NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 29 January 1923

29 JANUARY 1923

A general strike of railwaymen started in the Ruhr Valley which was the area of Germany occupied by French troops.

Stanley Baldwin, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, confirmed rumours that he had been unable to get agreement in the United States about the repayment of the British war debt owed to them. Despite this Warren Harding, the President of the United States, announced that he was confident that agreement would soon be reached on the interest rates that needed to be paid.

The Turks refused to hand over the British war graves in the Gallipoli Peninsula to the Allies, causing Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon to condemn Ismet Pasha for not allowing those men from Australia and New Zealand to lie in peace. He said that the ground was valueless to Turkey or any human being, but for Australia and New Zealand it was a matter of the greatest sentiment and consideration.