1924: To curb inflation, Germany issues a new Reichmark. Each new Reichmark is worth one billion of the old marks, which are withdrawn from circulation.

1997: Germany of the 1990s has one of the strongest economic systems in the Western world. Even after absorbing the former country of East Germany, it is a leader among all European nations. But this has not come without some difficulties. The industrial output of the eastern parts of the country was far below that of the western section.

1925: Adolf Hitler publishes the first volume of Mein Kampf, which he dictates to Rudolph Hess while he is in prison. In it, he outlines his ideas for social reform, commenting that "The great masses of the people . . . will more easily fall victims to a great lie than to a small one."

1998: Nazi hate groups, in both Germany and the United States, come...