Thursday, 31 October 1929

Germany: 

One casualty already from the New York stock market crash – the Bank of Civil Employees here collapses, costing 5,000 policemen, postmen and other government employees their deposits.

New York: 

The stock market is up again, 3%.  European markets are mixed: London and Paris rally on news that the U.S. Federal Reserve is lowering the bank rate, but Germany’s market is swinging wildly.

Elsewhere: 

Vienna: A factory is virtually under siege by 200 nationalist Heimwehr paramilitary members after socialist workers refuse to work with new Heimwehr-sympathetic colleagues.  Police disperse the mob.

China:  More heavy fighting is reportedly under way in the Honan province, in central China, between rebels and nationalist government troops.  Reports say the fighting is not going well for the government forces, and the rebels are spreading southward toward the Yangtse River.

Wednesday, 30 October 1929

New York: 

The stock market recovers one day’s loss, recovering roughly half of the ground lost over the past two days.  Volume is still huge: 10.7 million shares.  But the turnaround is accomplished by major financial interests, including J.P. Morgan, once again entering the market and shoring it up.  The New York Stock Exchange's governors, evidently believing -- or maybe hoping -- that the crash's free fall is over, announce that the exchange will be closed Friday and Saturday, and its opening delayed until noon on Thursday.

But the damage may be done.  Ordinary "Main Street" Americans of every stripe were investing in stocks.  If they’ve lost their faith, the capital may not come back, regardless of what the nation's major financiers do.  Markets in Europe show continued weakness.

China:  

Rumors of impending larger-scale warfare with Russia over Manchuria swirl again as the nationalist government releases another statement, this one more comprehensive, accusing the Soviet Union of making plans for such a conflict.  The statement sets out to document the nature of Sino-Soviet relations over Manchuria at some length, detailing evidence China says it uncovered in a raid on the soviet consulate in Harbin last May, which they say indicates that the Soviet Union has been planning a military confrontation in Manchuria for a long time.  It further states that China will hold Russia responsible for any losses suffered in a war.  "And if a state of war should eventuate over the soviet government's incessant provocation, the responsibility for violating the peace of the Far East must be borne by the soviet government."

Manchuria:

Meanwhile, soviet warplanes bomb Fuchin, and soviet gunboats are reported in the area.

Russia: 

And the soviet government condemns more of its citizens to die.  The Tass news agency releases a dispatch saying 12 people have been sentenced to death in various parts of the country for everything from criminal activity to anti-soviet agitation.  Two of the condemned are priests, four kulaks, and one, a mullah (an Islamic clergyman).  

Libya:  

The key leader of the Libyan resistance to Italy’s occupation of Libya, OmarMukhtar, has denounced a compromise agreement he reportedly reached with the Italians in January.  Mukhtar is said to be re-mobilizing the Libyan forces in preparation for renewing the resistance.

Omar Mukhtar

Tuesday, 29 October 1929: New York Stock Market's Crash is Complete

THE NEW YORK STOCK MARKET CRASHES AGAIN

New York: 

the Stock market crashes still further.  Another selloff ravages Wall Street – Stocks drop another 12% -- 16.4 million shares trade.  IT'S THE Worst day in market history – Billions in value IS wiped out. 

The trade volume shatters the previous record of 12.9 million shares, which was set only last Thursday.  Experts estimate that fully half the stocks on the New York Stock Exchange have lost 50% of their value over the last month or so.  Total value lost over that time is estimated at $25 billion.    
As with Thursday's crash, crowds gather outside the exchange to see the historic tumble.  Yet unlike Thursday, this crash is not marked by frenzied panic.  Large financial interests place buy orders at successively lower levels throughout the day, making the selloff look more like the orderly retreat of a well-drilled army than the bedlam that ensued Thursday.  The ticker, though behind by 2-1/2 hours, still fares better than Thursday, when it didn't print the final quote until 4 hours after the market closed.  
Markets in Europe tumble too.

1929 Stock Market Crash - YouTube

Elsewhere: 

Russia:  the government kills 12 more of its people -- “enemies of the state” -- bringing the total for the week to 100. 

Germany: Newspapers claim that the Liberty Law campaign has failed, saying the nationalist-driven proposal drew only 7% of voters.

Vienna: Nationalists attack Jewish students to stop them from attending school. 

China:  The civil war expands – three nationalist government divisions revolt in Ichang, and communist rebel forces reportedly invade Linyung.  

Monday, 28 October 1929: New York Stock Market Crashes Again

THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE CRASHES AGAIN

New York: 

THE STOCK MARKET CRASHES AGAIN -- DROPPING nearly 12%.  Over 9 million shares trade, the second-highest trading day on record, exceeded only by last Thursday's crash.  Today's plummet is especially demoralizing given the upbeat assessments from Wall Street bankers and President Herbert Hoover since Thursday.  

The market starts down immediately upon opening.  A small rally happens around 1 p.m., then the selloff continues, even accelerating late in the day when it becomes clear that the bankers who stymied last Thursday's avalanche would be making no further moves today.  Today's crash lacks the panicked frenzy of Thursday, but the net result at the closing bell is actually worse.  

Manchuria:  

In the ongoing border clash, Manchurian/Chinese forces* reportedly attack two Russian posts along the Argun River on the border.  In one town, the attack is preceded by heaving artillery shelling.  In another, in the Turyrock region, marauding Manchurian forces kill Russian soldiers and plunder the town before withdrawing. 

Russia: 

The communist government KILLS two more OF ITS CITIZENS, Jewish diamond merchants who allegedly smuggled diamonds out of Russia.  The government says they "defrauded" the country.  Their deaths bring the total number of Soviet citizens killed by their government in the last four days to 63.  

 

Japan: 

An assassination attempt is made on Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi.  Since becoming Prime Minister in July, Hamaguchi’s cabinet has been challenging nationalist military radicals whose influence over Japan is growing.  A man with a dagger, whom authorities say is deranged, jumps on the running board of Hamaguchi’s car, but he is thrown off and Hamaguchi is unhurt.

Osachi Hamaguch

Kyoto, Japan: 

The 3^rd conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations opens.  This unofficial gathering of nations with an interest in the Pacific Rim has been growing.  This year, government representatives from Japan, China, the U.S., Great Britain and 9 others are on hand.

Immediately, the dialogue is charged.  After the formal openings, China's delegation uses the first evening session to accuse Japan of interfering in China’s civil war, mistreating civilians, and assassinating a warlord in Manchuria.  The nationalist army advance on Peiking in 1927, one delegate says, was stopped "not by communists, but by Japanese troops.  Chinese civilians were maltreated and many were killed by Japanese soldiers during the Japanese occupation."

Meanwhile, Japan's delegation claims that a U.S. immigration policy from 1924, that excludes Japanese from America, is an "open wound."  "The controversy arising from American immigration legislation in 1924 is not closed," one delegate says.  "The wound so needlessly inflicted on our national honor is still open and will remain open until the matter has been rightly settled.  I think it necessary to make this plain statement because there seems to be an impression in America that the incident is as good as forgotten in Japan.  This erroneous impression is doubtless due to our courtesy and reticence on this subject in conversing with American visitors."

Germany: 

The Liberty Law* plebiscite ends tonight, and newspapers still report that it looks like it will fall well short of the 4 million votes needed to force it to the Reichstag.

* See the definitions page.

Sunday, 27 October 1929

Russia: 

THE SOVIETS KILL 26 more OF THEIR CITIZENS.  Today it's mostly “kulaks” (rich peasants), who oppose having their lands confiscated as part of soviet collectivization.  In the village of Gari, one of those shot is a priest, allegedly for spreading a rumor that the government would destroy the local church cemetery and close the church.  In Maly Penky, two kulaks are shot for burning their grain and terrorizing local communists in opposition to collectivization.  Five more are shot in Taskoava for killing a government grain inspector.  

In Kimri, another priest is sentenced to death -- in his case, when soviet authorities showed up to close his church, he ran to the church tower and rang the bells, bringing out a mob who attacked the government officials.  

Rome:  

Dictator Benito Mussolini gives an inflammatory speech before a raucous crowd on the 7^th anniversary of the “March on Rome” that put him in power, saying his fascist Italy is strong, ready for war, and courageous.  "Italy today is really as I wished it, an army of citizens and soldiers ready for works of peace, laborious, silent and disciplined."  He follows this, however, with a question for the crowd: would they respond it he called on them should any country disturb Italy?  The crowd responds with a resounding yes.  "After seven years, we are younger, stronger and more implacable than before," he went on.  

Standing on the balcony of the Venezia Palace, Mussolini also reviews 40,000 “blackshirts” – his fascist militia -- and army regulars.  Mussolini makes fond references to the “Manganello,” a club which his blackshirts used to beat anti-fascists in earlier years.  “This club,” he says, “has now been laid aside, but could promptly be dusted and made to refunction.  Besides this instrument we also have rifles and machine guns.”  His speech is interrupted at times by shouts of "Death to political exiles," thought to be a reference to the would-be assassin who fired a shot at Prince Umberto last week in Brussels.  

London:

Several hundred communist demonstrators attempt a march from Trafalgar Square to the U.S. Embassy to protest the treatment of textile workers in North Carolina.  Bearing signs and banners reading, "Textile Workers Starved and Murdered in Gastonia," the marchers try to smash windows on vehicles as they march past.  The real trouble starts when they are informed that the U.S. Ambassador won't receive them; the communists then rush police near Victoria Station, and the police counter-charge on horseback.  It takes roughly 30 minutes to restore order.

Vienna:  

The nationalist Heimwehr paramilitary organization holds a 10,000-man parade, complete with cavalry.  But there is no violence.

Saturday, 26 October 1929

Berlin:  

Germany observes the 1,000^th anniversary of the year 929, when East Prussia and Brandenburg officially became German.  But the celebration raises sore points relative to Germany’s post-war borders.  West Prussia is now part of Poland, creating a strip of land called the “Polish Corridor” between two German-controlled territories.  Former Chancellor Hans Luther, in an address, says, “First, the east provinces' fate is Germany's fate.  Second, a nation's duty is to help its weakest members.  Third, the impossible corridor has no support either in history, common sense, or justice.  As Abraham Lincoln once said, 'No piece of work is done until it is done right.'  For us Germans who are working for a true European peace and who must work to hold and strengthen the German east provinces, the rule must now become, 'What thou hast inherited from thy fathers, strive to deserve, that thou mayest actually possess it.'"

Washington: 

Senator Thomas Heflin introduces a resolution in Congress calling for Secretary of State Henry Stimson to turn over all information he has on the Fascist League of North America.  This comes after Harper’s Magazine published an article entitled “Mussolini’s American Empire,” which claimed that the FLNA is part of a Mussolini plot to “raise soldiers for fascism” in the U.S.  The article also says Italian consular officials in the U.S. have been been involved in training Italian-American children in an effort to get them to join the Italian army when they're older.  "These youngsters," the article says, "most of them born here, not only are being taught in Italian schools established by the Fascisti, but actually are being given preliminary training to fit them for the Fascist army.  The article claims Italian-Americans are being taxed by Italian authorities, and that Italian-Americans traveling in Italy are being detained and forced to undergo training in the Italian army reserve.  "This, again, is in accord with Mussolini's idea that all Italians are his subjects and that war material can and should be drawn from America as well as from any other colony."

Nobile Giacomo de Martino, Italian Ambassador to the U.S., issues a formal statement denying these accusations.  "The Italian military law which is attacked in the article is not a product of fascism.  It was promulgated long before the advent of fascism and was enforced by previous governments.  It is not a system unique in the relations between the United States and Italy, such a system existing in numerous other countries."

The U.S. State Department also recently instructed its Ambassador to Rome to protest to the Italian government abouts the allegations.  

To read the November 1929 Harper's article

Manchuria:

A London Times military correspondent files a report stating that the "real problem" in the Soviet-Sino Manchurian conflict is White Russian troops who fled the Russian revolution and now virtually control Manchuria and even parts of northern China.  According to the report, White Russian generals serve as military advisors to the Chinese nationalist government, and in Manchuria, they actively work to provoke conflict with Russia, in hopes of re-igniting their lost war.

At Mukden, these soldiers keep a munitions factory which produces 500 shells, 300,000 cartridges and 120 rifles per day -- by far the highest and best output of any military factory in China.  They also maintain a rudimentary air force of 250 outdated planes.  They have also formed several mounted infantry units.  "There is no doubt that it is these men who are the driving power behind the Chinese to rid Manchuria of soviet Russians and soviet influence," the dispatch says.

China:  

Continued fighting between nationalist government forces and communist rebels is reported around Chengchow, an important railroad hub in north-central China.

Friday, 25 October 1929

New York: 

THE Stock market steadies – It's up 1/2% on near-normal volume at the end of the trading day. The bankers’ infusion of money and orders from yesterday are credited with saving the day.  Stock brokers issue letters to clients cautioning against panic, and so far no brokerage houses have failed.  This is taken as confirmation of statements made yesterday to the effect that the fundamental business environment in the U.S. is sound.  President Herbert Hoover likewise speaks to reporters, saying, "The fundamental business of the country, that is, the production and distribution of commodities, is on a sound and prosperous basis."

Berlin: 

In Europe, especially here, markets are actually encouraged somewhat by the Wall Street crash, believing that a retreat from unreasonable, speculation-fueled highs in the U.S. will steer capital to their markets. 

Meanwhile, news outlets learn that negotiations between the United States and Germany for a war debt repayment plan separate from the Young Plan*, have been going on for five weeks.  The plan would allow the U.S. to remain officially neutral toward the Young Plan, and would provide Germany the option of a two-year postponment of payments to the U.S. upon giving six-months' notice.  No word yet on how the other Allies will view this bilateral agreement. 

Manchuria:

The Chinese government reports that Soviet troops are massing at the Manchurian border in preparation for a larger-scale attack.  (This would be consistent with statements made by a former Red Army general October 19).  The Chinese reports say the Fifth Army Corps, crack troops, are moving to the eastern front, replacing the Seventh Army Corps.  Gen. Zhang Xueliang, the de facto warlord ruler of Manchuria, has reportedly been charged by the Chinese government with commanding the defense of Manchuria.  China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says negotiations with Russia to settle the dispute over the Chinese Eastern Railway* are deadlocked.

Russia: 

The Soviet Union kills more of its citizens.  In Krasnodar, 21 people described as "bandits" and "counter-revolutionists" are executed, allegedly for subversive activities against the government and terrorizing the countryside.  Supposedly they maintained a facility for forging documents and storing arms and ammunition, and were recruiting more to their cause when they were caught.

In Rostov on Don, 17 people are shot, including 14 former high-ranking officers in the army, charged with fomenting an armed, czarist counter-revolutionary movement in the North Caucasus Mountains.  An additional group of people are sentenced to concentration camps.  The government says the movement, under the guise of a religious sect, massed arms and sent representatives to cities along the Black Sea, encouraging unrest against the Red Army and soviet economic and political policy.


*See definitions page.

Thursday, 24 October 1929: New York Stock Market Crashes

THE NEW YORK STOCK MARKET IS CRASHING

New York: 

Wall Street crashes again – Panic selling prevails: nearly 13 million shares move.  it's the Heaviest trading day and biggest drop in U.S. stock market history -- Down nearly 11% at one point, the market recovers to end the day only minus 2%.  But thousands of accounts are wiped out nonetheless.  The day's volume, 12.9 million shares, dwarfs the previous volume record by 50%.  

"The remarkable era of avid public speculation in stocks which has swept over the country during the last five years came to a climax Thursday in the most terrifying stampede of selling ever experienced on the New York Stock Exchange and other leading security markets."  (Associated Press)

The collapse begins shortly after the opening bell and continues through much of the day, as the sell-off that shook the market late yesterday continues.  The ticker falls several hours behind, and for a while it appears the exchange might have to close.  At one point, the roar from the trading floor grows so loud it can be heard for several blocks down Wall and Broad streets in every direction, and crowds gather to see what the commotion is about.  Thousands of people mill around outside the exchange, some of them investors who have lost everything.    

Five Wall Street bankers, including Thomas Lamont, head of Morgan Bank, and Richard Whitney, Vice President of the NYSE, are credited with the late rally that turns the rampage.  They hold a hurried meeting at the J.P. Morgan offices, then place large purchase orders above market value to stem the tide.  Lamont tells reporters, "We consider the situation on the floor of the stock exchange this morning a technical one rather than a fundamental one, and that it will result in betterment.  I still see nothing to worry about."

Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon holds an urgent meeting with the Federal Reserve Bank Board, but basically concludes the same thing as Lamont: the fundamental business environment in the United States is sound, and there is no need for federal intervention.  The Reserve Board declines to change discount rates or take any other action.

The London and Paris markets also drop, but Berlin’s stock market rises.

To view front page of Brooklyn Daily Eagle on the day of the crash.

Brussels: 

Prince Umberto II, heir to the throne of Italy, survives an assassination attempt while he is laying a wreath on Belgium's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  It happens on the same day as the announcement of his betrothal to Princess Marie Jose of Belgium.  As Umberto is about to lay the wreath during a morning ceremony, a man runs out of the crowd and fires a single shot that goes wild.  Some witnsses say he is crying out, “Down with Mussolini!”  Before he can get off another shot, police and bystanders subdue him.  Umberto, staying surprisingly calm, continues with the ceremony and finishes it.

Later, in police custody, the would-be assassin claims he missed on purpose, only intending to fire into the air in protest.  He gives his name as Fernando di Rosa, an Italian national and law student at the University of Paris.

To view cover of Le Petit Journal about the assassination attempt:

Wednesday, 23 October 1929: New York Stock Market Drops 6.3%

New York:  

THE STOCK MARKET crashES – THE Nyse DROPS 6.3% in THE second-largest TRADING day on record.  Over 6.3 million shares trade.  The loss is valued at $3-4 billion.  The market opens well after yesterday's uptick, with several bellwether stocks recording gains.  Then mid-afternoon, a wave of selling hits automotive equipment and radio stocks.  As the afternoon grinds on and the selling shows no sign of abating, traders and investors -- already nervous after the general market downturn of late -- lose their nerve and start dumping other stocks -- everything -- for whatever they can get, sometimes even below price.  In the final hour, the market completely collapses, in what one article calls "a new and wholly unexpected avalanche of selling."  About $50 million in value is melting away per minute at the end.  At one point, a clutch of banking executives are reported to be conferring on the front steps of the New York Stock Exchange on ways to support the market.  But it remains to be seen if they can do anything about it

Elsewhere: 

Budapest:  Prime Minister Istvan Bethlen de Bethlen, speaking to Parliament, announces that from now on, anti-semitic disturbances in Hungary's schools and universities will be met with a strong police response. Police will even enter classrooms where disturbances are taking place if necessary.  Bethlen's statement is in response to a spate of anti-Jewish unrest around the country of late.

China:  Nationalist government forces capture the town of Yencheng in Honan province.  The opposing forces are reported to number 300,000.

Tuesday, 22 October 1929

Manchuria:

Soviet press dispatches from Khabarovsk, Russia, say a band of White Russian troops attempted to enter Soviet territory from Manchuria in the area of Lake Hanko near Klenovka, and were destroyed.  Two more bands of White Russian troops reportedly attempted to enter Russia near Trekhrechie, on the Amur River, and were likewise destroyed.  

Paris: 

Prime Minister Aristide Briand's government falls on the first day of a Parliament session, defeated 288 to 277 over a demand by radicals, socialists and nationalist groups to discuss foreign affairs, including especially the Young Plan, France's occupation of the Rhineland and France's position relative to the Saar region. Andre Tardieu, Minister of the Interior, is being mentioned as a possible new prime minister.

New York: 

Stocks rally, up 3.4% before giving some back at close.  The market is still down 23% since September 1. Markets in London and Paris improve as well, but Berlin is hit by a wave of selling. 

China:  

Rebel and nationalist government forces clash in northern Honan province, with the rebels reportedly breaking the government line and penetrating 100 miles along a railway toward Hankow.

Monday, 21 October 1929

New York:  

The third heaviest trading day on record sees stocks slump again -- the market is down nearly 3% at its low, but a late rally holds losses to less than 1%.  More than 6 million shares move.  The sell-off of last week clearly continues.  The "ticker" (the paper strip printout that records stock transactions) falls so far behind it doesn't print the market's closing values until 1 hour and 40 minutes after the market closes.  Thus, the late rally isn't evident until well after the market has closed.   Still, some stocks closed as much as 12% below their opening price.

Russia: 

Five generals from the pre-communist era army are executed by firing squad on charges of promoting a counter-revolutionary movement, the goal of which was to weaken the Red Army and open the door for foreign intervention in Soviet Russia.  Several other accused are sent to concentration camps for hard labor.  They were charged with maintaining an espionage system within Russia's military industries.

China:  

In surprise attacks, communist rebel forces reportedly capture the city of Chengchow and three other cities from nationalist government forces.  

Sunday, 20 October 1929

Berlin:  

Violence erupts in several parts of the city as nationalists stage street demonstrations against the Young Plan.  In North Berlin, 300 Stahlhelm members march on a synagogue.  Mounted police disperse them with clubs.  Elsewhere, national socialists (nazis) attempt to break through a police cordon on the Potsdamerplatz, as well as stage a protest march past the home of President Paul von Hindenburg.  More than 100 are arrested.  Communist demonstrations in the suburbs are also broken up by police. 

Vienna: 

Socialist paramilitary organizations in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania and Finland offer aid to Austria’s socialist party if the nationalist Heimwehr paramilitary attempts a coup.  Parades and demonstrations by both nationalists and socialists have been increasing since Chancellor Johann Schober proposed a new constitution to limit socialist Vienna’s autonomy (see Oct. 18), and socialists fear the Heimwehr will make a play for full takeover of the government.  

Consequently, socialist paramilitary leaders are meeting with representatives of Austria's Schutzbund socialist paramilitary to offer their support.  "An attack on Austrian democracy is an attack on German democracy" says Karl Hoeltermann, representing Germany's Reichsbanner.  "We will not be peaceful spectators of such an attack.  If you need the support of hundreds of thousands of German workers, you will get it."

The Schutzbund, meanwhile, is making its plans in the event of a Heimwehr coup attempt.  This includes calling a general work stoppage of coal trains, and possibly food trains, to force the Heimwehr into negotiations.   

Heimwehr demonstration from February 1929

Saturday, 19 October 1929

Riga, Latvia:  

A former staff officer in the Soviet Red Army discloses to the press that Russia has plans for extensive and escalating military intervention in Manchuria to retrieve control of the Chinese Eastern Railway.  According to the officer, Russia's plan is to slowly and steadily intensify operations, thereby making it difficult for outsiders to know exactly when the localized guerilla actions have in fact escalated into broader military operations.  This will be accompanied, he says, by sabotage of the Chinese Eastern Railway inside Manchuria, and a propaganda campaign urging workers at the coal pits in Dalainor to strike.  This campaign will also attempt to foster riots in North Korea (for what reason, he does not say).  Then, a full scale military offensive will begin on December 1, to be joined by forces of the Mongolian People's Army, if Russia’s demands for control of the railway are not met.

Back east, meanwhile, Kliment Voroshilov, Commissar of War, has been drumming up public support for the military action.  At a recent meeting in Leningrad, he described the situation in the east as "very serious," and mentions general mobilization of armed forces as a possibility.   

In the Manchurian conflict, meanwhile, soviet warplanes appear over Fuchin and bomb a Chinese gunboat.  

Luneberg, Germany:

Lieut. Col Theodor Duesterberg, a leader of the nationalist Stahlhelm paramilitary, gives a speech in which he threatens Stahlhelm intervention in Austria in the event of strife there.  Duesterberg says he expects trouble in Austria soon between that country's nationalist paramilitary, the Heimwehr, and its socialist paramilitary counterpart, the Schutzbund.  But Duesterberg further claims that Germany's socialist organization, the Reichsbanner, has threatened to go to the aid of the Schutzbund.

"Should the Reichsbanner, under the motto 'No More War,' wage civil war in Austria, we and the other national associations will not stand by with grounded arms."  

The German press, however, covering the speech, says the Reichsbanner has made no such threats, and expresses concern that the Stahlhelm might be looking to invent a crisis as a pretext for making trouble in Austria.  

Elsewhere: 

New York: The stock market falls again, down 2.8% on weekend trading.  Volume is the second-highest for a Saturday in NYSE history.  At 324, Wall Street is at its lowest ebb of the month.

China: Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist government reportedly has six divisions converging for battle against the communist rebels that have taken Honan.  

Friday, 18 October 1929: More Soviet Action in Manchuria

Manchuria: 

NEW FIGHTING IS REPORTED BETWEEN SOVIET AND MANCHURIAN/CHINESE TROOPS, both today and yesterday.  Reports say Russian forces penetrated 100 miles up the Sungari River into Manchuria, using 7 gunboats and 12 warplanes, likely looking for and destroying arms or boats that might be used to harass Russian river traffic along the Amur River on the Russia/China border.  The soviets are largely unopposed, and withdraw after the incursion.  

Berlin: 

President Paul von Hindenburg blasts the Liberty Law plebiscite supported by Alfred Hugenberg’s nationalists, especially the provision that would impeach and imprison government officials who support the Young Plan.*  Votes in favor of the Liberty Law are reportedly light.

Meanwhile, a new report on unemployment among labor union members shows unemployment increased from 9% in August to 9.6% in September.  

Paul v. Hindenburg, Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-C06886 / CC-BY-SA.  Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Vienna:  

Chancellor Johann Schober submits a revised Austrian constitution to the Reichstrat (legislature) that reduces the autonomy of the largely socialist province of Vienna and places it more under the control of the national government, which contains powerful fascist elements.  Tension between socialist-leaning Vienna and the national government and rest of the country has been an ongoing feature of post-war Austrian politics.

Johann Schober

Elsewhere: 

New York: The stock market loses another 2.5%, rising early then falling hard.  A report today from the New York Stock Exchange says Wall Street lost nearly $2.6 billion in September.

  

China: Some 500 troops mutiny in the city of Wuhu, and capture the city for seven hours.  Foreigners seek safety from Japanese and British gunboats in the harbor, and forces of the nationalist government subdue the rebellion.  Meanwhile, communist rebels are attacking the city of Chengchow, in north-central Honan province.  

Thursday, 17 October 1929

New York: 

The stock market fluctuates widely again, down 4 points before closing up 1.7%.  Markets in London, Berlin and Paris are down as the shock wave of Wall Street’s gyrations spreads globally.

Moscow:

The soviet government rejects a mediation offer from Germany in the Manchurian border conflict with China.  Germany's offer called for both countries to cease arresting the other's citizens.

Wednesday, 16 October 1929

Germany: 

The plebiscite allowing voters to petition for the proposed Liberty Law begins.  If 4 million approve it, the Reichstag must take up the measure.  Continues through October 28.

New York: 

Stocks fall sharply, down 3.1% on heavy trading.  It’s the third straight day of decline totaling 4.7%.  Volume increased over the same period, with over 4 million shares changing hands today.

Tuesday, 15 October 1929: "Stocks have reached a permanently high plateau"

United States: 

Yale Economist Irving Fisher, in a speech at the Purchasing Agents Association, makes the statement that stocks have reached “what looks like a permanently high plateau.” 

Germany: 

French forces begin evacuating Coblenz, Bad-Ems and Worms as part of the early withdrawal of foreign forces from German soil negotiated in the Young Plan.  

To see a map of Weimar Germany showing the Rhineland

Monday, 14 October 1929

China: 

The civil war between nationalist government and rebel forces, which has been fought off and on for over two years, breaks out in fresh fighting.  Rebel forces are reportedly pouring in to the southern province of Honan, and working to set up a rival capital in Peking to that of Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist government in Nanjing.  

Sunday, 13 October 1929: Soviet Action Again Near Khabarovsk

Manchuria:  

SOVIET FORCES ATTACK MANCHURIA SOUTHWEST OF THE RUSSIAN TOWN OF KHABAROVSK.  In one of the largest strikes of the border conflict so far, 800 Russian troops cross the Amur River late tonight under covering artillery fire and occupy the town of Linkianghsien, at the confluence of the Amur and Sungari rivers, in Manchuria.  The soviets reportedly began artillery bombardment of the Manchurian side of the river on October 11, intensifying it late tonight in advance of the incursion.  One report says the Russians sank three Manchurian gunboats, drowning all 500 crewmen.  Manchurian/Chinese forces have reportedly been harassing Russian river traffic, laying mines and shooting at passing boats.  This attack is a reprisal.

At Lahasusu, according to official dispatches, Chinese troops are in disorderly retreat from advancing Soviet forces, which are pursuing them deep into Manchurian territory and harassing them with artillery fire.  The retreating Chinese reportedly plunder stores along the way.

Nagoya, Japan:  

Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi, in a speech at a political rally of his party, says he hopes the London Naval Conference, to which his country recently accepted its invitation, will achieve not only limitations in navies, but actual reduction.  Under existing naval treaty, Japan is allowed 60% as many capital naval ships as Great Britain and the United States.  "We don't resent the assignment to Japan of naval ratios inferior to those of Great Britain and America.  But that ratio must not fade below the minimum requirements for the safety of the empire.  We hope the disarmament problem is entering a brighter phase."  He says such an outcome would "keep faith with the spirit of world peace and lighten the taxation load of all peoples."

Osachi Hamaguchi

Saturday, 12 October 1929

Berlin:  

The German government issues an official statement calling the Liberty Law campaign being pushed by Alfred Hugenberg (see Oct. 9) “a monstrous attempt to incite the German people against the government and annihilate the ten year good will policy of the republic with Germany’s former enemies.”  The statement urges Germans to reject the Liberty Law, and notes that Germany's foreign policy since the World War has secured such positives as reductions in the required war debt reparations payments, and liberation of the Rhineland.

Manchuria:

A Soviet flotilla on the Amur River opens fire on Chinese gunboats and land positions near Lahasusu. According to official dispatches, the firing starts at 5:30 a.m., and in short order, three Chinese gunboats are sunk.  A fourth is captured by the Russians, along with 7 barges and an army transport steamer.  The soviets lose no vessels, although 16 are killed, including the chief of the soviet Amur River Fleet.

Thursday, 10 October 1929

New York:  

Stocks tick upward 1.8%.  The market is at 353, higher than it started the month, as the rally from Saturday continues.

Leningrad:  

The first “anti-religious” university in Russia, and presumably in the world, opens.  The institution, named for Ivan Skvortsov-Stepanov, an early Soviet revolutionary and leader of atheism in Russia, is intended to prepare students to become active propagandists of militant atheism.  It opens with 300 students on the one-year anniversary of Skvortsov-Stepanov's death.

Wednesday, 9 October 1929: Prussia Declares Stahlhelm Illegal

Berlin: 

The government of Prussia, the state that makes up some 60 percent of Germany, bans the Stahlhelm (“Steel Helmets”), a nationalist paramilitary organization, in two provinces, on grounds that it is effectively an army.  The move is in response to the Stahlhelm’s support of the the Liberty Law campaign.

For months, a coalition of groups called the Reich Committee for the German People’s Petition has been campaigning, sometimes violently, for the Liberty Law, which opposes the Young Plan, would discontinue war debt payments altogether, and even prosecute government officials who support the Young Plan. The coalition was the brainchild of Alfred Hugenberg, a nationalist press baron who owns multiple newspapers, and is made up of many groups, including the German National People’s Party, a nationalist political party of which Hugenberg is head, and the radical, fascist, fringe National Socialist German Worker’s Party (nazis).  The coalition was formed to drum up support for a national plebiscite on the Liberty Law, to be conducted in October.  Under German law adopted after the World War, if 10 percent of voters nationwide sign a petition in favor of a proposed law, the Reichstag has to take up the measure. Hugenberg’s plebiscite is intended to gather the necessary signatures to force the Liberty Law to the Reichstag.

Also part of the coalition is the Stahlhelm, the largest of the many paramilitary organizations that operate in Germany, boasting some half a million members.  President Paul von Hindenburg is its honorary president.  The Stahlhelm is heavily comprised of former soldiers, and serves as an unofficial army reserve of sorts, after the standing German army was required to shrink under the Treaty of Versailles.  It was pro-nationalist from its beginning, and often serves as a kind of armed wing of Hugenberg’s political party.

Prussia’s Minister of the Interior issues his ruling in reprisal for the Stahlhelm’s sometimes heavy-handed activities in support of the Liberty Law, including violence.  The minister is a socialist, and much of Prussia is socialist-leaning.  Prussia issues a handbill as well, stating:  “The German government as well as an overwhelming majority in the German nation, realizes that the improvement in Germany’s international position cannot be forced by any German law, but is only obtainable step by step through constant efforts and negotiations with other powers.”  

Stahlhelm with old imperial flag

Moscow:  

Pravda, newspaper of the communist party, launches a new occasional feature titled, “To Know Our Enemies in Order to Hate them.”  It’s a review of capitalist countries, with the United States winning the honor of being evaluated first.  “Millions of European proletarians who sought freedom and happiness on American farms are disillusions after paying a bitter price.  Farmers are being reduced to beggars.  Taxes aggregate 30 percent of the value of farm production, while from four to five million workers are permanently unemployed.  Workers do not get vacations.  They are given no means to support themselves properly, and are likely one morning to find their jobs gone when they return to work.  Millionaires’ daughters order colored limousines to match every new gown.”

“Hence we must imbue communists with a real hatred for capitalists so that communists will fight harder.  Those American communists who refuse to believe in the inherent rottenness of American capitalism are being expelled.  Business is their god, money their king and commerce their ruler; but, as churches and thrones were crushed, so this American paradise will be crushed.”

Harbin, Manchuria:  

The U.S. consulate here receives a report from Leonard Lilliestrom, U.S. Vice Consul, confirming reports of atrocities by Red Army soldiers against White Russians in Hailar and Manzhouli.  Among the gruesome details: soviet cavalry has surrounded villages and forced males over 10 to the edge of town where they are mowed down with machine gun fire.  An estimated 150 White Russians have been killed by the soviets.

Elsewhere: 

Jaryczowo, Poland:  Anti-semitic unrest among ethnic Ukrainians flares into violence and death.  Last night a mob of Ukrainians attacked a synagogue during evening prayers, resulting in four Ukrainians killed and 11 Jews and 5 Ukrainians injured as the Jews fought back with candlesticks and furniture.  Today a large Ukranian mob attacks Jewish merchants, wounding 7, vowing revenge for the deaths of their kin.  Police are out in force, as both groups are heavily armed.

Hungary:  Jewish students are beaten in schools after distributing handbills.  Schools in Hungary have been known to ban Jewish students from classes with Hungarians, and Jews who protest this can face mistreatment.  

Rome: The fascist government bans certain editions of Jack London novels, branding them “anti-fascist.”

Tuesday, 8 October 1929: London Naval Conference Invitations Get Reactions

London:

Great Britain’s invitations to France, Italy, Japan and the United States, to participate in the naval conference announced last week during Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald’s meetings with U.S. President Herbert Hoover, are received at the various capitals.  France indicates it will accept, but makes clear it will fight a suggestion that the submarine be abolished.  France further suggests it will not accept limitations on cruisers, destroyers and submarines along the lines established for capital ships at the Washington Naval Conference, held in 1921-22 and involving nine nations.  Italy’s unofficial sources say Rome will accept too, but hold a stance similar to France’s.  The fascist press, however, nonetheless takes the opportunity to warn against the “imperialist” attitudes of Great Britain and the United States.

In Tokyo the invitation surfaces immediate rumors of a rift between civilian and military officials.  Naval officers oppose the suggestion of a five year extension on the moratorium on building new capital ships.  Civilian officials, however, are reportedly open to the idea.

 

Jaroslav, Russia:  

Soviet police arrest the archbishop here, the Bishop of Kinchema, a large group of other church officials, and a group of businessmen, on charges that they are engaged in a “counterrevolutionary” plot.

 

Cavalla, Greece:  

More than 1,000 tobacco workers on the island of Thassos, agitated by communists, seize a small ship and sail here to force authorities to distribute the money of the Tobacco Workers’ Unemployment Fund to them whether they are employed or not.  Officials are warned in time, however, and close the harbor to the ship, which eventually returns to Thassos.  Workers in Cavalla, however, stirred up by the excitement, take to demonstrating and rock-throwing before they are dispersed by police.

Harbin, Manchuria:  

Dispatches from here report that raiders from Russia, thought to be soviet soldiers, have crossed into Manchuria and killed 140 White Russian men, women and children.  “White Russians” were Russians who fought against the communists (or “Red” Russians) in the Russian Civil War, were driven eastward in their losing effort, and finally fled into Manchuria.  They were accused by the Soviet Union of being behind the disruption of the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria.

Monday, 7 October 1929

Washington: 

Ramsay MacDonald, in the first speech ever given by a British Prime Minister to the U.S. Senate, promises that war between the United States and Great Britain will be an "impossibility" if both nations will do their part to implement the Kellogg-Briand Pact.*  "There can be no war.  Nay, more, it is absolutely impossible, if you and we do our duty in making the peace pact effective, that any section of our arms, whether land or sea or air, can never again come into hostile conflict."  

Ramsay MacDonald

Sunday, 6 October 1929: USA and Great Britain Announce London Naval Conference

Madison, Virginia, USA: 

President Herbert Hoover and British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, conferring at Hoover's private Rapidan Lodge, jointly announce they will invite five world powers to a naval conference in London in January 1930.  Purpose will be resumption of talks on parity and caps in naval fleets of the U.S., Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan.  

Negotiations had been going on for six months between the countries about such a gathering.  A previous naval treaty was signed in 1922 among the five nations -- all victors in the World War (accordingly, neither Germany nor Russia are to be invited to the conference).  That treaty was intended to limit the construction of new navy "capital ships" -- battleships, heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers -- in an attempt to prevent an arms buildup that might contribute to another war.  This conference would revisit those terms.

Hoover and MacDonald on White House steps

Bucharest:

Government officials say they suspect yesterday's assassination attempt on Alexandru Vayda-Voevod, Minister of the Interior, was intended to be the start of a broader campaign of communist unrest in Romania and throughout the Balkans.  Authorities say soviets recently held a conference at Odessa, Soviet Union, to discuss agitation in the Balkans in the wake of the failure of "International Red Day," August 1, on which the West European Bureau of the Communist International (COMINTERN) had called on workers throughout the world to hold demonstrations in the streets.  At this Odessa conference, Romanian authorities charge, the communists laid plans to join forces with autonomy movements in the Transylvania and Bessarabia regions of Romania, in an attempt to bring about revolution.  The government orders extra police guards at public buildings.

Warsaw:  

Socialist demonstrations on Socialist Youth Day against the government of Josef Pilsudski turn into a riot.  Police move in to restore order and arrest the demonstration’s leaders.

Saturday, 5 October 1929

Bucharest: 

An assassination attempt is made on Minister of Interior Alexandru Vaida-Voevod.  As Vaida-Voevod is approaching his automobile after leaving his office, a man approaches and fires a single shot which shatters the car window but misses the minister.  Captured later, the assailant says his act is revenge for the shooting of 30 striking miners in Lupeni, Romania, two months ago by the military.  Authorities suspect communist backing for the attempt.  

Paris:  

Twenty police and 100 socialists are injured when communists attack a meeting being held by the socialists to discuss world peace.  The communists beat dozens of socialists before police arrivee to restore order.

New York: 

One of the fastest rebounds in New York Stock Exchange history ends a two-day skid.  Share values rise nearly 5% on weekend trading.

Friday, 4 October 1929

Berlin:  

President Paul von Hindenburg names Julius Curtius Foreign Minister to succeed Gustav Stresemann, who died suddenly yesterday.  Curtius has been the Minister of Economics in the cabinet of Chancellor Hermann Mueller.

Julius Curtius

New York: 

Stocks fall again in the second-heaviest trading day of the year.  Over 5.6 million shares change hands.  A late rally holds losses to 1.4%, but the market is nervous after Thursday’s sell-off.

Manchuria:  

Reports say 250 Manchurian soldiers have been killed in the border clash with the Soviet Union over the last three days.  The battles are described as the worst yet in the conflict, which has run off and on since summer.

Elsewhere:  

China:  The civil war which has been raging off and on for two years is threatening to break out again.  A rebel army numbering 60,000 is said to be marching toward Canton.

Washington:  British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald begins a historic visit to the United States – the first ever by a sitting British prime minister.  

Belgrade: The Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes announces it will change its name to The Kingdom of Jugo-Slavia.