In researching my dad’s experiences in WWII, I’d like to take a look at the bigger picture – what major WWII events happened when. For my first look, I’m going to cover things leading up to WWII that happened in the 1920’s.
My dad, George Edwin Farrar, a waist gunner on a B-17 heavy bomber crew in WWII, was born on September 3, 1921, thirty-six days after Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in the Nazi party.
When my dad’s parents and the parents of other young men born in the United States in the early 1920’s held their newborn sons for the first time and celebrated their births, none of them would have imagined that their infants were destined to fight and defeat a madman from a faraway land. But that is precisely what their precious sons would have to do twenty years into the future.
A Timeline of WWII, the 1920’s
July 29, 1921
Adolf Hitler becomes leader of National Socialist (Nazi) Party
October 28, 1922
Benito Mussolini becomes head of the Italian government.
November 8, 1923
Hitler and other Nazis are jailed after a failed attempt at a government takeover, known as Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch, in Munich.
More information about Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch.
July 18, 1925
Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf” (“My Struggle”) is published.
More information about Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf”.
September 8, 1926
Germany is admitted to the League of Nations.
October 29, 1929
The Wall Street Stock Market crashes.
Sources:
This series of posts is based on a compilation of timelines from:
The Holocaust Encyclopedia:
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007306
The History Place:
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/pacificwar/timeline.htm
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/timeline.html
The National WWII Museum:
http://www.nationalww2museum.org/history/final/interactive_timeline.html
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2017
The Arrowhead Club 