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.