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Eastern Europe 1918-1953
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1918  14 October Czechoslovak national council declares independence.
         17 October Hungarian parliament declares independence from Austria.
         3 November Independent Polish Republic proclaimed.
         1 December The kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is declared.

1919  17 January Communist government takes power in Hungary.
         28 June Peace Treaty of Versailles signed.
         1 August Romanian troops occupy Budapest; communist government falls.
         17 August Overwhelming victory of Peasant Party in Bulgarian elections.

1920  18 April Elections in Czechoslovakia produce coalition government.
         25 April Polish-Soviet war breaks out; ends in October with Polish victory.
         4 June Treaty of Trianon signed; major Hungarian territorial losses.
        14 August Czechoslovakia signs treaty with Yugoslavia.

1921  3 March With Soviet Russia weakened, Romania annexes Bessarabia.
         20 March Silesia partitioned between Poland and Germany by League of Nations.
         14 April Hungarian stabilisation begins under Count Bethlen.

1922  8 January Plebiscite of local population transfers town of Vilnius,
         formerly belonging to Lithuania, to Poland.
         16 April Rapallo Treaty signed by Germany and the Soviet Union.
         11 October Formal end of Greek/Turkish war with massive defeat for Greece.
         30 October Italian Fascists form government in Rome.

1923  9 January French and Belgian troops occupy the Ruhr valley in Germany.
         9 June Stamboliiski overthrown in Bulgaria and subsequently murdered.

1924  25 January Defence and aid treaty signed by Czechoslovakia and France.
         16 August Acceptance of Dawes Plan reducing German reparations.
         28 December Abdication of Carol’s claim to Romanian Crown; goes into exile.

1925  21 January Albania proclaimed republic.
         4 May Communists outlawed in Bulgaria after mass bombing.
         16 October Locarno Conference attempts to secure European peace.

1926  12 May Rebellion against Polish government led by General Pi³sudski.
         8 September Germany admitted to League of Nations.

1929  5 January King Alexander proclaims dictatorship in Yugoslavia.
         28 October Wall Street Crash; largest one-day drop in share prices.

1931  20 March German/Austrian customs union; France recalls loans.
         11 May Failure of Creditanstalt in Austria, largest East European bank.

1932  9 July End of Lausanne conference and of payment of German reparations.
         17 July Electoral victory of Peasant Party in Romania.

1933  31 January Hitler appointed German Chancellor.
         17 June Hungarian prime minister Gömbös visits Hitler.

1934  25 July Chancellor Dollfuss assassinated by Austrian Nazis.
         18 September Soviet Union joins League of Nations.
         9 October Yugoslav King Alexander assassinated in Marseilles.

1935  16 March Hitler renounces disarmament clauses of Versailles Treaty.
         13 December Beneš succeeds Masaryk as Czechoslovak president.

1936  7 March German army occupies Rhineland in breach of Locarno Treaty.
         11 May Trade agreement between Germany and Yugoslavia.
15 October Establishment of German-Italian Axis.

1937  16 October Formation of ‘Arrow Cross’ by Hungarian National Socialists.
         28 December New Romanian government introduces anti-Jewish laws.

1938  10 February King Carol pronounces dictatorship in Romania
         10 March Austrian Anschluss, union of the German-speaking countries.
         29-30 September Munich conference accedes to Hitler’s Sudetenland demands.

1939  16 March Bohemia and Moravia proclaimed German protectorates.
         31 March Military commitment of Britain and France to help Poland in case of attack.
         7 April Italy invades Albania.
         23 August Non-aggression pact between Germany and Soviet Union.
         1 September German invasion of Poland.
         3 September Britain and France declare war on Germany.
         17 September Soviet invasion of Eastern Poland as agreed with Germany.
         30 November Soviet Union invades Finland, expelled from League of Nations.

1940  10 May Beginning of German Western offensive.
         15 June Soviet army occupies Baltic Republics.
         22 June French armistice with Germany.
         7 October German troops enter Romania.
         20 November Hungary joins Axis.

1941  6 April Germany attacks Yugoslavia to secure access to Greece.
         22 June Germany attacks the Soviet Union.
         25 November Bulgaria joins Axis.
         4 December German attack on Moscow halted.
         7 December Japanese attack on United States naval base at
         Pearl Harbour brings America into war.
        11 December Declaration of war on United States by Germany and Italy.

1942  20 January Wannsee Conference confirms plans for extermination of Jews.
         8 May German summer offensive in southern Russia begins.

1943  31 January German sixth army contingent surrenders at Stalingrad.
         5 May Indefinite adjournment of Hungarian parliament.
         25 July Overthrow of Mussolini; Italy surrenders in September.
         28 November Meeting in Teheran of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin.

1944  19 March German occupation of Hungary begins.
         1 August Warsaw Uprising breaks out.
         15 August Coup by King Michael and declaration of Romanian surrender.
         31 August Bucharest occupied by Red Army.
         5 September Bulgaria requests armistice with Soviet Union.

1945  17 January Soviet troops take Warsaw.
         4 February Beginning of Yalta conference.
         6 March New government under communist influence in Romania.
         8 March Tito establishes new Yugoslav government.
         11 April Entry of Red Army into Vienna.
         2 May Occupation of Berlin by Red Army.
         8 May End of war in Europe.
         28 June Provisional government in Poland dominated by Soviet protégés.
         17 July Opening of Potsdam conference in Germany.
         4 November National elections in Hungary.
         11 November Elections in Yugoslavia produce massive communist majority.
         18 November Victory of Bulgarian National Front not recognised by US.

1946  11 January Albania declared first People’s Republic in Eastern Europe.
         5 March Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech in Fulton, Missouri.
         26 May Communists get 38 per cent of vote in Czechoslovak elections.
         27 October Communists win elections after coercive campaign in Bulgaria.
         9 November Communist victory in Romania following mass intimidation.

1947  5 January Hungarian opposition deputies accused of conspiracy.
         19 January Communist victory in Poland in further rigged election.
         5 June Proclamation of Marshall Plan for European economic recovery.
         6 August Show trial of Bulgarian opposition leader Petkov (later hanged).
         31 August Victory of communist-dominated National Front in Hungary.
         22 September Establishment of Cominform to reinforce Soviet domination.
         12 November Romanian opposition leader sentenced to life imprisonment.

1948  25 February Communist-dominated government in Czechoslovakia.
         12 June Hungarian social democrats merged with communist party.
         27 June Czechoslovak social democrats merged with communist party.
         28 June Yugoslavia expelled from Cominform.

1949  25 January Comecon founded to further integration of communist economies.
         24 September Show trial of Rajk and associates ends in Hungary.
         7 October Proclamation of (communist) German Democratic Republic.
         7 December Show trial of Kostov in Bulgaria ends with death sentence.

1950  23 May Communists win 98 per cent of vote in Albanian elections.
         25 June Beginning of Korean War.
         6 July East Germany recognises Oder-Neisse border with Poland.

1951  1 May US-funded Radio Free Europe starts broadcasts to Eastern Europe.
         July Hungarian interim primate Grõsz sentenced to fifteen years in prison.
         September Reintroduction of rationing in Poland.

1952  February Further nationalisation measures introduced in Hungary.
         20 November Opening of trial in Czechoslovakia of Slánský and associates.
         22 November Promulgation of new constitution in Poland.

1953  5 March Death in Soviet Union of Joseph Stalin.

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