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Born 20 Sept: Sophia Loren, Italian-born Hollywood actress 28 Sept: Brigitte Bardot (born Camille Javal), French actress Published Robert Graves, I Claudius; Claudius the God Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer |
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| Hitler builds up his power |
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Adolf Hitler spent 1934 preparing a foundation for Germany’s conquest of Europe. When President Paul von Hindenburg died in August, Hitler (who had already become chancellor in January 1933) became president as well, under a law he issued the previous day. He thus become the supreme commander of Germany’s armed forces. Soldiers had to show their allegiance to the Führer (the Father), as Hitler was known. Overseas, Hitler had two big successes. In January, he signed a ten-year non-aggression pact with Poland, whose army of 250,000 clearly outnumbered his own 100,000-strong forces. Hitler appeared to be a peacemaker, but meanwhile, Germany was secretly building up its army. The treaty caused Poland to be complacent and not feel threatened, helping Hitler to invade the country five years later. Hitler’s second victory was in June when he declared that Germany would never resume paying any war-debt payments to the Allies, and actually got away scot-free. However, Hitler also failed to set up control in Austria, and his first visit to his idol Mussolini proved fruitless. Mussolini was unimpressed by him. However, his steady contacts with Il Duce (Mussolini) paid off after two years, with the forming of the Rome-Berlin Axis. |
