Friday, July 25, 1930

Berlin: President Paul von Hindenburg signs a decree prohibiting people participating in political gatherings from carrying weapons.  His purpose, he says, is a peaceful election in September.

 

Meanwhile, reports reveal that, as expected, some 200 lawsuits and other charges are pending against former Reichstag members, which can be prosecuted now that the legislators’ diplomatic immunity has ended with the Reichstag’s dissolution.  Or some of them can.  It also comes to light that Chancellor Heinrich Bruening offered the communists an ongoing guarantee of personal immunity from criminal charges in exchange for their support of a political amnesty bill.  Among the charges pending against some of the communists: high treason.  Many still face libel or slander charges.

Heading the list of former legislators facing charges, however, is Joseph Goebbels, a leader in the nazi party.  He’s loaded with libel lawsuits.  Most such charges, against communists and nazis alike, stem from inflammatory articles which the legislators signed.

 

Bereshty, Romania: Jews here ask the government for protection as reports say the Iron Guard is converging on the town by the hundreds, armed with rifles.  The Ministry of the Interior is said to be in contact with authorities in Bereshty and monitoring the situation. 

Thursday, July 24, 1930

Bucharest:  The ministerial cabinet, presided over by King Carol II, warns that the government will institute martial law in the necessary districts if the recent spate of anti-Semitic violence doesn’t stop.  Carol appeals for mutual understanding between all citizens and nationalities, and expresses regret that the authorities haven’t taken a firmer hand against the violence. 

Tokyo: Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi takes the London Naval Treaty to the emperor as expected, and the emperor in turn sends it to the Privy Council for deliberation.  Sources say they expect the treaty to be ratified before September.  Meanwhile in London, the House of Commons ratifies the treaty on the same day.

Wednesday, July 23, 1930

Russia:  Red Army troops in the Amur and Vladivostok districts have clashed with peasants who were revolting as a result of a combination of forces: political exiles of the soviet government had roused some; others either were, or were angered about, ethnic Koreans who have been fleeing into Manchuria as a result of rough treatment at the hands of soviet collectivization; and others were or were supplied by White Russians, who are still operating in Manchuria.  Additionally, reports say some Red Army troops themselves are deserting.

Coblenz, Germany: President Paul von Hindenburg cancels the rest of his Rhineland liberation tour in the wake of the drowning tragedy yesterday.

Tokyo:  The Supreme Military Council, as expected, approves a report calling the London Naval Treaty “defective.”  On the same day, the cabinet of Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi agrees to submit the treaty to the emperor with a request that he submit it to the Privy Council for ratification. 

Tuesday, July 22, 1930

Germany:

Berlin:  Three people are shot in the southern part of the city when nazis start tearing down communist campaign posters.  One communist and two bystanders are wounded.

Coblenz: Tragedy strikes during the nighttime festivities celebrating the liberation of the Rhineland -- a pontoon bridge on which 80 people are standing to watch fireworks gives way, drowning perhaps 70 or more.

 

Tokyo:  The naval representatives on the Supreme Military Council, who have been debating the London Naval Treaty in informal meetings for several days, approve a report which calls the treaty “defective” and inadequate for the defense of Japan.  The council does accept an appeal from Naval Minister Takarabe Takeshi that the treaty’s defects may be remediable by new defense bills, a small government victory.  And the treaty’s ratification by the Privy Council is still expected.  Still, this vote is an embarrassment for the government of Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi.  The full Supreme Military Council, meeting in formal session tomorrow, is expected to agree with the naval members’ view.  The United States approved the treaty today, however, and this is reportedly received as good news in Japan.

Madrid:  The Spanish government increases tariffs on luxury items, including automobiles, in retaliation for the U.S. Smoot-Hawley tariff.

 

Canberra:  More bad economic news -- John Latham, opposition leader in parliament, claims unemployment in Australia has hit 18.5%.

New York:  Still more bad economic news -- steamship lines report that the number of ocean traveler is down 18% from last year, with no foreseeable prospects for improvement.

Monday, July 21, 1930

Romania:  The anti-Semitic troubles worsen.  Now units of the Iron Guard, an ultra-nationalist paramilitary and political organization, are reported to be marching toward Bessarabia to join the farmer uprising that started two days ago.  Jewish members of parliament request an immediate audience with King Carol.  

Meanwhile, an assassination attempt is made on Education Minister Constantin Angelescu.  His assailant, a young student, is believed to be among the ringleaders of the anti-Semitic violence.

Frankfort-on-Oder, Germany:  About 1,700 communists clash with police.  In the midst of a meeting, the communists attempt to surround and disarm the police guarding (and watching) them.  Reinforcements in the form of a riot squad swoop in, but the communists attack them too with clubs and flag poles they tear down.  The mob finally disperses when police open fire.

Tokyo:  The Supreme Military Council, a high-level advisory body to the government, is reported to be deeply divided over whether Japan should ratify the London Naval Treaty.  The naval representatives on the council in particular say the treaty is not adequate for Japan’s defense needs.

 

Moscow:  Maxim Litvinoff is named Commissar for Foreign Affairs.  He’s been acting commissar for some time during his predecessor’s (Georges Chicherin) ill health, and is a long time foreign ministry official.

Sunday, July 20, 1930

Berlin:  A report out today shows Germany’s unemployment holding steady at 19.8%.  Meanwhile, in Wiesbaden and Mainz, President Paul von Hindenburg is in the midst of his tour of the liberated Rhineland.  But newspaper reporters observe that the president seems unusually weary; he cancels his appearance at a children’s pageant, for example.  Nonetheless, in the speaking engagements he does attend, he calls for liberation of the Saar as well, saying it would be the best way to ensure peace in Europe.  There are the usual street brawls between nazis and others in the liberated areas, but they are relatively minor: only one policeman is injured.

 

Romania:  Authorities arrest two Orthodox Christian priests in Bukowina, scene of a 3,000-man anti-Semitic mob yesterday, accusing them of stirring up anti-Jewish sentiment in the town.

Saturday, July 19, 1930

Berlin:  Only 24 hours removed from the dissolution of the Reichstag, political campaigning is already under way for elections for the new one.  The communist party has published a manifesto urging voters to “arise and smite the fascist hunger government of Bruening and Hindenburg,” and “drive the servants of capitalism to the devil.”  The manifesto also calls for nationalization of mines, factories and banks, and for abandoning the Young Plan.  Political observers say the large numbers of unemployed make fertile ground for the communists.

Meanwhile the nazi newspaper Deutsche Zeitung publishes an article saying the impotence of the cabinet and Reichstag demonstrates the bankruptcy of the parliamentary system. 

As evidence of the atmosphere that is expected for the campaign season: the state of Prussia has outlawed all carrying of firearms for the duration. 

France:  Reports surface that the nation has moved many of its troops recently relieved of duty in the Rhineland to the Italian border. 

Bukowina, Romania:  More anti-Semitic violence.  A mob of 3,000 armed farmers sets out from here for Bessarabia, an area that is home to a higher proportion of Jews, to “finish Semites and authorities.”  At least one town in their path erects barricades to protect itself, and the cabinet of Prime Minister Iuliu Maniu calls an emergency meeting to deal with the crisis.

Friday, July 18, 1930: The Reichstag is Dissolved

Berlin:  The vote on the socialists’ measure to declare illegal Chancellor Heinrich Bruening’s emergency-decree enacting his tax measures is held, as expected, and it passes, 236-221.  As a result, and also as expected, Bruening follows immediately with an announcement that based on the decree he’s already received from President Paul von Hindenburg, the Reichstag is dissolved.

 

The uproar on the chamber floor is so great Bruening’s last words are drowned out, with communists shouting, “Down with Hindenburg and Bruening!  Down with fascism!”

Within five minutes of the announcement, however, the floor of the chamber is almost empty, except for 50 or so communists singing the “International” song.  Other communists, as well as nazis, make a quick getaway because they know their parliamentary immunity from arrest will end with the Reichstag’s dissolution. 

This parliament thus joins every previous parliament since the founding of the Weimar Republic in being dissolved before its natural adjournment (which would have been 1932, four years after its election).

The dissolution means new parliamentary elections will be held, required by law within 60 days.  They are set for September 14.  Already political observers are speculating on what the new elections will bring.  One new political party has already come into being: the German Conservative Party, formed under Kuno von Westarp, who for many years was the floor leader for Alfred Hugenberg’s nationalists.  Incensed over Hugenberg’s willingness to vote with the socialists, Westarp has bolted.  This could fragment the nationalist vote – one reason why one of the predictions political observers have already made is that the party with the most to gain by the elections will be the nazis, led by Adolf Hitler. 

Tonight Bruening issues a proclamation to the country: “The Reichstag has refused to the Reich the means for carrying out its tasks.  President von Hindenburg’s financial reform program was rejected by a small majority which is divided in itself and incompetent to assume responsibility.  An appeal is now made to the nation to decide its future.  Do the people wish to withhold from the government what is necessary for regulating finances, maintaining German economic life and safeguarding social obligations?  That is the question for September 14.”

 

Hindenburg, meanwhile, departs on his planned tour of the newly liberated areas of the Rhineland.  It will be his first time to cross the Rhine River since 1918.

Moscow:  The “Volunteer Defense Society” announces that Russia plans to have a military of 17 million by 1933 as part of its new five-year plan for aerial and chemical defense.

 

Tokyo:  Reports circulate that Admiral Takarabe Takeshi, Minister of the Navy, will resign once the London Naval Treaty is approved by the Japanese government if he is not forced out before then.  Ratification of the treaty has been delayed again by a scheduled recess of the Privy Council. 

Thursday, July 17, 1930

Berlin:  As promised yesterday, the socialists introduce a measure in the Reichstag declaring illegal Chancellor Heinrich Bruening’s and President Paul von Hindenburg’s use of the emergency decree provision of the German constitution to implement Bruening’s tax measures, and calling for a vote of no-confidence in Bruening’s government.  Bruening postpones the vote on the measure until tomorrow.

In the meantime, nationalist political leader Alfred Hugenberg pays Bruening a visit.  Hugenberg’s nationalists now find themselves in the position of being able to save Bruening’s cabinet by voting against the socialists’ measure.  But in exchange, Hugenberg makes six demands of Bruening, one of which is his old ax-grinder: he wants Bruening to abolish the war debt payments of the Young Plan.  He also demands that the nationalists be included in a coalition government against the socialists, and that the socialists be turned out of office in Prussia and replaced with nationalist parties.  “Only a definite anti-Marxist policy can save Germany from being involved in fresh difficulties and from the downward path,” Hugenberg says.

 

Bruening refuses.  He apparently intends to go forward with the vote on the socialists’ measure, and if it passes, execute the signed order he’s already been given by President Hindenburg, dissolving parliament.

 

Harbin, Manchuria:  An estimated 40,000 ethnic Koreans who were living in Russian Siberia have fled into Manchuria in recent weeks, bringing with them stories of suffering and persecution wrought by soviet collectivization.  They report that more than 2,900 Korean farmers were exiled by the soviets to forced labor lumber camps in even more remote regions of Siberia.  Tens of thousands more Koreans are reportedly still in Russia trying to get out, but the soviet government has reinforced its border guard, preventing them from leaving.

 

Paris:  Responses keep coming in to France’s proposal for a “United States of Europe.”  Great Britain’s response is that the proposal is not acceptable to Britain in its present form, but that the essential idea is welcome, and questioning whether it could be achieved better through the League of Nations.