In his speech from the throne opening the new session of British Parliament, King George V said it was "urgently necessary" for Britain's air defenses to be improved.[4]
Nazi Germany placed an embargo on its own currency effective December 6. Foreign tourists were limited to bringing no more than 30 marks' worth of bank notes into the country at a time.[5]
Italian children had a three-hour school day (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) in order to save coal.[6]
Died:Johan Halvorsen, 71, Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist; Charles Richet, 85, French physiologist and Nobel laureate
Italian planes bombed Emperor Haile Selassie's headquarters at Dessie. The American Seventh-day Adventist Hospital and a Red Cross tent were also hit by the indiscriminately dropped bombs, though the hospital was evacuated minutes before the attack. The emperor sent a vigorously worded protest to the League of Nations over the incident.[9]
Dessie was heavily bombarded again. International Red Cross representatives sent a formal protest of the bombings to the League of Nations.[10]
Mussolini defiantly told his parliament that sanctions would not deter Italy from its path and that only "full recognition of our rights and the safeguarding of our East African interests" could solve the crisis.[11]
British Foreign Secretary Samuel Hoare arrived in Paris for talks with French Prime Minister Pierre Laval on the Italo-Abyssinian conflict.[12]
Japan publicly demanded absolute naval parity with the United States and Great Britain.[13]
The Anglo-French proposal known as the Hoare–Laval Pact was agreed upon, in which Abyssinia would be partitioned and much of its territory given to Italy. The two delegations informed the media that they had come up with a plan, but withheld the details so the interested governments could review them.[12]
Houston, Texas was ravaged by flood, causing hundreds to flee their homes.[14]
The six major naval powers (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States) opened a conference in London trying one last time to reduce naval armaments.[16]
Over a thousand students gathered at Tiananmen Square to protest Chiang Kai-shek's failure to fight back against Japanese aggression. The demonstration was dispersed by police.[17][18]
The British newspaper The Times published its own report of leaked details of the Hoare–Laval Pact. As public anger about the proposal grew, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin responded to a question in the House of Commons by saying it would be "premature to make a statement on the subject at present" because he was not sure if the proposal had been finalized.[15][19]
Nazi Germany published the details of a new decree requiring a "certificate of fitness for marriage" before Germans were allowed to wed. Prospective spouses were required to fill out a six-page questionnaire about their health, parentage, childhood rates of development and present smoking, drinking and sexual habits. Doctors were instructed to evaluate the fitness of each candidate and could deny a certificate if not satisfied.[22]
Referring to the leaked details of the Hoare–Laval Pact, Ethiopia announced that it strongly rejected any proposal that would "reward Italian aggression."[23]
The full text of the Hoare–Laval Pact was revealed to the public, causing a huge split at the League of Nations. Haile Selassie told the League that the plan violated the spirit of the League Covenant.[27]
Italy sent a protest to the League accusing Ethiopia of abusing the Red Cross emblem by placing it in militarized areas.[27]
Police in Nazi Germany closed Barasch Brothers' Department Store, a prominent Jewish establishment, for an "indefinite period". Police claimed that executives were forcing its female employees into illicit relations.[28]
Representatives of the federal and provincial governments of Canada agreed unanimously to amend the constitution to allow the country to make its own constitutional amendments without recourse to the British Parliament.[16]
In New York City, a fundraising rally was held in Madison Square Garden for the Italian Red Cross. The crowd cheered every mention of Mussolini's name and booed references to Britain and sanctions. Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia spoke at the event but kept his comments politically neutral.[12]
Haile Selassie held a conference for reporters on the porch of his headquarters to formally reject the Hoare–Laval Pact.[12] Selassie declared that acceptance of the proposal "would not only be cowardice toward our people, but a betrayal of the League of Nations and of all states that have thought up to now that they could have confidence in the system of collective security."[32]
The prototype of the Douglas DC-3 airliner made its first flight.[20]
The British Boy Scouts announced that two of the organization's badges bearing the swastika would be redesigned to remove the symbol due to its increased association with Nazi Germany.[34]
Samuel Hoare resigned as British Foreign Secretary over the unpopular Hoare–Laval Pact.[16]
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Sichuan Province in China that killed about 100 people and destroyed many homes.[35][36]
While inaugurating the new municipality of Pontinia, Mussolini introduced "Faith Day", in which Italians were to donate their wedding rings so the material could be melted down for use by the state. Queen Elena inaugurated the day in Rome by donating the King and Queen's own rings and receiving steel substitutes in return.[37]
Labour Party leader Clement Attlee brought a motion of censure against the government of Stanley Baldwin, explaining, "If it is right for (Samuel Hoare) to resign, then it is right for the Government to resign." Baldwin stood and took chief responsibility for the Hoare–Laval debacle, and declared that the proposals were "absolutely and completely dead" and that the government would "make no attempt to resurrect them." Attlee's motion was defeated, 397 to 165.[38]
Idaho Republican Senator William Borah announced his willingness to run for president in 1936. "My primary objective is a convention of liberal delegates which will write a liberal platform and name a liberal candidate", Borah explained in a statement. "To that end I shall devote my efforts. If in any state or district the liberal forces think that it will help the liberal cause to pledge delegates to me, I shall cooperate fully with that plan."[40]
U.S. government employee Patrick W. Tierney fell to his death from the intake tower at Hoover Dam, becoming the last worker to die during the dam's construction. Tierney died 13 years to the day after his father, J.G. Tierney, fell off a barge into the Colorado River and drowned while conducting a geological survey preparatory to the dam's construction.[41][42]
The Italians first used chemical weapons in Ethiopia, spraying mustard gas and dropping bombs with mustard agent on Ethiopian soldiers and civilians.[33]
In a Christmas radio message, Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg announced an extensive amnesty for political prisoners. It benefited both Socialists who fought in the Austrian Civil War and Nazis who participated in the July Putsch.[45]
It was announced that Charles Lindbergh and his family had departed the United States for England due to kidnapping threats against their 3-year-old son.[46]
Five American warplanes of the 23d Bomb Squadron bombed Mauna Loa in Hawaii in an unprecedented attempt to divert the flow of lava from a volcanic eruption. The bombs hit their mark,[52] but it was not clear if they had any effect.[53]
Uruguay broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.[16] Uruguay accused the Soviets of using their legation as a headquarters for plotting communist revolutions.[54]
James Grover McDonald announced his resignation, effective tomorrow, as League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Coming from Germany. In his letter of resignation he explained that racial persecution in Germany had become so large a problem that only the League itself could solve it by addressing its source.[55]
The Soviet Union decided to allow Christmas trees again, but only for New Year's when they would be designated as New Year trees.[56]
Italian warplanes bombed a Swedish Red Cross field hospital in southern Ethiopia, killing 42. The bombing greatly angered Sweden and led to a diplomatic row with Italy.[12][57][58]
Ethiopia protested to the League of Nations that Italy had used chemical weapons in violation of the Geneva Convention.[57]
In order to economize gold, Nazi Germany restricted the size of wedding rings and the amount of gold that they could contain.[59]
The Imperial Airways passenger plane City of Khartoum ran out of fuel and crashed off Alexandria, Egypt. 12 of the 13 aboard were killed.[61]
The Lindbergh family reached English shores and dodged an army of reporters, secluding themselves in a Liverpool hotel and turning down all requests for interviews.[62]
^ abcdePearce, Jeff (2014). Prevail: The Inspiring Story of Ethiopia's Victory over Mussolini's Invasion, 1935–1941. Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN978-1-63220-096-9.
^"Japan Demands Naval Parity with U.S., Britain". Chicago Daily Tribune. December 8, 1935. p. 5.
^"Houston Counts Million Dollar Loss in Flood". Chicago Daily Tribune. December 9, 1935. p. 24.
^ abBrody, Kenneth (2000). The Avoidable War, Volume 2: Pierre Laval and the Politics of Reality, 1935–1936. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. pp. 146, 148. ISBN978-1-4128-1777-6.
^Weiss, Jessica Chen (2014). Powerful Patriots: Nationalist Protest in China's Foreign Relations. Oxford University Press. p. 100. ISBN978-0-19-938756-4.
^Hamrin, Carol Lee; Bieler, Stacey (2009). Salt and Light, Volume 1: Lives of Faith That Shaped Modern China. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN978-1-62189-291-5.
^ ab"Italians Bomb Red Cross Unit; Kill 9 Swedes". Chicago Daily Tribune. January 1, 1936. p. 21.
^Ross, John F. L. (1989). Neutrality and International Sanctions: Sweden, Switzerland, and Collective Security. New York: Praeger Publishers. p. 79. ISBN978-0-275-93349-4.
^"Germany Cuts Weight of Gold in Wedding Rings". Chicago Daily Tribune. December 31, 1935. p. 8.
