The 1930s in Print - Stories that made the News!

1930 8 March, 1930: Mahatma GANDHI starts civil disobedience

campaign in India

Civil Disobedience Movement launched in 1930 under MK Gandhi’s

leadership was one of the most important phases of India’s freedom
struggle. The simon commission, constituted in November 1927 by the
British Government to prepare and finalize a constitution for India and
consisting of members of the British Parliament only, was boycotted by
all sections of the Indian social and political platforms as an ‘All-White
Commission’. The opposition to the Simon Commission in Bengal was
remarkable. In protest against the Commission, a hartal was observed on
3 February 1928 in various parts of the province. Massive
demonstrations were held in Calcutta on 19 February1928, the day of
Simon’s arrival in the city. On 1 March 1928, meetings were held
simultaneously in all thirty-two wards of Calcutta urging people to
renew the movement for boycott of British goods.

14 Sept, 1930: In German elections, Socialists and Communists win

more seats, but National Socialists gain 107 seats

In 1930 the parliamentary coalition that governed Germany fell

apart, and new elections were held. The biggest winner in these
elections was Adolf Hitler's National Socialist Party. From twelve
seats in parliament they increased their seats to 107, becoming
Germany's second largest political party. The largest party was
still the Social Democrats, and this party won 143 seats and 24.5
percent of the vote. Communist Party candidates won 13.1
percent of the vote (roughly 50 times better than the U.S.
Communist Party did in 1932 elections), and together the Social
Democrats and the Communists were large enough to claim the
right to make a government. But Communists and the Social
Democrats remained hostile toward one another. The
Comintern at this time was opposed to Communists working
with reformers, and the Communists believed that a collapse of
parliamentary government would hasten the revolutionary crisis
that would propel them to power.

1931 .
11 Dec, 1931: Building of Rockefeller Center, New York, is begun
The Rockefeller Group began with its development of
Rockefeller Center, a national landmark and internationally
 acclaimed office complex in the heart of Manhattan.
Development work on approximately 7 million square feet of
building space began in 1928, and Rockefeller Center opened in
1932
17 Oct, 1931: Al Capone, gangster, is jailed for income tax evasion
On Oct. 17, 1931, Chicago gangster Al Capone was convicted of
income tax evasion and later sentenced to 11 years in federal prison,
ending his control of the Chicago underworld.
12 Jan, 1932: Mrs. Hattie T. Caraway (Dem., Arkansas) is the first
woman to be elected to the US Senate

The United States reached a milestone on Jan. 12, 1932, when Hattie W.
Caraway became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate,
representing the state of Arkansas. When her husband of 29 years,
Senator Thaddeus H. Caraway, died in 1931 Arkansas Governor Harvey
Parnell appointed her to the vacant seat, and she was sworn into office
Dec. 9. Arkansas held a special election in January 1932 to fill the
remainder of Senator Thaddeus Caraway’s term, and Hattie Caraway
won easily.
1934
16 Aug, 1934: The American explorer, William Beebe descends
3,028 feet in his bathysphere into the ocean near Bermuda.
The two explorers, Beebe and Barton were true pioneers, like the
first astronauts leaving Earth's atmosphere into space or Columbus,
setting sail for an unknown land. They say curiosity killed the cat,
but what would the planet be like had not man gathered his inner
resolve, breathed deep, planned his movements, and boldly stepped
where no one had gone before. Should the Bathysphere fail, the
human occupants would be crushed to death in a nano second or
less

18 July, 1936: In Spain, an army revolt under Emilio Mola and

Francisco FRANCO begins Civil War
 General Emilio Mola issued his proclamation of revolt in Navarre on
19th July, 1936. The coup got off to a bad start with José Sanjurjo being
killed in an air crash on 20th July. The uprising was a failure in most
parts of Spain but Mola's forces were successful in the Canary Islands,
Morocco, Seville and Aragon. Franco, now commander of the Army of
Africa, joined the revolt and began to conquer southern Spain. By the
end of September 1936, the nine other generals involved in the military
uprising came to the conclusion that Franco should become commander
of the Nationalist Army. He was also appointed chief of state. General
Emilio Mola agreed to serve under him and was placed in charge of the
Army of the North

Adolf HITLER becomes Chancellor of Germany-1933

Burning of the German Reichstag, or parliament. Hitler calls it a Communist plot, and suspends civil
liberties.-1933

Adolf Hitler becomes dictator of Germany.-1933

Hitler renounces the Treaty of Versailles-1935

Munich Conference, attended by Chamberlain, Daladier of France, Hitler and Mussolini. It is agreed to
transfer Sudetenland to Germany, but Czech frontier to be guaranteed-1938

Germany occupies Sudetenland-1938

Hitler's troops occupy Czechoslovakia-1939

It was also a big decade for F. D. Roosevelt who was elected as the 32nd president in 1932 and
introduced his “new deal” then he was reelected in 1936, then in 1937 he signed the US
Neutrality Act