Sunday, February 14, 1926. The Bamberg Conference.

Nazi Party members attending the Bamberg Conference approved Hitler's motion to make his position absolute, thereby establishing the Führerprinzip.

The Trump administration essentially operates under the same principal, and indeed is run in much the same way.

The conference also ended inter party feuding, which had existed up to that point and which in fact would for some time. 

The conference also confirmed its 1920 twenty-five point program.

Translated, it stated:

The program of the National‑Socialist German Workers’ Party is a schedule. The leaders refuse to draft new goals after the ones listed in the program are achieved, solely for the purpose of enabling the party to continue to exist by artificially increasing the dissatisfaction of the masses.

1.  We demand the union of all Germans to form a Greater Germany on the basis of the people’s right to self-determination.

2.  We demand equality of rights for the German people with other nations; and abolition of the peace treaties of Versailles and St. Germain.

3.  We demand land and soil (colonies) for the sustenance of our people and settlement of our surplus population.

4.  None but members of the Volk (a people; large tribe) may be citizens of the state. None but those of German blood, whatever their creed, may be members of the Volk. No Jew, therefore, may be a member of the Volk.

5. Whoever has no citizenship is to be able to live in Germany only as a guest and must be regarded as being subject to foreign laws.

6.  The right of voting on the state's government and legislation is to be enjoyed by the citizen of the state alone. We demand therefore that all official appointments, of whatever kind, shall be granted to citizens of the state alone. We oppose the corrupting custom of parliament of filling posts merely with a view to party considerations, and without reference to character or capability.

7.  We demand that the state commit itself to providing, first and foremost, opportunities for its citizens to earn a living and make a life for themselves. If it is not possible to feed the entire population of the state, then members of foreign nations (non-citizens) must be expelled from the Reich.

8.  All further immigration of non-Germans must be prevented. We demand that all non-Germans, who have immigrated to Germany since 2 August 1914, be forced immediately to leave the Reich.

9.  All citizens must have equal rights and obligations.

10.  The first obligation of every citizen must be to work, either mentally or physically. The activities of the individual must not conflict with the interests of the general public, but must be carried out within the framework of the whole and for the benefit of all. We therefore demand:

11.  Abolition of work-free and effortless income. Breaking of interest-slavery.

12.  In consideration of the monstrous sacrifice of life and property that each war demands of the people, personal enrichment due to a war must be regarded as a crime against the people. Therefore, we demand ruthless confiscation of all war profits.

13.  We demand nationalization of all businesses which have been up to the present formed into companies (trusts).

14.  We demand that the profits of large companies shall be shared out.

15.  We demand an expansion on a large scale of old age welfare.

16.  We demand the creation of a healthy middle class and its conservation, immediate communalization of the great warehouses and their being leased at low cost to small firms, the utmost consideration of all small firms in contracts with the state, county or municipality.

17.  We demand land reform adapted to our national needs, the creation of a law for the expropriation of land for public purposes without compensation. Abolition of land tax and prevention of all land speculation.

18.  We demand struggle without consideration against those whose activity is injurious to the general interest. Common national criminals, usurers, profiteers and so forth are to be punished with death, without consideration of confession or race.

19.  We demand the replacement of Roman Law, which serves the materialistic world order, with a German common law.

20.  In order to enable every capable and hard-working German to attain higher education and thus enter into leading positions, the state must ensure the thorough expansion of our entire public education system. The curricula of all educational institutions must be adapted to the requirements of practical life. An understanding of the concept of the state must be achieved from the very beginning of schooling (civics). We demand that children of poor parents who are particularly gifted intellectually be educated at the expense of the state, regardless of their parents' social status or occupation.

21.  The state must ensure the improvement of public health by protecting mothers and children, by prohibiting juvenile labor, by promoting physical fitness through the legal establishment of compulsory gymnastics and sports, and by providing the greatest possible support to all associations involved in physical education for young people.

22.  We demand abolition of the mercenary troops and formation of a national army.

23.  We demand legal action against deliberate political lies and their dissemination by the press. In order to enable the creation of a German press, we demand that:

a. All editors and employees of newspapers published in the German language must be members of the race;

b. Non-German newspapers be required to have the express permission of the state to be published. They may not be printed in the German language;

c. Non-Germans are forbidden by law any financial interest in German publications or any influence on them and as punishment for violations the closing of such a publication as well as the immediate expulsion from the Reich of the non-German concerned. Publications which are counter to the common good are to be forbidden. We demand legal prosecution of artistic and literary forms which exert a destructive influence on our national life and the closure of events that violate the above demands.

24.  We demand freedom of religion for all religious denominations within the state so long as they do not endanger its existence or oppose the moral senses of the Germanic race. The party as such advocates the standpoint of a positive Christianity without binding itself confessionally to any particular denomination. It combats the Jewish-materialistic spirit within and outside us and is convinced that a lasting recovery of our people can only come about from within, on the basis of:

Public Interest Over Self-Interest

25.  For the execution of all of this we demand the formation of a strong central power in the Reich. Unconditional authority of the central parliament over the whole Reich and its organizations in general. The formation of corporative chambers and professional chambers for the execution of the laws made by the Reich within the various states of the confederation.

The leaders of the party promise to stand up for the execution of the above points ruthlessly, if necessary at the cost of their own lives.

Munich, February 24, 1920 — signed Adolf Hitler.

In 1928 an item that was causing controversy was amended:

In response to the mendacious interpretations of point 17 of the NSDAP program by our opponents, the following statement is necessary:

“Since the NSDAP stands on the principle of private property, it goes without saying that the passage ‘expropriation without compensation’ refers only to the creation of legal possibilities to expropriate land that has been acquired unlawfully or is not managed in accordance with the interests of the people, if necessary. This is therefore directed primarily against Jewish real estate speculation companies.”

Munich, April 13, 1928 — signed Adolf Hitler.

It's interesting reading in that you could see where the NASDP was headed, but they were not there yet.  It's also interesting to read how much of MAGA would be comfortable with this, although they wouldn't be comfortable with all of it. The NASDP was a populist party.

At this point, I frankly don't think a lot of the MAGA rank and file, and even some of its upper ranks, would really disavow association with the Nazis all that much.

Last edition:

Saturday, February 13, 1926. Calles attempts to end Catholic education.

Labels: 1920s, 1926, Aircraft, Art, Catholic, Christianity, Education, Mail, Mexico, Plutarco Elías Calles, Post Office, religion, Valentine's Day

Tuesday, February 2, 1926.

A play, adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, premiered at the Ambassador Theater on Broadway, which is remarkable in more ways than one, one being that this was well before the collapse in the economy that is so often figured into the novel, but which the novel anticipated as a moral collapse.

The incite of the novel, accordingly, can hardly be appreciated today, and indeed should be reread today, given the current times.

They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.

The Great Gatsby.

Representatives of the governments of the UK and France, which nearly went to war in 1918/1919 over the fate of Syria, signed a treaty of friendship on behalf of the British Mandate for Palestine and the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon.  Notably, the native populations for both areas had utterly no desire that either European power be there.

Four members of the illegal Black Reichswehr were sentenced to death for politically motivated murders in Germany.

A banquet was held at the Hotel Astor to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the National League.

Last edition:

Saturday, January 30, 1926. Pinks and Greens.

Labels: 1920s, 1926, 1940, 1940s, 1941, 1950s, 1954, Allied Occupation of the Ruhr, Allied Occupation of Germany, Army, Art, Billy Mitchell, Clothing, German Weimar Republic, It was because of World War Two, Personalities

FWIW, Desmond Holly, the Colorado school shooter whose crime occurred at the same time that Kirk was murdered, had been viewing far right, Nazi, content on his computer.

I wouldn't normally note that, but as the populist far right is busy trying to make a martyr out of Kirk as a victim of a left wing shooter (which so far we're not really certain was the motivation), it probably ought to be mentioned.

The US today has a late Weimar Republic feel to it.

Thursday, August 20, 1925. Thrills, frills and stills.

From Reddit's 100 Years Ago Sub.

The Republic of China's finance minister, Liao Zhongkai, was assassinated as he stepped out of his limousine for a meeting of the Kuomintang's Executive Committee.   The Kuomintang had barred British and Japanese ships from entering or leaving Canton's harbor the day prior.

At the time, the Kuomintang was heavily left wing, with right wing elements, and veered towards a sort of Communism.  It was backed by the USSR.  It was also not fully in control of the country, and in fact, it never would be.  

It's choice of allies and backers over the years would evolve enormously. After the right wing deposed the Communists, and the Chinese Civil War started, it continued to receive support, oddly, from the USSR, but also did from Germany, that support starting during the Weimar period and lasting right up until the Sino Japanese War, at which time the Germans withdrew it due to Japanese protests with some reluctance.  It'd continue to be a friend of the Soviet Union's all the way through World War Two, but during the war itself, the United States became its major supporter.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 16, 1925. Cuban Communists, Big Beer Haul, Dainty Ankles.

Labels: 1920s, 1925, actors and actresses, Alcohol, Communism, Cuba, fashion, Prohibition, Women

Saturday, April 4, 1925. Recalling Lexington and Concord.

It was Saturday.

Issued on this day in 1925.

Retired Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg agreed to run in the second round of the German presidential election in the place of Karl Jarres, who had won the first round.  He was 77, and would be enfeebled by the time Hitler was ready to push him aside a few years later.

Western Australia rejected prohibition at the polls.

The Nazi Party founded the SS as a bodyguard for Hitler.

Last edition:

Thursday, April 2, 1925. Oklahoma.

Labels: 1920s, 1925, Diplomacy, France, Ireland, It was because of World War One, Oklahoma, police, Syria, Turkey

Sunday, August 3, 1924. German memorial day.

Germany observed its first memorial day.  

German communists disrupted a noontime two minutes of silence, with German police moving in to restore order.

Jewish Berliners held a separate service in the memory of Jewish German soldiers who were killed during the war, as a Jewish cleric was not allowed to deliver a prayer at the Reichstag ceremony held that day.

Soviet agents raided Stolpce Poland in a mission to free two members of the Communist Party of Western Belarus.  Seven Polish policemen were killed but the Soviet mission failed and would cause a reassessment of such attacks.

An American plane had made the leap to Iceland in the around the world flight:

It was a Sunday paper, so it had some human interest ones, including the following one, which I"m not sure I grasp:

King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan, declared a jihad against six tribes who had commenced the Khost rebellion.

Ja'far al-Askari resigned as Prime Minister of Iraq in protest of the Constituent Assembly voting to ratify the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty approving the terms of the Mandate for Mesopotamia and making Iraq a British protectorate.

British novelist Joseph Conrad died.

Last edition:

Wednesday, July 24, 1924. Around the world flight reaches the Orkneys.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Army, First Around The World Flight, Orkney Islands, U.S. Air Force, United Kingdom

Sunday, May 13, 1923. Mother's Day. Russian's bluster, Elopement frustrated, Pool Halls closed, Shirt Sleeves Slim back, Parachute Jump.

The Russian habit of threatening other nations was in evidence on this Mother's Day of 1923.

And related to the theme of the day, in a way, an elopement was frustrated.  The intended bride was 16, the groom 20.

I wonder if that ended it, or if their union later developed? Seems like the parents, implicitly, were not thrilled.  Note also the judge intended to go ahead with it.

Ritualized bride kidnapping is a surprisingly common human custom, perhaps derived from actual bride kidnapping.  In Christian societies actual bride kidnapping cannot give rise to a valid marriage, but in many non-Christian societies, including pre-Christian European ones, it was fairly common. The entire origin of Rome came about that way.

After the rise of Christianity in various cultures, some retained a ritualized form of which, as in this instance, existed to overcome parental objections.  The bride was complicit in her kidnapping and consent was generally given afterward with a negotiation on the bride's price.  This was common, for example, in Medieval Scandinavia.  Implicit in the negotiation was; 1) as women could freely consent to marriage, there was no stopping it, and 2) the girl was likely "ruined" by that time, or would be so regarded.  Additionally, the use of force by the groom implied that the kidnapping was not so much that, but an armed intervention in favor of the couple's intentions, which was a dicey thing to disregard without violence.

In spite of the constant boosterism, the real nature of Casper was showing through.  Pool Hall fights were breaking out during an era when Casper had a really thriving open red-light district.  "Shirt Sleeves" slim was going to be escorted out of town.  

In boosterism, a parachute jump was planned over a new subdivision.

Mother's Day (Muttertag) was officially recognized for the first time in Germany, although it had been widely celebrated the year prior.  Lacking the nationalist tones that it had in Germany, the day had been recognized in the United States since 1908.  The celebration also spread to Czechoslovakia and Poland for the first time in 1923.

It was of course Mother's Day in the US.

In Philadelphia, the unknown mother of the unknown soldier was honored.

In various states, such as Michigan, the Governor issued a proclamation in honor of the day.

A Proclamation By the Governor

Mothers' Day Proclamation By the Governor

In compliance with our beautiful custom, which in a few years has come to be universally observed throughout the land, the time has come to set apart a day in honor of American motherhood.

The American home is at once the cradle and the bulwark of all that is finest and best in our present day civilization, and the American mother is the heart of that home. If the home spirit is what it should be the major portion of the credit belongs to her.

It is impossible for us to compute the debt we owe our mothers, and it is only fitting that in this way we should pay our tribute of respect and devotion to the mothers of the nation, living and dead.

Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Michigan, I do hereby designate and proclaim Sunday, May thirteenth, 1923, as Mothers' Day, and I call upon our people, both old and young, to gather in their several places of worship and take part in services appropriate to the day.

And let absent sons and daughters take this occasion to visit the mother in the old home, or, where such a visit is impossible, let them send a message of cheer and greeting.

In accordance with a resolution of the Congress of the United States, I further request the people of Michigan on the day aforesaid to display the United States flag in their homes and in other suitable places, as a fitting expression of their desire to pay homage to American motherhood.

Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the State this Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three, and of the Commonwealth the eightyseventh.

Alex J Governor.

By the Governor:

Oddly, the Casper paper for the day didn't mention Mother's Day at all. 

Wednesday, February 21, 1923. Time travel.

Greece made its final use of the Julian calendar, thereby going from today, which was February 15 on the Julian, to March 1 the following day, reflecting the switch to the Gregorian calendar.

President Harding signed the Smoot-Burton Act compromising the British war debt somewhat.

France deported the policemen in Bouchum and Herne away from their cities.

Friday, February 16, 1923. Bessie Smith sings the blues.

Blues great Bessie Smith was in the studio.

Smith was a musical giant in her day, but was buried in an unmarked grave when she died due to injuries from an automobile accident in 1937.  In 1970s ,that was addressed and a new tombstone was erected.

The inner chamber of the Tomb of Tutankhamun was opened by Howard Carter's archeological party.

The Conference of Ambassadors of the Allied Powers, which did not include the US, as the US had gone into international hiding on the basis that ignoring the world makes you safe from it, approved the transfer of Memel to Lithuania.  We dealt with this previously and the nature of this oddly disputed small Baltic territory.

Italy ratified the Washington Naval Treaty and the Treaty of Santa Margherita, the latter of which settled a territorial dispute with Yugoslavia,

Saturday, January 27, 1923. Nazis meet for the first time, San Marino temporarily ceases to exist, Rifian POWs released.

Samuel L. Rothafel, Director of Capitol Theatre, New York, using Western Electric microphone, January 27, 1923

 

The German National Socialist Party, the NASDP, commonly called the Nazi Party, held its first party congress.  It was held in Munich, where the party was centered at the time, and drew 6,000 members.

The tiny Republic of San Marino was forced by local fascists into union with Italy.  The micro state has since regained independence.

The Republic of the Rif released the remaining 326 prisoners of war it held to Spain, in exchange for 4,000,000 pesetas. 261 POWS had died in Rifian captivity.

The Country Gentleman had an age-old theme.

Of interest, that style of winter hat is still very popular with outdoorsmen and agriculturalist.  I have two of them.

The Saturday Evening Post had an extraordinarily boring cover.

Thursday, January 11, 1923. The French and Belgians Occupy the Ruhr

In one of the most condemned moves of 20th Century history, French and Belgium troops (the Belgians are often forgotten as having a role in this) started their occupation of the Ruhr by crossing into Essen into 0445.

French troops in Dortmund.

100,000 French soldiers were in the Ruhr by the end of the week.

Forgotten in this is that the French were a far more stable political entity at the time than the Germans, and the Germans had breached the Versailles Treaty.  If the French had shown similar backbone in 1936, they would have stopped Hitler cold, caused him to lose the chancellorship, and he'd have been luck to have not ended up in the ground that year.

The Germans get a lot of sympathy here they really don't deserve.

Hitler did use the occasion to attack, in a speech, the German republican government.

Secy. of Labor Davis delivering the opening address at first meeting of the Nat'l Industrial Women's Conference, Jan. 11, 1923, at the Nat'l Museum.

Greek King Constantine 1 died in Italy in exile at age 54.  He reigned, and abdicated, twice, losing his second regnum due to the war with Turkey.

Very oddly, his successor, two intervening kings in between, Constantine II died yesterday at age 82 in Athens.  He was Greek's last king.

Tuesday, January 9, 1923. Belgium and France take a hard line.

The Allied Reparation Commission found Germany in willful default on its coal delivery requires pursuant to the Versailles Treaty, thus setting the stage for the French occupation.  On the same day, France and Belgium's commissioners voted to occupy the Ruhr. The United Kingdom opposed the measure.  The U.S. had already bowed out.

The Ruhr is an industrial region of Germany and was traditionally a coal mining region, drawing quite a few ethnic Poles at one time due to their experience in coal mining.  Locally, quite a few of those from the region refer to it as "Pott", which is a derivate of "Pütt", a derivative of "pit", or mine.  By 1925, the Ruhrgebiet had around 3,800,000 inhabitants including Eastern Europe immigrants, but also including immigrants from France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.  Today the region is part of North Rhine-Westphalia, a British creation during the post World War Two British occupation, which merged the Rhineland with Westphalia.  Oddly, it's been preserved since that time, although at least some distantly descended Westphalians might wonder why.

A U.S. Federal board charged with studying vocational education found that 1,700,000 children dropped out of school prior to the 8th grade, and thereby impairing their occupational opportunities.

The Gorakhpus Sessions Court in Indian returned verdicts on a February 5, 1922, burning of a police station that resulted in 22 police deaths. Forty-seven people were acquitted, 107 were found guilty of various charges, with nineteen being sentenced to death and fourteen to life imprisonment.

Sunday, December 31, 1922. New Year's Eve.

It was New Year's Eve, 1922.

That meant a lot of parties.  Parties occurring during Prohibition.  A fair number of them were dry, but a fair number were not.

French Prime Minister Raymond Poincare rejected German Chancellor Wilhelm Cuno's proposal for a non-aggression pact with Germany, which would have replaced French troops in the Rhineland with an international disinterested force.

Frankly, were I Poincare, I would have rejected it also.  What international force, following the Great War, would have even qualified as disinterested?

We mentioned Cuno here the other day, he was an economist.  Of some interest, he was born in 1876 and would die in 1933.  Poincare was born in 1860, and would outlive him, dying in 1934.

The Nine Power Treaty went into effect.  We've run the text of the treaty, signed by the U.S. France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom, Portugal, and China previously.

United States Supreme Court Justice Mahlon Pitney retired following his having suffered a stroke.

Justice Pitney.

Pitney was conservative, but also a libertarian, and has received praise in the modern era for being consistently libertarian.  He hailed from New Jersey, where his family had been located since colonial times, and only served for ten years before his stroke idled him.  He died in 1924 at age 66.

The Casper Daily Tribune had a cartoon on the cover regarding the Hays of the Hays Production Code, which we just discussed.

Friday, December 28, 1922. Reds and Reichsmarks.

The Council of People's Commissars re-elected most of the members of the ruling "All-Russian Executive Committee" (hmmmm. . . . "All Russian") but did put in four new members. Three of them were:

Joseph Stalin.  We know about him.  He was appointed Minister of Nationalities.

Lev Kamenev.  He was appointed Third Vice President, which says something about the absurd nature of Soviet government in that they had up to at least three VP's.  One's enough.

His fate?  Shot in the 1930s, of course.

Grigory Sokolnikov.  He was appointed Minister of Finance.

His fate?  Assassinated in prison in 1939.

Well, they served a monstrosity that used murder.  Can we be surprised that they were murdered?

It might be worth noting that some of these figures, maybe all of them, were "rehabilitated", which didn't do them any good, but then they were pretty complicit with bringing anonymous death upon millions.

James Joyce's novel Ulysses was banned in the UK.  I've never read it, but then its a book whose memory is mostly preserved by English professors with few actually reading it, much like a lot of what Hemingway wrote is.  If tempted to read it, pick up Flannery O'Connor instead.

Germany's floating debt passed 1,000,000,000,000 ℛℳ.

Tuesday, December 26, 1922. Minnie

The Allied Reparations Committee's delegates voted 3 to 1 to declare Germany to have voluntarily defaulted in its Great War reparations, this stemming from a delayed timber delivery to France.

Only the United Kingdom dissented.

Mussolini ordered that Italian coinage be redesigned to bear the fasces.

Fasces.

And this:  1922: Minnie, the the RMS Cedric Ship Cat Who Saved Her Christmas Kittens

Wednesday, November 22, 1922. Unintended Consequences.

 Tampa Bay Times, November 22, 1922.

A mine explosion in Dolomite, Alabama killed 90 people.

Wilhelm Cuno.

Businessman Wilhelm Cuno was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Friedrich Ebert.  It was an appointment, not an elective, commission.

An independent politician, Cuno would serve in the role for less than a year and then retire from politics.  He'd become an economic advisor to Hitler in 1932, which he didn't do long either, given his death in 1933.

November 9, 1922. Hedging bets

The French Chamber of Deputies approved Raymond Poincare's policy of France abstaining on paying its war debts unit it had received reparations due from Germany.

Former White Russian General Viktor Pokrovsky, age 33, died while resisting arreste by Belgian authorities. They were conducting a murder investigation.

Tuesday, August 15, 1922. Germany defaults.

Germany defaulted on its reparations payments.

Released this day with an absurd plot involving vying for the hand of a wealthy Mexican señorita, a virtuous lass back home threatened by the KKK, and a major issue to be determined by a jumping bean contest.

The Casper Daily Tribune ran a cartoon attacking Governor Carey on the front page.

Frankly, even now, I’m shocked.

As can be seen, Casper was expanding in 1922 and the stresses that involved were apparently getting to people.  

Saturday, June 23, 1922. Portents.

The Saturday Evening Post hit the stands with an enduringly popular Leyendecker illustration.

Judge, which had recently combined with Leslie's, made fun of the cost of a dinner date.

Walther Rathenau, German Foreign Minster, was assassinated by right wing German nationalist.  Germany's march towards Nazism was commencing.

On the same day Hitler began serving his prison sentence.

The American Professional Football Association voted to change its name to the National Football League.

The English Ladies Football Association hold its only championship.

Japan announced it would withdraw its occupation forces from Siberia, save for Sakhalin Island, by the end of October.

Easter Sunday, 1922

 April 16 was Easter Sunday in 1922.

On that date, Michael Collins survived an assassination attempt when his attackers failed to recognize him in Rutland Square in Dublin, and shot at some cars instead.  Collins was carrying a revolver and fired at his would be attackers.

Germany and Soviet Russia entered the Treaty of Rapallo which renounced all territorial and financial claims the two countries had against each other and restored diplomatic relations.

Japan's famous Imperial Hotel sustained damage in a fire.