It is impossible to do more thay refer cursorily to the is of European nations, out-ide the peace negotiations and the reparations question, which have already been touched upon. The main problems of 1928 had been inherited from years pre-' vious, In northern Europe Lithuania had been at what is described as "bloodless war" for seven years or more, over the puted possession of Vil historically associated with the former country, but placed in a neutral zone by the League of Nations. In the Lithuanian constitution which was promulgated on May 26 Vilna was named the capital, and a storm threatened Europe, Poland displaying bitter opposition, and the Teague of Nations being the scene of heated debate on the question. On July 12 a Polish-Lithuanian conference ended unsatisfactorily, and troop movements in the two countries gave rise to a "war scare." An interesting pronouncement of the Lithuanian government in November May 2[ answer to a proposal for the pi ae) Latvia, through Lithuania, io construction of a railway from veally an ultimatum, setting Vilna, occupied by Poland, sum-time limit for "a written assur-marines the situation at the end ance that the meastire would not of the year; the government he proceeded with." After some declared against the railway on debate this assurance was forth-the ground that a "state of war" coming and the measure post existed between Lithuania and Benes owing a cabinet eriaf [Poland, With such an explosive oned November. As i THe el cuttondeil the: parlia: [Position on the frontier between and Soviet Russia and the rest of forbade all elections: the meas-Hirone. it was perhaps fortunate reins not revived, The that the Soviet was too busily suspension of the poriament, {cneazed in its own affairs to interfere, though Litvinof did condemned as a violation of the constitution, was bitterly opposed Sive an assurance to Lithuania of Russian assistance in the by all parties, but the govern-event of Polish aggression. ment proved strong enough to Russia was, however, involved in maintain order without outside assistance, despite a resolution the controversy within the Com-of 200 members of the house to munist Party between the fol-convene on November If thee lowers of Trotsky and those of Stalin, and in steadily increasing ever convened, it was so secretly grain and bread shortages. The that they did not affect the even most far-reaching event of the course of the rulers, spring was the arrest of a num-'The Iraq and Afghanistan her of engineers in the Donets, The flame of a "holy war' basin on March 10.and their! burned fiercely in the Iraq on subsequent trial on charges of New Year's Day, Ferocious deliberately damaging the plant by Wahabis on January 2]of mines in order to discredit Sorovenled the weakness of Ibn Saud's regime, and on January 5 British assistance was needed to organize a punitive expedition, in which the Air Force did great work, On January 9 the cabinet collapsed over differences concerning the treaty with Britai exten the British manda' until 1932, but order was maintained, On February 10 there was ay!
lent anti-Zionist out break in Bagdhad on the of Sir Alfred Mond, now Lord Mel-chert. And toward: the end of viet management. The fact that three Germans were among those arrested gave the affair interna-,|tional importance, and destroyed foreign confidence in Soviet enterprises. AS a result of the rel of 1927 within the Communist Party, Trotsky and his followers were exiled on January and the Stalin government relieved of its most dangerous opposition. Some of the penitent Trotskyites were received back into the party fold, but on October 29, on suspicion that the month more raids Wah his caused fighting in the ity of Busra, a British airman Doing shot down and killed. On March 5 there was more talk of a "holy preached by the King of the Hedjaz, and 1,000 British marines were landed at Busra in case of an Arab attack on Kuwoit. Only desultory ighting occurred, however, and they werp not called upon to interven For the rest of the their penitence was not so complete as the Stalinites would have liked, they were again suspended from the party. The achievements of the Soviet icebreaker Krassin in the rescue of the Nobile expedition to the North Pole created a favourable impression throughout the world. Reports of. grain famines in Russia, which were persistent! throughout the year,—took definite shape towards the end
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.