Hermann
Göring informed
Adolf
Hitler of the shady past of
Werner
von Blomberg's new wife 25 January 1938,
Adolf
Hitler dismissed
Werner
von Blomberg immediately but told him that he would call
on him again if the country ever needed his service.
Adolf
Hitler abolishes the War Ministry and creates the Oberkommando
der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces) on 4 February
1938, giving him direct control of the Wehrmacht. In addition,
Adolf
Hitler sacks political and military leaders considered
unsympathetic to his philosophy or policies. General
Werner
von Fritsch is forced to resign as Commander of Chief
of the Wehrmacht following accusations of homosexuality, and
replaced by General
Walther
von Brauchitsch. Foreign Minister
Konstantin
von Neurath is sacked and replaced by
Joachim
von Ribbentrop.
On 12 March 1938,
Konstantin
von Neurath informant M. Mastny officially in the name
of the Reich Chancellor, that Germany had no hostile intentions
towards Czechoslovakia. He alluded to the interest taken by
Germany in the Sudeten Germans, but at the same time, expressed
the hope that this domestic question of the Czechoslovakian
state might be satisfactory settled.
Thor
HSK 4 Auxiliary cruiser
Launched 16 March 1938
On 10 April 1938, At the Reichstag elections were held in
Germany including recently annexed Austria on 10 April 1938.
They were the final elections to the Reichstag during National
Socialists rule and took the form of a single-question referendum
asking whether voters approved of a single National Socialists
Party list for the 813 member Reichstag as well as the recent
annexation of Austria the Anschluss. Turnout in the election
was officially 99.5% with 98.9% voting yes. In the case of
Austria,
Adolf
Hitler's native soil, 99.71% of an electorate of 4,484,475
officially went to the ballots, with a positive tally of 99.73%.
Erich
Förste
Takes command of the Battleship
Gneisenau on 21 May 1938 to
25
November 1939
On 20 May 1938, The Wehrmacht General Staff updated the Case
Green military scenario. Meanwhile, Czechoslovakian officials
in Prague sent Germany a telegram demanding explanation on
the arrival of Wehrmacht troops in Saxony near the border
the information that the Czechoslovakians had regarding the
Wehrmacht troop movement was either inaccurate, or the Czechoslovakians
had intercepted German messages regarding Case Green and were
testing the Germans to confirm their suspicions.
Gneisenau
Battleship
Commissioned 21 May 1938
Ludwig
Beck sent a message to Wehrmacht Army chief
Walther
von Brauchitsch on 3 June 1938, noting his concern that
an invasion of Czechoslovakia would trigger military reaction
by the allies, which would spell doom for Germany.
On 24 July 1938, Start of the Battle of the Ebro. Republican
forces attempt to divert the Nationalists from attacking Valencia
and to diminish the pressure on Catalonia. At first, the Republican
troops, commanded by General Modesto, achieve considerable
success, but were then limited by superior Nationalist air
power. Heavy combat continued into November.
On 18 August 1938, Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin arrives in London
looking for British support for an anti-Nazi putsch, using
the looming crisis over the Sudetenland as a pretext. His
private mission is dismissed by Neville Chamberlain as unimportant
Chamberlain refers to
Ludwig
von Kleist as a Jacobite, but he finds a sympathetic if
powerless audience in Winston Churchill.
Coronel
Auxiliary cruiser
later night fighter control ship Launched 13 August 1938
Prinz
Eugen Heavy cruiser
Launched 22 August 1938
On 27 September 1938, In the early afternoon,
Adolf
Hitler moved several Wehrmacht divisions to the German-Czechoslovakian
border. In the late afternoon,
Adolf
Hitler called for a military parade on the Unter den Linden
boulevard in Berlin, Germany to rouse a patriotic sentiment;
Berlin citizens responded coolly, however. In the United Kingdom,
British military mobilised for war, school children were evacuated
from London, while trenches were dug in the city's parks.
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain recommended Czechoslovakian
President Edvard Beneš to accept a partial military occupation
of Sudetenland by the Germans. In the United States, President
Franklin Roosevelt called for an international conference
in an attempt to maintain peace. The King of Sweden also attempted
to calm
Adolf
Hitler down, sending him a message advising him that Wehrmacht
current strength was no match for the combined strength of
the opposing allied powers. Even the chief of the Kriegsmarine
Erich
Raeder attempted to convince
Adolf
Hitler to not provoke war. Late in the day, Czechoslovakia
finally received some foreign support when Yugoslavia and
Romania declared that they would offer military assistance
should Hungary use force against Czechoslovakia.
Kormoran
HSK 8
Launched 15 September 1938
24 October 1938 At a friendly luncheon in Berchtesgaden, German
foreign minister
Joachim
von Ribbentrop tells Józef Lipski, the Polish ambassador
to Germany, that the Free City of Danzig must return to Germany,
that the Germans must be given extraterritorial rights in
the Polish Corridor, and that Poland must sign the Anti-Comintern
Pact.
Hans-Heinrich
Wurmbach
Takes command of the Pocket Battleship
Admiral
Scheer on 31 October 1938 to
31
October 1939
Hans
Langsdorff
Takes command of the Pocket Battleship
Admiral
Graf Spee on 1 November 1938 to
17
December 1939
On 9 November 1938, In Germany, the night of Kristallnacht
(Night of Broken Glass) begins as National Socialists activists
and sympathisers loot and burn Jewish businesses the all night
affair sees 7,500 Jewish businesses destroyed, 267 synagogues
burned, 91 Jews killed, and at least 25,000 Jewish men arrested.
Z23
Destroyer
Laid down 15 November 1938
Graf
Zeppelin Aircraft Carrier
Launched 8 December 1938
On 23 December 1938, The battle for Barcelona begins. A six
pronged Nationalist attack is launched, with separate columns
from the Pyrenees to the Ebro. They take Borges Blanques,
surround Tarragona and reach the outskirts of Barcelona. The
Republican government retreats from Barcelona to Girona, although
troops continue to maintain the defence of the city.
For a complete list of
sources
