1890 Japan: The Diet, a bicameral legislature modeled after both the German Reichstag and the British Westminster system, first met after the Meiji Constitution went into effect. [For further information, click here]

1900 Birth: Mildred Elizabeth Sisk, aka Axis Sally, Nazi propagandist:

Once the war was over, her broadcasts would come back to haunt her. At a listening post operated by the Federal Communications Commission in Silver Hill, Md., all her programs had been monitored and recorded and would provide the prosecution with damaging evidence at her trial. [For further details, Click here.]

1907 Florence Nightingale is presented with the Order of Merit by Edward VII.

1916 World War I: Cardinal Mercier on Germany's Policy of Deporting Belgians to Germany:

The recruiting of the so-called unemployed continues, generally without any regard for the observations of the local authorities. Several reports which I have in hand prove that the clergy are brutally thrust aside, burgomasters and town councillors reduced to silence; the recruiters then find themselves face to face with unknown men, among whom they arbitrarily make their choice.

1923 Weimar: Various:

Wilhelm Marx succeeds Stresemann as Chancellor:

Marx, the son of a headmaster, was born on 15th February, 1863. He studied law in Bonn before becoming a lawyer. In 1894 Marx became a judge in Elberfeld. He joined the Catholic Centre Party (BVP) and after serving in the Prussian Parliament he was elected to the Reichstag in 1910. Marx was elected chairman of the BVP in 1921 and two years later was appointed chancellor of Germany. He appointed Hans Luther as finance minister who negotiated the Dawes Plan.

In the General Election that took place in December, 1924, he was forced from office. After a spell as prime minister of Prussia he once again became chancellor of Germany in May 1926. Following the General Election in 1928 Marx resigned as chancellor and as chairman of the Catholic Centre Party (BVP).

Wilhelm Marx died in Bonn on 5th August, 1946. (Spartacus))

Dawes Commission: An international commission headed by American banker Charles Dawes is set up to investigate the German economy.

The League of Nations late in 1923 invited Dawes to chair a committee to deal with the question of German reparations. The Dawes Report, submitted in April, 1924, provided facts on Germany's budget and resources, outlined measures needed to stabilize the currency, and suggested a schedule of payments on a sliding scale. For his masterly handling of this crucial international problem, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize .

1925 Volkishness:

Rudolf Gorsleben founds the Edda Society, an "Aryan" study group, at Dinkelsbuehl, in Franconia. Grand Master of the group is Werner von Buelow. Treasurer is Friedrich Schaefer from Muehlhausen, whose wife, Kaethe, keeps open house for other occult-voelkisch groups which gather around Karl Maria Wiligut (Weisthor) in the early 1930s. Rudolf Gorsleben was Chancellor of the Edda Society and published its periodical German Freedom, later Aryan Freedom.
Note: Mathilde von Kemnitz, a prolific voelkisch writer, who will marry General Ludendorff in 1926, is an active member of the Edda Society.

1933 Holocaust: Jewish stores in Germany are warned not to display Christmas symbols.

1936 Various:

Zionism: The National Council for Palestine, located in New York, urges the Peel Commission to insist on Britain honoring its obligation to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Holocaust: Soviet Prime Minister Vlacheslav Molotov denounces the Nazi persecution of German Jews. Antisemites claim that the wives of Molotov and Stalin are both Jewish.

1937 Sudetenland: Pro-Nazi Sudeten German deputies resign en masse from the Czech parliament, precipitating a national crisis.

1938 Various:

From a speech by Hjalmar Schacht in Berlin:

If there is anything remarkable about the New Plan, it is again only the fact that German organization under National Socialist leadership succeeded in conjuring up in a very short time the whole apparatus of supervision of imports, direction of exports, and promotion of exports. The success of the New Plan can be proved by means of a few figures. Calculated according to quantity, the import of finished products was cut down by 63 percent between 1934 and 1937. On the other hand, the import of ores was increased by 132 percent, of petroleum by 116, of grain by 102, and of rubber by 71 percent.

Holocaust: Hermann Goering tells Hugo Rothenberg, a Danish Jew who had earned Goering's gratitude two decades earlier, that under all circumstances the Jews will have to leave Germany and recommends a foreign loan to finance their emigration. Goering warns him that Germany naturally has other ideas in case emigration does not work. He does not spell out their nature.

From a confidential report of the SA-Brigadefuehrer to his group commander:

The following order reached me at 3 o'clock on 10 November 1938. 'On the order of the Gruppenfuehrer, all Jewish synagogues within the 50th Brigade are to be blown up or set on fire immediately. Neighboring houses occupied by Aryans are not to be damaged. The action is to be carried out in civilian clothes. Rioting and plundering are to be prevented. Report of execution of orders to reach the brigade Fuehrer or office by 8:30.' I immediately alerted the Standartenfuehrer and gave them the most exact instructions; the execution of the order began at once.

Demands for Visas in Berlin:

BERLIN — As President Roosevelt continued his conversations on refugees from the Reich — mainly of Jewish race — inquiries at the American Consulate General yielded new facts concerning the problems involved. The total registration for American visas under the German quota of the Immigration Law has swollen to approximately 160,000, while applications for places on the waiting lists are reaching the Berlin Consulate General at the rate of nearly 500 per day. (International Herald Tribune)

1939 World War II: USSR: Various:

Poland: Soviet citizenship on all residents of Polish territory under their control.

Finland: Diplomatic relations are broken off prior to a Soviet attack on the country. Soviet planes bomb an airfield at Helsinki.

1941 Countdown to Infamy:

Berlin to Tokyo:

I was to have had an evening meeting yesterday, the 28th, with RIBBENTROP at his request, but he suddenly asked me to postpone it, and it was ten at night before we met. The reason for the postponement was that GOERING and leading Government and Forces personalities met at the Fuehrer's official residence and held an important conference lasting many hour. Now that the objects of the Russian campaign have for the most part been achieved, and the results of interviews with the Premiers and Foreign Ministers of the European countries collated, they discussed the direction and policy of next years campaign, and I have no doubt that at this conference JAPAN's action was also discussed. 1. First of all RIBBENTROP again asked if I had received any news about the Japanese-American negotiations. I replied that I had not yet received any official news. RIBBENTROP said JAPAN must not lose this opportunity of achieving the establishment of the New Order in East Asia, and never had there been a time when close cooperation between the three Allies was more imperative. If JAPAN hesitated and GERMANY carried through the New Order in EUROPE alone, BRITAIN and AMERICA would turn the brunt of their attack to JAPAN. He insisted that, as the Fuehrer had said that day, the existence of JAPAN and GERMANY on the one hand and AMERICA on the other was fundamentally incompatible, and the Germans were in receipt of reports that, owing to the stiff attitude of the Americans, there was practically no possibility of the Japanese-American negotiations being successful. If this was so, and if JAPAN determined on war against BRITAIN and AMERICA, not only would this be to the common advantage of JAPAN and GERMANY, but he believed it would be to JAPAN's advantage also. I said I know nothing of JAPAN's plans and therefore could not answer, but I asked whether His Excellency really thought a state of war would arise between GERMANY and AMERICA. He replied that Roosevelt was diseased, and there was no knowing what he would do. Considering that hitherto RIBBENTROP has always answered that AMERICA would avoid war, and in view of recent speeches by HITLER and RIBBENTROP, it seems to me that GERMANY's attitude towards AMERICA is gradually stiffening, and that she has reached the stage where she would not shun even war with AMERICA. 2. I enquired about the future of the war against RUSSIA, RIBBENTROP replied that the Fuehrer had said that it was now his inflexible determination to sweep away and crush the Soviet once and for all. The most important military operation had been concluded, and a large part of the army would withdraw to GERMANY. They would, however, continue operations in the CAUCASUS, and next Spring with a part of it they would make an attack on and beyond the URALS and chase STALIN into SIBERIA. I asked when approximately this was to be, and he said it was intended that the attack should start in about May of next year. I next observed that I gathered from what he said that they were quite determined on attacking the SOVIET, and the thing I should like done as soon as possible was the creation of air communications between MANCHURIA and GERMANY. He replied that the Germans had been thinking of this for some time past, and he thought that next Summer it would not be impossible to fly in one hop from somewhere hear the URALS to MANCHURIA. 3. I asked about plans for an attack on BRITAIN. He said that before the landing in BRITAIN they would chase British influence clean out of the NEAR EAST, AFRICA, GIBRALTAR and the MEDITERRANEAN. I gather from this statement by RIBBENTROP that they attach even more importance than before to this area. I asked if they intended to carry on without attacking the BRITISH ISLES. RIBBENTROP said that GERMANY was of course making preparations for this, but according to reports reaching GERMANY the internal situation in BRITAIN was not any too good. For instance the split in the Conservative Party, the lack of confidence in CHURCHILL, and the revolutionary ideas of BEVIN, the Labour leader, were making internal conditions quite difficult. There were of course some people who did not believe this: but the Fuehrer believed that conditions in BRITAIN were bad and thought that as a result of GERMANY's future operations, even, it might be, without an invasion, BRITAIN would be beaten. In any case, however, GERMANY for her part had no intention whatever of making peace with ENGLAND, and the plan was to drive British influence out of EUROPE entirely. After the War, therefore, BRITAIN would be left absolutely powerless, and although the BRITSH ISLES would remain, all other British territory would be split up into three under GERMANY, ITALY and JAPAN. In AFRICA, GERMANY would, generally speaking, be satisfied with her old colonies and would give a great part to ITALY. It was, he said, to obtaining . . . . (corrupt transcript) . . . . that GERMANY attached the most importance. 4. Remarking in conclusion that the very satisfactory progress of the War under Germany leadership was fully recognized and that GERMANY naturally had to extend the area of operations by regarding as enemies not only BRITAIN but also countries under British influence and those helping BRITAIN. I asked him when he thought the war would end. To this he replied that, although he hoped it would be brought to a conclusion in the course of next year, it might possibly continue till the following year. He also said that if JAPAN were to go to war with AMERICA, GERMANY would, of course, join in immediately, and Hitler's intention was that there should be absolutely no question of GERMANY making a separate peace with ENGLAND. At the end of the talk RIBBENTROP asked that the substance of it should be kept strictly secret, so please pay special attention to its handling. This telegram has been given to the Naval and Military Attaches and to Vice-Admiral NOMURA and Major-General ABE. Please have it shown to the Army and Navy.

Tokyo to Honolulu: "We have been receiving reports from you on ship movements, but in the future will you also report even when there are no movements."

Tokyo to Washington:

We wish you would make one more attempt verbally along the following lines: The United States Government has . . . . taken a fair and judicial position and has formulated its policies after full consideration of the claims of both sides. However, the Imperial Government is at a loss to understand why it has now taken the attitude that the new proposals we have made cannot be made the basis of discussion, but instead has made new proposals which ignore actual conditions in East Asia and would greatly injure the prestige of the Imperial Government. With such a change in front in their attitude toward the China problem, what has become of the basic objectives that the US Government has made the basis of our negotiations during these seven months? On these points we would request careful self-reflection on the part of the United States government. (In carrying out this instruction, please be careful that this does not lead to anything like a breaking off of negotiations.

1942 World War II: Rationing: Americans react to yesterday's shocking news from the Office of Price Administration (OPA) that coffee will be rationed. Rationing had begun as a voluntary crusade. With almost 90 percent of US rubber imports cut off by the Japanese capture of the Dutch East Indies and Malaya, the federal government faced the first of many resource crises. President Roosevelt launched a successful scrap-rubber drive, urging Americans to gather "old tires, old rubber raincoats . . . . whatever you have that is made of rubber." Before long, rationing was extended to gasoline and, soon thereafter, food items. About one-third of civilian food items were rationed during the war. Latin American coffee producers exported record shipments during the war years. But shipping demands, as well as increased consumption by civilians and members of the armed forces, led the OPA to issue coffee rationing stamps.

1943 World War II FDR to Stalin:

I would like to arrange with you at this time for the exchange of information and for preliminary planning as may be appropriate under the present conditions for eventual operations against Japan when Germany has been eliminated from the war . . . . it is our opinion that the bombing of Japan from your Maritime Provinces, immediately following the beginning of hostilities between the USSR and Japan, will be of utmost importance, as it will enable us to destroy Japanese military and industrial centers . . . . Our objective is to base the maximum bomber force possible, anywhere from 100 to 1,000 four-engine bombers, with their maintenance and operating crews in that area . . . . We would of course meet any conditions you might prescribe in this regard. If the above arrangements are worked out now, I am convinced that the time of employment of our bombers against Japan will be materially advanced.

1944 World War II: Albania is liberated from Nazi control.

1945 Various:

Yugoslavia is proclaimed a Federal People's Republic under the leadership of Tito.

Nuremberg Tribunal: Eighth Day: Continuation of Sidney Alderman's Presentation on Aggressive War.

1947 Palestine:

The United Nations General Assembly voted to approve the Partition Plan for Palestine, a plan to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict in the British Mandate of Palestine by separating the territory into Jewish and Arab states.

1950 Chinese overwhelm Allies in North Korea: Three weeks after U.S. General Douglas MacArthur first reported Chinese communist troops in action in North Korea, U.S.-led U.N. troops begin a desperate retreat out of North Korea under heavy fire from the Chinese. [For further details, Click here.]

1952 Eisenhower goes to Korea:

Making good on his most dramatic presidential campaign promise, newly elected Dwight D. Eisenhower goes to Korea to see whether he can find the key to ending the bitter and frustrating Korean War. [For further information, click here]

1989 Czechoslovakia: In response to a growing pro-democracy movement, the Communist-run parliament ends the party's 40-year monopoly on power. (AP)

1996 A U.N. court sentences Bosnian Serb army soldier Drazen Erdemovic to 10 years in prison for his role in the massacre of 1,200 Muslims—the first international war crimes sentence since World War II.

Edited by Levi Bookin (Copy editor)
levi.bookin@gmail.com

 


 







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