The seasonal timing of seed germination determines a plant's realized environmental niche, and is important for adaptation to climate.  The timing of seasonal germination depends on patterns of seed dormancy release or induction by cold and interacts with flowering time variation to construct different seasonal life histories. To characterize  the genetic basis and climatic associations of natural variation in seed chilling responses and associated life history syndromes, we selected 559 fully-sequenced accessions of the model annual species Arabidopsis thalianafrom across a wide climate range and scored each for seed germination across a range of 13 cold stratification treatments as well as the timing of flowering and senescence. Germination strategies varied continuously along two major axes: 1) overall germination fraction and 2) induction vs release of dormancy by cold. Natural variation in seed responses to chilling was correlated with flowering time and senescence to create a range of seasonal life history syndromes. Genome-wide association (GWA) identified several loci associated with natural variation in seed chilling responses, including a known functional polymorphism in the self-binding domain of the candidate gene DOG1. A phylogeny of DOG1haplotypes revealed ancient divergence of these functional variants associated with periods of Pleistocene climate change, and Gradient Forest analysis showed that allele turnover of candidate SNPs was significantly associated with climate gradients. These results provide evidence that Arabidopsis thaliana’s germination niche and correlated life history syndromes are shaped by past climate cycles as well as local adaptation to contemporary climate.