1920 At a Glance

Prohibition Takes Effect Tomorrow
After 12:01 AM Saturday, Not One Barrel of Intoxicating Liquor, Case of Wine, or Keg of Beer Can be Made.

Boston Herald Headline—January 15th, 1920

Mrs. Wilson,

What is most important now is that the President rest and stay away from the public eye as much as possible. This includes even members of Congress and the Senate, we cannot and must not let anyone in Washington know the true extent of his malady. It falls to you to do the business of the executive, to keep up appearances and to make sure nobody questions where the President is, or how bad off he actually is. I will return to Washington within the next few weeks and shall be able to help you safeguard the truth.

Yours,

Dr. Cary T. Grayson

-- Personal Letter

With President Wilson Secluded, Senate Debates Versailles Treaty for Final Time

Washington Post Headline – March 2nd, 1920

“The United States is the world's best hope, but if you fetter her in the interests and quarrels of other nations, if you tangle her in the intrigues of Europe, you will destroy her powerful good, and endanger her very existence. Leave her to march freely through the centuries to come, as in the years that have gone. Strong, generous, and confident, she has nobly served mankind. Beware how you trifle with your marvelous inheritance; this great land of ordered liberty. For if we stumble and fall, freedom and civilization everywhere will go down in ruin.”

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge on the Senate Floor – March 15th, 1920

Senate Defeats Treaty, League of Nations Membership Vote 49 to 35; Orders it Returned to the President

--New York Times Headline
March 19th, 1920

"The Secretary of the Senate is hereby instructed to return to the President the Treaty of Peace with Germany signed at Versailles on the twenty-eighth day of June, 1919, and respectfully inform the President that the Senate has failed to ratify said treaty, being unable to obtain the constitutional majority required therefor."

--Official Senate Resolution

Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος

Kingdom of Greece

"In the light of the recent events, we must stand strong. Anatolia is slowly falling and soon we shall crush our enemies, for our realm has seen much war. Men with great potential dying in hundreds. A horrifying thought. But for the sake of our great honor, for the sake of our country, a future - Greece shall emerge as a victor. But in the midst of chaotic battle, one in the field is not a warrior. And for that, unexpected as it may be, we have allies, friends, and a helping hand. Italy has agreed to assist us in the Greco-Turkish war and contribute to the war efforts.

Our country has echoed the cry of freedom and liberty for the Greek-speaking provinces of the Ottoman Empire, and even when they had slaughtered and massacred us, we shall not stoop to their level, we shall not commit atrocities, for we shall win cleanly, like true, chivalrous knights." - Speech by King Alexander in Central Athens.

Regno d'Italia

Kingdom of Italy

"Tonight, my fellow Italians, we start a new age, an age where the old world will rise again, an age where the lands of Greece and Italy, are reborn, an age of arts, an age of ANCIENTS. We, the people of Italy, have forged an alliance with the great Kingdom of Greece. We shall help them take Anatolia, a land that rightfully belongs to them, and was unfairly taken. We, the great people of Italy, with the help of Greece, shall save the Balkans from the menace known as the Ottoman Empire. The Greco-Turkish war shall end, not just with Greece standing tall, but with Greece and Italy standing tall, we the people of Italy, shall bring the ancients back onto the grand stage, we the people of Italy, show them the power of the ANCIENTS.

We shall never surrender, the Roman blood running through our veins is willing us to fight back against the monsters. I shall not rest, under the Ottoman Empire is destroyed or broken apart, I shall not rest until our Ally, Greece, is standing tall in the Balkans, forming the empire that they should be, we the people of Italy, promise you, the Greeks and Italians in the Ottoman Empire, a land safe from the Evil Ottoman menace, a land safe, from the darkness of the Ottomans. We promise you your rightful home!"
-Speech Made by The Great King of Italy Victor Emmanuel II in Rome.

WAR IN MONGOLIA - November 1919

"The Honorable General, Xu Shuzheng, has succeeded in the coup of the false government of Mongolia. Withdrawing from our great Republic nearly ten years ago, the Northwestern Frontier Defense Army was finally able to bring the great northern state back under Chinese control. Minister Duan Qirui, commander of the National Pacification Army, had this to say: 'My faithful Lieutenant, Xu Shuzheng, has brought a great pride to China with his victory. We here in Beijing hope that the reunification process of the old empire will soon be finished, and China will resume its place as the world leader it once was.'" - Article from the Shen Bao, November 1919

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Xu Zongtong (President Xu),

I write to you today to place into your thoughts as you prepare to announce to the world our success in Mongolia, that you consider the greater implications of our actions. Our education system, a subject that has recently taken a back seat in discussions in the council of executives, is failing. It is with great sorrow that I point out that, whilst you read this letter, you are one of the less-than-half of Chinese citizens that can actually read. Our growing illiteracy and major problems with expensive private universities making education out of reach for most of our people is what is keeping our great state from unifying, not our lack of military and diplomatic pressure on the neighboring states. I beg, please consider that we must discuss social reform and invest heavily on our future generations if we wish to one day lead the world. Intellectualism can not be kept down!

-Dr. Wen Qian, University of Shanghai
Personal Letter to the President of China, January 1920

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Cease-Fire Declared, Nationalist Government agrees to Halt Hostilities!
-Headlines in Shen Bao

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"Shandong Railroads finally operational."
-Telegram to Duan Qirui

The Treaty of Friendship and Trade between the British Empire and the Kingdom of Spain


Article I - Peace and goodwill shall henceforth exist between the peoples of the British Empire and the Kingdom of Spain
Article II - A mutually beneficial relationship shall commence between the British Empire and the Kingdom of Spain

Section I: Surplus corn, mangos, strawberries, tomatoes, and other miscellaneous items of value will be available to British merchants.

Section II: In return, the British Empire shall give Lee Enfield rifles and artillery pieces that are currently not in use by the standing military to the Kingdom of Spain.

[x]King Alfonso XIII
[x]King George V

Conference of Marseille

"And it is with great pride that I announce today the creation of a coalition of the willing as to insure a rapid and peaceful transition in the Ottoman Empire, henceforth known as Turkey, to a stable democracy. This coalition, formed of Italy, Greece, France, Britain and Armenia, will also aim to insure that the terms of the Asia Minor Agreement, the French–Armenian Agreement as well as the Treaty of Sèvres. It is in the spirit of self determination of the people that we today sign this entente and like we freed the people under the reign of Austria and Germany from the oppression of a totalitarian regime, we will today begin to free the people of Asia from that of the Ottoman. Today it is not a matter of life or death but a matter of honor and justice and as a Great Power, I speak for France when I state that we cannot let our ideas of peace and freedom down. That we cannot have the promises made to our allies be hollow. And thus for Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, our people once more will fight together.
-President Clemenceau's address in Marseille

Republik Österreich
The Republic of Austria

“It should be known henceforth that the first and foremost interest of the Republik Österreich is to rebuild after the Great War. I call on you, my fellow Austrians, to take part in the rebuilding of our great nation and do your part. Only then, when every Austrian citizen helps and actively participates in the rebuilding, can we say we have done our best to attain greatness once more. So do your part! Rebuild your homes, your farms, repair the factories, cultivate the lands which were previously oh so contested by our former enemies. Ensure that you have a life worth living, and by doing so, ensure that Austria is a nation worth existing. Because without wealth and prosperity for our people, where are we as a nation?

As an addition to our strife towards a greater economy for our nation, we have taken measures to ensure that we can deal with the current recession to the best of our abilities. However there is only so much we can do, as one of the key players in the economy is you, the citizens. Therefore we wish to urge you to keep spending money - buy bread, meat, cheeses, buy kitchenware, buy furniture and above all, purchase bonds from the government. Now, compared to the many other chances there are, is the perfect time to invest in your own country. Remember that when we stand alone, we are merely alone, but when we act as one, we can achieve greater things for our home, our heimat, unser lieber Österreich. Once we have rebuilt our nation to it's former glory, we will do our best to avoid any war, any act of aggression; nimmer mehr, Staatsangehörige. That is our plight to you - our promise.”

- - President Karl Seitz' speech at the Parlamentsgebäude in Vienna.

Politics

Republican National Convention Starts Today
Gen. Wood, Sen. Johnson Among Front-runners for Nomination

Republican delegates from all over the country have flocked to Chicago to pick their next presidential hopeful. These men will fill the Coliseum starting this morning, sweltering in the hot Illinois summer as they decide the fate of this nation. Among those believed to be the odds on favorite to capture the nomination are Major General Leonard Wood of New Hampshire, California Senator Hiram Johnson, and Illinois' own governor Frank Orren Lowden. Also among the decision made will be the parties' platform in the general election. The platform topics are speculated to include a more hands-off approach to industry, a restricted role in global foreign affairs, and a heavy tariff on foreign imports to encourage the domestic economy.

-- Chicago Tribune Article
June 8th, 1920

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Senator,

I know that your ambitions include nothing short of the White House, but we must tread carefully going into the convention. You are among the longest of long shots on the ballot. I believe nobody feels strongly about any of the front-runners to seriously commit to them, which is why we must court the head of the state delegations beforehand, let them know that you are interested but only as a compromise candidate to be used if no clear winner emerges. There is no way possible General Wood or Senator Johnson can win on the first or second ballot. If we sow those seeds with the party bosses, the voting will eventually be thrown into the backrooms where they rule. I don't expect you to be nominated on the first, second, or third ballots, but I think we can afford to take chances that about eleven minutes after two, Friday morning of the convention, when a dozen weary men are sitting around a table, someone will say: 'Who will we nominate?' At that decisive time, the friends of Harding will suggest him and we can well afford to abide by the result. From there you can come out of those smoke-filled room as the next President of the United States.

--Harry M. Daugherty
Confidential telegram to Senator Warren G. Harding
June 1st, 1920

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Harding Named Republican Nominee
Ohio Senator Bests Wood & Lowden After Tenth Ballot
Chicago Tribune Headline
June 8th, 1920

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"America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality."

-- Excerpt From Senator Warren G. Harding's Acceptance Speech
June 9th, 1920

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No Clear Leader in Democratic Pack
Senators and Governors Among Those Heading into San Francisco

--New York Times Headline
June 26th 1920

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It is President Wilson's hope to force a deadlock on the convention floor. Even though he has already served eight years and is in poor health, he desperately craves a third term as President. I fear that the hard fight over the League of Nations has broke something in President Wilson's mind, he is often erratic, stays in hiding, and refuses to listen to reason. Some would say he was not fit to stay in office after his bout of sickness, much less another four years. Regardless, those are his wishes and I pass them along.

-- Sen. Carter Glass
Confidential Letter to Democratic Party Boss
June 24th, 1920

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Democratic Nomination Deadlocked Through Thirty Ballots
Treasury Sec. McAdoo, Ohio Governor Cox Tied
San Francisco Chronicle Headline
July 4th, 1920

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"But how are we to make the change? Which way shall we go? We stand at the forks of the road and must choose which way to follow. One leads to a higher citizenship, a freer expression of the individual and a fuller life for all. The other leads to reaction, the rule of the few over the many, and the restriction of the average man's chances to grow upward. Cunning devices, backed by unlimited prodigal expenditures, will be used to confuse and to lure. But I have an abiding faith that the pitfalls will be avoided and the right road chosen."

-- Excerpt from Governor James M. Cox's Acceptance Speech
July 5th, 1920

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Franklin Roosevelt Picked as Cox Running Mate
Undersecretary of the Navy Joins ticket, Cox/Roosevelt Set to Square off with Harding/Coolidge In Nov.

Washington Post Headline
July 6th, 1920

The Republic of Poland

An address by Józef Piłsudski,

Today is a day for revelry and rejoice. After a wait of over one hundred and fifty years, an independent Polish state with refined national boundaries and internationally recognized sovereignty has returned to the map of Europe. The doors of the east have been blasted open as far as we have deemed fit, and we have awakened the millions of our people waiting on the other side, ready to be welcomed back into their homeland. To want to, is to be able to—Poland has desired independence for as long as independence has been denied to her, and now, our desire is accomplished. For countless generations, Poland has been a nation divided and weak; today, Poland is a nation united and strong.

We must not rest on our laurels, however, and resign ourselves to mediocrity now that our nation has been forged. For once a blade has been forged, it must then be sharpened, and the blade of Poland is one that shall be sharpened to such a point that it shall sever any limb of any entity that would desire its destruction. To remain independent and proud, Poland must develop, and must learn from the lessons and the mistakes of its former oppressors. To be defeated and not submit, is victory; to be victorious and rest on one's laurels, is defeat. As much effort as our people put into the destruction of their oppressors shall now be put into the construction of their homeland, and we shall know as triumphant of a victory once again, as we build our Poland to ever greater heights, and ever stronger environs. Now that we have achieved peace, we must achieve prosperity.

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The Treaty of Riga

Article I. The state of hostilities between the Republic of Poland and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (henceforth referred to in this treaty as 'Soviet Russia' and considered as encompassing all other Soviet states) has ceased.

Article II. The boundary between Poland and Soviet Russia is settled, with the mutually recognized border as represented in Figure A. Soviet Russia abandons all rights and claims to the territories situated west of the border. Poland reciprocally abandons all rights and claims to the territories situated east of the border.



Article III. Both parties pledge to respect each other's sovereignty, to abstain from interference in each other's internal affairs, and not to support organizations encouraging conflict against the other party's territorial integrity or political and social institutions.

Article IV. A population transfer period extending two (2) years from the signing of this treaty shall be agreed to by both parties. During this transfer period, citizens of Soviet Russia that identify with Polish nationality shall not be hindered in any manner by the authorities of the Soviet states should they desire to voluntarily repatriate themselves to the Republic of Poland. Citizens of Poland that identify with Russian, Ukrainian or Belarusian nationality shall not be hindered in any manner by the authorities of the Republic of Poland should they desire to voluntarily repatriate themselves to Soviet Russia.

Article V. Soviet Russia shall, in the spirit of equal legal standing between signatories, but also recognition of the hardships suffered by Poland during the extent of Tsarist Russian rule over the Polish homeland;
restore to Poland all objects of historical, ethnographic or scholarly value that have been removed from Poland since 1772,
support Poland in any ensuing border disagreements between Poland and a non-signatory that are in respect to the extent of the Polish homeland,
and ensure free intellectual development, use of national language and exercise of religion for Poles continuing to reside in Soviet Russia.

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Signed by Józef Piłsudski, Chief of State of the Republic of Poland, and ratified by the Republic of Poland. [X]

Signed by Vladimir Lenin, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian SFSR, and ratified by the Russian SFSR. [X]

The treaty of Peace and Mutual Goodwill to be of interest to the Austrian republic and the Kingdom of Spain.

Article I. Henceforth it can be known that the Austrian republic and the Kingdom of Spain will maintain strong bonds of friendship and goodwill.

Section 1. As a sign of mutual friendship between the Austrian republic and the Kingdom of Spain, a new military academy will be opened in Tirol, where Austrian veteran military academia and military advisors will tutor Spanish and Austrian soldiers especially in mountain combat.

Section 2. In addition to this, a military academy shall be appointed in Spain within the Murcia region, where Spanish veteran military academia and military advisors will tutor Spanish and Austrian soldiers in combat within arid regions.

Signed,

[x] - - King Alfonso XIII, king of Spain.
[x] - - President Karl Seitz, president of Austria.

Prohibition

“This law will be obeyed, we shall see to it that liquor is not manufactured, nor sold, nor given away, nor hauled in anything on the surface of the earth or under the earth or in the air.”
-- John F. Kramer, Prohibition Commissioner of the United States

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“As far as I am concerned, New Jersey will stay as wet as the Atlantic Ocean.”
-- New Jersey Governor Edward I. Edwards

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In preparation for the Prohibition, the Yale Club has stocked up on every form of liquor, beer, and spirits we could acquire in the previous year. Due to the loopholes in the laws this stockpile is ours to keep and slowly sell off as we see fit. The best we can tell our inventory is at such a surplus that we have enough alcohol to last fourteen years.
-- Yale Club Circular to Club Members

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Prohibition enters its eleventh month and results have been mixed so far. While hardened government agents strike out across the country to enforce the Volstead Act and plug up the liquor wells, nooks and crannies spring up with free-flowing booze in the form of speakeasies, blind pigs, and rum runners. As alcohol becomes criminal, it falls to the criminals of this country to keep the stream of spirits flowing. This criminalization has led to violence and mayhem to control the rackets. For proof we need to look no further than Chicago.

James “Big Jim” Colosimo, Chicago mob boss was murdered this past May. Rumor in the windy streets of Chicago is that Big Jim had begun to consolidate the bootlegging rackets in Chi-Town shortly before he was gunned down in a Southside cafe. As to who killed him, we need to simply ask that time-honored question of cui bono. Who benefits from Big Jim’s murder? Look no further than Johnny Torrio, the rumored new head of the Outfit. Torrio and his right hand man, Al Capone, are now sending a steady stream of Canadian booze into the US, so steady that the waters Lake Michigan are now believed to be 80% proof.
--Minnesota Daily Star Crimewatch Report

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“In order to enforce Prohibition, it will require a police force of 250,000 men and a force of 250,000 men to police the police.”
-- New York Congressman Fiorello La Guardia

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“Why should I keep being a police officer when I am asked to enforce an immoral law? There is nothing wrong with alcohol, it is natural for a man or woman to need a stiff drink from time to time. We supply a need. How are we any different from Macy’s or Sears and Roebuck? On top of that, I make more in a week than I could in twenty years as a cop. Me and my people do not employ violence, and I do not let them carry guns… carrying guns is what I pay the Seattle police for.”

-- Former Police Lieutenant Turned Bootlegger Roy Olmstead

The State of Switzerland Following the Great War

Switzerland was neutral in the Great War, as many people understand. Throughout the Great War, Switzerland was home to numerous politicians and free-thinkers, including Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party and current Chairman of the Soviet Union. While Switzerland's neutrality was upheld by both sides of the Great War, it still brought up some controversy. Last year, the Austrian Province of Voralberg voted with an 80% majority for joining Switzerland. This was stopped by the Allied Forces, the Austrian Government, and that of Swiss Liberals.

Switzerland also has begun to establish a healthy banking system. Many nations have deposited funds withing Swiss Banks, making Switzerland the Banking Capital of the world.

Giuseppe Motta was elected to serve as President of the Swiss Federal Council. Adolf von Steiger continues his duties as Federal Chancellor of Switzerland. Motta is part of the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, while von Steiger is part of the Free Democratic Party.

Switzerland is looking to the Post-War future full of promise and full of economic opportunities with the new nations that have emerged following the Great War. Being Neutral has allowed Switzerland to develop into a strong economic state, and the future seems bright for the tiny Alps Nation