Osman Reborn
Chapter 52: German troubles
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“After six years-worth of economic crisis, the German economy finally reached its inevitable end – collapse. On the 2nd of January, 1923, after years of failing to stabilize the German economy, French and Russian disinterest in stabilizing the central European economy, the German economy collapsed completely. A loaf of bread cost more than trillions of Marks, and the German Mark was completely useless as a currency. Already, the local regions began to stop using their Marks, and issued local currencies, weighted for in local resources. The situation was exceedingly horrible for the normal German person, as they had to resort to a barter system much of the time to get what they needed. The economic crisis also led to the full collapse of the German government. Rosa Luxemburg resigned as Chancellor of Germany and the government went into crisis as the entire cabinet also resigned from the government, after their repeated failures to improve the situation. The governmental crisis was perhaps, only saved by the fact that President Gustav Noske refused to resign, and activated article 9 of the German constitution, allowing him to take emergency powers within the German government.
President Gustav Noske of Germany
Despite this economic and political crisis at hand however, the German government was still being forced to pay their war reparations to France and Russia. The worthless German economy made it impossible for Germany to exchange their currency into foreign tender to pay the reparations. The German government, as such, failed to pay the reparations it owed to Russia and France on the 1st of January, 1923. This sparked the Reparations Controversy, as many German politicians wanted to use the economic crisis to end the reparations entirely. Prime Minister Rene Viviani of France was adamant that Germany would have to pay war reparations, or the continued French economic investment in Wurttemburg and the Rhineland would be forfeit. Considering that these French investments were the only substance providing stability to the local economies of the region, losing said investment would have disastrous consequences for the Germans. These French investments also saw food kitchens being made for the economically destitute people in Germany (who were made destitute because of the Great Dive), allowing them to receive proper food and nutrition that was unavailable to them from Berlin. Many in the French government wanted to use the opportunity to occupy the Rhineland, and take all of the industrial produce of the region to make up for the reparations. Whilst Viviani was ardently in support of continuing the reparations, he was, however not in favor of a military solution. He knew very well that the British would not support a military situation and that they supported the German position that the reparations were too high. Whilst Russia would be on board for an occupation, if only to receive the money that it was using to pay for their massive infrastructural uplift schemes. In the French Chamber of Deputies, this position taken by the ruling government came into heavy question, as all of the rightwing parties united in their opposition against Viviani’s decision not to use military force against the German crisis.
Russia on the other hand, had no qualms about an occupation. The German reparations to Russia was almost as large as their reparations to France. The huge amount of rubles flowing into Russia from Germany was being used by the Russians to build more infrastructure, canals, and commercial services within the Empire. Without said rubles, then their economic and monetary viability would come into question. Despite the misgivings of Russian Prime Minister Sergey Muromstyev, Tsar Nicholas II, no longer constrained by the fact that he didn’t have a cousin ruling Germany, ordered the Russian Army to occupy East Prussia all the way upto the Oder River. On the 16th of January, 1923, the Russians entered Eastern Prussia, with absolutely no military resistance, as Noske had reluctantly ordered the 200,000-man strong German army to let the Russians enter without a fight. Noske didn’t really want to fight the Russians, knowing very well that if the Russians wanted they could occupy all of the country. It was however, a heavy hit to his prestige as President of Germany. Rudolf Heinze, for example, decried this action, and publically called upon countries like Britain and the neutral powers like Sweden, Ottomans and Austrians to intervene in the current controversy. The British were unhappy with the occupation for one good reason – the Russians had done it. This blatant occupation could only have taken place if the Russians were sure that they would not face proper repercussions from anyone. They also did it, in the view of the British, to project power, showing the world that Russian troops were in the heart of Germany, and as such, Central Europe. The British, and upon British pressuring, the Ottomans protested against the occupation diplomatically asking the Russians to withdraw.
The Belgian occupation of the German Rhine 1923-24.
Polish troops of the Russian Army during the Occupation of Germany 1923-24
“The 1921 Census of Cyprus counted that 26% of the population were Turkish Cypriots whilst the remainder were in the vast majority Greeks, with small communities of Armenians, Maronites and Arabs sprinkled in between. The Turks as a result, made up the second largest ethnic group within Cyprus. The transfer of the Cypriot Protectorate from Britain to Greece re-affirmed their rights, and their religious situation, and allowed a small free movement area between Cyprus and the Ottoman Empire be established, allowing for Turkish Cypriots to return to the mainland if they wanted. The Cypriot Question, however, had become a boiling issue in Greek politics, and after the 1922 Greek Legislative Elections, the Greek government officially asked for negotiations with Constantinople regarding the issue. On February 6, 1923, the Greek delegation arrived in Constantinople to begin negotiations with the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman Delegations during the Constantinople Accords 1923.
The Ottoman government wished to make sure that the events in Crete were not repeated. Though the Cretan Turks were allowed full rights on paper, they were still extremely discriminated, and from 11% of the population, they had been reduced to a mere 5% of the population, with most immigrating to the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. The Ottoman government blamed that Greece, who had given her word to previous Grand Vizier, Ibrahim Hakki Pasha, had not abided by their part of the bargain. The Greek government, for their part, had in fact tried to enforce equality as agreed by the Treaty of Salonika, however whilst governments had a great degree of control, they could not control the minds of people. As nationalistic euphoria swept Crete after they reunited with Greece, ethnic minorities such as the Cretan Turks became natural targets for nationalistic chauvinism. Mustafa Kemal wanted assurances that such events would not take place in Cyprus. The Greek government, of course, could not give guarantees that such events would not take place, considering they could not control the people. Whilst Mustafa Kemal himself pushed a hardline stance during the negotiations, Ottoman Foreign Minister, Faisal Al-Hashemi, was much more moderate. He demanded that proper actions take place against instigators of such actions, and demanded that even with the Greeks annexing Cyprus, the Ottomans would have a say in Cypriot politics.
Ottoman Foreign Minister, Faisal Al-Hashemi
Many Greeks were opposed to this, despite Venizelos’s personal support for the idea. Venizelos personally believed that a local assembly or parliament for Cyprus would do wonders to heal the political divide between the several ethnicities of the island, and preserve stability in the region. However, on the 8th of February, after several renegotiations between the Ottoman and Greek delegations, most of the Greek diplomats accepted the issue of devolution most reluctantly. Finally, the final issue regarding Cyprus was that of economics. The Greek protectorate had preserved the British tariff rates and custom duties, however being directly integrated within the Greek state meant that Cyprus would be subject to Greek rates, which would make Ottoman investments in Cyprus slightly unsustainable, as the entirety of Ottoman investments in the region was based and structured on the previous tariff and custom rates. The Ottomans wanted the tariff and custom duties in Cyprus to remain the same, and to come under the authority of the devolved legislature. The Greeks, who knew they stood to lose economically if the Ottomans withdrew their investments from Cyprus, agreed to this issue handily. With all of these problems and nuances resolved on the 9th of February, 1923, the Accords of Constantinople 1923 was signed with the following points:-
- Article 1 ended the protectorate of Cyprus formally and annexed it into the Kingdom of Greece.
- Article 2 – 4 guaranteed the rights of the Turkish and Muslim Cypriot population, and their right of political, religious, and ethnic freedom.
- Article 5 - 8 established the Parliament of Cyprus which was to be a unicameral devolved parliament of Cyprus, consisting of 120 seats, with 30 seats reserved for Turkish Cypriots, 10 seats reserved for other minorities of the island. The articles also specified the legislative powers, and limitations of the parliament.
- Article 9 guaranteed that 25% of the seats in the Hellenic Parliament that would be given to Cyprus would be reserved for Turkish Cypriots.
- Article 10 – 12 dealt with the economic issues of the transfer, and guaranteed that the same tariff and custom duties would remain in place within Cyprus for a time period of 10 years.
- Article 13 – 15 guaranteed the right of the Ottoman government to open consulates in Cyprus to maintain their diplomatic presence on the island.
After the Accords were signed, the Ottoman Parliament, even the CUP, voted to ratify the Accords, being mostly satisfied with the several concessions wrangled from the Greeks. The Greek parliament, happy to see the issue of the Cypriots over, also ratified the Accords. Sultan Abdulmejid II formally and publically renounced his role as Suzerain of Cyprus on the 18th of February, 1923, and the Ottoman Flag which flew side by side the Greek flag in Nicosia was brought down after the Ottoman National Anthem was sung in Nicosia one last time in a ceremony of the transfer of power. As the new Cypriot legislature was formed, plans for the first elections in Cypriot history began to form. The first Cypriot General Elections would take place in the ending months of 1923, as the Cypriot Issue was tentatively considered over.
Insignia of the Devolved Cypriot Parliament.
“The 1920 Treaty of Seeb for all intents and purposes separated the Sultanate of Oman/Muscat from the Imamate of Oman completely, with British backing. However, in 1923, the economic situation changed the perception of the British regarding the Omani issue. The British had since 1921, allowed the Ottomans to enter Oman, who were looking for oil and natural gas in the region. In 1922, the Omani Sultan, Taimur bin Feisal allowed the Anglo-Ottoman Arabian Oil Company to have a monopoly over the Omani natural gas and oil prospects. The Ottomans and the British concluded that whilst prospective oil fields within Oman were highly likely, they would be too deep to drill them out for a good period of time. Oman’s natural gas, however was a different story. The border between the Imamate and the Sultanate consisted of various gas reserves that could be exploited immediately if the tribal conflict in the region was resolved.
Taimur saw an opportunity to unite the nation, and he took it. Preying upon the Ottoman and British disappointment that the gas fields were at the disputed and heavily contested border, he presented himself as an alternative and asked for aid in his endeavor to unite the nation. If, the British and Ottomans aided him, he told London and Constantinople, then the gas fields were all theirs, with of course, a percentage of the profit going to his coffers. The British and Ottomans pounced on this opportunity. The British provided the Sultan with the weapons, and the Ottomans provided the Sultan with proper generals and military officers. On March 23, 1923, with these advantages piled up for him, he invaded the Imamate of Oman.
Sultan Taimur bin Feisal
The Wars of Omani Unification thus began, over a gas dispute.” Unification of Oman: 1921 – 1943 © 2000
“As the five ear tenure of the 1918 parliament was coming to an end, all of the major political parties in the United Kingdom began their political campaigns in the country, hoping to gain the mandate of the House of Commons. The most glaring issue in the election was regarding the Russo-Belgian occupation of the German territories. The Labour Party and the Liberal Party were extremely agitated by the move, even more so than the ruling conservative minority government. Furthermore, Chamberlain, whilst a great diplomat, and a great administrator, Chamberlain’s government had glossed over domestic issues for meddling in the international arena. Furthermore, domestic pressure was starting to build up in the country regarding the issue of One Person, One Vote. Whilst the Representation of the People Act 1917 gave more than 8.4 million women the right to vote in the United Kingdom, becoming the final reform act regarding suffrage, it had failed to address the fact that 7% of the population still had plural voting rights, and the fact that many middle class men were allowed an extra vote due to the university constituencies. The growing political movement in the United Kingdom opposed this system of plural voting, wherein 10% to 15% of the population were allowed to vote more than once.
a one man one vote badge from the 1923 General Elections
Labour also made significant gains with the increasing industrialization of the country. Britain had started to increase their funding of industrial programs within Ireland, and even in northern Wales, and as a result, the increasing working class meant that the Labour Party stood to gain the most from the increasing industrial policies of the government during elections. Labour also managed to increase their presence in Ireland, as a result of the IPP becoming more inward looking. As the Irish Parliament Party held a very powerful majority over the Irish Commons, the party was more focused on local elections, and as a result, money left for campaigning for a general election was pitifully small. Furthermore, the party’s representative in the Westminster Government, Devlin had retired from official national level politics and had become involved in the Irish Home Rule Government. His successor, John Dillon was widely respected, but he didn’t hold the same charisma or electoral campaigning ability that his predecessor had. This meant that the Irish were looking increasingly more at the main 3 parties instead. As the Conservative Party had changed their position on Irish Home Rule, Irish folk, many of whom were conservative in their outlook, started to vote for the Conservatives again. Irish Liberals, mainly from the North and Central belt began to cast their votes in favor of McKenna and his liberal trading policy, which would benefit the commerce heavy regions of Central Ireland. Finally, the heavily industrialized Dublin, and Cork areas began to cast their votes in favor of Labour. The IPP continued to hold a monopoly over the majority of Irish votes, but it was clear to everyone that said monopoly was slowly coming to a close.
Edwin Scrymgeour, the powerful Scottish backer of the British Constitutionalists
Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons: Reginald McKenna (Lib)
Chancellor of the Exchequer: William Adamson (Lab)
Lord Chancellor and Leader of the House of Lords: Lord Haldane (Lib)
Foreign Secretary: Sir Edward Grey (Lib)
Secretary of State for the Colonies: The Marques of Crewe (Lib)
Lord Privy Seal and Deputy Leader of the House of Commons: Ramsay MacDonald (Lab)
Home Secretary: Herbert Samuel (Lib)
Secretary of State for War: Stephen Walsh (Lab)
Secretary of State for India: Graham White (Lib)
Secretary for Scotland: Harold Tennant (Lib)
Chief Secretary for Ireland: Thomas Johnson (Lab)
Secretary for Air: The Earl of Crawford (Lib)
First Lord of the Admiralty: Winston Churchill (Lib)
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster: Thomas McKinnon Wood (Lib)
President of the Board of Trade: Walter Runciman (Lib)
Minister of Agriculture: Arthur Henderson (Lab)
President of the Board of Education: Charles Philipps Trevelyan (Lab)
Postmaster General: Joseph Pease (Lib)
First Commissioner of the Works: Lewis Harcourt (Lib)
Minister of Labour: Margaert Bondfield (Lab)
Minister of Health: John Wheatley (Lab)
The new cabinet was most peculiarly formed with one woman within it, heralding the first female cabinet member in the United Kingdom. As the 1923 General Elections ended, the UK didn’t know it yet, but it was entering a new political era.” The Era of Progressive Conservatism © 1994
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