Category Archives: Inter War

THE INTER-WAR PERIOD 1921

THE INTER-WAR PERIOD 1921

In February 1921, and already highly effective at crowd manipulation, Adolf Hitler spoke to a crowd of over 6,000 people. To publicise the meeting, two truckloads of party supporters drove around Munich waving swastika flags and distributing leaflets. Hitler soon gained a reputation for his rowdy speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians and especially against Marxists and Jews.
The Peace of Riga (also known as the Treaty of Riga) was signed in Riga on the 18th March 1921, between Poland, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish – Soviet War. The treaty established the Polish – Soviet borders until the Second World War where they were later redrawn during the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences.
In June 1921, while Adolf Hitler and Dietrich Eckart were on a fundraising trip to Berlin, a mutiny broke out within the NSDAP in Munich. Hitler and Eckart had met in 1919. Members of its executive committee wanted to merge with the rival German Social Party (DSP). Hitler returned to Munich on the 11th July 1921 and angrily tendered his resignation. However, he announced he would re-join on the condition that he would replace Anton Drexler as party chairman, and that the party would remain in Munich. Drexler was the Party Chairman who had encouraged Hitler to join the party in 1919. The committee agreed, and he re-joined the party on the 26th July 1921. In the following days, Hitler spoke to several packed houses using all his oratorical skills gaining thunderous applause. His strategy proved successful, and at a special party congress on the 29th July 1921, he was granted absolute powers as party chairman, replacing Drexler by a vote of 533 to 1. Hitler’s vitriolic beer hall speeches began to attracting regular audiences. He became adept at using populist themes and used his personal magnetism and an understanding of crowd psychology to his advantage while engaged in public speaking. Early followers included Rudolf Hess, former air force ace Hermann Göring, and army captain Ernst Röhm. Röhm became head of the Nazis’ paramilitary organisation, the (SA ”Stormtroopers”), which protected meetings and attacked political opponents. The group, financed with funds channelled from wealthy industrialists, introduced Hitler to the idea of a Jewish conspiracy, linking international finance with Bolshevism.
The U.S./German and the U.S/Austrian Peace Treaty were both signed on the 25th August 1921, marking the formal end of war between the two states and the USA. These treaties were signed because the USA had not ratified the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-German.
On the 29th August 1921, the U.S./Hungarian Peace Treaty was signed marking the formal end of the state of war between the two states. The United States had not ratified the Treaty of Trianon hence the separate peace treaty.

———————————————–

THE INTER- WAR PERIOD 1920

THE INTER- WAR PERIOD 1920

Set up on the 10th January 1920, the Free City of Danzig was a self-governing city-state and a port on the Baltic Sea. Danzig was under the protection of the League of Nations with special rights reserved for Poland, as it was the only port in the Polish Corridor. The Free City was occupied and annexed by Nazi Germany in 1939 when it ceased to exist. After Germany’s defeat in 1945 Danzig was occupied and annexed by Poland under the Polish name of Gdansk.
On the 21st January 1920, the Paris Peace Conference came to an end with the inaugural General Assembly of the League of Nations. Although one of the victors of the Great War, the United States of America never joined the League.
On the 13th March 1920 the failed Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch attempted to overthrow the Weimar Republic and establish a German right-wing government. Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz led the coup which took place in Berlin and was supported by parts of the military. Their argument being that the brave efforts of the undefeated German military had been “stabbed-in-the-back” by civilians at home. The government was forced to flee the city for Munich, then called upon the German citizens to join a general strike. Most civil servants refused to cooperate with Kapp and his allies, who in the meantime had set up an intermediate government in Berlin. However, the majority of the working class participated in the general strike. With the country paralysed, Kapp and Lüttwitz were unable to govern in Berlin, as all communications were by courier between the loyal military units. When proclamations asking the workers to return to work, and promises of new elections were ignored, the putsch collapsed on the 17th March 1920. Using passports supplied by supporters in the police Kapp fled to Sweden and Lüttwitz fled to Hungary in April 1920.
Adolf Hitler was discharged from the army on the 31st March 1920 and began working full-time for the NSDAP. The party headquarters was in Munich, which was a hotbed of anti-government German nationalists determined to crush Marxism and undermine the Weirmar Republic.
The 1920 Iraqi Revolt started in May 1920 with mass demonstrations against the British occupation of Iraq. The revolt gained momentum when it spread to the largely tribal Shia regions of the middle and lower Euphrates. Sunni and Shia religious communities together with tribal urban masses and Iraqi officers in Syria cooperated in the revolution. The object of the revolution was for the creation of an Arab government and independence from. British rule. Although the revolt achieved some initial success, the revolt was largely over by the end of October 1920 after the British had forced the rebels to surrender when the rebels had run out of supplies and funding.
Hungary signed the Treaty of Trianon with the Allied Powers in Paris on the 4th June 1920. The Allies dictated the terms of the treaty which was forced on Hungary rather than negotiated. The Hungarian delegation had no option but to accept the terms and signed the treaty under protest, which was registered with the League of Nations on the 24th August 1920.
In Paris on the 10th August 1920, Turkey signed the Treaty of Sèvres with the Allied Powers. The United States did not sign as they had never declared war on Turkey. The terms imposed on Turkey were equally as harsh as the Treaty of Versailles was on Germany in 1919. The treaty portioned the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish armed forces were reduced in size. Greece did not accept the borders as drawn up in the treaty and did not sign. The Treaty of Sèvres was annulled in the course of the Turkish War of Independence and the parties signed and ratified the superseding Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
On the 20th October 1920, a Polish mutiny led by Lucjan Zeligowski (known as Zeligowski’s Mutiny) was a Polish military operation resulting in the creation of the Republic of Central Lithuania. Without the official support from the Polish state, Jozef Pilsudski the Polish Chief of State, ordered the operation. The region of Vilnius was captured and annexed by Poland.
In America on the 2nd November 1920, Franklin D. Roosevelt was defeated for the office of Vice President by Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge. This was the first election in America since the end of the Great War in 1918. Democratic President Woodrow Wilson had hoped for a third term in office but party leaders were unwilling to re-nominate the unpopular president. Wilson was unpopular in the USA as he had failed to keep America out of the Great War. The wartime boom had collapsed and politicians were arguing over the various peace treaties and the question of America’s entry into the League of Nations. James M. Cox was the Democratic nominee for the presidency with Roosevelt as his running mate for Vice President. Cox was defeated by Republican Warren G. Harding as the 34th President of the USA. Coolidge would take over as president when Harding died in 1923, and Roosevelt would later win the 1932 presidential election.
————————————————-

THE HISTORY OF THE INTER-WAR YEARS 1919 to 1939

THE HISTORY OF THE INTER-WAR YEARS 1919 to 1939

Following the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on the 28th June 1919, France insisted Germany be held responsible for reparations as they were the instigators of the First World War. The relatively short period between November 1918 and September 1939 of the inter-war period brought about massive changes worldwide. The former Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and German Empires were dismantled. The Empires of Britain, France and others faced challenges as imperialism was increasingly viewed negatively in Europe. Independence movements in British India, French Vietnam, Ireland and other regions gathered momentum. Politically, communism and fascism came to the fore with the main perpetrators being Russia, China, Germany and Italy. Russia and China took the communist route, with Germany and Italy taking the fascist route.
Mechanisation expanded dramatically leading to economic prosperity and growth for the middle classes in North America, Europe and the populations of the developed world. The Great Depression of the late 1920s brought a collapse in world trade. Some economies were beginning to recover by the early 1930s.
In Italy during 1919, Benito Mussolini created the Fascist Party by organising several right-wing groups into a single force. He became Prime Minister in 1922 and by 1925 he had made himself dictator taking the title ”Il Duce” (“the Leader”). In 1939 Italy and Germany signed a military alliance known as the “Pact of Steel”.
In Germany during 1923, France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr in order to compel Germany to increase its war reparation payments. This was to lead to massive inflation (stagflation) of the German economy and the value of the “mark” was destroyed. Adolf Hitler came to power in January 1933 and in August 1934 he became the Fuhrer of Germany and promoted a massive re-building project. He also started a re-armament campaign. His territorial ambitions led to the annexing of the surrounding countries which set the stage for the subsequently Second World War.
Following the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924, communism in Russia began to be a major force when Joseph Stalin became the uncontested leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin was to remain the leader until his death in March 1953. Communism in China began in 1921. The 1900 Boxer Rebellion and the subsequent Great Revolution of 1914 to 1918, led to the civil war between the government of the Republic of China and the Communist Party of China, which began in August 1927.
In civilian life the “Roaring Twenties” highlighted novel and highly visible social and cultural trends and innovations. These trends, made possible by sustained economic prosperity, were most visible in major cities like New York, Chicago, Paris, Berlin and London. The Jazz Age began and Art Deco was at its peak. For women, knee-length skirts and dresses became socially acceptable, as did bobbed hair. The women who pioneered these trends were frequently referred to as flappers.
The Great Depression began in October 1929 following the Wall Street Crash which was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States. The crash affected all Western industrialised countries for the following ten years. Effectively the depression ended after America entered the Second World War in 1941, when many unemployed people were drafted into the war effort either through the military or manufacturing services. The classic property trading board game “Monopoly” was invented in America during the Great Depression. The object of the game is about dealing in big money and getting rich quickly.

War Diary of AA Laporte Payne Sept 1919.

War Diary of AA Laporte Payne Sept 1919.

EXTRACTED FROM.

Brigade Diary, Personal Diary, Operation Orders, Note Books, Memoranda
Correspondence
—————–
Saturday September 6 1919
No. 19 Camp
Kinmel Park
Rhyl
After a long and tiring journey I have arrived in England with the Battery. We came home via Duren, Aachen, Lille, Armentieres, Calais, Dover, Rochester, London, Birmingham, Crewe, Rhyl.

There are two divisions here, and the camp is large and crowded. It took us five days to get here.

September 17 1919
D/76th (Army) Brigade R.F.A.
Kinmel Park Camp

I am expecting to leave here on Friday or Saturday. It has been a bit of a struggle to account for everything and demobilize the men, but it is nearly over now. The camp is very empty, and the remnant departs on Friday. It is sad as the Brigade has been an excellent one with many excellent fellows in it. This is the third unit I have broken up, and the best.

There are no further entries in the War Diary.

War Diary of AA Laporte Payne Aug 1919

War Diary of AA Laporte Payne Aug 1919

EXTRACTED FROM.

Brigade Diary, Personal Diary, Operation Orders, Note Books, Memoranda
Correspondence
—————–
E.A.L.P. Sunday August 3 1919.

The weather is awful, and is hindering our tennis and other occupations.

We are still trying to educate the men, much against their will. I take history and literature classes in the afternoons. Other classes are in mathematics, geography, dictation, agriculture and motor mechanics, taken by the subalterns and the padre.

One of our men, who went on leave on the 25th July, has been found dead in Box tunnel near Bath in mysterious circumstances. He lived at Bristol. Foul play is suspected.

I have just come back from the Cavalry Division Races. The wives of English Officers are beginning to appear now.

One wife caused amusement. She arrived with a mere captain then she was seen with a staff captain, and later with a cavalry staff major. Bets were made on the height she would attain to. Then she appeared with a full blown Brigadier, and finally, glory of glories, she was seen walking in the paddock with no less a divinity than the Commander-in-Chief himself. Hubby, poor man, was left a long way behind.

I got five prizes in the Divisional Horse Show. Tomorrow we have two horses jumping in the Rhine Army Horse Show.

The Boche are having a dance in the village today. I stopped it last week.

Tomorrow we are celebrating the 4th August. The men are having a whole holiday with cricket in the afternoon, and a concert party coming in the evening. In the officers’ mess we are having 15 guests to dinner, including 4 girls from the educational centre at Euskirchen.

We had Lena Ashwell’s Concert Party here the other day. It was the first time I had seen them.

E.A.L.P. August 11 1919

The weather is lovely now. Horse shows continue. Two of our horses got as far as the Army of the Rhine show. One was my grey charger.

Our dinner party was a great success. Of the four girls who honoured us, two were Y.M.C.A. librarians, and two Educationalists, who had been at Cambridge.

I drove a party of seven home at 1 a.m. It was quite dark and we had no lamps.

I went to Cologne by car yesterday. I hope to go to Trier in a day or so.

The officers and N.C.Os were defeated by the battery by 20 runs.

One of my subalterns has gone to India, another is on a course at Oxford, and a third is on leave, so we are short handed.

August 26 1919
Klein Vernich
We are now in the midst of packing and winding up here.

I actually move from here on Sept. 3rd, but I do not expect to cross until some days later. The accumulation of stuff is enormous, and I shall have to lose a lot of it. now we spend our time checking stores, doing accounts, and rendering returns. I have sent most of the equipment away already. The horses go tomorrow. I am remaining behind with most of the men for a few days. We rejoin at Calais.

Letter of dismissal from Women’s Legion Drivers 29 August 1919

Letter of dismissal from Women’s Legion Drivers 29 August 1919

To Miss L. Dillon

Please take notice that owing to demobilisation of Womens Legion Drivers your services will not be required after September 29th 1919

S.M. Knight
Superintendent
Women’s Legion
In circular stamp: M.T. RECEPTION & TRAINING AREA. O.H. ELTHAM RD., LEE, S.E. 29 AUG 1919

War Diary of AA Laporte Payne 26 Aug 1919

War Diary of AA Laporte Payne 26 Aug 1919

EXTRACTED FROM.

Brigade Diary, Personal Diary, Operation Orders, Note Books, Memoranda
Correspondence
—————–
August 26 1919
Klein Vernich
We are now in the midst of packing and winding up here.

I actually move from here on Sept. 3rd, but I do not expect to cross until some days later. The accumulation of stuff is enormous, and I shall have to lose a lot of it. now we spend our time checking stores, doing accounts, and rendering returns. I have sent most of the equipment away already. The horses go tomorrow. I am remaining behind with most of the men for a few days. We rejoin at Calais.

Letter to Miss Dillon 4 August 1919

Letter to Miss Dillon 4 August 1919

G.S. “I”
G.H.Q.
Constantinople,
4th August 1919

My dearest Lillie,
I am sending in my application for demobilisation to-day. With any luck I may start back in about a fortnight and get to London some time in September. I went to see Alexander’s tomb on Saturday. It is a wonderful piece of work and is still in perfect condition. It is 400 years B.C. It is of coloured marble. Yesterday I went to Floria for the day and bathed and then had tea the San Stefano where the 17th Air Squadron have their mess. I am going to have another try for the flight to Bucharest as soon as my demobilisation has come through. They will hardly refuse it then. I have come to the conclusion that this is really a wonderfully beautiful place now that I feel I am going away. After all one does not leave any place without regrets. I have seen Huns almost in tears at leaving Donnington Hall.
I am going to see the Sultan on Friday. I had a letter from Bucharest this morning. The Military Mission in Roumania is going home about the 1st Sept so there is no object in my staying out here any longer.
A man who got into the F.O. last Spring has just been sent to the Legation at Bucharest as 3rd Secretary. Of course he did not know a word of Roumanian.
That is how things are done!
If this reaches you before Anna has left on her honey moon give them my love and best wishes again. I wrote to her a couple of days ago.
Best love to you & Anna
from Willie

I am going to live at Morda on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus to-day. It will be very pleasant and the Mess is a very comfortable house with tennis, bathing &c.

With cover On His Majesty’s Service to Miss de C. Dillon, M.T. RASC., No 1 Reserve Depot, Grove Park, Lee. London S.E. 12.

Postmarked ARMY POST OFFICE SY4 dated 6 AU 19 and stamped PASSED BY CENSOR 382. Signed W. Dillon Lieut.

Gerald Benham’s notes from diaries July various years

Gerald Benham’s notes from diaries

6 July 1914. Moved to 8 Hospital Road.

30 July 1915. Brian christened.

14 July 1916. The King inspected us (& other units) at Frinton.
24 July 1916 Farewell smoking concert for N.C.O.’s & a large draft.
25 July 1916 Col Bulter seen by Lord Shaftesbury & told he would not accept Major Lyle as 2nd in C & that he was to put my name forward.
30 July 1916 “ Saw draft off from Colchester Station

7 July 1917 Saw a number of German planes to their way to LONDON.

17 July 1918 On way to railhead had a nasty accident to my ribs by a door slamming
In to them. Spent night in hospital.
18 July 1918 Ordered by A.Q.M.G. Div to report to 11 Essex H.Q. Arrived at horse lines & met Maj & Q.M. Roberts.
26 July 1918 Saw Vernon Pebudy in his dug out
27 July 1918 Moved off to front line at night. Felt very bilious & much pain in ribs.

War Diary of AA Laporte Payne July 1919

War Diary of AA Laporte Payne July 1919

EXTRACTED FROM.

Brigade Diary, Personal Diary, Operation Orders, Note Books, Memoranda
Correspondence
—————–

July 10, 1919
D/76 Bde., R.F.A.
I have just returned from Wiesbaden and a trip up the Rhine, which I much enjoyed. I went with the Adjutant. We occupy ourselves with sports, horse shows, races and dinners. I had five dinners in one week. We gave one to the officers of the Brigade the other day, and it was a great success. Tomorrow I go to Cologne for three days.

We were inspected the other day by the Army Artillery Commander.

My companion for so many months now, Captain Prior, has left us. He is a regular and has been transferred to England preparatory to going out East. I heard from Colonel Congreve the other day. He has been reduced to the rank of Major and posted to command a battery in Ireland. He does not seem to like it much.

So peace has been signed at last. It has made no difference to us here. The politicians seem to have made a good mess of it. The Boche are just the same as ever. They will not change. They say that they will never pay the indemnity, and that there will be another war in ten or fifteen years. I should not be at all surprised, for they are filled with thoughts of revenge. They will always hate the French, and the French know it. A German of intelligence, and considerable local importance to whom I spoke the other day, asked me this question. “If you had lost the war, would you have acquiesced?” I replied, “No, I suppose not.” At which he smiled and said, “Neither shall we.” Well there have always been wars on this frontier ever since the Romans had their German frontiers problems and I suppose it will go on.

July 10 and 12 1919

June Meeting
To be held on the Race Course
On July 10 & 12, 1919

First Race 14.00 hours each day.
1st Race. General Officers Inter-Corps Hurdle Race, open to teams of three officers not below the rank of Brigadier-General.

2nd Race. Maiden Plate, open to Infantry, R.E. and R.A.M.C.

3rd Rhineland Steeple-Chase. Winner 1500 marks.
Horses of the Allied Armies.

4th Robertson Plate. 2000 marks. Horses of Allied Armies ridden by officers.

etc

Second Day

2nd Race Allied Steeple-Chase. Allied Armies.
3rd The Cologne Plate. Horses of Army of the Rhine.
5th Victory Plate, Horses of Allied Armies.

July 22 1919.
Klein Vernich
The weather has been very bad here lately. We have made a tennis court, which plays quite fairly well. It has taken a lot of making, but the servants have done splendidly. It is in a meadow, and after daily rolling with a horse and roller, much levelling and cutting it is in fair order, but it now rains. However we are hoping to have some games soon.

Tomorrow is our Divisional Horse Show. Our Battery has 15 entries, a show team of six grey horses and gun, show driving, jumping, chargers, polo ponies etc. The men have worked well, and the harness and vehicles look splendid.

We have just had some races and are looking forward to some more.

I spent Peace Day as follows. I got up at 6 a.m. and then drove in a car through Euskirchen to Bonn, where I saw a large number of our men on board a pleasure steamer, which went up the Rhine. As the trip takes six hours against the stream I did not go. Instead I had a good look round Bonn, saw the University which I thought a nasty dirty place, and the students, disreputable and childish, the cathedral, and the Protestant Church. The gardens are rather good. I had breakfast at the Grand Hotel Royal, and visited the Officers’ Club, which is in a good place overlooking the Rhine.

About midday I took the train to Coblenz, had lunch and saw a good deal of the town which I did not much like. At 4 p.m. I met the boat with our fellows on board. We loaded up with cakes, cherries, gooseberries, and beer, and then we started on the return journey downstream, which only took two hours instead of six. It was well worth doing. We passed Andernach, Brohll, Sinzig, Remagen, Drachenfels. But I must say I thought that the Rhine was much finer than it is.

We arrived back in Bonn about 6.30 p.m. The men under one of the officers returned direct to the battery by lorry, arriving home after 8, p.m. Another officer and I took the train from Bonn to Cologne by the river arriving at 7.15 p.m. Then we had dinner at the Officers’ Club. We left Cologne at 9.50, p.m. and arrived at our home by train at 11 p.m. The total cost to me was Breakfast, 7 marks; lunch 9 marks; tea 5 marks; dinner 12 marks, total about ten shillings in all. I had nothing to pay for the car, railway journey or steamer trip.

I very nearly went on the Victory March in Paris. But in the end no officer went from the Brigade. the English contingent was very much cut down.

I have also visited Wiesbaden and Maintz. I must go to Trier now. I was offered a trip with the Polish troops through Germany the other day, through to Poland and home by Vienna but I could not get away.

THURSDAY JULY 24 1919

MIDLAND DIVISION
HORSE SHOW.

Romerhof Race Course, near Lechenich.

D/76 Bde put in 20 entries, won five prizes:
O.R.’s Jumping. 2nd
Pair of wheel horses in harness.
Champion L.D. Horse 2nd.
Pair Lead Horses in Harness.
W.O’s & N.C.O’s Horse under 15 hands.

E.A.L.P. Sunday August 3 1919.

The weather is awful, and is hindering our tennis and other occupations.

We are still trying to educate the men, much against their will. I take history and literature classes in the afternoons. Other classes are in mathematics, geography, dictation, agriculture and motor mechanics, taken by the subalterns and the padre.

One of our men, who went on leave on the 25th July, has been found dead in Box tunnel near Bath in mysterious circumstances. He lived at Bristol. Foul play is suspected.

I have just come back from the Cavalry Division Races. The wives of English Officers are beginning to appear now.

One wife caused amusement. She arrived with a mere captain then she was seen with a staff captain, and later with a cavalry staff major. Bets were made on the height she would attain to. Then she appeared with a full blown Brigadier, and finally, glory of glories, she was seen walking in the paddock with no less a divinity than the Commander-in-Chief himself. Hubby, poor man, was left a long way behind.

I got five prizes in the Divisional Horse Show. Tomorrow we have two horses jumping in the Rhine Army Horse Show.

The Boche are having a dance in the village today. I stopped it last week.

Tomorrow we are celebrating the 4th August. The men are having a whole holiday with cricket in the afternoon, and a concert party coming in the evening. In the officers’ mess we are having 15 guests to dinner, including 4 girls from the educational centre at Euskirchen.

We had Lena Ashwell’s Concert Party here the other day. It was the first time I had seen them.