Historydraft LogoHistorydraft Logo
Historydraft
beta
Historydraft Logo
Historydraft
beta

  • Zaragoza, Spain
    1931
    Francisco Franco

    Director of the Zaragoza Military Academy in 1931

    Zaragoza, Spain
    1931

    Franco was removed as Director of the Zaragoza Military Academy in 1931; about 95% of his former Zaragoza cadets later came to side with him in the Civil War.




  • Tel Aviv, Palestine, now Israel
    1931
    David Ben-Gurion

    The house

    Tel Aviv, Palestine, now Israel
    1931

    The house where he lived from 1931 on, and for part of each year after 1953, is now a historic house museum in Tel Aviv, the "Ben-Gurion House".




  • China
    1931
    Chinese Civil War

    Japan's invasion and occupation of Manchuria

    China
    1931

    During Japan's invasion and occupation of Manchuria Chiang Kai-shek, who saw the CPC (Communist Party of China) as a greater threat, refused to ally with them to fight against the Imperial Japanese Army. Chiang preferred to unite China by eliminating the warlords and CPC forces first. He believed that he was still too weak to launch an offensive to chase out Japan and that China needed time for a military build-up. Only after unification would it be possible for the KMT (Kuomintang) to mobilize a war against Japan. So he would rather ignore the discontent and anger among Chinese people at his policy of compromise with the Japanese, and ordered KMT generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng to carry out suppression of the CPC; however, their provincial forces suffered significant casualties in battles with the Red Army.




  • Inner Manchuria, China
    1931
    Hirohito

    The Mukden Incident

    Inner Manchuria, China
    1931

    Starting from the Mukden Incident in 1931, Japan occupied Chinese territories and established puppet governments. Such "aggression was recommended to Hirohito" by his chiefs of staff and prime minister Fumimaro Konoe, and Hirohito never personally objected to any invasion of China.




  • New York, U.S.
    1931
    Lucky Luciano

    Five Families

    New York, U.S.
    1931

    With Masseria gone, Maranzano reorganized the Italian-American gangs in New York City into Five Families headed by Luciano, Profaci, Gagliano, Vincent Mangano and himself. Maranzano promised that all the families would be equal and free to make money. However, at a meeting of crime bosses in Upstate New York, Maranzano declared himself capo di tutti capi ("boss of all bosses").




  • Germany
    1931
    Heinrich Himmler

    Appointing Reinhard Heydrich

    Germany
    1931

    Himmler's organized, bookish intellect served him well as he began setting up different SS departments. In 1931 he appointed Reinhard Heydrich chief of the new Ic Service (intelligence service), which was renamed the Sicherheitsdienst (SD: Security Service) in 1932. He later officially appointed Heydrich his deputy. The two men had a good working relationship and a mutual respect




  • Voreppe, France
    1931
    Igor Stravinsky

    The Stravinskys moved to Voreppe

    Voreppe, France
    1931

    From 1931 to 1933, the Stravinskys lived in Voreppe, near Grenoble, southeastern France.


  • South America and France
    1931
    Edward VIII

    A 18,000 miles tour

    South America and France
    1931

    From January to April 1931, the Prince of Wales and his brother Prince George traveled 18,000 miles (29,000 km) on a tour of South America, steaming out on the ocean liner Oropesa, and returning via Paris and an Imperial Airways flight from Paris–Le Bourget Airport that landed specially in Windsor Great Park.


  • England, United Kingdom
    Jan, 1931
    Winston Churchill

    Churchill resigned from the Conservative Shadow Cabinet

    England, United Kingdom
    Jan, 1931

    In January 1931, Churchill resigned from the Conservative Shadow Cabinet because Baldwin supported the decision of the Labour government to grant Dominion status to India.


  • Berlin, Germany
    Feb, 1931
    Joseph Goebbels

    Reichstag changed the immunity regulations

    Berlin, Germany
    Feb, 1931

    The Reichstag changed the immunity regulations in February 1931, and Goebbels was forced to pay fines for libelous material he had placed in Der Angriff over the course of the previous year. Goebbels continued to be elected to the Reichstag at every subsequent election during the Weimar and Nazi regimes.


  • Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai, Russia
    Monday Mar 2, 1931
    Mikhail Gorbachev

    Birth

    Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai, Russia
    Monday Mar 2, 1931

    Gorbachev was born on 2 March 1931 in the village of Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai, then in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union.


  • U.S.
    Monday Mar 2, 1931
    Anna May Wong

    The Good Earth

    U.S.
    Monday Mar 2, 1931

    In the 1930s, the popularity of Pearl Buck's novels, especially The Good Earth, as well as growing American sympathy for China in its struggles with Japanese imperialism, opened up opportunities for more positive Chinese roles in U.S. films.


  • London, England
    Thursday Mar 5, 1931
    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

    The Gandhi–Irwin Pact

    London, England
    Thursday Mar 5, 1931

    The government, represented by Lord Irwin, decided to negotiate with Gandhi. The Gandhi–Irwin Pact was signed in March 1931. The British Government agreed to free all political prisoners, in return for the suspension of the civil disobedience movement. According to the pact, Gandhi was invited to attend the Round Table Conference in London for discussions and as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. The conference was a disappointment to Gandhi and the nationalists. Gandhi expected to discuss India's independence, while the British side focused on the Indian princes and Indian minorities rather than on a transfer of power.


  • Dublin Ireland
    Tuesday Mar 17, 1931
    St. Patrick's Day

    First official, state-sponsored St Patrick's Day parade

    Dublin Ireland
    Tuesday Mar 17, 1931

    The first official, state-sponsored St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin took place in 1931.


  • Beirut, Lebanon
    1931
    Charles de Gaulle

    de Gaulle once again asked Pétain for a posting to the École de Guerre

    Beirut, Lebanon
    1931

    In the spring of 1931, as his posting in Beirut drew to a close, de Gaulle once again asked Pétain for a posting to the École de Guerre.


  • Spain
    Sunday Apr 12, 1931
    Spanish Civil War

    General Dámaso Berenguer

    Spain
    Sunday Apr 12, 1931

    Support for the Rivera regime gradually faded, and Miguel Primo de Rivera resigned in January 1930. He was replaced by General Dámaso Berenguer, who was in turn himself replaced by Admiral Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabañas; both men continued a policy of rule by decree. There was little support for the monarchy in the major cities. Consequently, King Alfonso XIII gave in to popular pressure for the establishment of a republic in 1931 and called municipal elections for 12 April of that year. The socialist and liberal republicans won almost all the provincial capitals, and following the resignation of Aznar's government, King Alfonso XIII fled the country.


  • Spain
    Tuesday Apr 14, 1931
    Spanish Civil War

    Second Spanish Republic

    Spain
    Tuesday Apr 14, 1931

    At this time, the Second Spanish Republic was formed. It remained in power until the culmination of the Spanish Civil War.


  • Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
    Wednesday Apr 15, 1931
    Lucky Luciano

    Masseria assassination

    Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
    Wednesday Apr 15, 1931

    Luciano decided to eliminate Masseria (Lower Manhattan gang boss) . The war had been going poorly for Masseria, and Luciano saw an opportunity to switch allegiance. In a secret deal with Maranzano, Luciano agreed to engineer Masseria's death in return for receiving Masseria's rackets and becoming Maranzano's second-in-command. On April 15, Luciano invited Masseria and two other associates to lunch in a Coney Island restaurant. After finishing their meal, the mobsters decided to play cards. At that point, according to mob legend, Luciano went to the bathroom. Four gunmen then walked into the dining room and shot and killed Masseria.


  • Spain
    Apr, 1931
    Spanish Civil War

    The provisional government

    Spain
    Apr, 1931

    The revolutionary committee headed by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora became the provisional government, with Alcalá-Zamora as president and head of state. The republic had broad support from all segments of society.


  • Spain
    May, 1931
    Spanish Civil War

    An Incident

    Spain
    May, 1931

    In May, an incident where a taxi driver was attacked outside a monarchist club sparked anti-clerical violence throughout Madrid and south-west Spain. The government's slow response disillusioned the right and reinforced their view that the Republic was determined to persecute the church.


  • Vienna, Austria
    Monday May 11, 1931
    Great Depression

    Creditanstalt becomes insolvent

    Vienna, Austria
    Monday May 11, 1931

    Creditanstalt, Austria's premier bank with major stakes across a variety of industries, becomes insolvent after being forced to assume liabilities from three other insolvent banks, triggering a cascading effect of bank failures across Central Europe. Creditanstalt represented 16% of Austria's GDP, and could not find another institution to guarantee liquidity. 140 million Austrian schillings were lost. The collapse of Creditanstalt caused the Bank of France, the National Bank of Belgium, the Netherlands Bank, and the Swiss National Bank to begin a run on the U.S. dollar for their gold reserves, and forced the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates from 1.5% to 3.5% to maintain the gold standards, which in turn contributed to the deepening of the Depression and the second round of banking failures in the U.S. during the summer of 1931.


  • Darjeeling, in the lower Himalayas, India
    Sunday May 24, 1931
    Mother Teresa

    First Religious vows

    Darjeeling, in the lower Himalayas, India
    Sunday May 24, 1931

    She arrived in India in 1929 and began her novitiate in Darjeeling, in the lower Himalayas, where she learned Bengali and taught at St. Teresa's School near her convent. Teresa took her first religious vows on 24 May 1931. She chose to be named after Thérèse de Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries; because a nun in the convent had already chosen that name, Agnes opted for its Spanish spelling (Teresa).


  • Zaragoza, Spain
    Jun, 1931
    Francisco Franco

    Military Academy closed

    Zaragoza, Spain
    Jun, 1931

    With the fall of the monarchy in 1931, Franco did not take any notable stand. But the closing of the Academy in June by War Minister Manuel Azaña provoked his first clash with the Spanish Republic.


  • Eccles Building, Washington, D.C., U.S.
    May, 1931
    Great Depression

    Federal Reserve's federal funds rate bottoms out at 1.5%

    Eccles Building, Washington, D.C., U.S.
    May, 1931

    The Federal Reserve's federal funds rate bottoms out at 1.5%.


  • Hong Kong
    Jun, 1931
    Ho Chi Minh

    Quốc (Ho) was arrested

    Hong Kong
    Jun, 1931

    In June 1931, he was arrested in Hong Kong.


  • Birán, Cuba
    Wednesday Jun 3, 1931
    Raúl Castro

    Born

    Birán, Cuba
    Wednesday Jun 3, 1931

    Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz was born in Birán, Cuba.


  • Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
    Jun, 1931
    Great Depression

    Of the 193 state-chartered banks in the Chicago area in 1929, only 35 would survive to the end of 1933

    Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
    Jun, 1931

    Second major round of U.S. bank failures and worsening economic situation contributes to permanent change in people's expectation of the economy. This run was centered on bank in Chicago, which suffered from real estate loan defaults. Of the 193 state-chartered banks in the Chicago area in 1929, only 35 would survive to the end of 1933.


  • Sevilla, Spain
    Jun, 1931
    Spanish Civil War

    the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo

    Sevilla, Spain
    Jun, 1931

    In June and July, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, known as the CNT, called several strikes, which led to a violent incident between CNT members and the Civil Guard and a brutal crackdown by the Civil Guard and the army against the CNT in Seville. This led many workers to believe the Spanish Second Republic was just as oppressive as the monarchy, and the CNT announced its intention of overthrowing it via revolution. Elections in June 1931 returned a large majority of Republicans and Socialists.


  • Alabama, U.S.
    1931
    W. E. B. Du Bois

    Scottsboro Boys

    Alabama, U.S.
    1931

    A rivalry emerged in 1931 between the NAACP and the Communist Party, when the Communists responded quickly and effectively to support the Scottsboro Boys, nine African-American youth arrested in 1931 in Alabama for rape.


  • U.S.
    Saturday Jun 20, 1931
    Great Depression

    Hoover Moratorium is issued

    U.S.
    Saturday Jun 20, 1931

    The Hoover Moratorium is issued June 20th, suspending reparation payments from Germany to stabilize the country.


  • Berlin, Germany
    Jul, 1931
    Great Depression

    The Reichsbank loses 840 million marks in less than 3 weeks

    Berlin, Germany
    Jul, 1931

    The Reichsbank loses 840 million marks in less than 3 weeks as investors pull out short-term deposits.


  • China
    1931
    Disasters with highest death tolls

    1931 China Floods

    China
    1931

    The 1931 China floods, or the 1931 Yangtze–Huai River floods, were a series of devastating floods that occurred in the Republic of China. They were some of the deadliest floods in history, and together formed one of the most lethal natural disasters of the 20th century, excluding pandemics and famines. Estimates of the total death toll range from 422,499 to between 3.7 million and 4 million.


  • Darmstadt, Germany
    Monday Jul 13, 1931
    Great Depression

    Danatbank becomes insolvent

    Darmstadt, Germany
    Monday Jul 13, 1931

    Germany's second largest bank, Danatbank, becomes insolvent on July 13th. Two day bank holiday is declared. Industry suffers a catastrophic collapse.


  • Yugoslavia
    1931
    Nikola Tesla

    Tesla won Cross Cross of the Order of the Yugoslav Crown

    Yugoslavia
    1931

    Tesla won Cross Cross of the Order of the Yugoslav Crown (Yugoslavia, 1931).


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Aug, 1931
    Great Depression

    Ramsay MacDonald's Labor government raising taxes

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Aug, 1931

    Deepening deficits and demands for a balanced budget lead to Ramsay MacDonald's Labor government raising taxes by £24 million and cutting spending by £96 million, most controversial was the 20% cut to unemployment benefits (a sum of £64 million). The U.K.'s public debt at the time was 180% of GDP, mostly left over from the expenses of World War I. Public outrage would lead to the Labor Party being virtually destroyed in the October 1931 election.


  • Tokyo, Japan
    Wednesday Aug 5, 1931
    Hirohito

    The Deputy Minister of the Japanese Army instructed not to use the term "prisoners of war" for Chinese captives

    Tokyo, Japan
    Wednesday Aug 5, 1931

    According to Akira Fujiwara, Hirohito endorsed the policy of qualifying the invasion of China as an "incident" instead of a "war"; therefore, he did not issue any notice to observe international law in this conflict (unlike what his predecessors did in previous conflicts officially recognized by Japan as wars), and the Deputy Minister of the Japanese Army instructed the Chief of staff of Japanese China Garrison Army on August 5 not to use the term "prisoners of war" for Chinese captives. This instruction led to the removal of the constraints of international law on the treatment of Chinese prisoners. The works of Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno show that the Emperor also authorized, by specific orders (rinsanmei), the use of chemical weapons against the Chinese.


  • USSR (Present Day Russia)
    1931
    Wind turbine

    Modern horizontal-axis

    USSR (Present Day Russia)
    1931

    A forerunner of modern horizontal-axis wind generators was in service at Yalta, USSR in 1931. This was a 100 kW generator on a 30-meter (98 ft) tower, connected to the local 6.3 kV distribution system. It was reported to have an annual capacity factor of 32 percent, not much different from current wind machines.


  • U.S.
    Saturday Sep 5, 1931
    Anna May Wong

    Daughter of the Dragon

    U.S.
    Saturday Sep 5, 1931

    With the promise of appearing in a Josef von Sternberg film, Wong accepted another stereotypical role – the title character of Fu Manchu's vengeful daughter in Daughter of the Dragon (1931).


  • Manhattan, New York, U.S.
    Thursday Sep 10, 1931
    Lucky Luciano

    "Night of the Sicilian Vespers"

    Manhattan, New York, U.S.
    Thursday Sep 10, 1931

    By September 1931, Maranzano realized Luciano was a threat, and hired Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, an Irish gangster, to kill him. However, Lucchese alerted Luciano that he was marked for death. On September 10, Maranzano ordered Luciano and Genovese to come to his office at the 230 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Convinced that Maranzano planned to murder them, Luciano decided to act first. He sent to Maranzano's office four Jewish gangsters whose faces were unknown to Maranzano's people. They had been secured with the aid of Lansky and Siegel. Disguised as government agents, two of the gangsters disarmed Maranzano's bodyguards. The other two, aided by Lucchese, who was there to point Maranzano out, stabbed the boss multiple times before shooting him. This assassination was the first of what would later be fabled as the "Night of the Sicilian Vespers."


  • Manchuria, China
    Friday Sep 18, 1931
    Second Sino-Japanese War

    Japan invaded Manchuria

    Manchuria, China
    Friday Sep 18, 1931

    The internecine warfare in China provided excellent opportunities for Japan, which saw Manchuria as a limitless supply of raw materials, a market for its manufactured goods (now excluded from the markets of many Western countries as a result of Depression-era tariffs), and a protective buffer state against the Soviet Union in Siberia. Japan invaded Manchuria outright after the Mukden Incident in September 1931.


  • Inner Manchuria, China
    Sep, 1931
    Anna May Wong

    Mukden Incident

    Inner Manchuria, China
    Sep, 1931

    Wong began using her newfound celebrity to make political statements: late in 1931, for example, she wrote a harsh criticism of the Mukden Incident and Japan's subsequent invasion of Manchuria.


  • China
    Friday Sep 18, 1931
    League of Nations

    Mukden Incident

    China
    Friday Sep 18, 1931

    The Lytton Report appeared a year later (October 1932). It declared Japan to be the aggressor and demanded Manchuria be returned to China. The report passed 42–1 in the Assembly in 1933 (only Japan voting against), but instead of removing its troops from China, Japan withdrew from the League. In the end, as British historian Charles Mowat argued, collective security was dead.


  • Manchuria, China
    Friday Sep 18, 1931
    World War II

    Mukden Incident

    Manchuria, China
    Friday Sep 18, 1931

    In 1931 Empire of Japan staged the Mukden Incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Monday Sep 21, 1931
    Great Depression

    Britain leaves the gold standard, and the pound sterling depreciates by 25%

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Monday Sep 21, 1931

    Britain leaves the gold standard, and the pound sterling depreciates by 25%. Despite warning of disaster, the departure proves beneficial to the British economy, as exports become more competitive. Additionally, the Bank of England was now free to engage in money creation, and reduced interest rates from 6.00% to 2.00%.


  • Geneva, Switzerland
    Tuesday Sep 22, 1931
    World War II

    China appealed to the League of Nations

    Geneva, Switzerland
    Tuesday Sep 22, 1931

    China appealed to the League of Nations to stop the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.


  • Spain
    Oct, 1931
    Spanish Civil War

    Manuel Azaña became prime minister of a minority government

    Spain
    Oct, 1931

    Republican Manuel Azaña became prime minister of a minority government in October 1931.


  • Epping, England, United Kingdom
    Tuesday Oct 27, 1931
    Winston Churchill

    October 1931 general election was a landslide victory for the Conservatives Churchill nearly doubled his majority in Epping

    Epping, England, United Kingdom
    Tuesday Oct 27, 1931

    The October 1931 general election was a landslide victory for the Conservatives Churchill nearly doubled his majority in Epping, but he was not given a ministerial position.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Tuesday Oct 27, 1931
    Great Depression

    The United Kingdom General election 1931

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Tuesday Oct 27, 1931

    The United Kingdom General election, 1931 takes place, destroying the Labor Party and delivering a landslide victory to the Conservative Party.


  • France
    Nov, 1931
    Charles de Gaulle

    De Gaulle was posted as a "drafting officer"

    France
    Nov, 1931

    De Gaulle was posted to SGDN in November 1931, initially as a "drafting officer".


  • Spain
    1931
    Spanish Civil War

    Government tried to assist rural Spain by instituting an eight-hour day and redistributing land tenure to farm workers

    Spain
    1931

    With the onset of the Great Depression, the government tried to assist rural Spain by instituting an eight-hour day and redistributing land tenure to farm workers.


  • U.S.
    1931
    Diving horse

    Lost their balance

    U.S.
    1931

    In 1931, Sonora and her horse Red Lips lost their balance on the platform. Sonora survived the fall, but was blinded due to detached retinas in both eyes. She continued horse-diving while blind.


  • London, England, United Kingdom
    Thursday Dec 3, 1931
    Winston Churchill

    Commons debated Dominion Status for India

    London, England, United Kingdom
    Thursday Dec 3, 1931

    The Commons debated Dominion Status for India on 3 December and Churchill insisted on dividing the House, but this backfired as only 43 MPs supported him. He embarked on a lecture tour of North America, hoping to recoup financial losses sustained in the Wall Street Crash.


  • Spain
    Wednesday Dec 9, 1931
    Spanish Civil War

    Spanish Constitution of 1931

    Spain
    Wednesday Dec 9, 1931

    Fascism remained a reactive threat, helped by controversial reforms to the military. In December, a new reformist, liberal, and democratic constitution was declared. It included strong provisions enforcing a broad secularisation of the Catholic country, which included the abolishing of Catholic schools and charities, which many moderate committed Catholics opposed.


  • England, United Kingdom
    1931
    Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

    The family separated

    England, United Kingdom
    1931

    In the next three years, his four sisters married German princes and moved to Germany, his mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and placed in an asylum, and his father took up residence in Monte Carlo. Philip had little contact with his mother for the remainder of his childhood.


  • New York City, New York, U.S.
    Sunday Dec 13, 1931
    Winston Churchill

    Churchill was crossing Fifth Avenue in New York City

    New York City, New York, U.S.
    Sunday Dec 13, 1931

    On 13 December, Churchill was crossing Fifth Avenue in New York City when he was knocked down by a car, suffering a head wound from which he developed neuritis.


  • Germany
    Saturday Dec 19, 1931
    Joseph Goebbels

    Goebbels and Quandt married

    Germany
    Saturday Dec 19, 1931

    Goebbels and Quandt married on 19 December 1931.


  • U.S.
    1931
    Great Depression

    The 1931 recession

    U.S.
    1931

    2,294 banks went down with nearly $1.7 billion in deposits. 28,285 businesses failed for a daily rate of 133 failures in 1931. Unemployment rises to 16%. US nominal GDP falls to $77 billion, and growth is -8.5%. Annual inflation is -9.3%.


<