NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 2 February 1923

2 FEBRUARY 1923

The French Government said to the UK that in the event of the Lausanne Conference failing to reach agreement, then France would undertake its own private negotiations.

The Russians refused to sign the Straits Convention at the Lausanne Conference. The Straits Convention of Lausanne was a treaty signed later in 1923 between several European and Middle Eastern countries which regulated the use of the Turkish Straits (Bosporus and the Dardanelles). It granted the right of passage to all commercial and war ships, with certain exceptions. The Convention also granted Turkey sovereignty over the straits, but gave the naval powers the right to maintain fortifications along the straits. The Lausanne Convention helped ease tensions between Turkey and the naval powers, and established the basis for the use of the Turkish Straits for many years to come.

Attempts were made in occupied Ruhr Valley to destroy a number of trains, with the French authorities arresting a number of German railway workers.

Senator Bagwell, who had been kidnapped by Irish terrorists, was released by his captors.

The British Government asked Jersey and Guernsey to contribute towards the cost of the Imperial Exchequer.