31-9-18 Manchurian Crisis

'31-9-18: Manchurian Crisis; Japanese forces bomb South Manchuria Railway - HiPo > .

The South Manchuria Railway had been controlled by Japan since the end of the Russo-Japanese War, but the relationship between the local Chinese population and the Japanese soldiers who guarded the line was tense. Following the onset of the Great Depression, some renegade members of the Japanese Kwantung Army believed that a conflict in the area would be beneficial for Japan.

Japanese troops detonated a small quantity of dynamite near the tracks at around 10.20pm on the evening of 18 September. The explosion caused such little damage to the railway line that a train was able to travel over the same section of track ten minutes later without any problems. Despite having carried out the explosion themselves, the Japanese blamed Chinese rebels for the blast. Within hours the resident Japanese forces had driven a nearby Chinese garrison from their barracks in apparent retaliation for the alleged attack.

Over the next few days the Japanese army took control of towns and cities along the entire railway line, acting independently of the government in Tokyo. The politicians, unable to rein in the army, eventually lent their support and sent additional troops to support the invasion.

The Chinese government appealed to the League of Nations for assistance, and the League promptly passed a resolution calling for the withdrawal of Japanese troops. Japan ignored the League, and ruled Manchuria as a puppet state.

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1932 Pecora Commission ..

1932 Pecora Commission

The Pecora Investigation was an inquiry begun on March 4, 1932, by the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency to investigate the causes of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The name refers to the fourth and final chief counsel for the investigation, Ferdinand Pecora. His exposure of abusive practices in the financial industry galvanized broad public support for stricter regulations. As a result, the U.S. Congress passed the Glass–Steagall Banking Act of 1933, the Securities Act of 1933, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

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1933-11-16 USA~USSR diplomatic relations ..

Prohibition, USA - 1920 - 1933 ..

1933-11-16 USA~USSR diplomatic relations

.16th November 1933: USA~USSR formal diplomatic relations - HiPo > .

The United States had broken off diplomatic relations with Russia shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Woodrow Wilson refused to recognise the new government due to its seizure of American property in Russia, alongside its refusal to pay back debts incurred by the Tsar or honour existing international treaties.

As the Bolshevik government consolidated its power in the Civil War, America remained concerned that the new Soviet Union was a threat to American values. Nevertheless the two countries maintained and expanded commercial links throughout the 1920s, with the Ford Motor Company even collaborating with the Soviet government to provide parts and establish the Gorky Automobile Plant.

Shortly after taking office in March 1933, President Roosevelt began to explore establishing formal diplomatic relations. Hoping to limit Japanese expansion in Asia and develop American commercial interests in the Soviet Union, he commissioned a survey that showed 63% of the public in favour of recognizing the USSR. Consequently he called on advisor Henry Morgenthau and Russian expert William C. Bullitt to initiate contact.

The following month the Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Maxim Litvinov, travelled to Washington to meet with Roosevelt. He agreed to religious and legal rights for U.S. citizens living in the Soviet Union, and promised not to aid the U.S. Communist Party. Meanwhile both sides agreed to return to the debt question in the future. Roosevelt announced the establishment of formal diplomatic relations with the USSR on 16 November, and appointed William C. Bullitt as the first Ambassador to the Soviet Union.