Monday, August 4, 1930

Berlin:  Another attempt is made to form a strong centrist political coalition around which the middle class can rally, when four parties agree to hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the possibility.  Erich Koch, former Democratic leader, now part of the Constitutional party, is one of the leaders.  The politicians’ sense of urgency is growing as they concede that the communists and nazis will probably gain Reichstag seats in the upcoming election.  Observers are predicting 60 seats for the communists, 50 for the nazis, and 40 for Alfred Hugenberg’s nationalists.  The prospect of trying to govern with such a contentious Reichstag concerns many.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Heinrich Bruening holds his roundtable with seven of Germany’s business and industry leaders, where they reportedly discuss ideas for providing work to the nation’s unemployed (in addition to discussing ways to reduce prices, as reported earlier).  Whatever they discuss, they keep it to themselves and issue no statements afterward.

 

Odessa, Ukraine:  Reports filtering out of this city past soviet censors say a revolt against soviet rule has been crushed, with soldiers firing on a crowd of workers who had barricaded themselves into defensive positions.  Two hundred people are killed.

 

Havana:  The government holds 70 people on charges of plotting to lead a communist revolt in Cuba.  Chinese and Spanish ethnics are said to be leading the plot, and Havana’s Chinatown is reportedly the nexus of the planning.