The New York Times Book of World War II, 1939-1945

by The New York Times

  Midway down the courtyard is a big bronze statue of Louis XIV on horseback, and all along its sides are statues of the Princes and Governors, Admirals and Generals, that made him Grande Monarque of France.

  Jubilant Parisians take to the streets on the day the Treaty of Versailles was signed, June 28, 1919.

  At the entrance, just inside the gates, General Bricker, commander of the Sixth Cavalry Division, was sitting on a splendid chestnut, hardly less immobile than the Great King, save when he flashed his sword up to salute a guest of especial distinction. And, as if to typify the whole scene, there were the inscriptions on the facade of the twin temple-like structures on either side of Louis XIV’s statue: “To All the Glories of France.” It was the supreme dedication of the palace to the greatest day that all its glorious history has known.

  TORRENT OF CHEERS FOR FOCH

  One of the earliest to arrive was Marshal Foch, amid a torrent of cheering, which broke out even louder a few moments later when the massive head of Premier Clemenceau—for once with a smile on the Tiger’s face—was seen through the windows of a French military car. To both, as to other chiefs, including Wilson, Pershing, and Lloyd George, the troops paid the honor of presenting arms all around the courtyard.

  After Clemenceau they came thick and fast, diplomats, soldiers, Princes of India in gorgeous turbans, Japanese in immaculate Western dress, Admirals, flying men, Arabs, and a thousand and one picturesque uniforms of the French, British, and Colonial Armies.

  Once amidst terrific enthusiasm a whole wagonload of doughboys, themselves yelling “their heads off,” drove up the sacred slope of victory, but instead of proceeding right to the entrance swung around the Louis statue in the middle of the courtyard and went out by a side gateway, where the rest of the automobiles also went after depositing their passengers. Ten minutes later a camion laden with British Tommies arrived and got a cordial reception.

  Whoever was responsible for it had a good thought, that the rank and file who had suffered and sweated most should share in the glorious finale, and it was everyone’s regret that a load or two of poilus had not equally participated.

  It was 2:45 o’clock when Balfour, bowing and smiling, heralded the arrival of the British delegates. Lloyd George was just behind him, for once in the conventional high hat instead of his usual felt.

  WARM WELCOME FOR WILSON.

  At ten minutes of 3 came President Wilson in a big black limousine, with his flag, a white eagle on a dark blue ground. The warmth of welcome accorded him bore witness to the place he still holds in French hearts and the people’s appreciation of the stand he took in the past few weeks against altering the treaty in Germany’s favor.

  By 3 o’clock the last visitor had arrived, and the broad ribbon road stretched empty between the lines of troops from the gates of the palace courtyard. The Germans had already taken their places—to avoid a possible unpleasant incident they had been conveyed from the Hotel des Reservoirs Annex through the park.

  It is impossible to tell what the day meant to the people of Versailles. To them, even more than to the rest of France, it was the wiping out of the ancient stain whose shame they had felt more deeply than any other. At the entrance of the crowded dining hall of the Hotel des Reservoirs the old aunt of the proprietor stood with swimming eyes.

  “I saw them dine here,” she said, “on the night before the other treaty. And now this—thank God I have lived for it!” At the ride entrance to the courtyard there was a pathetic incident. An old woman, supported by two sons, one in the uniform of a Major of Chasseurs, the other in civilian clothes, but with an armless sleeve and the Legion of Honor and War Cross ribbons in his buttonhole, came up to the stern guardians and begged admittance, although without a ticket.

  Just let me inside the courtyard,” she pleaded. “When the Germans were here a General was quartered in my house. I shared the defeat; let me share the victory.”

  The orders were strict and absolute, but for her they made an exception.

  JUNE 29, 1919

  Wilson Says Treaty Will Furnish the Charter for a New Order of Affairs in the World

  WASHINGTON, June 28—The following address by President Wilson to the American people on the occasion of the signing of the Peace Treaty was given out here today by Secretary Tumulty:

  My Fellow Countrymen: The treaty of peace has been signed. If it is ratified and acted upon in full and sincere execution of its terms it will furnish the charter for a new order of affairs in the world. It is a severe treaty in the duties and penalties it imposes upon Germany; but it is severe only because great wrongs done by Germany are to be righted and repaired; it imposes nothing that Germany cannot do; and she can regain her rightful standing in the world by the prompt and honorable fulfillment of its terms.

  And it is much more than a treaty of peace with Germany. It liberates great peoples who have never before been able to find the way to liberty. It ends, once and for all, an old and intolerable order under which small groups of selfish men could use the peoples of great empires to serve their ambition for power and dominion. It associates the free governments of the world in a permanent League in which they are pledged to use their united power to maintain peace by maintaining right and justice.

  It makes international law a reality supported by imperative sanctions. It does away with the right of conquest and rejects the policy of annexation and substitutes a new order under which backward nations—populations which have not yet come to political consciousness and peoples who are ready for independence but not yet quite prepared to dispense with protection and guidance—shall no more be subjected to the domination and exploitation of a stronger nation, but shall be put under the friendly direction and afforded the helpful assistance of governments which undertake to be responsible to the opinion of mankind in the execution of their task by accepting the direction of the League of Nations.

  It recognizes the inalienable rights of nationality, the rights of minorities and the sanctity of religious belief and practice. It lays the basis for conventions which shall free the commercial intercourse of the world from unjust and vexatious restrictions and for every sort of international co-operation that will serve to cleanse the life of the world and facilitate its common action in beneficent service of every kind. It furnishes guarantees such as were never given or even contemplated for the fair treatment of all who labor at the daily tasks of the world.

  It is for this reason that I have spoken of it as a great charter for a new order of affairs. There is ground here for deep satisfaction universal reassurance, and confident hope.

  WOODROW WILSON.

  NOVEMBER 1, 1922

  ‘BLACK SHIRTS’ HOLD A ROMAN TRIUMPH IN ASSUMING POWER

  100,000 Fascisti March Through the City As Mussolini Becomes Premier.

  IRON RULE IS PROMISED

  ROME, Oct. 31—The new Cabinet of Premier Mussolini took the oath of office today before the King, thereby becoming the official Government of Italy, and the Fascisti army, the Black Shirts, commanded by Mussolini, which has surrounded Rome, paraded through the city, 100,000 strong.

  A fact which is everywhere favorably commented upon is that Mussolini and his Ministers all wore frock coats and silk hats at the ceremony of taking the oath. It was recalled in this connection that when the Socialists, Turati and Bissolati, visited the King recently they wore soft hats and rough sporting jackets. Mussolini’s action is considered all the more interesting when it is remembered that up to a few years ago he also was a Socialist and a rabid revolutionary. He, however, decided that as he had accepted the monarchy the King should be treated with all the pomp appertaining to the office.

  The scene when the ex-Socialist and ex-idol of the revolutionary masses took the oath of allegiance to the King was dramatic. The King greeted each Minister, saying: “I feel that I can hardly congratulate you, as you have a stiff, arduous task before you, but I congratulate the country for having you as Ministers.”

  SONOROUSLY ACC
EPTS OATH

  The King read the formula of the oath as follows:

  “I swear to be faithful to my King and his legal descendants. I swear to be true to the Constitution and fundamental laws of the State for the inseparable welfare of my King and my country.”

  Mussolini, who was standing with the Ministers in a group around him, immediately stepped forward and, raising his outstretched arms, said with a booming voice:

  “Your Majesty, I swear it.”

  The King was so deeply moved that he embraced Mussolini. Afterward each Minister went through the formality.

  When all had taken the oath the King remained for a few moments in conversation with Mussolini, who afterward drove back to his office at the Ministry of the Interior. The Fascisti militia had a hard task restraining an enthusiastic crowd which wished to carry him in triumph through the streets.

  ‘DOUBLE HAT’ SYSTEM ENDED

  Mussolini was early at his office this morning. Exactly at 8 o’clock, the hour at which all Government clerks are supposed to be at their posts, he telephoned to all his Ministers instructing them to have a roll call. Anyone who was not at his desk was severely reprimanded and warned that he would be dismissed at the next offense.

  This is the first foretaste of a regime of strict discipline which Mussolini intends to institute throughout Italy. Up to the present time most of the Government offices have been worked on the “double hat” system, whereby each clerk possesses two hats, one of which remains permanently hung on a nail in his office, the other being worn going to and from the office. Whenever anyone went into a Government office in search of a clerk, even two or three hours after the regular opening time, an usher would point out the hat hanging on a nail and say: “He is obviously in the office somewhere because his hat is here. You would better wait.” The authorities have winked at this practice, but Mussolini does not propose to tolerate it. He said to The New York Times correspondent today:

  “Italy must wake up to the fact that only hard work can save us from financial and economic ruin. I propose that the Government should begin in showing a good example, and Government clerks will be treated just like any clerk working for a private concern would be treated. If they work and do their duty they will be well treated, but if they are not ready to do what is expected of them they will be dismissed. This new regime will be hard for many of them, but they must realize that times have changed.”

  Mussolini also outlined the main points of his policy. As to internal affairs, it may be summed up in three words:

  “Discipline, economy, sacrifice,” Mussolini said.

  “I have not reached my present position by holding forth visions of an easy paradise, as the Socialists did. All will be ruled with an iron hand. It must be a wonderful testimonial to the patriotism and common sense of Italians that the Fascisti with such a program have the backing of an overwhelming majority of the country. Of course, they will be better off in the end, but our policy will not bear fruit for some time, and in the meanwhile there is going to be suffering.”

  Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (center, with a sash), leading his first cabinet through Rome’s main thoroughfare, Via del Popolo, during the March of Rome, signifying the onset of fascism, November 1922.

  LEGIONS ENTER IN TRIUMPH

  Rome, Oct. 31—Associated Press—One hundred thousand well-disciplined Fascisti marched through Rome from north to south today to the plaudits of a million Italian citizens gathered in the capital from all parts of the kingdom.

  Their commander, Mussolini, was the central figure of the procession. Like the others who walked behind, the leader wore the black shirt of the organization. He was bare-headed and in a buttonhole was the Fascisti badge, while on his sleeve were several stripes showing that he had been wounded in the war. Mussolini was surrounded by his general staff, including Signor Bianchi, de Vecchi, a number of generals and several Fascisti Deputies. He walked with a firm step the entire four miles to the disbanding point.

  The day broke clear and fine, with one of Italy’s brightest suns lighting the way to Borghese Park as the Fascisti troops, abroad early, proceeded up the Pincian Hill, from Tivoli, Santa Marinella and other places on the outskirts of the city, where they had been camping the last three days.

  BIG PARADE FORMS IN PARK

  “It is a Fascismo sun,” said a sturdy young black-shirted peasant from the plains of Piedmont as he led the Piedmont contingent into Borghese Park, where 15,000 Fascisti, representing all the province of the kingdom, from Northern Venetia and Lombardy to Southern Calabria and Sicily, assembled.

  With military precision they formed and automatically fell into the places assigned to them—dark-visaged youths, with set, determined faces, upon which shone the light of victory, all wearing the black shirt. The rest of their equipment varied from skull caps to soft felt hats and steel helmets—some of them were without hats—and nondescript trousers, multi-colored socks and shoes that ranged from topboots to dancing pumps. They were armed only with riding crops and bludgeons, one man from Ancona swinging a baseball bat.

  Briskly they swung into line to the tunes of innumerable bands, the Roman contingent leading the way along the Pincian Hill Road to the Piazza del Popolo and to the Porta del Popolo, through the Gate of the People into the People’s Square, then marching down the Corso Umberto, Rome’s main street, lined with flags.

  Every window was filled with Romans cheering, some showering flowers upon the passing blackshirts, while those in the streets saluted straight-armed from the shoulder, with hands extended toward the west.

  Through the heart of the city the process continued, the youths never looking to the right or left, and acknowledging the acclamations and cheers only by singing Fascisti marching songs. Thus they reached the monument of Victor Emmanuel and the tomb of the unknown soldier.

  At the tomb each contingent, with banners flying, halted before the imposing monument; then two men from each contingent, one bearing a huge palm, the other a bouquet of flowers, ascended the steps leading to the tomb and deposited them upon it until it was lost to sight beneath the mass of bloom. The firat wreath placed on the tomb was earned by a veteran Garibaldian, nearly- a hundred years old, who was assisted up the steps by two youths whose combined ages totalled less than half his own.

  PARADED BEFORE THE KING

  On departing from the tomb the Fascisti proceeded at double-quick up the steep Cesare Battlisti Hill to the Quirinal, where the king appeared on the balcony. He stood at salute, and as each continent arrived the flag was dipped, as before the tomb of the unknown soldier. The King received a great ovation from the assembled multitude.

  The Fascisti reformed and marched directly to the station, where fifty trained men capable of transporting from 500 to 1,000 soldiers each, had been held in readiness since morning in accordance with the demobilization order that “every soldier must be on his way home before nightfall.”

  A feature of the day was the absence of speeches, the Fascisti leaders having decided, as one of them put it, that they are men of action, not words.

  NOVEMBER 11, 1923

  HOLD-UP MEN ESCHEW GERMAN PAPER MARKS

  They Return Paper to Victims After Taking Foreign Currency—Suitcase for Car Fare.

  BERLIN, Nov. 10 (Associated Press)—Holdup men in Berlin now disdain to take paper marks from their victims. Max Weisse, who was recently held up in the Tiergarten district, was robbed of the money he carried in dollars and pounds sterling, but the holdup man gave the victim back his marks with a “Thank you; we don’t bother ourselves with those any more.”

  A German who entered a street car carrying a large suitcase was asked for two fares by the conductor on the ground that he must pay for the case.

  “But I can’t carry enough paper money for one fare without it.” the passenger protested as he produced several bundles of paper marks in small denominations from the case.

  The conductor did not insist upon the extra fare.

  NOVEMBER 1
3, 1923

  HITLER SEIZED NEAR MUNICH

  Found in Home of E. F. Hanfstaengl, Ex–New York Art Dealer

  MUNICH, Nov. 12.—Adolf Hitler, leader of the recent revolt, was arrested last night at Essina, forty miles from Munich. His only injury is a grazed shoulder, said to have been suffered by throwing himself on the ground too energetically in his desire to take cover when the Nationalist forces were fired on by Reichswehr troops in Odeonsplatz on Friday.

  The news was common property in Munich this morning, but Dr. von Kahr’s newspaper, the Münchner Zeitung, has issued a denial, stating that the Government has no official knowledge of the arrest.

  General Ludendorff has issued a statement today to the effect that the oath he gave when he was released on parole only binds him to refrain from any political activity against the existing Government of Bavaria. While this particular incident is under consideration. Beyond this he still considers himself free to work for and to support the program outlined by the Nationalist fighting organization at Nuremberg on Sept. 1, when Hitler was present.

  There have been practically no further demonstrations in the town, and curfew hour has been extended until 10 o’clock. Tomorrow the theatres are to reopen.

  NOVEMBER 20, 1923

  BERLIN SHOPS CLOSE AS NEW RIOTS START

  Two Million Trillion Paper Marks Turned Out By the Presses for Week Ended Oct. 31.