Friday, 31 January 1930

Hamburg:  

Rioting again breaks out, despite a heavy and armed police presence, when the unemployed and many communists ignore police orders not to demonstrate.  Police, sometimes failing to distinguish demonstrators from other citizens, wade into numerous gatherings, often roughing up peaceful bystanders.  Eventually they open fire on some of the rioters.  The worst fighting takes place in front of a new building where the demonstrators try to force the workers there to lay down their tools in a sympathy strike.  Twenty more people are arrested (in addition to yesterday’s total), and the entire police force is ordered to a state of emergency.  By nightfall, police issue a statement saying they have the situation under control.

Berlin:  

Meanwhile the entire police force here is also ordered to emergency duty in anticipation of communist agitation.  Communists have announced plans, in defiance of an order from the Prussian Ministry of the Interior against such gatherings, for several groups to gather in various parts of the city, then converge on a central meeting place.  Police warn that they will fire on demonstrators if necessary.

And all of this is intensified by the news that 76 people, including several Reichstag members, have been arrested at a secret communist meeting said to be plotting a coup attempt in Germany for Feb. 1.  The riots were supposedly a prelude to the larger plot. 

Paris:  

The uproar is growing over what is thought to be a brazen daylight kidnapping of Alexander Koutiepoff, former general of the White Russian forces.  A second witness emerges claiming to have seen Koutiepoff abducted, and conservative French newspapers are calling for France to break diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union over the episode.  Koutiepoff’s wife is quoted as saying, “It is the Bolsheviks!  I know it!  I know those people!”

Thursday, 30 January 1930

Paris:  

Alexander Koutiepoff, a former general of the White Russian forces that fought against the communists’ rise to power in Russia, goes missing, and a witness claims to have seen him kidnapped by “three husky men, including one who seemed to be a policeman.”  This has aroused suspicion that he was a victim of operatives of communist Russia working in France. 

Elsewhere:  

Hamburg: In preparation for a “hunger march” to be held Saturday, communists hold a demonstration in front of the unemployment bureau, which devolves into a riot, resulting in 11 injured police, who end up using motorized riot squads to suppress the demonstrators.  Twenty are arrested.  Demonstrators began stoning the police, who fight back with pistol whips. 

Vienna: Communists and the unemployed march through the streets here and in leading cities throughout Austria, demanding jobs and increased public unemployment assistance.  Estimates are that 30% of Austria’s industrial labor is unemployed. 

United States:  More bad economic news: the American Federation of Labor reports that unemployment increased 3% just in the last month.

Wednesday, 29 January 1930

Berlin:  Two days after France uncovered a communist propaganda plot in its army, Germany’s Ministry of Defense issues a statement acknowledging that a communist propaganda campaign has been found in the German army as well.  

Tuesday, 28 January 1930

Madrid:  

Gen. Miguel Primo de Rivera, dictator of Spain for the past six years, announces late tonight that he will step down.  He had asked the military essentially for a vote of confidence two days ago, and evidently not satisfied with the response (or lack thereof), he resigns.  Rivera holds a cabinet meeting in the evening, after which he drives to the royal palace and submits his resignation to King Alfonso, who in turn asks Gen. Damaso Berenguer to form a new government. 

“The king accepted my resignation and those of all the other ministers.  He praised each one and expressed his best wishes to all . . . .  The king entrusted formation of the new government to Damaso Berenguer.  I was very . . . pleased with this designation, for he is a man of great serenity of judgment, possessed of much discretion and dearly beloved throughout our country.  I suppose he will call on me tonight to exchange views.  I repeat, I am highly pleased with the selection for there is no man better fitted for the place.” 

The development gives rise to rampant speculation – and some violence – that some form of constitutional or republican government may return to Spain (as de Rivera himself had hinted– see Dec. 13, 1929).  Students in the capital riot against both military dictatorship and monarchy, but despite this, the nation is reported to be generally calm.

Monday, 27 January 1930

Paris: Authorities seize five communists in the French army whom they say are part of a propaganda campaign targeting 40 army regiments in an attempt to foment unrest. 

Germany: Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen, a retired General and hero of the World War, says President Paul von Hindenburg should veto the Hague agreement on the Young Plan.  If Hindenburg won’t veto the treaty, he should resign, Dellmensingen says.  Since retiring from the military, Dellmensingen has been active in political circles of the monarchists, a group supporting a return of Germany’s monarchy from the pre-war days.

Sunday, 26 January 1930

Madrid:  

Dictator Primo de Rivera, whose government has been under increased criticism for economic troubles that have plagued Spain recently, issues a formal note at 4 a.m. to the army, navy and civil guards, who concurred in his rise to power, asking them to declare whether they still want him to his rule. 

“As I have often said, I want to leave office when the time is propitious and a proper man of good faith is available to succeed me.  Unfortunately for me, I have not yet found that man, but I will never be willing to be forced out, and in an improper manner, by anyone against my will.”  Rivera had not announced plans to release such a note.  A group of army officials meets tonight to discuss the matter, but no decision is announced.

Germany:  

More bad economic news: a report says unemployment now tops 2 million, equaling two years ago when a severe winter drastically impeded industrial activity.

                               Unemployed queing at an employment office in Hanover in 1930.

Saturday, 25 January 1930

Libya:  

Italian troops raise their flag over the city of Murzuq, captured four days ago, in a ceremony attended by Libya’s colonial governor and head of Italian military forces in Libya, Marshal Rodolfo Graziani.  Capture of the city is considered important in Italy’s campaign to suppress resistance fighters in the Fezzan area of southwestern Libya.  Italian forces also have captured the nearby town of Ubari. 

New York:  

Two-hundred communist agitators battle police in City Hall Park.  They are protesting the recent death of a worker who was shot by police while picketing a fruit and vegetable stand.  A police force nearly matching the size of the communist gathering is on guard.  At a pre-arranged signal, demonstrators try to race through the police lines to mount the city hall steps.  That’s when police start swinging.

Friday, 24 January 1930

Berlin:  New Finance Minister Paul Moldenhauer, speaking before the Reichstag, warns that even with the new terms of the Young Plan for Germany’s war debt payments, the country will face a huge deficit by July and still require further loans. 

China:  In the civil war, communist rebels are reported to be marching on Hupeh, in central China.

Thursday, 23 January 1930

London:  

The five countries participating in the London Naval Conference lay out their basic positions:  the United States wants naval parity with Great Britain; Great Britain seems to resist this notion, pointing out that as an island nation with a massive empire, “our navy is us;” France wants no deal that doesn’t include some arrangement for European continental security; Italy wants naval parity with any other continental European power (mainly France); Japan says it just wants peace, economy and good will, and a reduction in navies by all parties.  Every observer, including the delegates, admits that a long road lies ahead for the conference. 

Mexico City:  

Mexico breaks off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, saying that its embassies in Argentina, Brazil and the United States have been the targets of repeated propaganda and attacks by communists in those countries, making it impossible for Mexico to continue normal relations.  Foreign Minister Genaro Estrada says, “The Mexican government knows perfectly well this propaganda against our institutions and the national revolution has been prepared and directed from Russia.  It is also known that the communist groups (directing the propaganda) did not work independently because every political organization of that country is subject to the soviet government.”  Mexico’s was the first diplomatic legation in the western hemisphere for Soviet Russia.  Estrada announces that Mexico’s ambassador in Moscow has already left the country.

Wednesday, 22 January 1930

Berlin:  Chancellor Hermann Meuller, after receiving a complete report from the German delegation to The Hague Second Reparations Conference, confirms that his government will ratify the agreement.  He promises that bills necessary for ratification will be submitted to the Reichstag next week.

Poland:  Two people are killed during communist demonstrations quelled by police.

Tuesday, 21 January 1930: London Naval Conference Begins

London:  

The London Naval Conference (or “5-Power Naval Conference”) begins.  An estimated 100 million people worldwide listen live by radio to King George V of England’s welcome speech to the delegates.  The conference is front-page news in newspapers around the world.  Naval vessels such as the battleship and submarine call to mind the technological horrors of the World War, and the capability to project military power around the globe.  Thus the interest.  Women’s and religious groups from all over the world have sent messages to the delegates, urging them to reduce naval arms to preserve peace. 

The opening ceremony is held in the royal gallery of the House of Lords.  King George, standing before a golden throne behind a silver microphone, is flanked by delegates from the five nations represented.  He welcomes “the delegates of the five principal naval powers assembled with the object of eliminating the evil results of wasteful competition in naval armaments.” 

“Since the Great War, all peoples are determined that human statescraft shall leave nothing undone to prevent repetition of the grim and immense tragedy.  In the interests of peace which we are seeking to build up, one of its most important columns is agreement between the maritime nations on the limitation of naval strength and reduction to a point consistent with national security.”  Yet King George acknowledges, “The practical application of the principle of the reduction of naval armaments has in the past proven a matter of extreme difficulty.” 

Monday, 20 January 1930: Second Reparations Conference Ends

The Hague:  

The Second Reparations Conference ends, with all 18 officially represented debtor and creditor nations signing the agreement enacting the Young Plan as the new World War debt reparation payment framework.  A flurry of late-night, last-minute wrangling produced agreements satisfactory enough to Italy and Hungary that they, too, agreed to sign.  The agreement calls for Hungary to pay its creditors 13.5 million gold crowns per year from 1942 to 1966, and Austria to pay 1 million gold crowns per year over the same period. 

Only Czechoslovakia, despite signing, refuses to renounce its rights under the Treaty of Versailles.  No sooner than Belgian Prime Minister Henri Jaspar, who is presiding over the meeting, has read the preamble to the agreement, than the head of the Czech delegation asks for the floor.

“My country much regrets to introduce reservations into these agreements, but inasmuch as the Eastern European accord which has been reached is of such a nature that in the arbitration of our disputes with Germany, if the verdict is pronounced in favor of the Czechoslovakians, they would receive nothing, while if the verdict favors Germany we would have to pay, you can easily understand that in signing these accords, Czechoslovakia cannot consent to renouncing her rights under the Treaty of Versailles.”

This brings a sharp rebuke from Philip Snowden, Great Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, one of such vehemence that observers say it surpasses anything from the contentious August 1929 meetings of the same conference.  Nevertheless, by the end, Snowden is saying “the nations gathered around the conference table by their act of signature are no longer enemies and allies, but from now on must be friends.”

Of course, there’s a reason why some of the powers represented are so eager to finish up business: they and much of the world – despite the seriousness of purpose of The Hague conference – are more interested in the other conference that’s about to start in London.

To view a photo of the closing conference

Murzuk, Libya:  

Italian forces under Duke Delle Puglie, backed by a handful of warplanes, battle Libyan resistance fighters here, finally taking the town after fighting that kills 50 and wounds 24.  Twelve more are taken prisoner.  Italy has 18 native soldiers (fighting for Italy) wounded. 

Moscow:  

The Bezbosnik (Godless) newspaper publishes a report which says that Russia will soon issue a decree authorizing soviet officials to expel all foreign missionaries and clergy from the country.  The decree will supplement an earlier one which already prohibited any new missionaries from entering Russia, and also prohibits foreign religious organizations from sending money, literature or other forms of aid to people of faith in the country.  The decree will apply to Christians, Jews and Muslims.  

Sunday, 19 January 1930

Germany:  More bad economic news: a report says unemployment is up 156,000 from same time a year ago.

The Hague:  A signing ceremony for the Young Plan is set for 11 a.m. tomorrow, even though Italy, Czechoslovakia and Hungary still say they have reservations to signing, and last-ditch meetings are being held at all hours of the night to try to address their concerns.  If they cannot be satisfactorily addressed, however, reports say the portions of the agreement relating to Germany will still be signed, and the rest will be left for further work. 

China:  In the civil war, nationalist government forces are reported advancing up the Tientsin-Pukow Railway toward a rebel stronghold at Pengpu.  

Saturday, 18 January 1930: Frick Appointed Interior Minister of Thuringia

Weimar, Germany:  

Nazi party member Wilhelm Frick is appointed to the post of Minister of the Interior and Education in the coalition government of the German state of Thuringia.  He is the first nazi to hold a ministerial-level post at any level of government in Germany.  In the recent Thuringian parliamentary elections, nazis gained 11% of the vote, their highest showing ever in any election in Germany.  This gave them enough clout to garner a post in the coalition government.  Among the departments that fall under the Minister of the Interior and Education: the police and schools.

The Hague:  

At the Second Reparations Conference, the payments of eastern European countries like Hungary and Czechoslovakia becomes a growing problem.  Italy says it won’t sign the Young Plan agreement until the eastern issues are resolved.

Friday, 17 January 1930

The Hague:  

At the Second Reparations Conference, agreement is reached on the timing of Germany’s restructured war debt payments, along with other details regarding Germany’s rights to borrow money elsewhere on the open market. 

Istanbul:  

Two large soviet warships move unannounced into the Black Sea, disregarding international treaties on movement of warships through the Dardanelles and Bosporus.  Observers report the 26,000-ton dreadnought Parischkaja Koman and the cruiser Profintern (which had reportedly been in the Baltic) have appeared by surprise, supposedly assigned to Russia’s Black Sea port at Sevastopol.  If they remain, observers say they will significantly tip the balance of power in the Black Sea, as no other country has ships there anywhere near their size.  Political observers, however, speculate that the move is a protest to signal Russia’s unhappiness with not being invited to the London Naval Conference, which is scheduled to start in a few days.  

China:  

In the simmering civil war (in a winter lull), nationalist government forces, supported by gunboats in the harbor, drive communist rebel forces out of the city of Hoikow. 

Thursday, 16 January 1930

The Hague:  At the Second Reparations Conference, after all this time focused on Germany’s war debt payments, issues now arise between Hungary and the nations with which it has debt arrangements. 

Berlin:  The Prussian Ministry of the Interior bans all outdoor public gatherings and demonstrations in response to the communist violence yesterday.  The only public gatherings permitted will be funerals, weddings and other church processions.  The police are given broad powers to crack down on anyone found violating the new edict.  

Wednesday, 15 January 1930

Germany:  

Riots break out in three cities around the country, with five killed and 20 seriously injured, as communists observe the anniversary of the 1919 death of Rosa Luxemberg, a founder and early leader in the German communist party.  By nightfall, many of the country’s largest cities are under extra and heavily armed police guard. 

The Hague:  

At the Second Reparations Conference, France secures agreement from the delegates that the World Court of the League of Nations will judge whether any moratorium by Germany on war debt payments is justified.  If the court decides it’s not, France reserves the right to use military force against Germany.  Ironically, it is rumored that the German delegation’s contempt of Reichsbank President Hjalmar Schacht’s conduct at this conference probably helped secure Germany’s acquiescence in France’s proposal. 

London:  

Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announces that, consistent with the manifesto issued by his Labor Party yesterday, the British government would seek the abolition of the battleship at the upcoming London Naval Conference.  

Tuesday, 14 January 1930

Paris:  

Alexander Kerensky, former Prime Minister of the short-lived Russian Provisional Government (which ruled Russia between the February and October 1917 revolutions), now living in exile, says his contacts within Russia inform him that Joseph Stalin’s communist government executed 583 people in October and November 1929 for “political offenses.” 

The Hague:  

At the Second Reparations Conference, Hjalmar Schacht, President of Germany’s Reichsbank, finally agrees – under pressure -- to the bank’s participation in the war debt payments of the Young Plan.  Faced with the prospect of the German government using other banks as an end-run, Schacht reluctantly gives way. 

London:  

A manifesto calling for the abolition of the battleship and a reduction of all warships to a maximum of 10,000 tons is published today, in advance of the London Naval Conference, signed by 77 Labor Party members of Parliament.  “The abolition of battleships would be a substantial step toward making the past a reality.  Such a step would not only result in an appreciable reduction of expenditure of naval armaments, but would of itself insure the success of the conference.  We note a growing feeling, even among naval experts, that fighting ships of over 10,000 tons are no longer necessary.  We therefore urge the delegates of the British Labor government to make the abolition of battleships and of warships over 10,000 tons one of the principal aims of the conference.

“In the event of a minority of the great powers not agreeing to the proposed abolition of battleships, we urge our delegates to consider where, in view of the advance in science and the fact that our danger lies in the possibility of an air attack rather than at sea, Britain cannot take the lead and announce that she will not in the future lay down any warships over 10,000 tons.” 

Germany: 

Worms:  Five policemen are injured breaking up a rowdy meeting of the unemployed.

Berlin:  And in an event that draws virtually no attention from the world’s press, a local nazi by the name of Horst Wessel is shot by a group of communists.  One of his few claims to fame is a song (or the lyrics) that he wrote to be played as kind of fight song at SA (Stormtrooper) events.  He will later die of his wounds . . . and his death be commemorated by the nazi party for years to come.

Monday, 13 January 1930

The Hague:  

Delegates to the Second Reparations Conference reach agreement on timelines for German war debt payment, sanctions if they default, and other issues.  Germany’s Reichsbank President, Hjalmar Schacht, opposed by letter the international bank for settlements, which is part of the deal, saying the Reichsbank could not subscribe to capital of the bank because the terms of the Young Plan had been modified.  But after briefly considering Schacht’s comments, the conference agrees to move forward, and not let what it calls purely “political” objections stand in the way.  The committee charged with organizing the bank is instructed to continue, regardless of whether the Reichsbank participates.  The rest of the German delegation assures the Allies they will go along with the plan.

China: 

In addition to the ongoing suffering of the civil war, reports out of the Shensi and Shansi provinces say that 2 million people – one-third of the population -- have died of starvation in the past year.

Sunday, 12 January 1930

Russia:  

The Soviet government kills or sentences to death 23 more of its citizens, the first in 1930.  All were charged with various forms of counter-revolution.  In Berditchev, 13 people charged with plotting against the government under the leadership of a former Imperial army officer are shot.  In Dniepropetrovsk, four former white guards are sentenced to death after it is discovered they served as executioners during recent civil unrest, killing as many as 140 communists.  And in Solonki, six kulaks are sentenced to death, charged with terrorism that resulted in the deaths of communists and poor peasants. 

Elsewhere: 

The Hague:  

After a day of grueling and sometimes bitter negotiations, the delegates to the Second Reparations Conference agree to the organization and leadership of a Bank for International Settlements, which will facilitate Germany’s war debt payments to the Allies.

Washington:  

R.M. Stephenson, Chief, European Section, U.S. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, releases a report stating that 1929 was Europe’s best year for economic prosperity since the World War (reflecting, obviously, conditions mostly measured before the U.S. stock market crash).

Germany:  

But more bad economic news here: a new report from the steel industry shows no signs of improvement, and over 1.7 million unemployed in Germany’s industrial sector. 

Saturday, 11 January 1930

Germany:  

Robert Ley, southern Rhineland party leader for the national socialist (nazi) party and editor of the anti-Semitic newspaper Westdeutsche Beobachter, loses an appeal to the German Supreme Court on his conviction of having defamed the Jewish faith by asserting that the Talmud, one of Judaism’s central texts, prescribes ritual murder for its adherents. 

The Hague:  

Tensions rise at the Second Reparations conference.  The German delegation consistently asserts the right to a moratorium on war debt payment whenever Germany needs it for its own financial health.  Additionally, the delegates say they cannot give final approval to Hague proposals without consulting the Reichsbank Board --  by which they are understood to mean Reichsbank President Hjalmar Schacht, who is due to arrive at the conference soon and whose presence, it is feared, will disrupt the proceedings.  Philip Snowden, British Chancellor of the Exchequer, scolds the Germans to stop the “needless delays” and get to work.  

Friday, 10 January 1930

Great Britain:  

The worldwide economic downturn spreads: a steel mill in the town of Penistone closes, throwing nearly the entire male population of the town – over 1,000 men – out of work. 

Helsinki:  

Finland is angered, and the Finnish cabinet holds a special session, over a report that Russia is forcing some 100,000 Karelian peasants into forced labor in the forests of northern Russia.  The Karelians are an ethnic group related to the Finns who have historically lived in regions that are now part of both Finland and Russia.  The soviet action to subject them to forced labor would violate the peace treaties following the World War, in which the Karelian people were promised some freedoms from sovietization.

Geneva:  

The League of Nations, headquartered here, is 10 years old today.  Founded in 1919 in the aftermath of the World War, the League is the world’s first international organization having the primary purpose of preserving world peace.  It has 54 member nations, including the entire developed world. 

Thursday, 9 January 1930

Rome:  

France rejects Italy’s earlier proposal for naval parity between the two countries, bringing to a standstill the negotiations by the two nations to reach a preliminary understanding prior to the London Naval Conference.  The Italian Foreign Ministry says it views negotiations as at an impasse. 

Elsewhere: 

Austria:  The worldwide economic downturn grows: unemployment here reaches 300,000. 

Great Britain:  More bad economic news: unemployment here exceeds 1.5 million.  

Wednesday, 8 January 1930

The Hague:  

At the Second Reparations Conference, the participants manage to subtract the U.S. share of Germany’s war debt payments from the Young Plan calculations to refigure them in light of the separate war debt deal struck by the U.S. and Germany.  France agrees to modify its idea of preserving the right to invade Germany if it fails to make its payments, saying it would only have that right if Germany willfully refused to pay.  This is considered important should the radical nationalists (such as the ones who opposed all war debt payments last year) ever take power in Germany. 

But the whole conference almost derails over a comment allegedly made by French Prime Minister Andre Tardieu.  The Havas news agency reports that Tardieu, becoming frustrated with negotiations, said the German delegation didn’t have the “capacity” to negotiate.  Upon hearing of this, the German delegation, including Foreign Minister Julius Curtius and Finance Minister Paul Moldenhauer, cancel a scheduled private meeting with Tardieu and threaten to take a train back to Berlin.  Tardieu defuses the situation, however, denying he ever made the statement, and saying he is therefore glad to remove the cause of misunderstanding.

Elsewhere: 

New York: 150 communists picketing outside a manufacturing plant attack police officers.  65 are arrested. Meanwhile, more bad economic news: William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor, says unemployment in America has reached 3 million.

Rome:  Belgian Princess Marie-Jose and Italian Crown Prince Umberto II are married.

Tuesday, 7 January 1930

Berlin:  

Communists participating in the funeral procession of two fallen comrades clash repeatedly with police, hurling rocks and coal.  Police beat unruly funeral participants with clubs, while evidently sympathetic communists hurl coal and stones on the police from windows above the streets.  Two police are injured; 53 communists are taken into custody, 10 eventually arrested.  Meanwhile, the first meeting of the new city council for the year comes to an abrupt halt in the evening, when communist council members cause such an uproar that normal business can’t be conducted. 

The Hague:  

At the Second Reparations Conference, Germany promises it won’t pay the U.S. war debts over others, easing the tension caused by the separate deal Germany and the U.S. had struck prior to the conference.

China:  

The civil war is flaring up again.  Nationalist government forces reportedly rout communist rebel troops in Honan, capturing 10,000.

Monday, 6 January 1930

Manchuria:  Reports say the plan for a possible new Mongolian republic in western Manchuria (see Dec. 23, 1929) have failed. 

Sunday, 5 January 1930

The Hague: 

At the Second Reparations Conference, the second topic to cause a stir (after France’s insistence on the right to invade Germany as collateral for war debts) is the separate payment deal struck by the U.S. and Germany (see Dec. 28, 1929).  The U.S. deal is very different from what France has in mind: it doesn’t call for any invasions of Germany.  But the U.S. places no other collateral on Germany either – an idea the European allies worry is too lenient, and that Germany may request from them too.  France in particular worries what will happen if an extreme nationalist government should take power in Germany. 

Meanwhile Hungary announces that it will not pay more than 10 million gold francs annually, up until 1943, due to losses of land and goods after the World War.  Hungary says it lost 72% of its territory after the war, and that state property worth 3.5 billion gold francs went to Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, and 2.6 billion gold francs worth of property were taken by the Romanian army when it occupied Hungary after the war.  Italy reportedly supports Hungary on this.  

Saturday, 4 January 1930

Basle:  

Police raid the homes of Italian communists and anarchists living here, arresting 25 people, in advance of the train carrying Belgian Princess Marie Jose to her wedding to Crown Prince Umberto of Italy in Rome.  This is to forestall any possible attacks on the train, in view of anarchist plots uncovered last month.

Berlin:  

The economic downturn worsens: the municipal council stops construction on 30 buildings in the city due to the financial crisis.  “Savings first” has become a new slogan of the city government.

Katowice, Poland:  

A monument to Polish insurgents in the 1919-21 Silesian Uprisings is bombed and partly destroyed.  Local authorities suspect ethnic Germans unhappy with the division of Silesia between Germany and Poland after the World War.  The Silesian Uprisings were revolts by ethnic Poles in Silesia seeking to join the newly created Polish state.

The Hague:  

At the Second Reparations Conference, a demand by France for sanctions on Germany should it fail to make its war debts payments has quickly become the central topic.  France insists it should have the right to invade Germany and occupy portions of its territory if Germany fails to make its war debt payments.  Other nations, most importantly the United States, disagree.  Germany says it’s willing to allow France the right to sanctions through the League of Nations if Germany fails to pay its debts, but not directly.

To see photos from the 1930 Hague Reparations Conference

Friday, 3 January 1930: Second Reparations Conference Opens

The Hague:  

The second conference of the Young Plan committee on reparations (or “Second Reparations Conference”) opens.  The committee was established in 1929 when it became apparent that Germany could not meet its war debt payments under then-existing terms.  In its first meeting, the committee drafted the plan, which has since been circulated among the participating nations (including the U.S., Germany, Great Britain and France).  The Young Plan is expected to be adopted at this meeting.

Prime Minister Henri Jaspar of Belgium, who is presiding at the conference, urges the delegates to work expeditiously, as many of them also want to attend the London Naval conference, scheduled to start in about two weeks. 

Brussels:  

The train carrying Princess Marie Jose to Rome for her wedding to Italy’s Crown Prince Umberto leaves Belgium.  Due to bomb plots, the train will take a secret, flexible and circuitous route. 

Amsterdam:  

The Amsterdam Bureau of the International Federation of Trade Unions releases a statement saying that the fascist government of Benito Mussolini has resulted in real wage decline of 20 to 40% in Italy since he came to power in 1922.