Friday, 7 February 1930

Rome:  

Austria and Italy sign a Treaty of Friendship and Conciliation.  The countries fought on opposite sides in the World War, and the issue of former Austrian subjects in southern parts of the Tyrol region, who now live in Italy based on the redrawn post-war borders, has been a sore point between the two countries.

The pact calls for the creation of a conciliation committee to which differences between the two countries can be referred.  Austrian Chancellor Johan Schober gave Italian dictator Benito Mussolini the grand cordon with the gold star of merit to thank him for Italy’s friendship, including support for Austria at the recent Hague war debt reparation conference.

Observers, including the Austrian press, debate the significance of the treaty.  Some see it as part of a strategy by Mussolini to encircle Yugoslavia.  Others see it as a way for both Schober and Mussolini to resist “pan-Germans” in Austria, who see closer alliance with Germany as Austria’s future.

 

London:  

At the naval conference, the British delegation makes headlines the day after the U.S. delegation.  Prime Minister Gordon MacDonald joins in the U.S. call for the abolition of submarines; calls for a suspension of building battleships until 1936, with the ultimate hope that battleships may be abolished too; calls for tonnage limitations on cruisers; and more.  The conference, MacDonald says, “Ought not only reduce existing fleets and building programs, but put an end finally to competition in naval armaments and thus constitute an important step for ultimate elimination of the causes of war and the establishment of peace on an unassailable foundation.”  As with the U.S. announcement the day before, the Japanese delegation is not commenting on the British announcement.

Germany:   

Berlin:  President Paul von Hindenburg, the Reichstag, and the cabinet of Chancellor Hermann Mueller give their government entertainment appropriations to charity in hopes both of setting an example and leading the way in confronting Germany’s worsening economic situation.

Munich:  A newspaper publishes an article by an anonymous writer which states that the former Kaiser Wilhelm II expects to be recalled to rule.  The author, said to be a former nobleman and officer in the imperial German army, says he dined with Wilhelm in Doorn, Holland, where he lives.  “You are trained to obey and to serve, and what have you done with your new freedom?  What will you do when the president you have chosen for yourselves dies?  I will tell you.  The nation will call its Kaiser.”