1938


Events

January

  • January 1 - State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France and the Netherlands.
  • January 20 - King Farouk of Egypt marries Safinaz Zulficar, who becomes Queen Farida, in Cairo.
  • January 27 - The Honeymoon Bridge at Niagara Falls, New York, collapses as a result of an ice jam.

    February

  • February 4
  • * Adolf Hitler abolishes the War Ministry and creates the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, giving him direct control of the German military. In addition, he dismisses 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 German Army following accusations of homosexuality, and replaced by General Walther von Brauchitsch. Foreign Minister Baron Konstantin von Neurath is dismissed, and replaced by Joachim von Ribbentrop.
  • * Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first cel-animated feature in motion picture history, is released in the United States, following a premiere on December 21 of the previous year.
  • February 6 - Black Sunday at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia: 300 swimmers are dragged out to sea in 3 freak waves; 80 lifesavers save all but 5.
  • February 10
  • * Carol II of Romania takes dictatorial powers.
  • * Second Sino-Japanese War: Bombing of Chongqing begins.
  • February 12 - Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg of Austria meets Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden and, under threat of invasion, is forced to yield to German demands for greater Nazi participation in the Austrian government.
  • February 22 - The Battle of Teruel ends in a Nationalist victory with recapture of the city, a turning point in the Spanish Civil War.
  • February 24 - A nylon bristle toothbrush becomes the first commercial product to be made with nylon yarn.

    March

  • March 1 - Lee Byung-chul establishes a trucking business in Daegu, Korea, which he names Samsung Trading Co, the forerunner to Samsung.
  • March 3
  • * The Santa Ana River in California, United States, spills over its banks during a rainy winter, killing 58 people in Orange County, and causing trouble as far inland as Palm Springs.
  • * Sir Nevile Henderson, British Ambassador to Germany, presents a proposal to Hitler for an international consortium to rule much of Africa, in exchange for a German promise never to resort to war to change her frontiers; Hitler rejects the British offer.
  • March 12 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation is declared the following day.
  • March 14 - French Premier Léon Blum reassures the Czechoslovak government that France will honor its treaty obligations to aid Czechoslovakia, in the event of a German invasion.
  • March 17 - Poland presents an ultimatum to Lithuania, to establish normal diplomatic relations that were severed over the Vilnius Region.
  • March 27 - Italian mathematician Ettore Majorana disappears suddenly under mysterious circumstances, while travelling by ship from Palermo to Naples.
  • March 28 - At a meeting with Hitler in Berlin, Konrad Henlein is instructed to make increasing demands concerning the status of the Sudetenland, but to avoid reaching an agreement with Czechoslovak authorities.
  • March 30 - Italy's Duce Benito Mussolini is granted equal power over the Italian military to that of King Victor Emmanuel III, as First Marshal of the Empire.

    April

  • April 10
  • * Édouard Daladier becomes prime minister of France. He appoints as Foreign Minister a leading advocate of the policy of appeasement, Georges Bonnet, effectively negating Blum's reassurances of March 14.
  • * In a result that astonishes even Hitler, the Austrian electorate in a national referendum approves Anschluss by an overwhelming 99.73%.
  • April 16 - The UK and Italy sign an agreement that sees Britain recognise Italian control of Ethiopia, in return for an Italian pledge to withdraw all its 10,000 troops from Spain, at the conclusion of the civil war there.
  • April 18 - Superman first appears in Action Comics #1. The date is established in court documents released during the legal battle over the rights to Superman.
  • April 24 - Konstantin Päts becomes the first President of Estonia.

    May

  • May 5
  • * The Vatican recognizes Francisco Franco's government in Spain.
  • * General Ludwig Beck, Chief of the German Army's General Staff, submits a memorandum to Hitler opposing Fall Grün, the plan for a war with Czechoslovakia, under the grounds that Germany is ill-prepared for the world war likely to result from such an attack.
  • May 12 - U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull rejects the Soviet Union's offer of a joint defence pact, to counter the rise of Nazi Germany.
  • May 14 - Chile withdraws from the League of Nations.
  • May 19 - May Crisis 1938: Czechoslovak intelligence receives reports of menacing German military concentrations.
  • May 20 - Czechoslovakia orders a partial mobilization of its armed forces along the German border.
  • May 21 - Tsuyama massacre: Matsuo Toi kills 30 people in a village in Okayama, Japan, in the world's worst spree killing by an individual until 1957.
  • May 23 - No evidence of German troop movements against Czechoslovakia is found, and the May Crisis subsides. Germany is, nevertheless, perceived to have backed down in the face of Czechoslovak mobilization and international diplomatic unity, but the issue of the future of the Sudetenland is far from resolved.
  • May 25
  • * Spanish Civil War: Alicante is bombed by fascist rebels, resulting in 313 deaths.
  • * The Soviet ambassador to the United States, A. A. Troyanovsky, declares Moscow ready to defend Czechoslovakia.
  • May 28 - In a conference at the Reich Chancellery, Hitler declares his decision to destroy Czechoslovakia by military force, and orders the immediate mobilization of 96 Wehrmacht divisions.
  • May 30 - Hitler issues a revised directive for Fall Grün – the invasion of Czechoslovakia – to be carried out by October 1, 1938.

    June

  • June 5 & 7 - The 1938 Yellow River flood is created by the Nationalist government in central China, breaching embankments during the early stage of the Second Sino-Japanese War, in an attempt to halt the rapid advance of Japanese forces. The flood kills at least 400,000, covers and destroys thousands of square kilometers of farmland, and shifts the mouth of the Yellow River hundreds of kilometers to the south.
  • June 11 - Fire destroys 214 buildings in Ludza, Latvia.
  • June 15 - László Bíró patents the ballpoint pen in Britain.
  • June 19 - Italy beats Hungary 4–2, to win the 1938 FIFA World Cup.
  • June 22 - Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis knocks out Max Schmeling in the first round of their rematch, at Yankee Stadium in New York City.
  • June 25 - Dr. Douglas Hyde takes office as the first President of Ireland.

    July

  • July - The Mauthausen concentration camp is built in Austria.
  • July 1 - The South African Press Association is established, with offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Bloemfontein and Pretoria.
  • July 3
  • * The steam locomotive Mallard sets the world speed record for steam, by reaching 125.88 mph on the London and North Eastern Railway.
  • * The last reunion of the Blue and Gray commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
  • July 5 - The Non-Intervention Committee reaches an agreement to withdraw all foreign volunteers from the Spanish Civil War. The agreement is respected by most Republican International Brigades, notably those from England and the United States, but is ignored by the governments of Germany and Italy.
  • July 6 - The Evian Conference on Refugees is convened in France. No country in Europe is prepared to accept Jews fleeing persecution, and the United States will take only 27,370.
  • July 14 - Howard Hughes sets a new record, by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world.
  • July 18 - Wrong Way Corrigan takes off from New York, ostensibly heading for California. He lands in Ireland instead.
  • July 22 - Britain rejects a proposal from its ambassador in Berlin, Nevile Henderson, for a four-power summit on Czechoslovakia consisting of Britain, France, Germany and the U.S.S.R., as London will under no circumstances accept the U.S.S.R. as a diplomatic partner.
  • July 24 - The north face of the Eiger in the Alps is first ascended.
  • July 28
  • * 1938 Greek coup d'état attempt: A revolt against the Ioannis Metaxas dictatorship in Greece is put down in Chania.
  • * Pan Am flying boat Hawaii Clipper disappears with 6 passengers and 9 crew members, en route from Guam to Manila.

    August

  • August - In the face of overwhelming Japanese military pressure, Chiang Kai-shek withdraws his government to Chungking.
  • August 10 - At a secret summit with his leading generals, Hitler attacks General Beck's arguments against Fall Grün, winning the majority of his senior officers over to his point of view.
  • August 18 - Colonel General Ludwig Beck, convinced that Hitler's decision to attack Czechoslovakia will lead to a general European war, resigns his position as Chief of the Army General Staff in protest.
  • August 23 - Hitler, hosting a dinner on board the ocean liner Patria in Kiel Bay, tells the Regent of Hungary, Admiral Horthy, that action against Czechoslovakia is imminent and that "he who wants to sit at the table must at least help in the kitchen", a reference to Horthy's designs on Carpathian Ruthenia.

    September

  • September - The European crisis over German demands for annexation of the Sudeten borderland of Czechoslovakia becomes increasingly severe.
  • September 5 - Czechoslovakian President Edvard Beneš invites mid-level representatives of the Sudeten Germans Hradčany Palace, to tell them he will accept whatever demands they care to make, provided the Sudetenland remains part of the Republic of Czechoslovakia.
  • September 6 - What eventually proves to be the last of the "Nuremberg Rallies" begins. It draws worldwide attention because it is widely assumed that Hitler, in his closing remarks, will signal whether there will be peace with or war over Czechoslovakia.
  • September 10 - Hermann Göring, in a speech at Nuremberg, calls the Czechs a "miserable pygmy race" who are "harassing the human race". That same evening, Edvard Beneš, President of Czechoslovakia, makes a broadcast in which he appeals for calm.
  • September 12 - Hitler makes his much-anticipated closing address at Nuremberg, in which he vehemently attacks the Czech people and President Beneš. American news commentator Hans von Kaltenborn begins his famous marathon of broadcast bulletins over the CBS Radio Network, with a summation of Hitler's address.
  • September 13 - The followers of Konrad Henlein begin an armed revolt against the Czechoslovak government in Sudetenland. Martial law is declared and after much bloodshed on both sides order is temporarily restored. Neville Chamberlain personally sends a telegram to Hitler, urgently requesting that they both meet.
  • September 15 - Neville Chamberlain arrives in Berchtesgaden, to begin negotiations with Hitler over the Sudetenland.
  • September 16 - Lord Runciman is recalled to London from Prague, in order to brief the British government on the situation in the Sudetenland.
  • September 17 - Neville Chamberlain returns temporarily to London, to confer with his cabinet. The U.S.S.R. Red Army masses along the Ukrainian frontier. Rumania agrees to allow Soviet soldiers free passage across her territory to defend Czechoslovakia.
  • September 18
  • *During a meeting between Neville Chamberlain, the recently elected Premier of France, Édouard Daladier, and Daladier's Foreign Minister, Georges Bonnet, it becomes apparent that neither the British nor the French governments are prepared to go to war over the Sudetenland. The Soviet Union declares it will come to the defence of Czechoslovakia only if France honours her commitment to defend Czechoslovak independence.
  • *Mussolini makes a speech in Trieste, Italy, where he indicates that Italy is supporting Germany in the Sudeten crisis.
  • September 21
  • * In the early hours of the day, representatives of the French and British governments call on Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš, to tell him France and Britain will not fight Hitler if he decides to annex the Sudetenland by force. Late in the afternoon, the Czechoslovak government capitulates to the French and British demands.
  • * Winston Churchill warns of grave consequences to European security, if Czechoslovakia is partitioned. The same day, Soviet Foreign Commissar Maxim Litvinov makes a similar statement in the League of Nations.
  • * Following the capitulation of the Czech government to Germany's demands, both Poland and Hungary demand slices of Czech territory where their nationals reside.
  • * The 1938 New England hurricane in the United States strikes Long Island and southern New England, killing over 300 along the Rhode Island shoreline and 600 altogether.
  • September 22
  • * Unable to survive the previous day's capitulation to the demands of the British and French governments, Czechoslovak premier Milan Hodža resigns. General Jan Syrový takes his place.
  • * Neville Chamberlain arrives in the city of Bad Godesberg, for another round of talks with Hitler over the Sudetenland crisis. Hitler raises his demands to include occupation of all German Sudeten territories by October 1. That night after a telephone conference, Chamberlain reverses himself and advises the Czechoslovaks to mobilize.
  • September 23
  • * The Czechoslovak army mobilizes.
  • * As the Polish army masses along the Czech border, the Soviet Union warns Poland that if it crosses the Czech frontier, Russia will regard the 1932 non-aggression pact between the two countries as void.
  • September 24
  • * Sir Eric Phipps, British Ambassador to France, reports to London, "all that is best in France is against war, almost at any price", being opposed only by a "small, but noisy and corrupt, war group". Phipps's report creates major doubts about the ability and willingness of France to go to war.
  • * At 1:30 AM, Adolf Hitler and Neville Chamberlain conclude their talks on the Sudetenland. Chamberlain agrees to take Hitler's demands, codified in the Godesberg Memorandum, personally to the Czech Government. The Czech Government rejects the demands, as does Chamberlain's own cabinet. The French Government also initially rejects the terms and orders a partial mobilization of the French army.
  • September 25 - British Royal Navy is ordered to sea.
  • September 26 - In a vitriolic speech at Berlin's Sportpalast, Hitler defies the world and implies war with Czechoslovakia will begin at any time.
  • September 28 - As his self-imposed October 1 deadline for occupation of the Sudetenland approaches, Adolf Hitler invites Italian Duce Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edourd Deladier and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to one last conference in Munich. The Czechs themselves are not invited.
  • September 29
  • * Colonel Graham Christie, former British military attaché in Berlin, is told by Carl Friedrich Goerdeler that the mobilization of the Royal Navy has badly damaged the popularity of the Nazi regime, as the German public realizes that Fall Grün is likely to cause a world war.
  • * Munich Agreement: German, Italian, British and French leaders agree to German demands regarding annexation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovak government is largely excluded from the negotiations, and is not a signatory to the agreement.
  • * The Republic of Hatay is declared in Syria; it lasts for less than a year.
  • September 30 - Neville Chamberlain returns to Britain from meeting with Adolf Hitler, and declares "Peace for our time".