Tuesday, July 1, 1930: Nazi Violence Mars Rhineland Celebrations

Germany:  Nine people are injured and more than 100 arrested in violence amidst the celebrations associated with the French evacuation of the Rhineland, most of it initiated by nazis.  In Berlin, nazis hold a dawn march shouting “Germany, wake up!” and battling communists wherever they find them.  Thousands of nazis battle police in the freed territory, using bottles, knives, whatever they can find.  Seventy are arrested at Cassel alone.  Two people are shot at Neumuenster in a battle between nazis and communists.  Shops and homes are set on fire, stores ransacked.  Much of the violence is directed at separatists, who wanted to see the Rhineland detached from Germany.  Yet the mood is still festive for most of the country.  Celebrants in the Rhineland don’t get home until 7 a.m.

Essen, Germany:  Despite the celebratory mood, bad economic news keeps pouring in -- steelworkers’ wages in much of northwestern Germany are cut due to the economic depression.

 

London:  More bad economic news -- the government’s revenues for the first quarter of the fiscal year are nearly US$11 million higher than first quarter last year . . . but expenses are higher by US $47 million.

 

New York:  Still more bad economic news -- a new report says factory employment is down 2% in the last month, bringing it to its lowest level since 1922.

 

Helsinki:  The government of Prime Minister Kyosti Kallio is reportedly considering resigning in the face of extensive anti-communist agitation and violence around the country.  The government has been closing communist newspapers and clamping down on communist propaganda, but anti-communist forces, mostly represented by the Lapua Movement, still say it’s not enough.