divisions at Stalingrad

1942 December 17 German genocide condemned
An international declaration condemns Germany's 'bestial policy of cold-blooded extermination'

1943  January Dönitz commands German navy
Hitler appoints Karl Dönitz as commander of the German navy

1943  January 31 Germans surrender at Stalingrad
With much of the German Sixth Army destroyed, the survivors led by Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrender at Stalingrad

1943  April Bormann is Hitler's secretary
Martin Bormann, previously head of the party secretariat, becomes Hitler's personal secretary

1943  April 19 Allies prevail in Atlantic
New Allied successes against the German U-boats provide a turning point in the battle of the Atlantic

1943  May 7 Tunis and north Africa fall to Allies
May 7 - the Allies capture Tunis, taking 250,000 German and Italian prisoners and winning control of North Africa

1943 July 10 Allies invade Sicily
British and American troops land in Sicily to begin the Italian campaign

1943 July 13 German disaster at Kursk
Hitler's attempt to take Kursk (in response to Stalingrad) results in the German loss of 70,000 men and 1500 tanks

1943 July Belsen becomes concentration camp
Belsen, used as a prisoner-of-war camp since 1940, is turned into a concentration camp

1943 August 12 Hitler rescues captive Mussolini
On Hitler's orders, the SS rescue Mussolini from house arrest in the mountains of central Italy

1943 August 16 Sicily in Allied hands
All German and Italian troops are by now driven out of Sicily or captured by the Allies

1943 August 23 Bombers blitz Berlin
Allied bombers begin four months of night-time raids on Berlin

1943 September 8 Italy surrenders
Italy, abandoning her Axis partners, surrenders unconditionally to the Allies

1943 October 13 Italy changes sides
Italy changes sides and declares war on her recent ally, Germany

1943 November Mussolini rules as Hitler's puppet
Mussolini becomes Hitler's puppet ruler of a new Fascist republic in north Italy

1944  January 27 Siege of Leningrad ends
The German siege of Leningrad is finally broken, after 900 days

1944  February Russians gain on all fronts
After relieving Leningrad, the Russians begin to drive the Germans back on all fronts

1944  May 18 Monte Cassino falls
After a campaign of four months the monastery at Monte Cassino is captured, by Polish troops

1944 June 4 Rome falls to Allies
A multinational Allied force moves fast from Monte Cassino to capture Rome

1944 June 6 D-day
The Allies cross the Channel on D-day for the Normandy invasion

1944 June 10 Massacre in Oradour
German troops massacre more than 600 civilians in the French village of Oradour

1944 June 13 Doodlebugs over London
The first V-1 flying bombs (or doodlebugs) appear over London, numbering more than 2000 in two weeks

1944 July 20 Plot fails to kill Hitler
Adolf Hitler narrowly escapes death from a bomb placed by Claus von Stauffenberg

1944 July 25 Germans use jet in combat
The Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter-bomber flies into combat, introducing the jet era in aerial warfare

1944 Rommel among the condemned
from July - more than 5000 Germans, among them Rommel, die because of the Stauffenberg plot

1944 September 8 V-2 rocket hits London
The first V-2 rocket lands on London, killing three people in Chiswick

1945  January Hitler withdraws into bunker
Allied bombing of Berlin forces Hitler to take refuge in his underground bunker

1945  April Hitler demands scorched earth
Adolf Hitler orders a scorched earth policy within Germany, in the path of the advancing Allies

1945  April 11 Horrors of Buchenwald revealed
American troops discover the German concentration camp at Buchenwald

1945  April 15 Belsen worse than Buchenwald
The British reach Belsen and reveal appalling Nazi atrocities, worse even than at Buchenwald

1945  April 25 Americans greet Russians
American and Soviet troops join up at Torgau, 70 miles south of Berlin

1945  April 25 Berlin surrounded
Soviet armies form a complete circle around Berlin to isolate the city

1945  April 29 German forces surrender in Italy
Against Hitler's specific orders, the commander of the German army in Italy surrenders to the Allies

1945  April 29 Hitler marries Eva Braun
Adolf Hitler marries Eva Braun in his bunker, and holds a champagne reception with Goebbels as the principal guest

1945  April 30 Dönitz to be Hitler's successor
Hitler chooses Admiral Dönitz as his successor and appoints his cabinet

1945  April 30 Hitler and bride in suicide pact
Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun retire to their marital quarters in the Berlin bunker and commit suicide

1945  April 30 Soviet troops in central Berlin
Soviet troops storm the Reichstag in the centre of Berlin on the day when Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his bunker below them

1945  May 1 Goebbels kills his family
In the Berlin bunker, on the day after Hitler's death, Goebbels arranges for his six children to be lethally injected, and himself and his wife to be shot

1946 October 15 Goering commits suicide
Hermann Goering, sentenced to death at Nuremberg, kills himself with a potassium cyanide capsule the night before he is due to be hanged

1951 Origins of Totalitarianism
German-born US philosopher Hannah Arendt links Hitler's and Stalin's regimes in The Origins of Totalitarianism