1934

In May, the 1934 Constitution establishes the Austrofascist Federal State of Austria. On June 30th, The Night of the Long Knives began in Germany. Through to July 2nd, the Nazis would conduct a series of political assassinations to ensure Hitler’s hold on the country’s government. In August, Hitler officially became Führer of Germany, a title under which the powers of Chancellor of the Republic and President, essentially making him the absolute leader of Germany. This move was supported by 90% of the population during a referendum.

In China, the People’s Liberation Army began the Long March under the command of Mao Zedong, covering over 5600 miles while fleeing from Nationalist forces. Mao would go on to become the leader of communist China.

In the Americas, revolutionary leader Augusto César Sandino is assassinated in Nicaragua on February 21st. In the United States, famous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde are apprehended and killed on May 23rd. Another American outlaw, John Dillinger, a bank robber who captured the imagination of the Western World, escaped from jail in Crown Point, Indiana using a wooden pistol on March 3rd. He would be shot and killed a few months later in Chicago.

In culture, the classic comic strip Flash Gordon debuted on January 7th and Disney character Donald Duck made his first appearance ever in “The Wise Little Hen” on June 9th. The Gothenburg Prize for Poetry was awarded to Rudyard Kipling and William Butler Yeats. Notable births in 1934 include Canadian former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Israeli economist and Nobel Prize Winner Daniel Kahneman, Italian actress Sophia Loren, Canadian poet, novelist, and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, American inventor Robert Moog, French actress Brigitte Bardot and American astronomer Carl Sagan.