100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

13th July 1920

Chilean President José Gutiérrez Guerra is overthrown by a military coup due to economic troubles in the country. He was perceived by many to be elitist and was nicknamed the "Last Oligarch"


Graves of Canadian and Australian soldiers and a lone grave of an American soldier in Maryhill, Scotland.

[Jimbuna]

14th July 1920

FT-17 tanks at parade in Vincennes, France for Bastille Day.


The Zhili-Anhui War begins as warlord factions in Northern China begin fighting one another for control over the internationally recognized Chinese government (Beiyang). Warlords Wu Peifu and Duan Qirui.

[Jimbuna]

15th July 1920

Eleanor Roosevelt and her family. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, was recently nominated as the Democratic Party’s Vice President candidate.


Sinn Fein raided the Dublin post office during the daytime and, without encountering resistance, carried away government mail and mail addressed to law enforcement agencies.

[Jimbuna]

16th July 1920

ROTC men drilling with Browning Automatic rifles at Camp Jackson, South Carolina.


German Reichswehr units patrol in front of the French embassy in Berlin after demonstrators took down the French flag.

[Jimbuna]

17th July 1920

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt receiving official notice of his nomination as the Democratic Party’s Vice Presidential candidate.


Crowds pay their respects for the funeral of Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

[Jimbuna]

18th July 1920

Royal Navy Protected Cruiser HMS Fox at Watchet.


Prince Joachim of Prussia, the youngest child of Kaiser Wilhelm II, commits suicide at the age of 29. He reportedly fell into depression after losing his royal status and becoming a commoner after the Great War.


King Faisal agrees to the French Ultimatum to disband his Arab Army and submit Syria to French rule as a mandate. The news leads to riots in Damascus.

[Jimbuna]

19th July 1920

2nd World Congress of the Comintern opens in Petrograd (St. Petersburg). Lenin making a speech.


IJN carrier Kaga laid down.


Ship Losses:

Caroline (France) The barque caught fire at Antofagasta, Chile and was beached.
Coastwise (United States) The 109-foot (33.2 m), 269-gross register ton tug sprang a leak and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean south of Long Island, New York. Her entire crew of 17 survived.

[Jimbuna]

20th July 1920

The Spaniards defeated by Abdelkrim El-Khattabi (a Moroccan political and military leader) in the Battle of Annual.


Ship Losses:

Jan (Netherlands) The tug foundered off Wenchow, China in a typhoon.
Shanghai (Netherlands) The dredger foundered off Wenchow in a typhoon.

[Jimbuna]

21st July 1920

A diplomatic mission by Britain and France is dispatched to Poland to negotiate a truce between Poland and the Soviets.


IRA suspects being guarded by British soldiers at the Bandon Barracks.


Edward, Prince of Wales, greeting crowds at the Anzac Hotel in Launceston, Australia.


The opulent funeral of Princess Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III and last Bourbon vestige, proceeds through London past famous spectators including Prince Murat, Prince Victor, and Princess Napoleon, of various nations, but all known to the late Imperatice.


Ship Losses:

Carlo Alberto Racchia (Regia Marina) Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War: The Mirabello-class destroyer sank in the Black Sea after striking a mine off Odessa, Ukraine.
Saint Michael #9 (United States) Loaded with a cargo of 406 tons of fuel oil in tanks, the 366-ton barge sank at the dock at St. Michael, Territory of Alaska, when a gale struck and heavy seas swamped her. She was a total loss.

[Jimbuna]

22nd July 1920

Delegates to the ongoing Congress of the Communist International in Moscow. These delegates represent Russia’s various regions and ethnic groups. ‬


Greece proudly presents this new map of herself, including the territories she conquered from the Ottoman Empire. “The New Greece.”


Ship Losses:

Kolyma (United States) The 29-gross register ton motor vessel was wrecked on the northwest coast of Sledge Island in the Bering Sea during a gale. Her crew of two survived.
Sesnon #5 (United States) While anchored about 0.25 nautical miles (0.46 km; 0.29 mi) west of the mouth of the Lost River (65°23′N 167°09′W) on the Bering Sea coast of the Territory of Alaska with no cargo or crew aboard, the 58-ton scow dragged her anchor during a gale, was driven ashore, and was wrecked.

[Jimbuna]

23rd July 1920

Vladimir Lenin meeting with Italian delegates at the Second World Congress of the Comintern.


Gouraud inspects French troops at the Battle of Maysaloun.

[Jimbuna]

24th July 1920

Poland forms the National Defense Government, headed by Prime Minister Wincenty Witos, to defend against the ongoing Soviet offensive against Poland.


At the Battle of Maysalum, French troops defeat the Arab Army of the Kingdom of Syria, ending hopes for an independent country in Syria. French troops before the battle.


Franco-Syrian war. Syrian soldiers in Maysaloun in 1920.

[Jimbuna]

25th July 1920

In the Chilean Presidential Election, Arturo Alessandri is elected by winning the electoral college despite losing the popular vote.


French troops led by General Mariano Goybet enters Damascus, ending the independent Kingdom of Syria. General Gouraud (or General Goybet) is said to have said, "Saladin, we're back!"


Ship Losses:

HMCS CD88 (Royal Canadian Navy) The Admiralty-type drifter foundered on passage from Canada to the United Kingdom.

[Jimbuna]

26th July 1920

Ship Losses:

Mayals (United Kingdom) The coaster ran aground at Bideford, Devon. Her crew were rescued.
Stanton (United Kingdom) The cargo ship collided with Redriff ( United Kingdom) in the Thames Estuary and sank. Her crew were rescued.

[Jimbuna]

27th July 1920

At the 1920 America’s Cup, New York Yacht Club’s Resolute defeats the Royal Ulster Yacht Club’s Shamrock IV


British troops inspect a bridge destroyed by the IRA near Kinsale.


Ship Losses:

Santa Elena (United States) The cargo ship was destroyed by fire at Valparaíso, Chile.