Night of Long Knives, King of Yugoslavia Assassinated, Dolfossn Assasinated- Austria, Sergei Kirov Shot - Stalin Begins Purges, Mao Sets off On Long March, Saar Becomes Part of Germany, Germany Rejects Versailles Treaty, Government of India Act, Commonwealth of Philippines Declared, Social Security Act, N.I.R.A Act Illegal, Neutrality Act, W.P.A Created, Service To Manila, DC-3 Introduced, Woman To Cross Pacific, Howard Hughes Slashes Speed Record
1934 Night of Long Knives -(6/30/34) On the night of June 30th, Hitler eliminated embarrassing friends and foes alike. Seventy-seven people were executed, including SA leader Ernst Roehm, General Von Schleicher and his wife, former premier Gregor Starsser, a radical Nazi, and Erich Klausenere, a prominent Catholic. |
1934 King of Yugoslavia Assassinated -(10/9/34) King Alexander of Yugoslavia arrived in France for a state visit on October 9th. While traveling in a motorcade with French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou, he and the minister were killed by a Croatian assassin. |
1934 Unrest in Austria, Dolfoss Assasinated -(7/25/34) The Nazis attempted to stage a coup in Austria. They took over the Chancellery in Vienna and killed Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dolfuss. The Austrian Army rapidly put down the insurrection. Hitler was discouraged from any direct support of the coup attempt by the threats of Italian intervention. |
1934 Sergei Kirov Shot - Stalin Begins Purges -(12/1/34) Sergei Kirov, a close associate of Stalin, was assassinated. This prompted Stalin to institute another great purge. In the previous year, Stalin had purged the Communist Party of close to 1,000,000 members. This time, many of the older leaders of the party, such as Zinoviev and Kamenev, were arrested and tried for treason. Before the purges ended, close to 8 million people were killed, imprisoned or sent to Siberia. |
1934 Mao Sets off On Long March-(10/16/34) Continued victories by the Kuomintang Army under Chiang Kai-Shek compelled the forces under Mao Tse-Tung's control to retreat in order to regroup. They undertook what has become known as "The Long March." The march covered 6,000 miles and ended in Yenan. One hundred thousand set off on the march, but only one third survived, arriving at Yenan. |
1935
1935 Saar Becomes Part of Germany -(1/13/35) A plebiscite was held in the Saar Region according to the terms of the Versailles Treaty. The plebiscite was to determine whether the people wished to join France or Germany. The vote was 90% in favor of unification with Germany and, on March 1st, the German Reich expanded for the first time. |
1935 Germany Rejects Versailles Treaty - (3/16/35) Adolf Hitler announced, on March 16th, that he was abrogating those portions of the Versailles Treaty that limited the size and weapons of the German armed forces. |
1935 Government of India Act -The British Parliament passed the Government of India Act. Under the terms of the Act, Burma and Aden were separated from India. India was divided into 11 provinces, each under an appointed governor and with an elected legislature. The provincial governments were to have broad powers to operate independently. |
1935 Commonwealth of Philippines Declared -In 1935, the approved a new constitution, under which they were granted independence as a Commonwealth. Full independence was to come ten year later. |
1935 Social Security Act -(8/14/35) The Social Security Act created a joint federal and state program for both unemployment insurance and old age pension. The Social Security Act, which was considered radical when enacted, is today considered one of the mainstays of American society. |
1935 N.I.R.A Act Illegal -(5/27/35) The Supreme Court ruled that the National Industrial Recovery Act was illegal. The decision came in the case of "Schecter Poultry v. the United States." According to the Court, wages and hour provisions exceeded the power of the Congress under the Constitution. This was the first act of the New Deal to be struck down by the Court. |
1935 Neutrality Act -(8/31/35) The Neutrality Act of 1935, was passed in response to the highly isolationalist mood of the nation. Once the President declared a state of war, all arms shipments were forbidden, and Americans could only travel on belligerent vessels at their own risk. Roosevelt signed the bill, but stated that it was more likely to "drag us into war, instead of keeping us out." The bill was passed against the backgrond of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. |
1935 W.P.A Created -The largest American employment agency was created with the enactment of the Works Progress Administration, on May 6th. The goal of the W.P.A. was to put one-third of the 11 million unemployed to work on government projects. |
1935 Earhart 1st Woman To Cross Pacific -(1/12/35) On January 12th, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to cross the Pacific. The last leg of her flight was 18 hours, from Wheeler Field in Hawaii to Oakland. |
1935 Howard Hughes Slashes Speed Record -(9/13/35) On September 13th, millionaire Howard Hughes shattered the land speed record by reaching the speed of 352 mph. He reached that speed in his custom designed Hughes Racer. |
1935 DC-3 Introduced -(12/21/35)The introduction of service on the DC–3 marked the coming of age of the passenger air industry. Twenty-one passengers could be comfortably seated on the plane. All major commercial airliners descended from the DC–3; and as late as 1990, there were still some in service in the world. |
1935 Pan Am Begins Service To Manila -(11/29/35) On November 29th, China Clipper NC 14716 touched down in Manilla Bay after a flight that took 59 hours and 48 minutes. The flight flew via Honolulu, Midway, Wake and Guam. Pan Am was flying one of the Martin M-130's. |