February 24, 1920: German Workers' Party Deputy Chairman Hitler unveils platform of new Nazi PartyFebruary 10, 1920: Poland regains a seaportFebruary 13, 1920: U.S. Secretary of State Lansing fired by President WilsonFebruary 2, 1920: Soviet Union recognizes Estonian independence with treaty in Tartu
The Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia authorized the Central Union of Russian Cooperatives to resume trade with the Allied powers of World War I.[2][3]
TheTreaty of Tartu was signed between theSoviet Union andEstonia (referred to at the time as "Esthonia"), with the Soviets recognizing Estonia as an independent nation and renouncing claims to Estonian territory.[4][5] The pact, signed at the city ofTartu in Estonia, brought a successful end to theEstonian War of Independence after more than a year of fighting. The Soviet government also agreed to pay five million gold rubles and permission to purchase 2.5 million acres of Russian timber, in return for use of theNarva River for development of hydroelectric power.[2] Estonian independence would last for 20 years, but the nation would be annexed into the Soviet Union on August 6, 1940. The Republic of Estonia would remain part of the U.S.S.R. until August 20, 1991.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that the death rate in the United States in 1918 was the highest on record, with 1,471,367 people dying, a rate of 18 per every 1,000 people.[6] Of the total, nearly one-third—477,467—had died in theSpanish influenza epidemic from either the flu or from complications with pneumonia.
Australia'sNRMA, an automobile owners group offering roadside assistance and travel advice to its members, was established as the National Roads and Motorists' Association.[11]
Fifty-six officers and soldiers of theNew Zealand Army, commanded by then-MajorEdward Puttick were dispatched to the island ofFiji during a period of civil unrest, departing on the government-owned shipTutanekai.[16] TheFiji Expeditionary Force would serve as a peacekeeping unit as part of the first peacetime overseas deployment of New Zealand forces until April 18.[citation needed]
Smith College ofNorthampton, Massachusetts, began an unusual fundraising campaign by directing its alumni to call on every family in the United States with thesurname "Smith" to donate one dollar "to perpetuate the name of the largest college for women in the world."[17]
France's Prime Minister,Alexandre Millerand, called for a vote of confidence on his government's foreign policy of strict adherence to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, and received an endorsement of 518 to 68.[19][2]
TheCommonwealth of Virginia became the third U.S. state to reject women's suffrage and the proposed 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as the vote in the state Senate failed, 10 to 24.[20] More than 30 years after the amendment had been ratified, Virginia's legislature would approve the amendment on February 21, 1952.[citation needed]
During a blizzard, the American concrete cargo shipSSPolias ran aground on a reef off the U.S. coast nearPort Clyde, Maine, and 11 of her crew disregarded the skipper's orders and abandoned ship in a lifeboat rather than wait to be rescued. All 11 were killed when their boat was blown against the hull ofPolias, broke up, and sank. The rest of the crew evacuated the next day in lifeboats and were picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard cutterUSCGCAcushnet.[21]
Having recovered from a stroke that had kept him bedridden for several months, U.S. PresidentWoodrow Wilson confronted his Secretary of State,Robert Lansing, asking, "Is it true, as I have been told, that during my illness you have frequently called the heads of the executive departments of government into conference?", adding that if it was true, "Under our constitutional law and practice, no one but the president has the right to summon" cabinet members to a meeting, "and no one but the president and the congress has the right to ask their views or the views of any one of them on any public question."[24] Lansing responded two days later, conceding that he frequently called meetings "in view of the fact that we were denied communication with you." The response led Wilson to ask Lansing's resignation on February 11.[citation needed]
The Soviet government established an agency to audit its civil servants,Rabkrin (an acronym forRaboche-KrestyanskayaInspektsiya (the Workers'—Peasants' Inspectorate).[25]
InAlbania, theCongress of Lushnjë proclaimedTirana as the new nation's temporary capital, after the city ofDurrës had served as the capital since 1918.[29] Tirana would still be the Balkan nation's capital a century later.
Prima ballerinaElena Smirnova performed in Russia for the final time, as the production ofRomance of the Roses closed. Smirnova and other artists subsequently fled from the Soviet Union. She would never return to Russia, and would die in 1934.[citation needed]
TheBattle of Urfa began after a former Ottoman Empire official, Ali Saip Bey, had unsuccessfully demanded that a garrison of French occupation forces withdraw from the area that they were claiming as French territory.[31] The 473 soldiers defending Urfa would withstand a siege by Turkish and Kurdish forces for 61 days; almost all of the defenders would be killed after having been promised that they would receive safe passage following a surrender.[citation needed]
The U.S. Senate voted, 63 to 9, to allow consideration of theTreaty of Versailles again and referred it to the Foreign Relations Committee.[32]
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees and Railway Shop Workers, an American labor union, called for its 300,000 members to walk out on strike on February 17 if an agreement on wages could not be resolved with the U.S. Railroad Administration.[33]
Five people inLexington, Kentucky, were killed by the state National Guard after attempting to storm the city courthouse to lynchWill Lockett (alias for Petrie Kimbrough), an African-Americanserial killer who had confessed to the killing of three women and a child, 10-year old Geneva Hardman.[34][35] Lockett would be executed by electric chair on March 11.[36]
In aplebiscite taken in the former northern portion of the GermanDuchy of Schleswig, residents voted by a 3 to 1 margin to become part of theKingdom of Denmark.[2][37] The formal transfer would take place on June 15 as the districts of Hadersleben, Apenrade, Sonderburg and Tondern becameHaderslev,Aabenraa,Sønderborg andTønder. The official results issued inCopenhagen were 75,023 Schleswig voters in favor of their land becoming part of Denmark, and 25,087 voting in favor of remaining part of Germany.[38]
French Army troops, under the command of General Louis Albert Quérette, abandoned their garrison at the former Ottoman Empire city ofMaraş and allowed theTurkish National Forces to reclaim the site, bringing an end to theBattle of Marash.[31] The French forces had been protecting 20,000 Armenian civilians who had been relocated to Maraş following the Armenian Genocide, and although more than 4,000 fled with the French troops, more than 8,000 left behind were killed when the Turks entered the city. Of the Armenians who did depart with the French troops, only 1,500 survived the winter weather during the retreat to another French fortress atİslâhiye.
There ceremony of the "Wedding to the Sea" (Zaślubiny Polski z morzem) was carried out asPoland regained territory from Germany along theBaltic Sea. Lieutenant GeneralJózef Haller of the Polish Army carried out the symbolic union of Poland to the sea at the seaport town ofPuck, formerly Putzig.[39]
The British House of Commons voted to reject a resolution for nationalization of the nation's coal mines.[40] The vote, on whether to accept the recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Coal Industry for nationlization, was defeated by a margin of 329 against and only 64 for.
The Parliament of the Ottoman Empire, published its final report, theMisak-ı Millî, after closing out its existence at a January 28 meeting inConstantinople (nowIstanbul). The six point policy was alarming enough to the victorious Allies that theysent troops to occupy Istanbul on March 16, and sponsored the creation of a republic and a new parliament, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, with its capital atAnkara.[citation needed]
Died:Aurore Gagnon, 10, Canadian child abuse victim; died ofsepsis andfatigue.[42] Her stepmother, Marie-Anne Houde, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison (b.1909)
U.S. President Wilson fired Secretary of StateRobert Lansing, two days after asking Lansing to resign, stating "I feel it is my duty to accept your resignation, to take effect at once."[43] President Wilson reportedly stated in three letters that Secretary Lansing had usurped presidential authority by countermanding Wilson's foreign policy decisions.[44] One day after Wilson wrote to Lansing that "I am very much disappointed" and stated "it would relieve me of embarrassment, Mr. Secretary... if you would give your present office up, and afford me an opportunity to select someone whose mind would more willingly go along with mine."[24] On Thursday, Lansing formally presented his requested resignation.
Most of the 515 suspected American subversives detained onEllis Island were released after posting bail, while charges were dismissed on another 100 after the cases were processed. The others were held to await deportation.[47]
The firstHakone Ekiden, Japan's annual marathon college relay race, was won by theUniversity of Tokyo team, asZensaku Motegi crossed the finish line first[51] Created by Japanese Olympic runnerShizo Kanakuri,[52] the two-day race began and ended at theŌtemachi district ofTokyo, in front of the offices of Tokyo'sYomiuri Shimbun newspaper. The other relay teams in the first race representedWaseda University,Keio University, andMeiji University. Under the rules, each relay team had 10 runners, with five in the relay from Tokyo toHakone on the first day, and the other five running on the next day's relay back to Tokyo. The average distance the handing off of a baton to the runner at the next station is now 21.6 kilometres (13.4 mi) on the first day and almost 22 kilometres (14 mi) the next day, for a total distance of 217.9 kilometres (135.4 mi). The race is now run as part of the New Year's Day holiday.[citation needed]
The Allies of World War I accepted a proposal, by Germany, that accused war criminals would be tried by German courts atLeipzig, with the understanding that the arrangement would continue for as long as it appeared that the trials were being conducted in good faith.[53] The German government also agreed that the charges against each indicted defendant would be published by the government for use by the media.
TheSupreme Court of Iceland, theHæstiréttur, held its first session as the highest court in that nation.[54] Previously, cases decided by theNational High Court (theLandsyfirréttur of Reykjavik) were reviewable by the Supreme Court of Denmark.
Former French Prime MinisterJoseph Caillaux, already imprisoned since 1919, was placed on trial for treason by theFrench Senate.[56]
Maryland voted to reject the 19th Amendment in separate votes in the state House and state Senate. The vote in the House of Delegates was only 36 for and 64 against ratification, and lost 9 to 18 in the state Senate.[57]
Tom Kelly, an Irish nationalistSinn Féin member who had been elected Lord Mayor ofDublin while he was incarcerated in England, was conditionally released fromWormwood Scrubs prison nearLondon because of ill health, with the provision that he make no attempt to return toIreland.[59]
Will H. Hays, Chairman of theRepublican National Committee, announced at a rally in New York that the Party would not accept campaign contributions of more than $1,000.[61] In 1920, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, $1,000 had the buying power of a little less than $13,000 a century later.[62]
Joseph M. Flannery, 53, American industrialist whose mining and processing company, the Vanadium Corporation, was the world's largest producer ofradium[citation needed]
The Russian port ofArkhangelsk, part of theSevernaya Oblast region defended by the White Army of Admiral Kolchak, was entered and occupied by the Soviet Bolshevik army;[64]Murmansk, the last bastion of the White Army, would fall on March 13.[65][page needed] Most of the White Army government officials had evacuated to Norway the week before.
China's Foreign MinisterLu Zhengxiang and Vice Foreign Minister Chen Lu resigned in protest after interference by conservatives during negotiations with Japan over theShandong peninsula.[47]
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that average wages had risen during 1919 by at least 25%, and in some cases, as high as 125%, in eleven leading industries. The BLS also concluded that the number of employees had risen by as much as 50% in some of the businesses surveyed.[47]
Shareholders of theGrand Trunk Railway inCanada voted to turn operation of the system over to the Canadian government.[47]
Khosrov bey Sultanov, assigned to be the Governor ofKarabakh, a primarily Armenian area claimed by theAzerbaijan Democratic Republic, met with a council of Armenian leaders and demanded that they agree to the incorporation of the area into Azerbaijan. After the Armenians met and rejected the demand, Azerbaijan troops carried out a massacre of civilians on March 22.[citation needed]
The U.S. Navy demonstrated its new weapon to reporters, anartillery shell powerful enough to penetrate more than 13 inches (330 mm) of armor siding.[66] The new shell, produced at the naval ordnance plant inSouth Charleston, West Virginia, was fired on the Navy's proving grounds atIndian Head, Maryland.
TheCommunist Party of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan Kommunist Partiyası), which favored a merger of the Azerbaijan Republic into a federation of Communist republics in the old Russian Empire, was formed at a meeting inBaku by delegates from four political parties (Hummet Party, Adalat Party, Ahrar Party and the Azerbaijan Bolsheviks), withMirza Davud Huseynov of the Hummet party as its first General Secretary. By April, the Communists would have a majority in the Azerbaijan government; in 1922, they would join with parties in the Armenian and Georgian republics to create a federation and the independent nation would become part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics at the end of that year. The Azerbaijan Communists would remain in power until 1991.[citation needed]
U.S. Customs authorities made their first reported confiscation of imported liquor since Prohibition had gone into effect a few weeks earlier. The yachtGenesee, owned by playboyW. K. Vanderbilt Jr., had been carrying "about $1,800 worth of spirituous liquors" (almost $24,000 in current USD buying power[67]) as it arrived atKey West, Florida, after its departure fromCuba.[68]
The Greek cargo shipAghia Paraskevi wrecked off of the coast of Cape St. Thomas, Argentina, with the loss of 15 of her crew, while survivors were rescued by the British ship SSCarnarvonshire.[69]
AdmiralNicholas Horthy was named as the Regent for the vacant throne of the Kingdom of Hungary, in a vote taken by the Hungarian Assembly.[47] The monarchy had been vacant since the surrender of Austria-Hungary in 1918.
Prime MinisterKarlis Ulmanis ofLatvia signed an armistice with the Soviet Union, bringing an end to hostilities between the two nations.[citation needed]
In the first standoff between the U.S. government and local level authorities sinceProhibition went into effect, the U.S.Bureau of Prohibition, part of theBureau of Internal Revenue (now the IRS) authorized the sending of prohibition agents toIron County, Michigan, to suppress what the U.S. media described as a new "Whiskey Rebellion."[72] Major A. V. Dalrymple, in charge of the central states, wired to his superiors at the B.O.P. for permission to have armed enforcement agents to deal with Iron County prosecutor Martin S. McDonough, who had taken seized alcohol back from B.O.P. agents on February 19.[73] The "rebellion" ended with an angry confrontation between Dalrymple and McDonough at a hotel inIron Mountain, after which Dalrymple and his 16 agents departed without violence.
The Soviet Army completed its consolidation of northern Russia by taking control ofMurmansk.[47]
The UK's Secretary of War,Winston Churchill, announced that theBritish Army would be composed entirely of volunteers with the abolition of military conscription effective March 31. Churchill reported that the British had succeeded in recruiting enough new volunteers to reach 220,000 troops, around the world, with the exception ofBritish India, and that persons who had been drafted would be released from the service by the end of April.[75]
The National Socialist German Workers' Party, colloquially known as theNazi Party, was founded at a meeting at theStaatliches Hofbräuhaus inMunich. With over 2,000 people in attendance,German Workers' Party (DAP) Chairman and founderAnton Drexler introducedAdolf Hitler,[76] who then presented his German nationalist"25-Point Program" that changed the DAP's mission statement, its flag and its name to the new NSDAP. The term "Nazi" derived from the abbreviation forNationalsozialistische.
TheDairy Council, which has promoted the consumption ofmilk in the United Kingdom for over a century, was founded. During its first 63 years of existence, it was called the National Milk Publicity Council.[citation needed]
Soviet Army generalYakov Tryapitsyn and 4,000 troops entered the city ofNikolayevsk-on-Amur, which had been occupied by the Japanese Army's 14th Infantry Division, a RussianWhite Army garrison, and 6,000 Russian and Japanese civilians. Outnumbered by 4,000 Soviet troops against the combined Japanese and White Russian force of 650, the Japanese commander allowed the Soviets to enter the city. General Trapitsyn's men then began a roundup of the White Russian troops for execution.[citation needed]
The League of Nations Supreme Council decided that it would not recognize the Soviet Union as the government of Russia until outrages by the Bolsheviks were halted, but said that the League nations would resume trade with Russia, and that neighboring nations would receive "every possible support" from the League if they were attacked by the Soviets.[47]
Mathias Erzberger was forced to resign as Germany's Minister of Finance after his financial scandals were revealed in testimony during a lawsuit he had brought against Dr. Karl Helfferich for libel.[47]
The U.S. state ofMaryland rejected the 19th Amendment for women's suffrage nationwide. In 1941, Maryland would become the first of nine southern states to reverse its decision to reject the amendment.[citation needed]
Within a month of the beginning of Prohibition, the U.S. House rejected the Igoe proposal to repeal the Volstead Act, which provided for enforcement of the ban against liquor.[47]
Ontario, the most populousProvince of Canada (2.9 million people), presented its first plan for a network of federally funded provincial highways.[citation needed]
Prime Minister Millerand of France issued an order drafting striking railroad workers into the French Army, after a nationwide walkout had stopped service on three of the nation's five railway lines. The strike ended three days later, on March 1.[47]
The British government released the text of proposed legislation in the House of Commons providing for Irish Home Rule, with an autonomous government and a dual parliament.[47]
French troops inSyria, formerly territory of theOttoman Empire, were forced to retreat fromAleppo after heavy fighting. A French study concluded that at least 20,000 Armenians had been massacred by the Ottoman military.[47]
U.S. Army Major R. W. Schroeder took off from McCook Field inDayton, Ohio, and set a new world record for highest altitude obtained by a human being, but lost consciousness after reaching an altitude later determined to be 36,020 feet (10,980 m). His plane fell more than six miles before Schroeder was able to regain control of it 2,000 feet (610 m) before impact.[78] Major Schroeder was trying to reach an altitude of 40,000 feet (12,000 m) in his unpressurized, open cockpitPackard-Le Père plane.
The patent application for the mass production ofsilica gel was filed by its inventor, chemistry professor Walter A. Patrick ofJohns Hopkins University inBaltimore, under the title "Process of producing gels for catalytic and adsorbent purposes."[79] U.S. Patent No. 1,577,186 was not granted until more than six years later, on March 16, 1926.[79] Silica gel is now widely used in packaging as a means of keeping perishable products dry by removing moisture from the air within the package.
U.S. President Wilson signed theEsch–Cummins Act, returning control of the nation's railroads to their corporate owners, effective at 12:01 a.m. on March 1. "Thus ends twenty-six months of federal control and operation of the lines," a reporter noted.[80]
President Wilson also said in a statement to U.S. Senate leaders that if the Senate failed to ratify all of the articles of theTreaty of Versailles, he would decline to sign the ratification bill, exercising thepocket veto of the legislation. At issue was Article 10 of the Treaty.[81]
Italy began the blockade of the disputed city ofFiume.[47]
The Emperor of Japan dissolved the nation's legislature, the Diet, because of disagreements between the Cabinet and the Diet over extended male suffrage. Under the law, new elections were required within five months.[47]
Mexican bandits crossed the border into the U.S. state ofArizona and killed an American storekeeper at the mining town ofRuby.[citation needed]
The freighter shipSSCubadist (a tanker for the Cuba Distilling Company) made its last communication after departing fromHavana en route toBaltimore with a cargo ofmolasses. At that time, it identified its position as 111 nautical miles (206 km; 128 mi) south-southwest ofCape Hatteras,North Carolina. The ship and its crew of 40 were never seen again, and was believed to have been lost in a gale that swept through that area of the Atlantic Ocean.[82]
^Esthonian Consulate (1923).Facts about Esthonia. p. 22.
^"1918 Sets Death Rate Record in United States".Chicago Daily Tribune. February 3, 1920. p. 3.
^"'Moss' Enright Slain in Labor War".Chicago Daily Tribune. February 4, 1920. p. 1.
^Lindberg, Richard (1998).To Serve and Collect: Chicago Politics and Police Corruption from the Lager Beer Riot to the Summerdale Scandal, 1855-1960. Southern Illinois University Press. p. 151.
^"High Germans in 900 Allies Call for Trial— From Crown Prince to Private on List".Chicago Daily Tribune. February 4, 1920. p. 1.
^"Germany Defies Allies".Chicago Daily Tribune. February 5, 1920. p. 1.
^Crafton, Donald (2015).Before Mickey: The Animated Film 1898-1928. University of Chicago Press. pp. 160–161.
^Robertson, Patrick (2011).Robertson's Book of Firsts: Who Did What for the First Time. Bloomsbury Publishing.
^Pearson, Owen (2006).Albania and King Zog: Independence, Republic and Monarchy, 1908–1939. IB Taurus. p. 140.
^"Spitzbergen Pact Signed by America— Treaty Giving Islands to Norway Receives Envoys' Names".The Washington Post. February 10, 1920. p. 2.
^abKerr, Stanley E. (1973).The Lions of Marash: Personal Experiences with American Near East Relief, 1919-1922. SUNY Press. p. 214.
^"Bitter-Enders Beaten in First Test on Treaty— Senate Votes, 63 To 9, To Suspend Rules and Revive Pact".Baltimore Evening Sun. February 9, 1920. p. 1.
^"Rail Union Calls Strike of 300,000".New York Tribune. February 10, 1920. p. 1.
^"Martial Law Is Declared in Lexington; 5 Killed, 17 Wounded in Attack on Militia".Louisville Courier-Journal. February 10, 1920. p. 1.
^"Martial Law Trails Riot at Lexington, Ky".Chicago Daily Tribune. February 10, 1920. p. 1.
^"Danes Victors in Plebiscite Vote in Schleswig".Chicago Daily Tribune. February 11, 1920. p. 1.
^"Danes Victors 3 to 1 by Plebiscite in Schleswig".Chicago Daily Tribune. February 13, 1920. p. 3.
^Roszkowski, Wojciech; Kofma, Jan, eds. (2008). "Haller, Józef".Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century. Routledge. p. 329.
^"Commons Rejects Mine Nationalizing",The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 11, 1920, p2
^"Negro Base Ball League Enters Arena— Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Kansas City and Dayton, O, to Arrange Schedule".Tulsa Star. February 14, 1920. p. 4.
^Liekis, Šarūnas (2010).1939: The Year that Changed Everything in Lithuania's History. Rodopi. p. 52.
^"Raid Vanderbilt Yacht; Seize Store of Liquor".Chicago Sunday Tribune. February 22, 1920. p. 1. The press described the action as "the first seizure of its kind."
^"Casualty reports".The Times. No. 42341. London. 23 February 1920. col. B, p. 24.
^"Hughes, Spencer Leigh".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 31 (12th ed.). p. 404.
^"Conscription in Britain Comes to an End March 31".Chicago Daily Tribune. February 24, 1920. p. 1.
^"How a Speech Helped Hitler Take Power".Time. Retrieved2020-09-11.Feb. 24, 1920 — that Adolf Hitler delivered the Nazi Party Platform to a large crowd in Munich, an event that is often regarded as the foundation of Nazism.
.jpg)
.svg)
