1921-1925

1921
1921 Modern Turkey Founded -During World War I, Turkey had sided with Germany and Austria-Hungary; and as one of the defeated powers, the Ottoman Empire was forced to give up its remaining non-Turkish lands. On May 19th, one of Turkey's few heroes of the war, Mustapha Kemal Pasha, began organizing resistance to the further dismemberment of Turkey by the victorious powers. This led to his dismissal by the Sultan. Mustapha Kemal Pasha then went on to establish a Nationalist party. The Nationalists put forth a multi-point program including self-determination, security of Constantinople, opening of the Dardanelle Straits, rights for minorities and non-capitulation to any additional demands made by foreign powers.

The Nationalists won a subsequent election, and their program was adopted by the Parliament. In an attempt to stop the increasing influence of the Nationalists, the allies occupied Constantinople in March 1920 and dissolved the Parliament. The Nationalists then set up a provisional government at Ankara. In June, the Greeks initiated open warfare against the Nationalists. In August, the Sultan's government agreed to and signed the Treaty of Severes, actions which were denounced by the Nationalists. On January 20th, the Nationalists adopted a set of fundamental laws that became the foundation of the modern state of Turkey. These laws provided for the sovereignty of the people, a parliament elected by male suffrage, and a president with extensive powers.
1921 Reza Khan Becomes Ruler of Persia- (2/22/21) Reza Khan arrived in Teheran on February 22, commanding an army of 4,000 troops. His forces toppled the government and he became the new leader of Persia. His government renounced its agreement with the British. Reza Khan then entered into an agreement with the Soviets that called for the Soviets to withdraw from Persia and allowed Persia to abrogate all concessions. In 1925, Reza Khan became Reza Shah Pahlavi. He followed a policy of modernization and development in Persia.
1921 Mongolean People's Government Established -(7/6/21) With the support of the Soviet Union, the Mongolian Peoples Revolutionary Government was established. The new government was established after the White Russians were defeated.
1921 Faisal Becomes Iraqi King -(8/23/21)The British received the mandate for Iraq. An insurrection resulted,which lasted six months, until the British were able to put it down, in December 1920. In June 1921, Emir Faisal, formerly the King of Syria, arrived in Iraq. Faisal was soon proclaimed King of Iraq. He remained on the Iraqi throne until 1933.
1921 Aircraft Sink Battleship -(9/23/21) The US Battleship "Alabama" was sunk on September 23rd, by Army Air Service. The battleship, which had to be destroyed anyway, was the subject of a test to determine the effectiveness of planes against ships. Leading the attack was Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. Mitchell claimed that surface ships were doomed when facing aircraft.
1921 US Burea of Budget -In 1921, President Harding established the Bureau of the Budget. The bureau, for the first time, placed formal restrictions on the spending of government funds. The Bureau of the Budget later became the Office of Management and Budget.
1921 Washington Naval Convention -(12/13/21)The United States, Britain, Japan, France and Italy met and agreed on a treaty limiting naval powers. The treaty called for a ratio of naval ships of 5 to 5 to 3 to 1.7 to 1.7. Thus, for every 5 large ships of the US and Britain, Japan could have 3 ships, and France and Italy, 1.7. The United States agreed to scuttle 30 war ships as a result of the treaty.
1921 Immigration Quota -(5/19/21) For the first time, the United States passed a restrictive immigration quota. The quota was designed to maintain the "character" of the United States. It apportioned immigration certificates based on the population of the United States in the year 1910.

1922
1922 Qantus Introduces Air Service-(11/2/22)On November 2nd, QANTAS began Australia's first schelduled air service. The service began from Charleville and terminated in Cloncurry, 557 miles away. QANTAS was able to institute the service after receiving an air mail contract for northeastern Australia.
1922 Mussolini Seizes Power in Italy -(10/31/22) In October, tens of thousands of Fascist supporters of Mussolini marched on Rome, demanding power. The government of Premier Facta requested the implementation of martial law, but King Emmanuel refused to sign the decree, leading to Facta's resignation. Emmanuel appointed Mussolini Prime Minister, and gave him dictatorial powers in an effort to restore order.
1922 Second Treaty Rapallo -(4/16/22) Germany recognized the USSR under the terms of the second Treaty of Rapallo. Germany and the USSR canceled their debts to one another, and Germany was absolved from paying reparations to the USSR.
1922 British Give Egypt Limited Independence -(2/28/22) The British government unilaterally terminated its protectorate of Egypt. Egypt was declared independent, but defense considerations were left to the British.
1922 Fordney-McCumber Tariff-This tariff was passed in 1922. It raised duties to an average of 38 percent. It particularly provided protection to the chemical and drug industries that developed during World War I.
1922 World War Foreign Debt Commission Established -The US Congress established the World War Foreign Debt Commission to negotiate with European nations debts owed from World War I. The total amount owed the United States was $22 billion, which was to be paid back over 62 years at 2% interest.
1922 1st US Aircraft Carriers Launched -(3/20/22) On March 20th, at Norfolk, Virginia, the USS Langely was commissioned as the first Naval Aircraft Carrier. The carrier was a converted coaler.
1922 Doolittle Flies Coast-to-Coast In Under a Day-Jimmy Doolittle made a coast-to-coast trip in under one day. He started out in Pueblo Beach, Florida, and ended his flight 21 hours later in San Diego. His only stop was Kelly Field, Texas.
1922 Irish Free State Established-After Sinn Fein's victory in the parliamentary elections of Southern Ireland, negotiations began with the British on Irish independence. An agreement was reached that provided for an independent Ireland, having the status of Dominion within the British Empire. The radicals disapproved, and mounted an insurrection against the provisional government. In subsequent elections, the government won an overwhelming victory. The new constitution of Ireland was ratified and the Irish Free State came into being.

1923
1923 France Occupies The Ruhr -(1/11/23)The French announced, on January 9th, that the Germans were in default on their coal deliveries. On January 11th, the French occupied the Ruhr district of Germany in order to forcibly obtain coal. The German people and government pursued a policy of passive resistance.
1923 Munich Beer Putsch- (11/8/23) Adolf Hitler, together with General Erich Ludendorff, attempted to overthrow the German government. The putsch was suppressed by the government.
1923 Treaty of Lausanne - (7/24/23)After an unsuccessful military campaign against the Greeks, Turkey concluded a peace treaty with the Allies. Under the terms of the agreement, Turkey gave up all claim to non-Turkish territories lost in the course of World War I. It recovered however, Eastern Thrace. In the Agean, it received Imbros and Tenedos, but the rest of the islands went to Greece. Turkey paid no reparations. The Dardenelles were demilitarized, and open to all ships in time of peace and all neutral ships in time of war.
1923 Earthquake Hits Tokyo - On September 1, 1923, an earthquake hit Japan. Tokyo and Yokohama were nearly destroyed. Over 200,000 people were said to have been killed. Damage was estimated at $1 billion.
1923 TransJordan Established a Separate Country -Britain separated Transjordan from the mandate of Palestine. Emir Abdullah Ibn Hussein, the son of the Sheriff of Mecca, was made King.
1923 Klu Klux Klan Exposed -A number of exposés were printed on the activities of the Ku Klux Klan against Blacks, Catholics, Jews and other minorities. In the early 1920's, the organization had a membership of 5 million. After receiving extensive publicity, the Grand Dragon was eventually indicted for murder, and membership dropped to 9,000 by 1930.
1923 US Crossed Non-Stop -(5/3/23) US Army Air Lieutenants Oakley Kelly and John MacReady flew non-stop across the United States. The flight was made in a Fokker T–2. It took 26 hours and 50 minutes to make the trip that started on Long Island and ended in San Diego

1924
1924 Lenin Dies -(1/24/24)The death of Vladimir Lenin marked the beginning of a power struggle between Stalin and Trotsky for control of the Soviet state.
1924 Dawes Plan -(9/1/24) The Dawes Plan went into effect in 1924. The plan rescheduled the amount of reparations that the Germans were forced to pay the Allies. Under its terms, the Allies also removed their occupational troops from the Ruhr.
1924 Ibn Saud Takes Mecca -Ibn Saud had undertaken a campaign to unify Saudi Arabia. In October 1924, Ibn Saud captured Mecca, thereby coming close to achieving his goal. The next year, Medina and Jidda surrendered to Ibn Saud and, in January 1926, Ibn Saud became the King of the Hijaz.
1924 Immigration Receives Futher Cutback -The Johnson–Reed Act cut back the total number of immigrants to the United States to 164,000 per year. It also limited the immigrants to a proportion of those who had lived in the United States in 1890, instead of 1910. This effectively cut off immigration from Eastern Europe. It also outlawed all immigration from Japan.
1924 Teapot Dome Scandal - Misuses of power for private gain had been rampant in the Harding Administration. The extent of these infractions only became clear with the public disclosure of the "Teapot Dome Scandal": a naval oil reserve was leased to private individuals by the Secretary of the Interior. He was convicted and sentenced to a year in prison.
1924 Around the World Flight -(9/28/24) On September 28th, two American aircraft returned from the first round-the-world flight. The journey took 175 days. The two aircraft, "The Chicago" and "The New Orleans," covered a total of 26,343 miles. The other aircraft failed to complete the journey.

1925
1925 Locarno Conference - (10/5/25) A conference was held and treaties signed guaranteeing peace in Europe. The pacts included a treaty of mutual guarantee of the Franco-German and Belgian-German borders. The treaties, which covered many potentially disputed areas, served to provide Europeans
a sense of security.
1925 Berber Resisters Subdued in Morocco - The Berbers attempted to resist the French in Morocco. Henri Petain, who took control of the French forces in Morocco, required 150,000 men to subdue the Berbers and capture their leader Abl-el Krim.
1925 Druse Revolt Against French -The Druse Revolt began in the Jabal Druse, but soon spread throughout the country. The Druse took control of Damascus. The French bombed Damascus with artillery, tanks and planes. It took the French a year and a half to put down the revolt.
1925 Scopes Monkey Trial - (7/26/25) In 1925, Tennessee passed a law outlawing the teaching of evolution. On July 10, 1925, John Scopes, a biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, was put on trial. He was accused of teaching Darwinian theory. Clarence Darrow defended Scopes, who lost the trial. The trial, however, undermined the effort to outlaw the teaching of evolution.
1925 Air Mail Contracts Given -(10/7/25) Five private companies won air mail contracts in the United States. The contracts were for New York–Boston; Chicago–St. Louis; Chicago–Dallas; and Salt Lake City–Los Angeles. The air mail awards were given after the Air Mail Act took effect. Under the Act, all air mail that was once transported by the US government would soon be transported by private companies.
1925 Doolittle Wins The Schneider -(10/26/25) Flying a Curtiss R–3C2 biplane, Army Lieutenant Jimmy Doolittle captured the prestigious Schneider Cup for seaplanes. Doolittle averaged 232 miles per hour on his course, which was over Chesapeake Bay.