Thursday, 3 October 1929: German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann Dies

Berlin: 

Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann dies unexpectedly of a stroke.  He was 51.  The loss of the “greatest post-war statesman of Germany” is being called “irreparable.”  He helped negotiate reconciliation between Germany and France after the World War, for which he shared the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize with French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand.  He also helped negotiate the Young Plan.  Stresemann was a German imperialist and supported Germany’s annexation of territories from neighboring countries.  However, when the war went against Germany, he favored peace, and though he was reportedly shocked at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, he believed Germany should honor them.  Streseman also twice served as Chancellor.

“In the chaotic conditions that gripped Germany for several years after the world war, Stresemann rose up as an antidote like oil on troubled waters,” says the Associated Press dispatch on his death.  Stresemann is credited with securing Germany’s renunciation of claims to the regions of Alsace and Lorraine, and navigating Germany’s entry into the League of Nations.

In fact, so great are the fears that his death might derail German foreign policy, especially Germany’s commitment to its debt payments from the World War (currently being renegotiated as part of the Young Plan), that President Paul von Hindenburg announces he will preside over a special cabinet meeting himself, and quickly name a successor.

Gustav Stresemann  Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1989-040-27 / CC-BY-SA  Used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

New York:

The worst drop of the year hits the New York Stock Exchange.  The market loses 4.2% -- 1.5 million shares trade in the final hour.  Traders have been predicting a drop since stock prices began a general decline nearly a month ago.  The market is now down 13% from its September record high of 381.  

Paris:  

An odd report from the diplomatic world: A certain M. Bessedowski, Charge d’Affairs at the Soviet Embassy, is seen leaping over a garden wall and running to the nearest police station.  There, he requests police to accompany him back to the embassy, for his own safety.  He says a GPU (soviet secret police) agent has threatened him with a gun.  “An agent sent from Moscow gave me a political examination because of my known anti-Moscow views.  He called me a heretic and ordered me to return to Moscow.  Knowing that would mean the firing squad, I refused.  Then the agent drew a revolver and tried to stop me from leaving the embassy.”  Police escort Mr. Bessedowski and his wife and child to the safety of a nearby hotel.