21 Sep 1938
  • Japanese luxury ocean liner Hikawa Maru ran aground on a shoal near West Point, Washington, United States in a dense fog. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | CPC]
  • Spanish leader Dr. Negrin announced, in a speech to the League of Nations, that the International Brigades were to be withdrawn from the fighting. ww2dbase [The Spanish Civil War | AC]
  • Poland demanded Czechoslovakia to hold a plebiscite for the Zaolzie region, claiming the region, with its Polish majority, wished to join Poland. The French responded to the question from Czechoslovakian President Edvard Beneš from the previous day, noting that they would only only honor the terms of the alliance if Beneš agreed to cede Sudetenland to Germany, thus avoiding war. Seeing no help from the French, Beneš turned to the Soviet Union, which would only honor the mutual defense treaty if the French honored theirs. Receiving no support from the nations who were supposedly his allies, Beneš gave up and accepted the German demands for Sudetenland in the late afternoon. ww2dbase [Munich Conference and the Annexation of Sudetenland | CPC]
  • Chen Jie was made the Chinese Ambassador to Germany, succeeding Cheng Tianfang. ww2dbase [Chen Jie | CPC]
United Kingdom
  • On the last leg of her extended shakedown cruise, cruiser USS Nashville departed Portsmouth, England, United Kingdom bound for New York. The ship was also laden with 25 tons of British gold bullion bound for the United States. ww2dbase [Nashville | Portsmouth, England | DS]
Photo(s) dated 21 Sep 1938
Carrier Graf Zeppelin under construction, Kiel, Germany, 21 Sep 1938Chinese Ambassador Chen Jie and German diplomat Konrad von Schubert in Berlin, Germany, circa 21 Sep 1938

21 Sep 1938 Interactive Map

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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Famous WW2 Quote
"With Germany arming at breakneck speed, England lost in a pacifist dream, France corrupt and torn by dissension, America remote and indifferent... do you not tremble for your children?"

Winston Churchill, 1935


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