Modern Era
Great Purge (1936–1938): Stalin's Terror and the Show Trials
Hundreds of thousands were executed and many more sent to the Gulag; the Communist Party, state and army elites were destroyed and Stalin's personal dictatorship was secured.
Region
Europe
Modern Era
Remilitarisation of the Rhineland (1936): Hitler's First Gamble
Germany reoccupied the demilitarised zone without resistance; Britain and France protested but took no action, and the Locarno system collapsed.
Modern Era
Berlin Olympics (1936): Jesse Owens and Nazi Propaganda
Germany topped the medal table and won a propaganda success, while Jesse Owens' four gold medals became the Games' most famous story.
Modern Era
Spanish Civil War (1936–1939): Republicans Against Franco
Nationalist victory; the Second Spanish Republic was destroyed and Francisco Franco ruled Spain as dictator until his death in 1975.
Modern Era
Turing's 'On Computable Numbers' (1936): The Universal Machine
Turing defined computability, showed that Hilbert's decision problem has no general solution and introduced the universal machine underlying stored-program computers.
Modern Era
Bombing of Guernica (1937): The Air Raid That Inspired Picasso
Most of the town centre was destroyed and an estimated 150 to 300 people were killed; Nationalist troops occupied the ruins three days later.
Modern Era
Hindenburg Disaster (1937): The End of the Airship Age
The hydrogen-filled airship burned in about half a minute; 36 people died and passenger airship travel effectively ended.
Modern Era
Anschluss (1938): Nazi Germany's Annexation of Austria
Austria was annexed to Nazi Germany without military resistance and ceased to exist as a state until 1945; persecution of Jews and opponents began immediately.
Modern Era
Munich Agreement (1938): Chamberlain, Appeasement and Hitler
Britain, France and Italy agreed that Germany could annex the Sudetenland; Czechoslovakia, which was not present, was forced to comply, and war was postponed by less than a year.
Modern Era
Kristallnacht (1938): The Night of Broken Glass in Nazi Germany
Synagogues, Jewish homes and businesses were destroyed, at least 91 Jews were killed and about 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps; persecution sharply escalated.
Modern Era
Discovery of Nuclear Fission (1938): Hahn, Meitner, Strassmann
Uranium nuclei were shown to split into lighter elements, releasing large amounts of energy and neutrons and opening the way to nuclear reactors and atomic weapons.
Modern Era
Oskar Schindler (1939–1945): How 1,200 Jews Were Saved
About 1,200 Jewish men and women employed by Schindler survived the Holocaust; he was later honoured as Righteous Among the Nations.