Blerim Abedini, Institute for Security Studies and Development, ISSD-NM
Some events from 1920 to1926 are:
(1920 y.) Women won the right to vote with the 19th Amendment. The first commercial radio broadcast aired. The League of Nations was established. There was a bubonic plague in India.
(1921 y.) The Irish Free State was declared. Bessie Coleman became the first female African-American pilot. There was extreme inflation in Germany, and the lie detector was invented.
(1922 y.) Benito Mussolini marched on Rome with 30,000 men and brought his fascist party to power in Italy. Kemal Ataturk founded modern Turkey, and the tomb of King Tut was discovered.
(1923 y.) The Ruhr region of Germany was occupied by French and Belgian forces, and Adolf Hitler was jailed after a failed coup in Germany.
(1924 y.) J. Edgar Hoover was appointed the first director of the F.B.I.; Vladimir Lenin died, and the trial of Richard Leopold and Nathan Loeb shocked and riveted the country.
(1925 y.) Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” was published, as was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.“
(1926 y.) Henry Ford announced the 40-hour work week, Hirohito became the emperor of Japan. See link: Timeline of the Roaring 20s (thoughtco.com)
Companies in the Balkans 1920-1926
Some companies was established in Greece and Turkey. Other countries in balkans are still behind by established companies because there are present small manufacturers who are caring only for selling their goods.
The Hellenic State Railways (1920 y.) Traveling lines before WWI were: in Greece and France. The French-Hellenic Railway Company (1954). Athens-Piraeus Electric Railways, private mining and industrial lines were independent. The Hellenic State Railways existed until December 31, 1970. On the next day all railways in Greece with the exception of private industrial lines and E.I.S. were transferred to Hellenic Railways Organisation S.A., a state-owned corporation.
The Petropoulos family(1922 y.), was a well-known manufacturer of church bells and metal products based in Lamia. Early activities included sales of commercial vehicles as well as the rebuilding of engines and vehicle assembly. This early construction activity involved the assembly of Ford (1920s) and Willys-Overland (1930s) passenger cars, and Diamond T and International trucks (1930s). The company resumed business after the war, and in 1948 it moved its headquarters to Athens. In 1953, Petropoulos expanded the popularity of the diesel engine in Greece, with the cooperation of British F. Perkins Limited. In 1956 Petropoulos invested in farm tractors as a new “smart” 4X4 truck family. Petropoulos has developed a variety of other industrial products, including power generators and forklift trucks (most notably the successful Dynalift family of Diesel- and Electric-powered forklifts). It even made an effort in 1994 to resume truck production, introducing a Swiss (Bucher) – designed vehicle as to the Militrak II Duro. Since the late 1990s, Petropoulos has decisively shifted to imports, trading, and services retaining only limited industrial activity. The company maintains a small museum within its facilities, with exhibits including a restored Π-35 tractor and a fully restored polytrak.
Saracakis(1923y.) in the first days of business activities was importing/selling vehicles and vehicle parts company. The Group was formally created in 1954. Production of bus bodies on imported chassis started in 1962, but in 1966 the company introduced its own-developed chassis with Volvo engines. Own chassis types were developed, by names SB556, SB85, and SB95. Its first chassisless bus type was the SBAV of 1974, a type improved over the years up to the innovative SBAV90 of 1990. Exports were also made, mainly to the Middle East. The company remained a major bus and truck bodybuilder, also assembling 4×4’s, tractors, motorbikes, construction equipment, etc. Its best-known bus bodies on Volvo chassis. The company boasts the world’s first low-floor articulated bus. Saracakis survived the storm of the early 1980s (opening of the market to used imports). But later production activities were stopped. The company is the official importer and distributor for the Greek market of Honda motorcycles and cars, Mitsubishi Motors, Volvo Trucks and Bus, Komatsu, Volvo Penta, Volvo construction equipment, Kumho tires, SDMO, Infinity, Titan, Apollo tires, and Massey Ferguson agricultural machinery.
Çukurova Holding, established in 1923, is an industrial and commercial conglomerate in Turkey. It is engaged in sectors like industrial, construction, communication and IT, media, transportation, financial services, and energy. ‘Çukurova Holding’ managed its newspapers, magazines, and radio stations under TurkMedya, in the Çukurova Media Group, but transferred most remaining media assets to the state. Digiturk was incorporated as a digital platform in 1999. Digiturk purchases produce and package Turkish content. The company also produces television movies and series for Turkmax. Digiturk provides its viewers with services such as Digiturk Mobil TV and Digiturk Web TV. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cukurova Group. Also provides technical broadcast services for Media Enterprises. Çukurova’s BMC is one of Turkey’s largest vehicle manufacturers. It was established in 1964 in partnership with the British Motor Corporation and was fully acquired by Çukurova in 1989. Maysan Mando is a vehicle parts manufacturer established in 1969. It became a joint venture with the South Korean Mando Corporation in 1997. Construction and construction machinery. The Cukurova Group operates in 4 sectors: chemicals, paper, steel pipe manufacturing, and textiles. http://www.cukurovaholding.com.tr/
İşbank(1926) Is the first truly national bank in the Turkish Republic in İzmir city. President Atatürk appointed Celâl Bayar as the chairman of the bank. In 1927 the capital doubled. İşbank, officially Türkiye İş Bankası, is a commercial bank in Turkey. It was the largest private bank in the country by the size of assets and equity, as well as by the number of branches and employees as of 30 June 2019. İşbank was ranked 96th in a survey of “The World’s Biggest 1000 Banks”. It had US$6.8 billion in Tier I Capital- Basel. The bank operates 1,354 branches domestically with 16 branches in Cyprus, two branches within Iraq, Kosovo and the United Kingdom, and one branch each in Bahrain, Cairo and Shanghai. İşbank’s German banking subsidiary has 13 branches in Germany and one branch each in the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and Bulgaria. İşbank’s Russian banking subsidiary has 11 branches in Russia. There is also a subsidiary in Georgia with branches in Tbilisi and Batumi. In February 2019 the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that he advocated transferring the shares held be the CHP to the treasury. The shares are listed on the Istanbul and London Stock Exchanges. As of February 2019, İş Bank’s market value was 26.04 Billion Lira($3.7 billion). http://www.isbank.com.tr/
TheState Aircraft Factory of Greece, ‘Hellenic Air Force Aircraft Depot’ (1925 y.) It was based in Phaliron. The first type produced by the factory as the ‘T3 Velos’, designed by the British company. In 1927 an all-Greek EAF design was introduced: the Chelidon multi-purpose military aircraft with max. speed of 150 km/h. Later, the factory produced a series of aircraft types under license, including a number of Avro 504 aircraft and the Avro 621 Tutor. At least 61 Tutors were produced, in early 1940, for preparations after WWII. The PZL P.24, the main fighter used by the Greek Air Forces( KEA named), light bomber used during the Greco-Italian War in 1940. KEA was the 621 Tutor. The production also covered bombs and tools. During Greece’s occupation, the KEA facilities were used by the German Luftwaffe for technical support. After the war, KEA divisions had limited construction activity. KEA has produced in the 1990s a number of Pegasus UAV. Today and is under direct Greek military command. https://www.haf.gr/en/structure/hafsc/haf-aircraft-depot/
TEMAX(1925 y.) is a leading manufacturer of fire-fighting vehicles, with a previous name, Tangalakis, as historic bus manufacturers in Greece. The company started in 1925 when Petros Tangalakis joined as a partner G. Tournikiotis, a vehicle body manufacturer based in Athens, founded in 1922. In 1934 Tangalakis created their own company. During the occupation of Greece in World War II, the factory was put under German control, so vehicle production was resumed in 1945. After WWII company is focused on all-metal bus construction on chassis by Studebaker, Daimler, Volvo; In 1965 Tangalakis family created TEMAX, which was focused on fire-fighting and other specialty vehicles production until today. http://www.temax.gr/
Anadolu Sigorta was founded on April 1, 1925, at the initiative of Ataturk and under the leadership of İşbank. The comprehensive insurance system in Turkey by offering 17 types of insurance in 1983. The most comprehensive life policy was introduced in 1986. Because of the disastrous earthquake in 1999, the Company worked to provide uninterrupted service. Anadolu Sigorta was awarded its ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System certification. Anadolu Sigorta celebrated its 95th anniversary in 2020. https://www.anadolusigorta.com.tr/
The Eastern Railway is long railway line operating in northern Turkey from 1925 to 1927. Along with the Anatolian—Baghdad Railways and the Railway Construction and Management Administration, the Eastern Railway. These three railways merged in 1927 to State Railways and Seaports Administration. http://www.tcdd.gov.tr/
Fage International S.A. Founded in 1925 is an international dairy company founded in Athens and in the 2012 year is headquartered in Luxembourg. It manufactures dairy products including milk, yogurt, and ice cream. http://home.fage/
Ideal Bikes is a Greek bicycle manufacturer. In 1925, firstly as an importer of bicycles and motorbikes. Later with capacity of190,000 bicycle products in a year. In 1987 it was renamed Nikos Maniatopoulos S.A. The brand Ideal is used since 1977; In 1991 production factory is in Agios Vassileios. http://www.idealbikes.net/
Koç Holding was established in 1926 by Vehbi Koç. Is the largest industrial conglomerate in Turkey, and the only company in the country to enter the Fortune Global 500 list as of 2016. In 1963 the companies bearing his name into Koç Holding Ltd. Co. The shares of 16 Koç Group companies are traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange; together, the groups comprise 113 companies, 90,000 employees, and 14,000 dealers, agencies, and sales services, people. http://www.koc.com.tr/
