1925 | Political Events
Political Events
Former German chancellor Gustav Stresemann initiates a move toward rapprochement with a note written February 9 and makes arrangements to meet with French and British foreign ministers at the Swiss city of Locarno. The first president of the German Reich Friedrich Ebert dies at Berlin February 28 at age 53 after 6 years of fighting left- and right-wing extremists, the 77-year-old war hero Paul von Hindenburg wins election to replace Ebert despite vigorous opposition from Gustav Stresemann; his margin of victory is only 904,000 votes.
An arms traffic convention signed June 17 governs international trade in arms and munitions. The Geneva Protocol signed that day pledges signatory nations to renounce first use of biological and chemical agents in warfare but does not bar them from stockpiling such weapons or selling them to others (see chlorine, 1915; mustard gas, 1917). Japan refuses to sign (see Unit 731, 1936; Biological Weapons Convention, 1972; Chemical Weapons Convention, 1993). Britain's Conservative government rejects a Geneva protocol for the peaceful settlements of international disputes. Czechoslovakia's Eduard Benes and Greece's Nicolaos Sokrates Polites have drafted the protocol, but it has met with opposition from the Dominion governments such as that of Canada's Raoul Dandurand, who has said, "We live in a fireproof house, far from inflammable materials."
Aircraft designer Ernst Heinkel designs the first airplane catapult (see 1921). He has been working in secret for the Japanese Imperial Navy, his device is mounted on the battleship Nagato, and the Japanese use it to launch his He-26, built with an engine purchased from the British-owned firm Napier-Lion (see transportation, 1939).
The first part of Mein Kampf (My Struggle) by Adolf Hitler appears in the fall as the German political agitator recruits more followers, having been released from prison early in the year (see beer hall putsch, 1923). Hitler has dictated the book while under confinement to his Alexandria-born aide (Walter Richard) Rudolf Hess, 31, who was seriously injured at Verdun in August 1917. Hitler has met Rhenish-born National Socialist Party propaganda editor Joseph (Paul) Goebbels, 27, during the summer, Goebbels (who has a doctorate in literature from Heidelberg) has allegedly advised him, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it," and Hitler will complete his book in 1927, saying, "The great masses of the people . . . will more easily fall victims to a great lie than to a small one" (see 1926; Hitler, 1927).
The Locarno Conference of October 5 to 16 results in the Locarno Treaty signed December 1 to guarantee Franco-German and Belgo-German frontiers by mutual agreement, by arbitration treaties between World War antagonists, and by mutual assistance treaties that give Europe some sense of security. Political theorist and legal expert Hugo Preuss has died at his native Berlin October 9 at age 64 while Gustav Stresemann, Aristide Briand, and British foreign secretary (Joseph) Austen Chamberlain, 62, were negotiating the treaty. Stresemann has broadcast an address November 3, telling his fellow Germans, "Locarno may be interpreted as signifying that the states of Europe at last realize that they cannot go on making war upon each other without being involved in common ruin." Chamberlain receives the Nobel peace prize; Briand and Stresemann will share the prize next year.
Former French Army commander Gen. Charles Lanrezac dies at Neuilly-sur-Seine January 18 at age 72. A new government takes office at Paris April 17 with former premier Paul Painlévy as premier once again (see 1917). He lost last year's presidential election to Gaston Domergue but has been appointed to his old position and heads the cabinet until November 22. France recognizes that Germany has not bound herself against aggression to the south and east, her alliances are faltering, and her leaders worry about German aggression (see Maginot Line, 1929).
The Soviet news agency announces January 23 that former Russian general (and governor of Turkestan) Alexei N. Kuropatkin has died at age 76 in the Pakov district town of Shemshurini; Josef Stalin dismisses Leon Trotsky from his position as people's commissar for war in January and replaces him with Mikhail V. Frunze, who dies at Moscow October 31 at age 40, having introduced compulsory military service and standardized military drills, formations, and uniforms; Soviet authorities catch spy Sidney Reilly, who has claimed that he once persuaded the British mission to Moscow to finance a scheme to destroy the Bolsheviks by parading Lenin and Trotsky without their trousers through the streets of Moscow (see 1918). Executed November 25 at age 51, Reilly had become a legend.
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan become Soviet Socialist republics.
Finland's president Kaarlo Stahlberg decides not to run for reelection and is succeeded by the Agrarian Party candidate Lauri Kristian Relander (see 1919; 1926).
Former British foreign secretary and viceroy of India George N. Curzon, Marquis Curzon of Keddleston, dies at London March 20 at age 66; former British Expeditionary Force commander Sir John French, earl of Ypres, at Deal, Kent, May 22 at age 72.
Norway annexes the fisheries-rich island of Spitsbergen August 14 under the terms of a 1920 treaty.
A new Federal Corrupt Practices Act passed by Congress February 28 makes it "unlawful for any national bank, or any corporation . . . to make a contribution or expenditure in connection with any election to any political office" (see 1910) act, but the new law permits an individual donor to give up to $5,000 to a political campaign committee and places no limit on the number of committees that may receive such contributions (see Hatch Act, 1939).
Civil War general and Indian fighter Nelson A. Miles dies at Washington, D.C., May 15 at age 85; Sen. Robert M. "Fighting Bob" La Follette (R. Wis.) at Washington, D.C., June 18 at age 70.
A U.S. Navy seaplane goes down on a nonstop flight from San Francisco to Hawaii September 1 and its pilot is lost. The 2-year-old U.S. Navy rigid airship Shenandoah is lost in a storm over southeastern Ohio September 4 while on a goodwill mission, killing its captain and 14 crew members. Col. William "Billy" Mitchell issues a 6,000-word statement from Texas denouncing U.S. military leaders for "criminal negligence" in paying so little attention to the safety of airmen and failing to see the potential of air power (see 1921). Charged with insubordination, he goes on trial before a court martial at Washington, D.C., October 28; the hearing continues for 7 weeks; Mitchell stands by his statement; and the board finds him guilty, suspending him from rank and command, and sentencing him to forfeiture of pay and allowances for 5 years. President Coolidge approves the verdict but allows Mitchell full subsistence and half pay. Mitchell refuses to be "an object of government charity," and he resigns from the army effective February 1 of next year (see 1926).
Former British colonial administrator Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner of St. James's and Cape Town, dies at Sturry Court outside Canterbury May 13 at age 71; former British colonial administrator Sir George Goldie at London August 20 at age 79, having destroyed his papers and pronounced a curse on any of his children who presumed to write about him after his death. Goldie's work to develop northern Nigeria was in some ways equal to that of the late Cecil Rhodes elsewhere in Africa, but he did not share Rhodes's flamboyance.
Britain declares Cyprus a crown colony (see 1914; 1960).
Former Spanish prime minister Antonio Maura dies at Torrelodones December 13 at age 72.
Syria is created January 1 by a union of Damascus and Aleppo with French general Maurice Sarrail, 69, as high commissioner (see 1922). A People's Party organized February 9 demands unity of Syrian states and independence. A great insurrection of the Druse (Druze) against French rule in Lebanon begins July 18 following the arrest and detention of Druse notables who had been invited by Gen. Sarrail to a conference at Damascus. The French show favoritism toward Christians, say the Druse leaders; their secretive, monotheistic religious sect has survived since the early 11th century despite the fact that it permits no conversion and no intermarriage. Druse members speak a form of Farsi, and their forces soon control the countryside, spreading into Syria. Damascus rises October 14 at the sight of rebel corpses, the French withdraw from the city, French cannon bombard Damascus October 18 and 19, tank and air attacks follow. Henri de Jouvenal is appointed high commissioner November 6, but the unrest continues (see 1926).
Persia's majlis gives Reza Khan Pahlevi dictatorial powers in February, and it declares Ahmad Shah deposed October 31 while he is away in Paris, ending the Kajar dynasty that has ruled since 1795 (see 1924); Reza Khan has ruled the country as prime minister since October 1923, the assembly proclaims him shah December 13, and Reza Shah Pahlevi begins a reign that will continue until he abdicates in 1941.
Japan adopts universal male suffrage after a 10-year campaign by former minister of justice Yukio Ozaki, now 66, who continues to fight for democratic principles and has the support of Prime Minister Kato.
China's republican leader Sun Yat-Sen dies of cancer at Beijing (Peking) March 12 at age 57. Sun's Guomindang (Kuomintang) army controls Guangzhou (Canton) and surrounding areas. Students at Shanghai demonstrate against "unequal treaties" May 30 until British forces open fire to disperse the demonstrators. Guangzhou has similar demonstrations June 23, and China boycotts British goods and shipping. The Guomindang appoints Gen. Chiang Kai-shek, 39, commander in chief in September (he has been training at Moscow), Chiang makes a Soviet general his unofficial chief of staff, and by year's end he has defeated Sun's opponent Chen Jiong-ming (Chen Chiung-ming), 50, bringing Gwangdong and Gwangxi provinces under Guomindang control (see 1924; 1926). Japan has recognized the USSR January 20 and agreed to return the northern part of Sakhalin Island. U.S. forces have landed at Shanghai January 15 to protect American nationals in the violence occasioned by factional disputes; they remain until March 12.
British police at Shanghai fire on labor demonstrators May 30 after a series of strikes and the largest anti-foreign demonstration yet seen in China. Workers at a Japanese-owned cotton mill have on May 15 sent a delegation of eight people to negotiate with management; a melee has ensued in which one worker was killed and the other seven wounded, and the foreign-controlled Shanghai Municipal Council arrests several of the workers for disturbing the peace but takes no action against the Japanese who opened fire on them. Students join with the workers in protesting the patent injustice, the police open fire, 13 demonstrators are killed, many more are wounded, and the incident plays into the hands of Chinese communists, who use it to fan anti-imperialist sentiment and increase their membership to more than 20,000. Merchants and workers throughout the country organize strikes and boycotts aimed at British and Japanese factories and goods; they will continue for 7 months until the British dismiss the police officials responsible and indemnify the families of the dead and wounded.
New Zealand's prime minister William F. Massey dies at Wellington May 10 after a 13-year ministry in which he has supported agrarian interests, resisted left-wing movements, and tried in recent years to maintain order at a time of rural and urban unrest produced by rising prices.
French authorities in Vietnam seize nationalist Phan Boi Chau in June and take him to Hanoi, but hundreds of Vietnamese protest, the French pardon him, and although they offer him a civil service position he refuses (see 1912). Vietnam's puppet emperor Khai Dinh dies at Hue November 6 at age 40 after a 9-year reign in which he has become the first reigning Vietnamese monarch to visit Europe; he has advocated an autonomous association with France, but nationalists have called him a traitor to his people. Khai Din will be succeeded in January of next year by his 12-year-old French-educated son Nguyen Vinh Thuy, who will reign under French control until 1945, taking the name Bao Dai (meaning Keeper of Greatness).
Indian independence leader Chittaranjan Das dies at Darjeeling June 16 at age 55, having championed national education, supported women's rights, and intercaste marriage; autonomy proponent Sir Surendranath Banerjea dies at Barrackpore, outside Calcutta, August 6 at age 74 after completing his autobiography, which is published under the title A Nation in the Making.
Siam's king Vajiravudh (Rama VI) dies without an heir at Bangkok November 26 at age 45 following abdominal surgery for an abscess. His wife has been devoted to radio (which is blamed for her being childless), he has divorced her in October and remarried in hopes of siring a son, but his second wife has just given birth to a daughter, and he is succeeded after a 15-year reign by the 32nd and last son of the late king Chulalongkorn (Rama V). Phra Pokklao (Prajadhipok), 31, has studied at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, England; he assumes the throne as Rama VII, but although convinced of the need to move his country toward democratic political reforms he will be restrained by older members of the royal family in a reign that will continue until 1935 (see 1932).