Music recorded in 1922
The year 1922 was a time when the post-World War I international order wavered between "cooperation" and "concentration of power," and political, economic, and cultural systems were simultaneously restructured. While disarmament was being talked about in diplomatic circles, violence and extreme measures emerged as real options in domestic politics, and new popular culture and media accelerated the pace of life.
Symbolic in military and diplomatic terms are the series of treaties that emerged from the Washington Naval Conference (1921–1922). On February 6, 1922, the Five-Power Treaty (also known as the Washington Naval Treaty) was signed, which attempted to curb the race for naval expansion by setting capital ship ownership ratios. The Nine-Power Treaty, which addressed Chinese sovereignty and the "Open Door" policy, was also concluded on the same day, laying out a framework for postwar international cooperation.
Meanwhile, in Europe, a different kind of realpolitik emerged from the seams of postwar settlement and isolation. On April 16, 1922, Germany and Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Rapallo, establishing diplomatic relations. However, Walther Rathenau (1867–1922), the foreign minister who had led this policy, was assassinated on June 24, exposing the reality of far-right violence destabilizing politics.
The transition of power manifested itself decisively in Italy. Following the March on Rome (October 28–31, 1922), King Vittorio Emmanuel III (1869–1947) appointed Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) as Prime Minister, ushering Fascism into the heart of state power. Similarly, in the Mediterranean world, the Turkish Grand National Assembly abolished the Ottoman Empire's sultanate on November 1, 1922, institutionally marking the end of the empire. In the Middle East, the League of Nations ratified the Mandate for Palestine on July 24, 1922, ushering in the postwar mandate system. In North Africa, Britain unilaterally recognized Egypt's independence on February 28, 1922, and Fuad I of Egypt (1868–1936) changed his title to "King of Egypt" on March 15.
By the end of the year, the post-revolutionary territorial states were united in a new way: on December 30, 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was founded, establishing the framework for a federal state.
The intensification of domestic conflicts also emerged as another aspect of postwar "nation-building." In Ireland, the Irish Civil War broke out in June 1922, with Arthur Griffith (1871–1922) dying on August 12 and Michael Collins (1890–1922) being killed in action on August 22. Nevertheless, the Irish Free State was established on December 6, and the institutionalization of independence progressed in tandem with the civil war. In India, the Chauri Chaura incident (February 1922) shook the course of the nonviolent movement, and Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) was tried for sedition in March and given a long prison sentence.
There were also turning points in the fields of science and discovery. Leonard Thompson (1908–1935)'s insulin treatment for type 1 diabetes in January 1922 marked a watershed in medical history. In archaeology, Howard Carter (1874–1939) discovered the stairs to Tutankhamun's tomb on November 4, 1922, and when news of his arrival at the tomb chamber was reported in November of the same year, a global fascination with ancient Egypt spread.
In terms of culture, James Joyce's (1882–1941) Ulysses was published on February 2, 1922, and T. S. Eliot's (1888–1965) The Waste Land was released in a magazine on October 16, 1922. In terms of sound distribution, the British Broadcasting Company Limited was founded in the UK on October 18, 1922, and began broadcasting from 2LO in London on November 14.
