13 records
Africa
- MOZ
Mozambique · Economy & Trade · 1930s onward
Forced cotton cultivation and chibalo
Compulsory cotton-growing for Portuguese industry and the chibalo forced-labour system compel Mozambicans to grow cash crops and build infrastructure, causing hardship and hunger.
Chartered Companies and Forced Labour
Sources: Chibalo (Wikipedia) · Mozambique — forced labour and the slave trade (SLAFNET Project) · Mozambique (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SDS
South Sudan · Colonisation
The Southern Policy formalised
A government memorandum directs administrators to develop the south as a distinct bloc, favouring local languages and English over Arabic and limiting northern contact.
The Condominium and the Southern Policy
Sources: British policy in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and the north–south divide (Africa at LSE, London School of Economics) · History of South Sudan (Wikipedia)
- ZWE
Zimbabwe · Politics & Power
Land Apportionment Act
Settler legislation formalised racial division of land, reserving the most productive areas for the white minority and restricting African landholding, a grievance that fuelled later nationalism.
White rule, UDI and the liberation war
Sources: Zimbabwe: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Zimbabwe (Wikipedia)
Asia
- IND
India · Politics & Power · 12 Mar 1930
The Salt March
Gandhi leads a 24-day march to the sea to make salt in defiance of the British salt monopoly, galvanising mass non-violent resistance against colonial rule.
The East India Company and the British Raj
Sources: Salt March (1930) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- KAZ
Kazakhstan · Catastrophe · 1930–1933
The Kazakh famine (Asharshylyk)
Forced collectivisation and the settling of nomads under Filipp Goloshchekin produce a man-made famine that kills an estimated 1.5 million people, around a third of all Kazakhs, the deadliest catastrophe in Kazakh history; the toll is an estimate.
Soviet Kazakhstan
Sources: The Kazakh Famine of the 1930s (Library of Congress (John W. Kluge Center)) · The Hungry Steppe: Famine, Violence, and the Making of Soviet Kazakhstan (Library of Congress (John W. Kluge Center))
- TKM
Turkmenistan · Economy & Trade · late 1920s–1930s
Collectivisation and cotton
Forced collectivisation seized herds and land and ended Turkmen pastoral nomadism amid fierce resistance, while Soviet planning imposed cotton monoculture across the republic's irrigated land.
Soviet Turkmenistan
Sources: Turkmenistan: A Country Study (in 'Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies') (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division) · Turkmenistan (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- ARE
United Arab Emirates · Economy & Trade · late 1920s-1930s
Collapse of the pearl trade
The Great Depression and the Japanese cultured pearl destroyed the natural-pearl economy that had sustained the Trucial Coast, bringing years of poverty and hunger.
The Fall of Pearls, the Rise of Oil, and Federation
Sources: History (Discover UAE) (Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, Washington DC) · History of the United Arab Emirates (UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
- VNM
Vietnam · Politics & Power · 1930 CE
Founding of the Indochinese Communist Party
Ho Chi Minh helps unite rival communist groups into the Indochinese Communist Party, which becomes the organizational core of the independence struggle.
French Indochina
Sources: Ho Chi Minh (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Vietnam (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- DOM
Dominican Republic · Politics & Power · 1930 CE
Trujillo seizes power
Rafael Trujillo, commander of the army built under the occupation, takes the presidency and establishes a personal dictatorship that lasts thirty-one years.
U.S. Occupation and the Trujillo Era
Sources: Rafael Trujillo (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- JAM
- PRI
Puerto Rico · Independence · 1930 CE
Albizu Campos leads the Nationalists
Pedro Albizu Campos becomes president of the Nationalist Party, intensifying the campaign for outright independence.
Under the United States: Citizenship and a New Order
Sources: Pedro Albizu Campos (Encyclopædia Britannica)
South America
- ARG
- BRA
Brazil · Politics & Power · 1930 CE
Revolution of 1930
A disputed election amid the Depression brings down the Old Republic, and Getulio Vargas takes power, beginning a new era.
The Old Republic
Sources: Getulio Vargas (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Brazil (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
7 records
Africa
- LBY
Libya · War & Rupture · 16 September 1931
Execution of Omar al-Mukhtar
The resistance leader Omar al-Mukhtar, the 'Lion of the Desert', is captured and publicly hanged at Soluch, breaking organised resistance in Cyrenaica.
Italian Colonisation and the Resistance
Sources: Omar al-Mukhtar (Wikipedia) · Soluch concentration camp (Wikipedia)
- RWA
Rwanda · Politics & Power
Belgians depose Mwami Musinga
The Belgian administration removes the uncooperative King Yuhi V Musinga and installs his son Mutara III Rudahigwa, tightening colonial control over the monarchy.
German and Belgian Rule
Sources: Yuhi V Musinga (Wikipedia) · History of Rwanda (Wikipedia)
Asia
- LKA
Sri Lanka · Politics & Power
Universal suffrage and reform
Constitutional reforms grant universal adult suffrage in Ceylon, far ahead of most colonies, strengthening a moderate movement for self-government.
British Ceylon and the Road to Independence
Sources: D. S. Senanayake (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Path to Freedom: 1815 Convention and Dominion Status (Department of National Archives, Sri Lanka)
Europe
- ESP
North America
- CAN
Canada · Independence
Statute of Westminster
The Statute of Westminster granted Canada legislative independence from the British Parliament, a landmark in its evolution toward full sovereignty.
The World Wars and growing autonomy
Sources: Statute of Westminster, 1931 (The Canadian Encyclopedia) · Canada (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SLV
El Salvador · Politics & Power · December 1931
Hernandez Martinez seizes power
General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez takes power in a coup, beginning his dictatorship and inaugurating nearly half a century of military rule allied with the oligarchy.
La Matanza and the Age of Military Rule
Sources: El Salvador: Military dictatorships (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- GTM
Guatemala · Politics & Power · 1931-1944
Dictatorship of Jorge Ubico
General Ubico rules for thirteen years, repressing labour and opposition while sustaining the coffee oligarchy and ties to United Fruit.
Coffee and the Liberal Dictatorships
Sources: Guatemala: History (Postcolonial period and after) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
14 records
Africa
- BFA
Burkina Faso · Colonisation · 5 September 1932
Upper Volta partitioned
The colony is dismembered for economic reasons and divided among Côte d'Ivoire, French Sudan and Niger.
Conquest and the Colony of Upper Volta
Sources: French Upper Volta (Wikipedia) · Background Notes: Burkina Faso (U.S. Department of State)
- CPV
Cape Verde · Culture & Ideas · 1867–1930
The morna and Creole letters
The poet Eugénio Tavares of Brava elevated the morna to a literary art in Cape Verdean Creole; the song-form of love, parting and sodade would later be carried worldwide by Cesária Évora.
Creole culture, the coaling port, and the years of hunger
Sources: Eugénio Tavares (Wikipedia) · The story of morna: Cape Verde's music of displacement and return (Al Jazeera) · Morna, musical practice of Cabo Verde (UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage)
Asia
- IRQ
Iraq · Independence · 3 October 1932
Independence and entry into the League of Nations
The British mandate ends and the Kingdom of Iraq is admitted to the League of Nations as an independent state — the first League mandate anywhere to achieve independence.
Ottoman Rule, the British Mandate and the Kingdom
Sources: Iraq — Independence (1932–39) (Encyclopædia Britannica) · A Guide to the History of Recognition: Iraq (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- OMN
Oman · Politics & Power
Accession of Sultan Said bin Taimur
Said bin Taimur came to the throne and ruled an increasingly isolated and undeveloped Oman, leaning on British support to hold the country together.
Decline, British Influence and Isolation
Sources: Said ibn Taymur, sultan of Oman (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Oman: The early period (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SAU
Saudi Arabia · Formation · 23 September 1932
Proclamation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
By royal decree the regions of Najd and the Hejaz were unified and renamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with Abdulaziz ibn Saud as its first king.
Unification and the Founding of the Kingdom (1902-1932)
Sources: Proclamation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Wikipedia) · Saudi Arabia: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · When Was the Unification of Saudi Arabia Officially Announced? (Saudipedia)
- THA
Thailand · Politics & Power · 24 June 1932
Constitutional revolution
The People's Party stages a bloodless coup forcing King Prajadhipok to accept a constitution, ending the absolute monarchy and creating a constitutional one.
Constitutional Revolution, the Name Thailand, and the World Wars
Sources: Pridi Phanomyong (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Thailand (Encyclopædia Britannica)
Europe
- FIN
Finland · Politics & Power
The far-right coup attempt fails
An attempted uprising by the extreme-right Lapua movement collapsed within days when the majority of Finns rejected it, and the parliamentary republic held firm through the interwar years.
The Aland Islands Dispute and the Interwar Republic
Sources: How Finland found a road to reconciliation after the Civil War of 1918 (thisisFINLAND (Finland Promotion Board))
- PRT
Portugal · Politics & Power · 1932-1968
Salazar and the Estado Novo
Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, prime minister from 1932, built an authoritarian corporative dictatorship, the Estado Novo, that ruled Portugal for over four decades.
Republic, Dictatorship, Revolution and Europe
Sources: Antonio de Oliveira Salazar (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Estado Novo (Portuguese history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- RUS
Russia · Catastrophe · 1932-1933
The Holodomor and the Soviet famine
Forced collectivization and ruthless grain requisitioning produce a man-made famine across the USSR; in Ukraine the Holodomor kills an estimated 3.5 to 5 million people and is recognized by many countries as a genocide.
The Soviet Union
Sources: Holodomor (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Soviet Union (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- UKR
Ukraine · Catastrophe · 1932–33
The Holodomor
Soviet collectivisation and grain seizures caused a man-made famine that killed millions of Ukrainians; many states and, in 2022, the European Parliament have recognised it as a genocide.
Soviet Ukraine, the Holodomor and the Second World War
Sources: Holodomor (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Holodomor: Parliament recognises Soviet starvation of Ukrainians as genocide (European Parliament)
North America
- SLV
El Salvador · Politics & Power · 1 February 1932
Execution of Farabundo Marti
Agustin Farabundo Marti, the communist organiser of the uprising, is captured and executed by firing squad; his name is later taken by the FMLN guerrilla front.
La Matanza and the Age of Military Rule
Sources: Agustin Farabundo Marti (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SLV
El Salvador · War & Rupture · January 1932
Uprising and la matanza
A peasant and Indigenous revolt in the coffee districts, linked to Farabundo Marti, is crushed by the army; in the ensuing repression, the matanza, estimates of those killed range from at least 10,000 to as many as 30,000.
La Matanza and the Age of Military Rule
Sources: La matanza, revolt, El Salvador (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · El Salvador: Military dictatorships (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Agustin Farabundo Marti (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
South America
- BOL
Bolivia · War & Rupture · 1932-1935
The Chaco War with Paraguay
Bolivia is defeated by Paraguay in a brutal war over the Gran Chaco, losing most of the disputed land and discrediting the old governing order.
Lost Wars, the Sea, and the Tin Republic
Sources: Chaco War (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Bolivia: A Country Study (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
- PRY
Paraguay · War & Rupture · 1932-1935
The Chaco War
Paraguay and Bolivia fight a costly war over the Gran Chaco; about 100,000 men die before a 1935 truce, with most of the region awarded to Paraguay by the 1938 treaty.
Rebuilding and the Chaco War
Sources: Chaco War (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Paraguay (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
10 records
Africa
- RWA
Rwanda · Colonisation
Ethnic identity cards introduced
Belgium issues identity cards classifying every Rwandan as Hutu, Tutsi or Twa, fixing a once-fluid social distinction into a rigid, inherited racial category.
German and Belgian Rule
Sources: Divided by Ethnicity (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Outreach Programme on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda — Historical Background (United Nations) · Indangamuntu 1994: The role of the identity card in the genocide (Prevent Genocide International (Jim Fussell))
Asia
- SAU
Saudi Arabia · Economy & Trade
The oil concession is granted
Abdulaziz granted an oil exploration concession to the Standard Oil Company of California, the agreement that would become the basis of Aramco.
Oil, Modernization and Contemporary Saudi Arabia
Sources: Oil Discovery in Saudi Arabia (Saudipedia) · History of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia (Wikipedia)
Europe
- DNK
Denmark · Politics & Power · 5 Apr 1933
The Eastern Greenland case
The Permanent Court of International Justice ruled that Denmark held sovereignty over the whole of Greenland, rejecting Norway's occupation of the eastern coast and confirming Danish title to the island.
Occupation, the Welfare State and the Modern Realm
Sources: Legal Status of Eastern Greenland (Denmark v. Norway), Judgment, 5 April 1933 (Permanent Court of International Justice (worldcourts.com))
- DEU
Germany · Politics & Power · 30 Jan 1933
Hitler appointed chancellor
President Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler chancellor. Within months the Nazis abolished democracy and established a totalitarian one-party dictatorship.
Weimar, the Third Reich and the Second World War
Sources: The Holocaust and World War II: Key Dates (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- NOR
Norway · Politics & Power · 5 Apr 1933
Eastern Greenland case
The Permanent Court of International Justice ruled against Norway's claim to part of eastern Greenland, upholding Danish sovereignty over the whole island; Norway abandoned its claim.
Independence, Polar Sovereignty and the Second World War
Sources: Legal Status of Eastern Greenland (Denmark v. Norway), 1933 (Permanent Court of International Justice)
North America
- CUB
Cuba · Politics & Power · Aug 1933
Fall of Machado
Amid depression and unrest the army forces dictator Gerardo Machado to flee, opening the era of Fulgencio Batista.
The Republic: Occupation, Platt, Machado, and Batista
Sources: Cuban Revolution (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Republic of Cuba (1902-1959) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- GRL
Greenland · Politics & Power · 5 Apr 1933
Danish sovereignty confirmed
The Permanent Court of International Justice ruled in the Eastern Greenland case that Denmark held sovereignty over the whole island, rejecting Norway's occupation of the eastern coast.
Hans Egede and Two Centuries of Danish Rule
Sources: Legal Status of Eastern Greenland (Denmark v. Norway), Judgment, 5 April 1933 (Permanent Court of International Justice (worldcourts.com)) · A Guide to the History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Denmark (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- HND
Honduras · Politics & Power · 1933-1949
Carías dictatorship
Tiburcio Carías Andino governs as authoritarian president, opening an era of military influence over Honduran politics.
Military Rule and the Cold-War Frontier
Sources: Honduras: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Honduras: A Country Study (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
South America
- URY
Oceania
- PNG
Papua New Guinea · Peoples & Migration · early 1930s
First contact in the highlands
Australian prospectors and patrol officers walked into the central highlands and found densely populated farming valleys — perhaps a million people — entirely unknown to the outside world until then.
Australian rule and the highland 'first contact'
Sources: Papua New Guinea — History (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Papua New Guinea (Encyclopædia Britannica)
10 records
Africa
- COG
Congo · Economy & Trade
Railway completed; Pointe-Noire opens as port
The roughly 512-kilometre railway was completed in 1934, establishing Pointe-Noire as the colony's Atlantic ocean terminal and the backbone of the export economy that bypassed the lower Congo rapids.
French Equatorial Africa, forced labour, and the Congo-Ocean Railway
Sources: Congo–Ocean Railway (Wikipedia) · Pointe-Noire railway station (Wikipedia)
- LBY
Libya · Colonisation
Creation of Italian Libya
Governor Italo Balbo merges Tripolitania and Cyrenaica into a single colony, Italian Libya, reviving the classical name.
Italian Colonisation and the Resistance
Sources: Italian colonization of Libya (Wikipedia)
- MRT
Mauritania · Colonisation · 1930s
Completion of the conquest
After decades of resistance by the desert emirates and nomadic tribes, French military control over the far north of Mauritania is finally consolidated in the 1930s.
French Conquest and Pacification
Sources: Mauritania (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Mauritania (Wikipedia)
- TUN
Tunisia · Politics & Power
Neo-Destour founded
Habib Bourguiba and colleagues break from the Destour to form the Neo-Destour, the engine of the independence movement.
French Protectorate & Independence
Sources: Neo Destour (Wikipedia) · Habib Bourguiba (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- KWT
Kuwait · Economy & Trade · 23 December 1934
The oil concession is granted
Sheikh Ahmad al-Jabir Al-Sabah granted a concession to the Kuwait Oil Company, a joint Anglo-American venture, opening the era of petroleum.
Oil, Independence, and the Welfare State
Sources: Kuwait Oil Company (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Kuwait: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- AND
Andorra · Politics & Power · Jul 1934
Boris Skossyreff, 'King Boris I'
A Russian-born adventurer briefly induced the Andorran council to proclaim him king during a period of unrest over voting rights; he was arrested and expelled within about two weeks.
Reform, a Brief 'King', and the Strains of the Old Order
Sources: Andorra: History, Facts & Points of Interest (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Andorra: Countries (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- AUT
Austria · Politics & Power
Dollfuss and the corporate state
Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss suspended parliament and established an authoritarian 'corporate state'; he was assassinated by Austrian Nazis in July 1934, deepening the First Republic's crisis.
The First Republic, Saint-Germain and the Anschluss
Sources: German Annexation of Austria (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- EST
Estonia · Politics & Power
The 'era of silence'
Amid depression and political instability, Konstantin Päts assumed authoritarian powers, suspending parliamentary politics in an interlude later called the 'era of silence'.
Independence, the War of Independence and the First Republic
Sources: Estonia: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LVA
Latvia · Politics & Power · 15 May 1934
The Ulmanis coup
Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis staged a self-coup, suspending the constitution, dissolving the Saeima and the parties, and establishing an authoritarian regime that lasted until 1940.
National Awakening, Independence and the First Republic
Sources: Kārlis Ulmanis (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Latvia (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia)
North America
- NIC
Nicaragua · Politics & Power · 1934 CE
Assassination of Sandino
Sandino is lured to Managua and murdered by National Guard officers under Anastasio Somoza García, opening the way to the Somoza dictatorship.
Intervention, Sandino, and the Somoza Dynasty
Sources: César Augusto Sandino (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Somoza family (Encyclopædia Britannica)
4 records
Africa
- ERI
Eritrea · War & Rupture · October 1935 - May 1936
Conquest of Ethiopia launched from Eritrea
Italian forces invade Ethiopia from Eritrea, taking Addis Ababa in May 1936; Eritrea is absorbed into Italian East Africa.
Italy's First-Born Colony
Sources: Second Italo-Ethiopian War (Wikipedia) · Italian Eritrea (Wikipedia)
- ZMB
Zambia · Economy & Trade
Copperbelt mineworkers' strike
African mineworkers struck over taxes and conditions; six men were shot dead during the disturbances, an early sign of the labour grievances that would fuel nationalist politics. Further strikes followed in 1940.
Company rule, Northern Rhodesia and the Copperbelt
Sources: Northern Rhodesia (Wikipedia)
Asia
- PHL
Philippines · Politics & Power
Establishment of the Commonwealth
The Philippines becomes a self-governing Commonwealth under U.S. sovereignty, with Manuel L. Quezon as first president and a ten-year transition toward full independence.
Cession to America, the Philippine-American War and the Commonwealth
Sources: Philippine-American War (and the Commonwealth) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- QAT
Qatar · Economy & Trade
First oil concession signed
Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim granted an oil concession, opening Qatar to the exploration that would lead to the discovery of oil within a few years.
Between the Ottomans and Britain: The 1916 Protectorate
Sources: Qatar: History (Persian Gulf, Oil, Gas) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
10 records
Africa
- ETH
Ethiopia · War & Rupture · 1936–1941
Italian occupation and liberation
Fascist Italy seizes Addis Ababa after the 1935 invasion and occupies Ethiopia, but never settles it as a colony; in 1941 British and Ethiopian forces expel the Italians and Haile Selassie, crowned emperor in 1930, returns and restores independence.
Haile Selassie, the Derg, Civil War and Modern Ethiopia
Sources: Ethiopia (country overview) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Haile Selassie (Wikipedia)
- GNB
Guinea-Bissau · War & Rupture · 1935–1936
The Bijagós islands subdued
After repeated campaigns against the seafaring Bijagós, the Estado Novo finally imposed control over the archipelago in 1935–1936, completing the conquest more than four centuries after first Portuguese contact.
Portuguese Guinea and the late conquest
Sources: History of Guinea-Bissau (Wikipedia) · Portuguese Guinea (Wikipedia)
- MUS
Mauritius · Politics & Power
Founding of the Labour Party
The Mauritius Labour Party is founded, channelling demands of workers and the indentured-descended majority for rights and representation.
The Road to Independence
Sources: Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (1900–1985) (BlackPast.org) · Mauritius (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- SOM
Somalia · Colonisation
Italian Somaliland joins Italian East Africa
After Fascist Italy's conquest of Ethiopia, Italian Somaliland is merged into the new colony of Italian East Africa; Britain takes control of the region during the Second World War, holding both Somalilands by 1941.
Colonial Partition and the Dervish Resistance
Sources: Italian Somaliland (Wikipedia) · Somalia (country and history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Asia
- ARM
Armenia · Politics & Power
Armenian SSR established
The Transcaucasian federation was dissolved and Armenia became a separate union republic of the U.S.S.R., the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Soviet Armenia
Sources: Armenia — Caucasus, Soviet Union, Genocide (Modern Armenia) (Encyclopædia Britannica)
- KAZ
Kazakhstan · Politics & Power · 5 December 1936
Kazakh S.S.R. becomes a union republic
Kazakhstan, an autonomous republic since 1920 and renamed the Kazak A.S.S.R. in 1925, is raised to a full constituent republic of the Soviet Union under the 1936 constitution.
Soviet Kazakhstan
Sources: History of Kazakhstan (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
- KGZ
Kyrgyzstan · Politics & Power · 5 Dec 1936
The Kirghiz SSR becomes a union republic
Kyrgyzstan was elevated to the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, a full constituent republic of the Soviet Union, with its capital at Frunze (formerly Pishpek, today Bishkek).
Soviet Kirghizia
Sources: Kyrgyzstan: A Country Study (in Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies) (U.S. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division) · Kyrgyzstan: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- PSE
Palestine · War & Rupture · 1936-1939
Arab Revolt in Palestine
A sustained Palestinian Arab uprising against British rule and Zionist immigration was suppressed with great severity, leaving Palestinian society weakened.
The British Mandate and the Nakba
Sources: Palestine - region, history (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- ESP
Spain · War & Rupture · 1936–1939
Spanish Civil War
A military coup against the Republic led by Franco failed to seize power outright and triggered a devastating civil war, fuelled by foreign intervention and marked by mass atrocities; the Nationalists won in 1939.
Loss of Empire, Republic and Civil War
Sources: Spanish Civil War (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
North America
- NIC
Nicaragua · Politics & Power · 1936 CE
Rise of the Somoza dynasty
Anastasio Somoza García seizes the presidency, founding a family dictatorship that, directly or through proxies, rules Nicaragua until 1979.
Intervention, Sandino, and the Somoza Dynasty
Sources: Somoza family (Encyclopædia Britannica) · Anastasio Somoza (García) (Encyclopædia Britannica)
9 records
Asia
- CHN
China · War & Rupture · 1937 CE
Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanjing Massacre
Japan's full-scale invasion from July 1937 brings catastrophic violence, including the December 1937 Nanjing Massacre, in which Japanese forces murdered many tens of thousands of civilians and prisoners and committed mass rape.
The Fall of the Empire: Republic, Warlords, and War
Sources: Second Sino-Japanese War (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · China (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- MNG
Mongolia · Catastrophe
The Great Repression
Under Choibalsan and Soviet NKVD advisers, the state carries out mass purges, killing tens of thousands of people, executing thousands of lamas, and destroying hundreds of Buddhist monasteries.
Independence, Revolution, and the People's Republic
Sources: Mongolia: Counterrevolution and Japan (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Mongolia: A Country Study (Library of Congress, Federal Research Division)
- MMR
Myanmar · Politics & Power · 1937 CE
Burma separated from British India
Burma is made a distinct crown colony with limited self-government, administered separately from the Indian Empire.
The Anglo-Burmese Wars and British Rule
Sources: History of Myanmar: The British in Burma, 1885-1948 (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Myanmar (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- YEM
Yemen · Colonisation
Aden becomes a Crown Colony
The port of Aden, previously governed as part of British India, was made a separate Crown Colony, with the surrounding territories organised as the Aden Protectorate.
Ottomans, Britain and the Port of Aden
Sources: Aden: Yemen, Map, Population and Facts (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Europe
- BLR
Belarus · Catastrophe · 1937-1941
Stalinist terror and Kurapaty
Amid forced collectivisation, the NKVD carried out mass executions of Belarusians at Kurapaty near Minsk between 1937 and 1941; the mass graves, revealed in 1988, became the emblem of Soviet repression in Belarus.
People's Republic, Soviet Republic and Terror
Sources: Kurapaty (1937-1941): NKVD Mass Killings in Soviet Belarus (Sciences Po Mass Violence and Resistance Research Network)
- RUS
Russia · Politics & Power · 1937-1938
The Great Terror
Stalin's secret police carry out mass arrests, deportations, and executions; at least 750,000 people are shot in two years and millions more sent to the gulag, as old revolutionaries, officers, and ordinary citizens perish in the purges.
The Soviet Union
Sources: Great Purge (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Soviet Union (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- DOM
Dominican Republic · War & Rupture · Oct 1937
The Parsley Massacre
Trujillo orders the army to kill Haitians and Haitian-descended people along the border; the death toll, carried out largely by machete, is estimated in the thousands to tens of thousands.
U.S. Occupation and the Trujillo Era
Sources: Parsley Massacre (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Rafael Trujillo (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- TTO
Trinidad and Tobago · Politics & Power · June 1937
The 1937 labour revolution
An oilbelt strike led by Tubal Uriah 'Buzz' Butler spread into riots across the colony, leaving at least fourteen dead and giving birth to Trinidad and Tobago's modern trade-union and nationalist movements.
Indenture, oil, and one colony
Sources: Labour Day (National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS), Trinidad and Tobago) · Locales of the 1937 Labour Revolution (National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago) · Trinidad and Tobago: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
South America
- BRA
Brazil · Politics & Power · 1937-1945
The Estado Novo
Vargas imposes a centralised dictatorship, ruling by decree, banning parties, and censoring the press until his ouster in 1945.
The Vargas Era and Military Dictatorship
Sources: Getulio Vargas (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Estado Novo (Brazilian history) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
11 records
Asia
- KWT
Kuwait · Economy & Trade
Discovery of the Burgan field
Drilling revealed the giant Burgan oil field, one of the world's largest, though development was delayed by the Second World War.
Oil, Independence, and the Welfare State
Sources: Kuwait Oil Company (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SAU
Saudi Arabia · Economy & Trade
Oil struck at Dammam Well No. 7
Commercial quantities of oil were discovered at Dammam Well No. 7 in March 1938, the find that transformed Saudi Arabia's economy and the world energy market.
Oil, Modernization and Contemporary Saudi Arabia
Sources: Dammam No. 7 (Wikipedia) · Oil Discovery in Saudi Arabia (Saudipedia)
Europe
- AUT
Austria · War & Rupture · 12–13 Mar 1938
The Anschluss
German troops entered Austria on 12 March 1938 and on 13 March a law proclaimed reunification with the Reich; Austrian independence ended and a manipulated April plebiscite recorded near-total approval.
The First Republic, Saint-Germain and the Anschluss
Sources: German Annexation of Austria (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- CZE
Czechia · War & Rupture · 1–10 Oct 1938
German annexation of the Sudetenland
Following the Munich Agreement, German forces occupied the Sudetenland, stripping Czechoslovakia of its border defences and around three million inhabitants in its German-speaking borderlands.
Czechoslovakia, the Munich Betrayal and Nazi Occupation
Sources: Munich Agreement (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Sudetenland (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- CZE
Czechia · Politics & Power · 29–30 Sep 1938
The Munich Agreement
Germany, Italy, Britain and France agreed at Munich that Czechoslovakia must cede the German-majority Sudetenland to Nazi Germany; Czechoslovakia was not a party and yielded under Anglo-French pressure.
Czechoslovakia, the Munich Betrayal and Nazi Occupation
Sources: Munich Agreement (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Munich Agreement (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- HUN
Hungary · Politics & Power · 2 Nov 1938
First Vienna Award
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy awarded Hungary parts of southern Slovakia from Czechoslovakia, the first of the revisionist gains that drew Hungary toward the Axis.
Trianon and the Shrinking of Hungary
Sources: Treaty of Trianon (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- ITA
Italy · Politics & Power
Fascist racial laws
Mussolini's government enacted antisemitic racial laws that stripped Italian Jews of rights and citizenship, foreshadowing later deportations under German occupation.
Liberal Italy, Fascism, War and the Republic
Sources: Italy (Fascism, racial laws and the Second World War) (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust Encyclopedia)
- LIE
Liechtenstein · Politics & Power
A prince moves to Vaduz
Prince Franz Josef II became the first reigning prince to take up permanent residence in Liechtenstein, ending more than two centuries of rule from abroad on the eve of the Second World War.
The Turn to Switzerland, Neutrality and the Beneš Decrees
Sources: The History of the Princely House of Liechtenstein (Fürstenhaus von Liechtenstein (official Princely House))
North America
- JAM
Jamaica · Politics & Power · 1938 CE
Labour rebellions
Island-wide worker uprisings give rise to Bustamante's union and Manley's PNP, founding modern Jamaican party politics.
Crown Colony, Morant Bay, and Garvey
Sources: Jamaica: British rule (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Jamaica: The independent country (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- MEX
Mexico · Economy & Trade · 1938 CE
Oil nationalisation
President Lazaro Cardenas nationalises the petroleum industry, creating Pemex and asserting economic sovereignty.
Modern Mexico: The PRI Era to Today
Sources: Vicente Fox (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Oceania
- NZL
New Zealand · Politics & Power
The welfare state
The first Labour government's Social Security Act 1938 created a comprehensive system of pensions, benefits, and public health, building a 'cradle to grave' welfare state admired around the world.
Nationhood, the world wars, and the welfare state
Sources: Social security — scope of the 1938 legislation (Te Ara — The Encyclopedia of New Zealand) · New Zealand (country) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
19 records
Asia
- QAT
Qatar · Economy & Trade
Oil discovered at Dukhan
Following the 1935 concession, oil was discovered at the Dukhan field, though development stalled during the Second World War.
Oil, the End of Pearls, and Independence
Sources: Qatar: History (Persian Gulf, Oil, Gas) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- KOR
South Korea · Colonisation · c. 1939-1945 CE
Forced labor and wartime mobilization
As the Pacific War expands, Japan conscripts hundreds of thousands of Koreans for forced labor and military service and coerces women into sexual slavery.
Japanese Colonial Rule
Sources: Korea Under Japanese Rule (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- THA
Europe
- ALB
Albania · War & Rupture · 7 Apr 1939
Italian invasion of Albania
Fascist Italy invaded Albania on 7 April 1939; King Zog fled into exile and the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III was proclaimed king of Albania, ending its independence.
Independence, the Conference of London and the Albanian Question
Sources: History of Albania (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Albania (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations: Albania (U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian)
- AND
Andorra · War & Rupture · 1939–1945
Neutral in the Second World War
Andorra preserved its neutrality through the Second World War, its mountain passes serving as a quiet crossing-point between Vichy France and Spain.
Reform, a Brief 'King', and the Strains of the Old Order
Sources: Andorra: History, Facts & Points of Interest (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Andorra: Member state (Council of Europe)
- BLR
Belarus · Politics & Power · 17 Sep 1939
Reunification of western Belarus
Following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the German invasion of Poland, Soviet forces entered eastern Poland and western Belarus was annexed to the Byelorussian SSR, reuniting the Belarusian lands.
Reunification, the Nazi Catastrophe and Soviet Belarus
Sources: Belarus: The emergence of the Belorussian S.S.R. (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Belarus (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- CZE
Czechia · War & Rupture · 15 Mar 1939
Occupation and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
In breach of Munich, Germany occupied the Czech lands on 15 March 1939 and proclaimed the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, while a separate Slovak state was set up under German control.
Czechoslovakia, the Munich Betrayal and Nazi Occupation
Sources: Czechoslovakia (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Munich Agreement (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- EST
Estonia · Politics & Power · 23 Aug 1939
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The secret protocol of the German-Soviet pact assigned Estonia to the Soviet sphere of influence, sealing the country's fate without its knowledge or consent.
Occupation, Annexation and the Long Night
Sources: Estonia in the grip of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (Estonian World) · Estonia: Independence lost (Soviet occupation, World War II) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- FIN
Finland · War & Rupture · 30 Nov 1939
The Winter War begins
The Soviet Union invaded Finland on 30 November 1939 after Finland refused to cede territory near Leningrad; the outnumbered Finns mounted a celebrated defence through the winter of 1939-40.
The Winter War, the Continuation War and the Loss of Karelia
Sources: Russo-Finnish War (Winter War) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Finland (InfoFinland (Finnish public authorities))
- DEU
Germany · War & Rupture · 1 Sep 1939
Invasion of Poland
Germany invaded Poland, igniting the Second World War in Europe and beginning six years of conquest, occupation and total war.
Weimar, the Third Reich and the Second World War
Sources: The Holocaust and World War II: Key Dates (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- LVA
Latvia · Politics & Power · 23 Aug 1939
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact and its secret protocol assigned Latvia and the other Baltic states to the Soviet sphere of influence, sealing the country's fate in the coming war.
Occupation, War and the Holocaust
Sources: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (Russia's Periphery, William & Mary) · About the Museum (Museum of the Occupation of Latvia)
- LTU
Lithuania · War & Rupture · 23 Mar 1939
German ultimatum and loss of Klaipeda
Nazi Germany demanded the Klaipeda region by ultimatum on 20 March 1939, threatening invasion; Lithuania capitulated and German troops occupied the territory on 23 March.
Independence and the Interwar Territorial Disputes
Sources: Memel dispute (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · History of Lithuania (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- LTU
Lithuania · Politics & Power · 23 Aug 1939
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The German-Soviet non-aggression pact and its secret protocol divided eastern Europe into spheres of influence; an adjustment that autumn assigned Lithuania, with the other Baltic states, to the Soviet sphere.
War, Soviet Occupation and the Partisan Struggle
Sources: German-Soviet Pact (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · History of Lithuania (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- POL
Poland · War & Rupture · 1 Sep 1939
German and Soviet invasion of Poland
Nazi Germany invaded on 1 September, starting the Second World War in Europe; the Soviet Union invaded from the east on 17 September, and the two powers again partitioned Poland.
The Second Republic, the Second World War and the Nazi-Soviet Catastrophe
Sources: Invasion of Poland, Fall 1939 (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Invasion of Poland (1939) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SVK
Slovakia · Politics & Power · 14 Mar 1939
Proclamation of the Slovak State
As Germany dismembered Czechoslovakia, a separate Slovak State was proclaimed under the priest Jozef Tiso, a clerical-authoritarian regime that became a client and ally of Nazi Germany.
Czechoslovakia, the Slovak State and the Uprising
Sources: Jozef Tiso (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · The Holocaust in Slovakia (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- ESP
Spain · Politics & Power · 1939–1975
The Franco dictatorship
Franco ruled Spain as an authoritarian dictator for nearly four decades, repressing opponents and regional identities, before later decades brought economic growth and cautious opening to the West.
The Franco Dictatorship and Democratic Spain
Sources: Spanish Civil War (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) · Spain (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- SWE
Sweden · War & Rupture · 1939–1945
Neutrality in the Second World War
Sweden preserved its neutrality through the Second World War, remaining unoccupied while continuing controversial trade with Germany and offering refuge to those fleeing Nazi persecution.
Neutrality, the People's Home and the Road to NATO
Sources: Sweden: The welfare state (Encyclopaedia Britannica) · Sweden: History (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- GBR
United Kingdom · War & Rupture · 1939–1945
The Second World War
Britain fought Nazi Germany and the Axis, endured the Blitz, and emerged victorious but economically drained; the wartime Bengal famine of 1943 killed millions in British India.
World wars, decolonisation, and the modern UK
Sources: The end of the British Empire after the Second World War (Imperial War Museums) · Bengal famine of 1943 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
North America
- CAN
Canada · War & Rupture · 1939–1945
Canada in the Second World War
Canada entered the Second World War by its own parliamentary decision and mobilised on a vast scale, contributing major forces to the Allied victory and emerging more industrialised and autonomous.
The World Wars and growing autonomy
Sources: Canada (Encyclopaedia Britannica)