Wednesday, 30 April 1930

Paris:  France expels 22 communist leaders as a precaution against May Day agitation tomorrow. 

Tuesday, 29 April 1930

Shanghai:  The nationalist government raids suspected communist bases in the foreign settlements, arresting 27 and seizing tens of thousands of pieces of communist propaganda, in advance of May Day.  Elsewhere, the government says its forces killed 900 bandits responsible for lawlessness in Hupeh. 

Monday, 28 April 1930

Vienna:  The Austrian government announces that 15,000 Austrian laborers who were to be employed by France to help build defensive fortifications there, cannot be used to work on fortifications directed toward Germany. 

Sunday, 27 April 1930

Rome:  Italy launches four new cruisers and a submarine in a festive event celebrating the country’s naval power.  Additionally, 90,000 members of fascist youth organizations are received into the Black Shirts, Mussolini’s fascist paramilitary, in ceremonies around the country.  They receive rifles to commemorate the occasion.

Madrid:  Melquiades Alvarez, former monarchist, criticizes King Alfonso in a speech, saying the king “forever” ignored his duties under the constitution of 1876 by allowing the dictatorship of Manuel Primo de Rivera.  Alvarez says a republic is now what Spain needs.

Berlin:  More bad economic news: the government announces that tax revenues were 70 million marks below budget for the fiscal year ended March 31. 

London:  Still more bad economic news: unemployment in Great Britain is higher than at any time in the last four years.

China: The nationalist government announces that martial law will be in effect for Shanghai May 1, in anticipation of communist unrest on May Day.  The government arrests 150 suspected communist agitators, detains 100 more, and displays weapons it says were planned for use in May Day uprisings.

Friday, 25 April 1930: Opposition to London Naval Treaty Rises in Japan

Tokyo: 

Opposition to Japan’s approval of the London Naval Treaty arises quickly.  Inukai Tsuyoshi, President of the Seiyukai opposition political party, attacks the treaty in the diet, claiming that because it was signed by a civilian government representative, it violates the Japanese constitution, which stipulates that the military be free from civilian control.  Foreign Minister Kijuro Shidehara, reviewing the treaty in the Diet, repeatedly has to refute the accusation that the Japanese delegation was forced to sign. 

Inukai Tsuyoshi

Paris:  Prime Minister Andre Tardieu proposes severe measures to prevent communist demonstrations on May Day, May 1. 

Halle, Germany:  A clash between nazis and communists after a nazi meeting results in injuries to 19 nazis. 

Tuesday, 22 April 1930: London Naval Conference Ends with Incomplete Results

London: 

The London Naval Treaty – focal point of the London Naval Conference which has been going on for the past two months -- is signed by the five participating nations: Japan, the United States, Great Britain, France and Italy.  The treaty marks a partial victory for diplomacy: all five nations agree to suspend expansion of their battleship fleets until 1936.  However, only three of the countries – Japan, the U.S., and U.K. – agree to limitations on their fleet sizes.  France and Italy could never resolve their differences with each other nor the rest of the participants, and so did not agree to fleet size limitations.  Perhaps indicative of the anticlimactic ending after 13 weeks of meetings, the U.S. delegation is already at the docks ready to board their ship home the same day of the signing. 

British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald says, “We have now gone as far as we can at present.  Compared with Washington and Geneva [earlier conferences], we have progressed far.  Compared with our desires, we have fallen short.  We part today in a spirit of active good will, prepared to take every means which offers itself to secure a five-power agreement on all points.  Our work has been but partly done, but all good work must be done in stages.”

London Naval Conference delegates

Cettinje, Yugoslavia:  A communist agitator guns down four people, including the chief of the gendarmes, and wounds three others, before being killed by police. 

Sunday, 20 April 1930

Leipzig, Germany: 

A gathering of 30,000 young communists observing “Red Youth Day” turns violent when fighting breaks out as police attempt to cordon off side streets leading away from the plaza where the gathering is being held.  Three are killed, two of them police. 

Madrid: 

More than 25,000 supporters of the monarchy jam the new bull ring here to show their support for King Alfonso XIII.  Streets around the arena are draped with banners reading, “Long Live the King,” and “Long Live Spain.”  Speakers say the king has been unfairly attacked by supporters of a constitutional republic, and that the majority of Spaniards want the monarchy to continue.  The king was not present, spending Holy Week in Seville. 

Soviet Union:

Kharkov, Ukraine:  29 people are sentenced to prison terms totaling 173 years for allegedly trying to restore a “capitalistic” system in Ukraine.  Among those being sent to prison are the former President of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, the former Ukrainian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.

Moscow:  The 200 or so remaining Orthodox churches here are jammed on Easter Sunday, despite efforts by the Atheist League to detract from it.  In an attempt to draw people away from church, all theaters in the city are opened at midnight and shows are run continuously through the day, and military bands play at public squares and other gathering places.  However, as part of its “slowdown” on the atheization of the country, the government does forbid citizens from molesting worshipers in churches, or on their way to and from them. 

China:

In the civil war, skirmishes are reported between nationalist government forces and northern rebels along railroads around the city of Kweiteh. 

Friday, 18 April 1930

Zurich:  Political exiles from fascist Italy report that political prisoners of dictator Benito Mussolini’s government, being held in prisons on the Lipari Islands in the Mediterranean, are being killed by their guards – two, at least, are reported dead.

Berlin:  More bad economic news: reports measuring economic activity such as railway car loadings of coal and other heavy goods are all down from the same time last year. 

Bydgoszcz, Poland:  Nine members of the Deutschtumbund, a German organization in the areas of Poland that were taken from Germany after the World War, are sentenced to prison for sabotaging Polish administrative decisions and spying.

Monday, 14 April 1930

Germany: 

Wilhelm Frick, nazi Minister of the Interior and Education in the state of Thuringia, issues an order that will revoke the licenses of entertainment establishments that present black performers or their music.  Frick says he is acting to save Germany from “negro culture,” which he says is corrupting morals in the country.

Berlin:  New Chancellor Heinrich Bruening’s package of financial reform bills (mostly taxes) and agrarian relief passes the Reichstag by slim margins – in the case of the budget bill, by just four votes.  Bruening’s authority to dissolve the Reichstag, granted him by President Paul von Hindenburg, again looms large over the proceedings, with political parties sending cars and in some cases even planes out to bring legislators in for the vote, rather than face elections for a new parliament.  The measures implement new taxes on tobacco, sugar, beer and mineral water. 

Elsewhere:

Paris:  Two fascists are shot to death in the street by communists in revenge for recent arrests of communists in France.

New York: The Rand School of Social Science, a socialist institution, releases its American Labor Year Book for 1930, which states that the growing worldwide unemployment problem caused by the Great Depression is worst in Russia.

Sunday, 13 April 1930

Germany:

Berlin:  Nazis paint “Death to Young” and swastikas on three portals of the Reichstag building in protest of the Young Plan. 

Magdeburg:  Several are injured in a street battle between communists and nazis.

Saturday, 12 April 1930

Germany:

Berlin:  Fritz Hampel, an editor at the communist newspaper Rote Fahne (Red Flag), is sentenced to two years in prison on charges of high treason for articles and cartoons considered inflammatory.

Breslau:  Nazis and laborers clash in a streetfight that broke out as the nazis were holding a meeting.  Thirty are injured.

Friday, 11 April 1930

Berlin:  Germany already faces another financial crisis.  New Reichsbank head Hans Luther (a former chancellor of Germany) says the nation’s banks need an immediate infusion of government backing for their loans, or else credit in the country will dry up next week. 

Thursday, 10 April 1930

London: 

At the London Naval Conference, the U.S. delegation comes up with a scheme that will allow all five participants to sign something, thus preventing a complete conference failure, although most of what France and Italy will sign is of less consequence.  The idea is to break the treaty into three parts.  The first calls for a temporary suspension of battleship building.  The second will deal with the “humanization” of submarine warfare.  France and Italy will reportedly sign those two.  The third part will be trilateral between the U.S., Great Britain and Japan, governing broader naval quotas. 

Berlin: 

The new cabinet of Heinrich Bruening is already finding the going rough.  One economic measure after another is defeated in committee: yesterday it was the cabinet’s proposal to raise the beer tax 75%; today it is plans for funding unemployment insurance.  President Paul von Hindenburg has called another meeting of all political party leaders to try to find a solution.  If he doesn’t, rumors are he will consider again his earlier threat to dissolve the Reichstag and have Bruening run the country by the constitution’s emergency provisions. 

Elsewhere:

Washington:  More bad economic news: farm wages are the lowest since the government started collecting figures in 1923. 

Belgrade:  13 people are sentenced to prison on charges of belonging to a communist organization. 

Tuesday, 8 April 1930

Berlin:  New Chancellor Heinrich Bruening introduces plans to try to solve Germany’s financial crisis by raising duties on a wide range of agricultural products.  Once finalized, the measures will be introduced in the Reichstag.

Washington:  More economic bad news: the government announces that exports to Europe are down $30 million from 1929 levels, and imports from Europe down nearly $20 million.

Sunday, 6 April 1930

Berlin:  More bad economic news: a report says prices for goods in Germany are down 9% from a year ago, signaling weak demand.

Mexico: Police in the state of Vera Cruz arrest communists in four cities whom they say were planning a revolt.

Saturday, 5 April 1930

Sofia:  Police arrest 50 communists on charges of seditious activity.

China:  In the resumed civil war, nationalist government forces capture the city of Yuanchow from rebellious northern forces. 

Friday, 4 April 1930: Zhang Xueliang Supports Chiang's Chinese Government

Shanghai:  The Nanking State Council, a body of Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist government, approves a mandate for “the arrest and subjugation” of the leaders of the northern revolt (see Apr. 1) – tantamount to a declaration of war.  In a surprise move, however, warlord Zhang Xueliang, de facto ruler of Manchuria, is reported to have thrown his support behind the nationalist government.  He orders a squadron of gunboats to Shantung province and his troops to the Great Wall in support of Chiang’s government.  

Madrid:  More impact from the worldwide economic depression: Spain’s Finance Minister says the country will incur a deficit of the equivalent of US$23 million for 1930.

Washington:  Still more impact from the depression: President Herbert Hoover signs a $375 million road spending bill, intended to stimulate the economy.

Thursday, 3 April 1930

Berlin: 

Heinrich Bruening’s new cabinet wins its first vote of confidence from the Reichstag, with the deciding votes ironically being cast by the party of nationalist leader Alfred Hugenberg.  The vote is 252-187, with socialists, communists and nazis voting against.  Hugenberg had threatened to defeat the new government, but after Bruening outlines his cabinet’s agriculture policies, which are under the care of Martin Schiele from Hugenberg’s National People’s Party, Hugenberg evidently changes his mind, and his party votes in favor of Bruening.  Hugenberg still says his party may desert the government and bring about its downfall, however, at any time it feels so inclined.

Moscow: 

Rabbi Lazarev, Chief Rabbi of Leningrad, and 15 others, are sentenced to 10 years in a concentration camp for alleged anti-soviet activity. 

London: 

At the London Naval Conference, the delegates from the United States, Great Britain and Japan officially agree to a three-way naval treaty which is intended to reduce the navies of all three, with the U.S. and British delegations accepting certain reservations from Japan.  U.S. Senator David A. Reed, a U.S. delegate who did most of the negotiating with Japan, says, “I cannot impress on you too strongly the fine spirit with which the Japanese and British have met us.  There was no disposition to quibble on the part of any one of the three delegations.  All three delegations have been frank and fair.  I cannot imagine a more pleasant negotiation than this has been.  The result is not a victory for anyone, but an honorable and reasonable settlement between the three powers.” 

Wednesday, 2 April 1930

Tokyo:  Admiral Kato Kanji, Chief of the Naval General Staff, lodges an official protest against Japan’s approval of the London Naval Treaty with Emperor Hirohito.

Budapest:  58 people are arrested as a result of a riot of the unemployed.

Istanbul:  Turkish police announce they have uncovered a spy plot infiltrating both military and government circles, and thought to be soviet in origin. 

Hamburg:  A powerful bomb explodes in a crowded department store, blowing out windows and crumbling walls.  No information yet on who did it or why. 

Tuesday, 1 April 1930: Japan Announces it will Accept the Two-Thirds Ratio

Tokyo: 

The government of Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi announces that it will accept the terms of the London Naval Treaty being proposed by the United States and Great Britain, and instructs its delegates to the London Naval Conference to sign it.  This will preserve the requirement that Japan have a smaller ratio of capital ships compared to the U.S. and U.K. – a sore point among Japanese military leaders (although the ratio does improve).  The last treaty (with the 60% ratio) created a sharp rift in the Japanese navy between pro-treaty factions and nationalist admirals who wanted full parity with the other powers.  Many in Japan – in the military, the government and the public – view the reduced ratio as a national insult. 

Berlin: 

President Paul von Hindenburg gives Heinrich Bruening, his candidate to become chancellor of a new government, permission to dissolve the Reichstag and run the country under Article 48 -- the “emergency provision” -- of the German constitution, if the Reichstag doesn’t give Bruening a vote of confidence.  Armed with this, Bruening gives a curt speech in the Reichstag, telling the delegates the country needs work, not words, and action, not argument, if Germany is to dig through its financial issues.  Nonetheless, his speech is interrupted often by jeering from the communist delegates.

Elsewhere:

London:  More evidence of the Depression: the government announces that its plans to help the nation’s unemployed will cost the equivalent of US$350 million.

Washington:  More bad economic news:  William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor, testifies before Congress that 3.7 million are out of work. 

China:  Civil war resumes in China’s northern territories.  It has been brewing for weeks.  The governor of Shansi province has allied himself with a general who was a leader in Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist army until he led a rebellion against Chiang late last year.  The two have moved their forces into Kaifeng, capital of Honan province, and into northern Shantung province, in a bid to challenge Chiang.  So far they are unopposed by government troops in the area – many of which have reportedly joined their rebellion. 

Monday, 31 March 1930

Moscow:  The government exiles 90 Jews to Siberia for participating in groups the state deems illegal; 55 more are forced to sign statements promising not to leave Moscow and to discontinue their memberships. 

London:  The British fiscal year closes with a deficit of 14.5 million pounds, more than 18 million pounds below budget, due to the economic downturn.  Meanwhile, some 1,200 companies in the wool industry post notices of wage reductions, effective next week, due to the economic conditions. 

Sunday, 30 March 1930

Germany:

Berlin:  Alfred Hugenburg, nationalist political leader, is protesting loudly about the new government of Heinrich Breuning.  He claims Breuning’s cabinet is illegitimate, and that the Reichstag must be dissolved and new elections held.  So far, President Paul von Hindenburg is ignoring him. 

Leipzig:  The government enters a charge of high treason against Wilhelm Frick, nazi Minister of the Interior of Thuringia, on charges that he is seeking to reorganize the police in that state (over which his post has authority) along nazi lines of thought.  The public prosecutor will begin an investigation into the charge. 

Saturday, 29 March 1930: Heinrich Bruening Forms a Government

Berlin:  New Chancellor Heinrich Bruening succeeds in forming a cabinet.  It is more nationalist-leaning than its predecessor, with Martin Schiele of the National People’s Party as Minister of Agriculture.  Seven of the ministers are holdovers from the previous cabinet.  

Friday, 28 March 1930

Berlin:  

President Paul von Hindenburg asks Heinrich Bruening, floor leader of the Centrist party, to form a cabinet.  And he’s given him 24 hours to do it, telling him to focus on constructing a cabinet that can get approval by the Reichstag, regardless of which parties it contains, and then can push through financial reforms necessary to get Germany’s financial house in order. 

Bruening is reportedly considering asking Martin Schiele to join his cabinet.  Schiele is a member of Alfred Hugenberg’s National People’s Party, the nationalist group that spearheaded the Liberty Law campaign.  By including Schiele in his cabinet, Bruening would be hoping to create a rift within the National People’s Party and divide their vote, possibly giving his government a better chance to succeed.  The nationalists, however, announce today that they won’t participate in a new Bruening cabinet, and demand that the Reichstag be dissolved and new elections held. 

Heinrich Bruening

Bundesarchiv, Bild 119-2600 / CC BY-SA

Used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license

Meanwhile, a scathing article by Gen. Erich von Ludendorff is published, in which he calls Hindenburg a “false hero” for signing the Young Plan.  Ludendorff says the world war veterans’ organization of which both he and Hindenburg are members should expel Hindenburg for “violation of duty.”  Ludendorff was a participant in Adolf Hitler’s “Beer Hall Putsch” in 1923 and a former Reichstag member, but he has been largely out of the public eye since 1928.  “Through four hard years, Hindenburg did what I told him to do,” Ludendorff writes.  “Now he has forfeited the right to wear the field-gray uniform or carry it to his grave.” 

Elsewhere:

Washington:  It’s all bad news on the economic front.  Retail sales through February in the United States are down 4% from same period last year.  And farm prices are at their lowest levels in 3 years – wheat the lowest in 17 years.

Thursday, 27 March 1930: German Chancellor Hermann Mueller's Government Falls

Berlin:  

The “Grand Coalition” government of Chancellor Hermann Mueller falls.  Having held together long enough to see the Young Plan through, against growing financial pressure, it falls apart now over a disagreement about funding unemployment insurance.  Two of the political parties that make up Mueller’s government, the German People’s Party and the Social Democrats –Mueller’s own party – cannot agree on the matter, and the Social Democrats announce they are withdrawing. 

 The Social Democrats, representing primarily socialists, want to see unemployment insurance funded to the fullest extent possible, despite the cry from many in the populace for relief from taxes.  The German People’s Party, representing primarily industrialists, want to see the cost of funding the unemployment insurance reduced.  Mueller and many of the socialists were prepared to negotiate a compromise, but Rudolf Wissell, Social Democrat Minister of Labor, wouldn’t budge and led the withdrawal.  Mueller tendered his resignation to President Paul von Hindenburg shortly thereafter.

Unemployment benefits are costing Germany $300-400 million annually. 

Mueller’s cabinet has governed since June 1928.  Early speculation centers on Heinrich Bruening, a centrist, as a replacement.  Mueller himself has recommended him. 

The Mueller cabinet 

Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1980-129-18A / Ruge, Willi / CC-BY-SA

Used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license

Elsewhere:

England:  More evidence of the worldwide economic depression: a new survey shows that 100,000 mill workers are unemployed in Lancashire.  Sources call it the worst economic depression in that part of the country since the 1860s.

 Tokyo:  The government still hasn’t replied to a U.S.-backed proposal from the London Naval Conference that Japan accept a 66-2/3 ratio of capital ships compared to the U.S. and Great Britain (which is less than the 70% Japan sought).  Sources say opposition to the reduced ratio from within the naval general staff is so fierce, the government is fearful of precipitating a crisis if it moves too quickly.  

Wednesday, 26 March 1930

Berlin:  Rumors swirl tonight that Chancellor Herman Mueller’s government may be in trouble.  Evidently, with the monumental task of the Young Plan measures’ passage now complete, the political parties that make up Mueller’s coalition government are disagreeing over some of the financial measures in its wake.  The head of the German People’s party is quoted as saying, “The chances for a breakup in the cabinet are great.”  Reichstag delegates have reportedly already begun asking President Paul von Hindenburg to name Heinrich Bruening, leader of the Centrist Party, to replace Mueller.

Tuesday, 25 March 1930

London:  More evidence of the growing worldwide economic depression – new government figures put unemployment at over 1.6 million, worst since 1922.  The National Unemployed Workers’ Movement announces plans for a jobless march, asking for government relief.

Washington:  Still more evidence of the depression -- unemployment among union members is at 21%, according to the American Federation of Labor.  That’s actually down a notch from 22% in February, but, “Improvement is not yet general,” says William Green, President of the AFL.  

Monday, 24 March 1930

Paris:  

In the case of White Russian General Alexander Koutiepoff, missing since allegedly being kidnapped in broad daylight January 30, a newspaper claims to have proof that he is in prison in the Soviet Union.  La Liberte writes, “We have awaited the moment when the secret service has received official confirmation of the above facts in order to make them public.  We can now affirm that Koutiepoff six days ago was alive in the Lubyanka jail in Moscow.”  An accompanying editorial urges the French government to sever relations with the Soviet Union over the incident. 

Geneva:  The tariff truce conference that opened here last month ends with 11 European nations agreeing to limited restrictions on their protective tariffs.  The hope is that this will stimulate the economies of Europe, most of which are trending downward in the worldwide depression.

Sunday, 23 March 1930

Potsdam, Germany:  A mob of communists attempts to set free the inmates of a compulsory education school.  The facility director learns of their approach and calls the police, 22 of whom arrive armed with rifles.  120 communists are arrested.

 

Criuleni, Romania:  Authorities say they have uncovered a Russian spy plot after they arrest the municipal clerk of the town as he’s attempting to cross the Dniester River into Russia.  In his possession they find 500 forged Romanian citizenship certificates, a list of employees of the Romanian secret service, and a handful of confidential military documents.  The clerk says he got the materials from two officers in the Romanian military.  When police descend on one of the officer’s homes to arrest him, a gunfight erupts before he is arrested. 

London:  The worldwide economic depression worsens: government reports show unemployment is the worst since 1926, and still trending downward.

Saturday, 22 March 1930

England:

London:  At the naval conference, a scheduled meeting between British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and French Prime Minister Andrae Tardieu is cancelled, signaling definitively that France is out of the parley.  After two months of meetings, the conference is at a complete standstill – with nothing to show for its effort -- as Great Britain and the U.S. await word from Japan on whether a 3-way pact can still be signed.  Many in the press are saying the conference will have been a complete failure if Japan’s reply is negative.

Manchester:  More evidence of the Depression’s spread: an estimated 25% of cotton operatives in Lancashire are out of work, some so destitute they can’t get food to eat. 

Elsewhere:

Paris:  Finance Minister Paul Reynaud, in a committee speech, says that barring unforeseen circumstances, he expects France will remove all forces and end its occupation of the Rhineland by June 30.

Moscow:  Tens of thousands of demonstrators march for three hours here and in other cities around Russia in protest against religion.  

Friday, 21 March 1930

Manchuria:  

Warlord Zhang Xueliang, effective ruler of Manchuria, offers his services as mediator between Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek and rebellious Governor Yen Hsishan of Shansi.  The threat of renewed civil war in China has been looming for weeks.

  

London:  

The French delegation appears to withdraw from the naval conference, having left for Paris for the weekend and announcing that they won’t be back.  Observers think it’s a ploy to try to wrest an 11^th hour concession out of either Italy (to give up its demand for naval parity with France) or England (for a naval deal that includes continental security).  But Great Britain, the U.S. and Japan evidently saw this coming, and reportedly have a three-way “fallback” pact they will go to work on.  It is expected that if France is out, Italy will be too, as Italy presumably would not agree to any limitations on naval power with France under no such obligation.

Chisinau, Romania:  

Russian and Romanian border guards get into a firefight on the Dniester River near here.  According to reports, the Russian guards board a boat on their side of the river, then cross over and attack the Romanian border post with hand grenades.  The Romanians respond with rifle fire.  One Romanian is killed and several Russians wounded.  No one knows a reason for the attack, but tensions relative to Russia are high in Romania, as the government says it has uncovered communist plots to attempt a coup in the country.

Elsewhere:

Moscow:  Crowds of Young Communists and Young Pioneers (a communist version of the boy scouts) converge on the Italian Embassy and hold protests against the Pope. 

Bogota:  Thousands of unemployed conduct a demonstration that devolves into a riot when police fire on the crowd.  Two are killed and at least 20 injured.

Thursday, 20 March 1930

Soviet Union:

Moscow:  Newspapers run headlines, articles and cartoons ridiculing the Pope’s prayers on behalf of Christians in Russia.  Pravda runs a cartoon of a warrior wearing the Pope’s headpiece, riding a horse and carrying a banner that reads “Anti-Soviet Crusade.” 

Yet at a meeting of the All-Union Congress of Atheists tonight, speaker after speaker reminds the audience that religion cannot be stamped out of Russia overnight, and warns against excessive force or zeal in closing churches, synagogues or mosques.  The chairman of the meeting says removing God from the people should be done by peaceful persuasion, propaganda and scientific argument.  Special and intensified propaganda should be brought to bear on women and children, says one speaker. 

Elsewhere in the Soviet Union, reports say peasant revolts are flaring up in several places, as the people protest food shortages and having their lands collectivized.  Factory workers are living on black bread and thin soup, and striking for better food.  The OGPU (secret police) is arresting strike and revolt leaders.

London:  

At the naval conference (still going), the meeting is deadlocked.  Italy and France cannot come to agreement on Italy’s insistence for parity with France, and France’s demand for a high level of naval tonnage.  An unnamed British officials says, “My reasoning tells me that the present deadlock will not be broken . . . .”

Wednesday, 19 March 1930: Religious War of Words Continues

It's a day of religious "warfare of words."

Vatican City:  Pope Pius XI leads a special prayer service and mass at St. Peter’s for persecuted Christians in soviet Russia.  50,000 attend.  A Russian choir sings, and Orthodox Greeks join in Slavic chants during the service. 

 

Vienna:  Communists attack and break up a meeting of the Czechoslovakian Catholic People’s Party, which was protesting religious persecution in Russia. 

Moscow:  Meanwhile, the press here is full of anti-Pope messages.  The Atheist magazine publishes an article entitled, “Down With the Pope,” which calls the Pope the world’s biggest landowner and the capitalist scion of a Milan textile family.  The article goes on to boast that 33 churches, 2 cathedrals and 10 chapels were closed in one soviet in the past week, and 9 villages threw “God’s rubbish” from their homes, namely icons, church fences and bells, ecclesiastical robes and altar draperies.  The gold, silver, iron and other items filled 50 carts.  The magazine goes on to insist that the 240 remaining churches in the Moscow soviet be closed.  “We must turn the red capital into a godless city this year.” 

Pravda, official publication of the communist central committee, criticizes the Pope for his “personal enmity” for the soviets.

Berlin:  

Communist mobs attack churches holding prayer services for persecuted Christians in Russia.  The communists parade around the city all day in protest of the Pope’s prayer service in Italy.  But as night descends, they grow bolder and more violent.  In one working district, a group of communists bursts through the doors of a church shouting, “Long live the red front!” and ridiculing God.  The congregation rushes at the intruders and drives them out of the church, and a melee ensues.  Police arrive to break it up.

In another working district, communists attempt to raid a Catholic church, but are fought off by a guard established by the church members.

Yet not everything happening today is of a religious tone.  Minister of the Interior Karl Severing orders all funds for the police in the state of Thuringia suspended pending an investigation into charges that Wilhelm Frick, the nazi Minister of the Interior of that state, is plotting treason against the government.  This is in response to a manifesto issued by Frick (elected earlier this year), which denounced the federal government and called the public to support nazi ideas for nationalist rule.  The Prosecutor General will begin an investigation. 

Tuesday, 18 March 1930

United States:

New York:  More evidence of the worldwide economic depression: Francis H. Sisson, Vice President of Guaranty Trust Company, says export trade by the United States has declined $117 million since November 1929.  Meanwhile, at two different “bread lines” in the city, more than 1,000 unemployed are reportedly in cue. 

Pittsburgh:  Newspapers report more than 1,700 people standing in a bread line at one location, 800 at another. 

Elsewhere:

Moscow:  Notwithstanding the soviet executive’s order of Saturday, the Moscow soviet votes to close 56 more churches in Moscow and the surrounding region.  The churches are to be converted to schools, clubs, libraries, restaurants and laboratories.  The congregations have the right of appeal, however.

Hanau, Germany:  Communists attack Paul Rehbein, a Social Democrat member of the Prussian diet, while he is visiting a cemetery.  They knock him down and beat him with spades so severely he is taken to a local hospital.  The attack is understood to be in retribution: Rehbein was formerly a communist, but became a socialist.  

Monday, 17 March 1930

Paris:  The negotiations between France and Germany over the Saar region are suspended after five months of on-again off-again meetings that have thus far produced few results.  Reason given is that France wants to wait for the London Naval Conference to end before resuming.

Moscow:  The Godless One, newspaper of Russian atheists, calls for anti-religion demonstrations to “counteract” the Pope’s call for Catholics to pray on Wednesday for the persecuted church in Russia.

Sunday, 16 March 1930

Tokyo:  

Press reports state that the “two-thirds” ratio of capital ships proposed for Japan at the London Naval Conference is causing a rift between military and civilian government leaders in Japan.  Naval officers are displeased with the “second-class citizen” status the ratio would give Japan.

Vienna:  

The government announces that the Austrian national anthem has been changed (for the fourth time since the World War).  The new anthem will be Deutschland, Deutschland-Uber Alles (Germany, Germany Above All) which is also Germany’s national anthem.  This was also Austria’s national anthem before the war (though with different words).  The socialist mayor of Vienna, Karl Seitz, dislikes the anthem so much he refuses to stand or remove his hat when it is played.

England:  

In response to a call from Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury, Anglicans throughout the country hold special prayer services on behalf of persecuted Christians in Russia.  Indeed, Christians as well as Jews around the world are supposed to be holding similar prayer services .  Rev. A.F.W. Ingram, Bishop of London, says, “to think that all those bishops have been butchered [in Russia], all those priests murdered!”

New York:  

Police are busy guarding special prayer meetings in area churches, called on behalf of persecuted Christians in Russia, as well as guarding 12,000 people attending a communist anti-religion rally at Bronx Coliseum.  At the communist rally, the crowd boos religion, calls for an end to class war, and pillories everyone from New York Police Chief Grover Whalen to Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini to the Pope.  The meeting is guarded by 450 police with riot gear, machine guns and paddy wagons, but it is peaceful.

Paris:  

Miguel Primo de Rivera, who until six weeks ago was dictator of Spain, dies unexpectedly in his hotel room here.  Cause of death is said to be an embolism, a complication of his diabetes.

Saturday, 15 March 1930

Germany:

Berlin:  A newspaper reports that Germany and Russia are scheduled to hold a conference to discuss German concerns about the spread of communist propaganda in Germany.  Meanwhile, Chancellor Hermann Mueller announces that he expects Germany’s approval of the Young Plan to help the nation’s economy, attracting fresh capital, stimulating trade and helping with unemployment.

Schleswig-Holstein:  Bombs connected to clock timers are found in two different places – one in the cellar of the town hall, the other against the wall of the treasury building.  Both are discovered before they explode, and are safely removed and disarmed.  No claims of responsibility. 

New York:  

The impact of the worldwide economic depression widens:  The Family Welfare Association of America releases a report indicating that 54 of its city agencies around the country are reporting a 100% increase or higher in families needing welfare assistance compared to a year ago.  Moreover, “A number of the societies stated the number of families under their care at present does not give a true picture of the unemployment situation in their respective communities,” the report states, “as many dependent families whose difficulties are only of unemployment are being referred to the tax-supported departments.”  It goes on to say, “It is estimated that between 55 and 60 per cent of the relief funds for January, 1930, went for unemployment relief.  There was never, in the history of the society, a month like January, 1930.”

Moscow:  

Despite Russia’s fiery rhetoric defending its elimination of religion, the soviet Central Executive Committee issues a new decree ordering punishment for those who ridicule religion or close churches without consent of the majority of a local populace.  In doing so, the order effectively concedes that earlier claims by various Russian authorities and media, that churches and synagogues were closed at the request of the people, were lies: it prohibits church closures under the pretense of “fictitious petitions of the inhabitants.”  Additionally, it says party officials and organizers “unnecessarily” ridiculing religion will be severely punished. 

The order comes the day before Christians both Protestant and Catholic, as well as Jews, are scheduled to hold coordinated prayer services for persecuted people of faith in Russia.  

Friday, 14 March 1930

Germany: 

Berlin:  The worldwide economic depression worsens: new reports signal that manufacturing production is decreasing, and bankruptcies are up 30% from a year ago. 

Munich:  The Muenchner Neuste Nachrichten newsapaper reports that two nazi Reichswehr officers in Bavaria have been arrested as a result of a decree by the Minister of Defense to eliminate political propaganda in the military.  More arrests are expected. 

Leipzig:  The Federal Supreme Court sentences Richard Schultz, Editor of the communist newspaper Rote Fahne, to 15 months in prison for attempting to incite treason.  One of the articles on which Schultz was found guilty was titled, “Away with the Bourgeois republic, fight for soviet power.”  

Elsewhere:

Moscow:  The League of Militant Atheists announces plans for a “counter-papal prayer” day to kick off an anti-religious campaign scheduled to last two months.

Thursday, 13 March 1930

Germany:

Berlin:  President Paul von Hindenburg signs the Young Plan bills passed yesterday by the Reichstag.  Among other things, they commit Germany to World War debt payments until 1988.  After the morning signing ceremony, Hindenburg issues the following proclamation.  “With a heavy but firm heart and after thorough and conscientious examination, I affixed my name to the Young Plan.  After hearing the advocates and opponents of the plan, I have reached the conclusion that, despite the heavy burden which the plan puts on the German people for long years, despite the strong criticism of some of its terms, compared to the Dawes Plan, the Young Plan means progress on the long road of liberation and reconstruction of Germany.  I could not refuse to sign, since such a refusal would bring immeasurable harm to German economics and finances and would cause a great crisis to our fatherland.  I am wholly convinced that the acceptance of the Young Plan does not free us from all sorrows in the future, but I believe it is the road that will bring us our long-desired freedom.  I have received many letters asking me to keep my name – the name of a former field marshal – from being darkened in history through these documents.  My answer is: during my entire life I have served in the school of duty, and I have learned to do my duty for the fatherland without consideration for my person.  Therefore any thoughts my person had was abandoned in this decision, and I gave up the idea of relieving myself of the responsibility by a plebiscite or resignation.”

Dresden:  Communists conduct a “hunger march,” which quickly leads to clashes with police.  Armored cars are used to disperse the demonstrators, and 125 people are arrested. 

Elsewhere:

Madrid:  One thousand unemployed people march peacefully, with banners announcing simply: “We want work.”

Wednesday, 12 March 1930

Germany:

Berlin:  The Reichstag approves the final reading of the Young Plan bill, 266-193, ending the days of political maneuvering over the bill and, some hope, ushering in a new financial era for Germany.  At the last minute, nationalists, supported by the communists, attempt to introduce a resolution which would delay signature of the bill by President Paul von Hindenburg for two months.  The government counters with a proposed resolution making immediate signature of the bill mandatory – and the government’s resolution carries the vote.  The communists make one last-ditch effort to derail the proceedings, calling for a vote of no-confidence in the government of Chancellor Hermann Mueller, which also fails, 277-169.  The nationalists jeer as the votes are counted.

Breslau:  More impact from the worldwide economic depression: the old German trading house Molinari declares bankruptcy.  The firm, though not overly large, is famous for the literary popularity it gained as the model for the fictional trading house in Gustav Freytag’s novel Debit and Credit.  

Tuesday, 11 March 1930: Germany Ratifies the Young Plan

Berlin:  

The Reichstag approves the Young Plan bill on second reading, as well as the separate war debt payment agreement with the United States.  President Paul von Hindenburg threw his support behind the measures when he threatened reluctant lawmakers that he wouldn’t sign the bill unless it passed by a substantial majority, thus placing the blame on them.  The plan additionally calls for all foreign occupation of the German Rhineland to end by June 30.  Today’s approval makes it virtually certain that the final bill will pass when it gets its third reading tomorrow. 

The Reichstag also rescinds parliamentary immunity for seven of its communist members who incited violence during the March 6 International Unemployment Day demonstrations.  Four people have died as a result of the riots. 

Also, the Reichsbank Board of Directors unanimously appoints Hans Luther, former Chancellor of Germany, to the post of bank president, vacated by Hjalmar Schacht a few days ago.

 

Moscow:  

The government’s persecution of religion intensifies, despite worldwide condemnation.  Leaders of the League of Communist Youths instruct their members to have “special shock brigades and groups of light cavalry” ready during Easter week to lead anti-God activities, and to investigate how anti-religious training is going in schools and universities. 

Additionally, the Society of Militant Atheists calls for Easter Day bonfires of icons (the religious symbols beloved by Eastern Orthodox Christians), to celebrate the “extinction of religion.”  The Godless One, newspaper of the society, writes, “In answer to foreign agitation against us, we will strengthen our Red Army.  We will build armored tanks and an entire tractor column which we shall name ‘The Godless.’  Forty-thousand rubles have already been collected for this purpose.  By intensifying the struggle against religion, we will hasten the collectivization of peasant farms.  By liquidating the kulak as a class we will quicken the fall of his chief support, which is religion.  We will convert the state and collective farms into great centers of atheism.”  

Sunday, 9 March 1930

Washington:  Commerce Secretary Robert P. Lamont announces that a $7 billion government construction program intended to relieve unemployment is being accelerated.  

Saturday, 8 March 1930

Germany:

Berlin:  Defense Minister Lieut. Gen. Wilhelm Groener issues a memorandum to military officers around the country to be extra watchful, as his office has received information indicating that communists believe the time is right in Germany for a communist revolution.  Meanwhile, Germany sends notice to the Soviet Union that it will blame that country for any future communist propaganda within German borders.  Most western governments consider it a “worst-kept secret” that COMINTERN is state sponsored by the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, Wilhelm Marx, former Chancellor, pens an article which appears in newspapers outside of Germany, warning the world against the “insane bolshevist teachings” of soviet Russia.  “Bolshevism, which is regarded by all advanced peoples as utterly insane, is striving for world wide revolution, and has secured dominion over the Russian people.  Its aim is to shatter every state and human institution, and especially capitalism, in order to erect on the ruins a new order – to create indeed a new type of human beings.  The ideas embodied in this doctrine, so destructive to humanity, exercise a strong fascination especially on peoples little affected by general culture.  The Chinese empire, which had hardly been touched by world history for over a thousand years, was within an astonishingly short space of time menaced to its very existence to the highest degree by Bolshevik propaganda.  All this was finally counteracted, but perhaps only temporarily. 

But for Europe the menace of the East remains as a threatening storm cloud on the horizon.  Supported by incalculable natural resources and the tenacity of the Slavic race in its endurance of the greatest wretchedness, men in power in Russia are carrying on their propaganda with inexhaustible funds.  Naturally the neighboring states are the chief sufferers.  Perhaps the countries victorious in the world war will one day have to regret that in drawing up the Treaty of Versailles they concentrated all their efforts toward weakening Germany.  It is alone due to the healthy common sense of the German people and to their steadfast love for order that bolshevist agitation has hitherto been able to gain comparatively little ground.  But the bolshevist menace should serve also as a warning to other countries not to destroy Germany’s economic basis.  An impoverished people whose widest circles are doomed to want, is naturally the best culture medium for bolshevist agitation.  The very existence of states, the conservation and health of peoples and all social and economic order are menaced if these insane teachings of the bolshevist leaders should gain dominion over a still greater part of humanity.”

Meanwhile, the effects of the worldwide economic depression deepen:  Bankruptcies are up 43% over same month 1929.  In Cologne, the Social Democrat Association of Police announces that carnivals will be considered out of place at a time when 2.5 million people are receiving unemployment assistance.

Elsewhere: 

Washington:  The National Unemployment League appeals to President Herbert Hoover and Congress to enact immediate legislation starting a public works system to reduce unemployment. 

London:  The British government releases a white paper which it says reveals a decree issued in the Soviet Union earlier this year limiting religion.  The decree forbids meetings for prayer or Bible study, calls for religious buildings to be nationalized, and mandates that all confiscated church funds be turned over to the state.