Today -100: May 2, 1919: May Day

May Day “riots” in Cleveland (a protest against the imprisonment of Eugene Debs) are suppressed by the police and military, including what must be the first use of tanks against US civilians (could have been worse: the US Army stationed machine-gun companies outside the city, but didn’t use them). One civilian is shot dead by a cop. It all kicked off when an army lieutenant ordered a soldier marching in the socialist May Day parade to stop carrying a red flag and the soldier refused. Soldiers and others destroy Socialist headquarters.

Police in Boston violently break up an unauthorized May Day parade. Ditto Detroit. Soldiers and sailors attack meetings in New York City.

Rather more May Day violence in Paris, much of it by the police. I don’t think any of the US police forces used actual sabers in crowd control.

China is pissed that the Peace Conference is giving the former German rights in Kiao-Chau and Shantung (Shandong) to Japan. Japan says it will totally give Shantung back... some time. Obviously, it would be an insult to Japan’s honor to demand an actual deadline, Japan says. It should be noted that the country being treated as the spoils of war, China, was on the Allied side.

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