Politics

  • After Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg offers up a referendum on Austria's independence, Adolf Hitler uses this moment to force Schuschnigg to resign from within, allowing the National Socialist party to take control in Austria. Four days later, German troops "invade" Austria, declaring it part of German territory, and demand annexation of the Sudetenland, causing a major crisis in Europe.
  • One month after Britain, France, and Italy agree to the German Demands at the Munich Agreement (despite overwhelming cries of "appeasement"), a night of terror swoops down over German Jews as their windows are shattered by government-supported thugs in what would become known as Kristallnacht.
  • Germans also found Volkswagen, giving their first car (designed by Ferdinand Porsche) a succinct and egalitarian design. It would later become the Beetle.
  • As a result of all of this activity, Time magazine names Adolf Hitler their Man of the Year for 1938, noting: "To those who watched the closing events of the year it seemed more than probable that the Man of 1938 may make 1939 a year to be remembered."
  • Meanwhile, Japan continues to invade and annex large swaths of Manchuria. Jiang Jieshi retreats to Chongqing, while Chiang Kai-Shek works hard to maintain his government in the face of the oncoming invasion.
  • Generalissimo Fransisco Franco continues to lead a rebellion of fascist insurgents against the Communist Catalan government in the Spanish Civil War. Heavy fighting against the government in Aragon and the 5 month long Battle of the Ebro left over 100,000 Spaniards dead.
  • Construction begins on the Shasta Dam on Sacramento River, one in a series of dams being built in America to provide job relief for those suffering from the Great Depression. It will be completed in 1945, making the largest manmade waterfall in the world.
  • Another statute of the Roosevelt Presidency, the Fair Labor Standards Act is passed, creating laws governing minimum wage, child labor, overtime, and on the job safety.

Born

Died

Nobel Prizes

Sports

Entertainment

Sources

  • http://www.kirkwood.cc.ia.us/faculty/ryost/stereographs/WWIIsources/WWII Stuff/Man of the Year 1938.doc
  • http://imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Academy_Awards_USA/1938
  • http://imdb.com/BornInYear?1938
  • http://imdb.com/DiedInYear?1938
  • http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1938.shtml
  • http://home.jps.net/~fos/nfl/nfl38.htm
  • http://cbs.sportsline.com/nhl/teams/history/CHI
  • http://www.allmusic.com
  • http://www.rauzulusstreet.com/hockey/
  • http://slick.org/deathwatch/mailarchive/msg00017.html
  • http://www.profootballhof.com/index.cfm?cont_id=187759
  • http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938
  • http://www.multied.com/20th/1938.html

1937 << 1938 >> 1939

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.