1939

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• In January, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) begins a campaign of terrorist bombing in England, hoping to get concessions over northern Ireland from the British government.

• In February, London conference on the future of Palestine ends in failure.

• On 15 March, German troops march into Prague, and Adolf Hitler annexes the whole of Czechoslovakia. The Western powers such as Britain and France protest but do nothing.

• On 1 April, General Francisco Franco declares victory in the Spanish Civil War and becomes dictator.

• On 1 September, Germany invades Poland, starting World War II.

• In Iraq, King Faisal II comes to the throne.

• Exiled Irish writer James Joyce publishes Finnegans Wake, a novel that is written as a stream of consciousness.

• The Hollywood film, David O Selznick's Gone with the Wind, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, is released, and earns a record $32 million at the box office.

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