THE UNITED STATES AND THE COMING OF WORLD WAR II
18 SEP 1931: THE MUKDEN INCIDENT:
A. A mysterious explosion damages a portion of the Japanese-controlled South Manchurian Railroad near Mukden.
B. Japanese forces, alleging Chinese complicity in the sabotage, rapidly overrun Manchuria. Most key positions are seized within hours of the explosion. This leads most observers to conclude that the entire episode was preconceived.
C. Within three months, intense Chinese boycotts of Japanese products cut Japanese exports to China to one-sixth of their previous levels.
7 JAN 32: THE STIMSON DOCTRINE
A. U.S. Secretary of State Henry Stimson reacts to Japan's seizure of Manchuria.
B. Note to both China and Japan states that the United States will not recognize "any situation, treaty, or agreement which may be brought about by means contrary to the covenants and obligations of the Pact of Paris."
29 JAN 32: The Attack on Shanghai
A. Japanese forces, in announced retaliation for the Chinese boycott, attack and occupy Shanghai.
B. The attack includes massive serial bombardment, which results in the deaths of thousands of civilians, including women and children.
C. Tremendous revulsion sweeps the United States. There is some public feeling for military intervention against Japan, but this quickly dies. Some newspapers lead a crusade to boycott all Japanese goods, but this too fades.
18 FEB 32: Japan proclaims the existence of the "independent" state of Manchukuo in what used to be the Chinese province of Manchuria.
11 MAR 32: The League of Nations adopts the Stimson Doctrine, and declares its refusal to recognize Japanese aggrandizements in the Far East or the existence of Manchukuo.
15 MAY 32: Japanese Prime Minister Ki Imukai is assassinated by a military clique. The new ministry includes Viscount Makoto Saito as Prime Minister, Gen. Sadao Araki as War Minister, Korekiyo Takahashi as Finance Minister, and Koki Horota as Foreign Minister.
31 MAY 32: In response to worldwide pressure, Japanese forces evacuate Shanghai.
15 SEP 32: Japan grants formal recognition to Manchukuo and establishes a formal protectorate over it.
4 OCT 32: The Lytton Report
A. Report of a League of Nations Committee of Inquiry, headed by the British Earl of Lytton.
B. Declared that the Japanese occupation of Manchuria was not an act of self-defense, and had not been justified.
C. Declared that the creation of Manchukuo did not flow from a "genuine and spontaneous independence movement.
D. Recommended establishment of an autonomous administration, under Chinese sovereignty, in Manchuria. Japan's special economic interests were to be recognized and safeguarded.
31 JAN 33: Adolph Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany.
JAN-MAR 33: Japanese army occupies China's Jehol Province.
24 FEB 33: The League of Nations adopts the Lytton Report, and demands that Japanese military pressure in the East cease.
05 MAR 33: Reichstag elections in Germany give the Nazi party 44% of the vote. The breakdown in the Reichstag:
Nazi Party - 288
Nationalist Party (business and old aristocracy) - 52
Center Party - 74
Socialist Party - 120
Communist Party - 81
Other - 23
23 MAR 33: German Reichstag passes the Enabling Act, giving dictatorial power to the Nazis. This firmly establishes Hitler's absolute power. The Nationalist Party strongly supports the Nazis. Only 94 votes, all from the Socialists, are cast against the bill.
27 MAR 33: Japan withdraws from the League of Nations.
APRIL, 1933: Japanese forces penetrate China south of the Great Wall
14 JUL 33: The National Socialist Party is declared the only legal party in Germany.
OCT 33: Germany withdraws from the League of Nations
1934-1936: THE NYE COMMITTEE
A. The U.S. Senate establishes the Senate Munitions Investigating Committee, headed by Sen. Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota.
B. Public hearings of the committee reveal that huge profits were made by American financiers and munitions manufacturers before and during World War I.
C. Committee reports imply that American business interests, for the sake of profit, dragged the U.S. unnecessarily into World War I.
13 APR 34: THE JOHNSON ACT
A. Sponsored by Old Progressive and Irreconcilable Hiram Johnson of California
B. Provided that no person or private corporation in America could lend money to a government which had defaulted in its financial obligations to the United States.
C. When "default" is defined by the Attorney General as failure to pay in full, those European nations which have been making token payments or their World War I debts join these who have already defaulted in full. On 15 JUN 33, all except Finland refuse further payments and acknowledge default.
D. This means that, in case of future war, the US will be unable to lend money to the Western Allies.
7 JUL 34: Japanese Prime Minister Saito resigns. The new cabinet is headed by ADM Keisuke Okada. Hirota continues as Foreign Minister.
19 AUG 34: By plebiscite of the German population, (88% of the votes affirmative) Hitler assumes the office of President in addition to that of Chancellor, and receives sole executive power.
29 DEC 34: Japan denounces the 5-power Treaty and announces that it will resume unrestricted naval construction.
16 MAR 35: Hitler announces that Germany will re-arm, in definite of the Treaty of Versailles. The German government restores compulsory military service.
31 AUG 35: NEUTRALITY ACT OF 1935
A. President given the power to declare the existence of a state
of war anywhere in the world.
B. When the president shall declare a state of war, he may forbid the sale or transportation of munitions to belligerents.
C. When the president shall declare that a state of war exists, he may give formal warning to American citizens that they travel on belligerent ships at their own risk.
3 OCT 35: Italy invades Ethiopia
7 OCT 35: The League of Nations Council declares Italy the aggressor in Ethiopia.
28 OCT 35: Hirota's Three Points
A. Policy statement made by Japanese Foreign Minister Hirota
B. Proclaimed aims of Japanese policy
1. Establishment of a political and economic bloc consisting
of Japan, China, and Manchukuo
2. Suppression of anti-Japanese activities in China
3. Organization of a joint Chinese-Japanese front against
communism.
18 NOV 35: The League of Nations imposes economic sanctions on Italy for its invasion of Ethiopia.
A. Provisions:
1. All nations agree not to import Italian goods
2. All forbidden to ship arms to Italy
3. All forbidden to make loans or extend credit to Italy
B. Italy breaks relations with participating nations and imposes rigid internal controls on food and raw materials to meet
the emergency.
C. Oil, a vital item in military operations, is not included in
the embargo.
D. President Roosevelt, acting under the Neutrality Act, declares the existence of a state of war between Italy and Ethiopia.
E. Roosevelt asks American oil company officials voluntarily to refrain from shipping oil to Italy.
29 FEB 36: NEUTRALITY ACT OF 1936
A. Neutrality Act of 1935, which was about to expire, is extended until 1 MAY 37.
B. Neutrality Act of 1935 is broadened
1. Loans forbidden to belligerents, except for normal
commercial transactions.
2. As a means of supporting the Monroe Doctrine, arms COULD be exported to a Latin American state at war with a non- American state.
3. Once the president declares a state of war and invokes the embargo, he must extend it to any states which might later join the war.
26 FEB 36: Japanese Prime Minister Saito is assassinated, along with Finance Minister Takahashi and other key government figures, in an uprising of young army officers aimed at establishing a military dictatorship. The rebellion fails, and 17 of the rebels are executed.
7 MAR 36: German troops occupy the Rhineland, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
9 MAR 36: Koki Hirota, formerly Foreign Minister, is named Prime Minister of Japan. His cabinet is dominated by military officers.
A. GEN Juichi Tersuchi is the leading power figure.
B. The national budget is greatly increased.
C. Development of heavy industry is encouraged.
5 MAY 36: Italy proclaims the annexation of Ethiopia
18 JUL 36: The Spanish Civil War begins.
A. General Francisco Franco leads an uprising of military forces against the republican government
B. Germany and Italy send equipment and troops (officially "volunteers") to aid the rebels.
C. Russia sends equipment and advisors to aid the government.
D. Volunteers from all over the world, including some from the United States, come to Spain to fight for the government against the Fascist rebels. (This will later be seen as evidence of Communist sympathy, when, in a later period, American anti-Communists see the government as less anti-Fascist and more pro-Communist.)
14 AUG 36: In an address at Chautauqua, NY, President Roosevelt warns
of the dangers of America's being drawn into a war, and declares, "I hate war."
25 OCT 36: Germany and Italy sign a treaty forming the Rome-Berlin Axis.
17 NOV 36: ANTI-COMINTERN PACT
A. Germany and Japan form an alliance
B. Alliance is officially directed toward the Communist International, but in fact is aimed at the Russian government.
1 DEC 36: Buenos Aires Conference
A. Conference of American States
B. President Roosevelt attends personally.
C. Roosevelt opens the conference with a speech, in which he declares that any non-American nation seeking "to commit acts of aggression against us will find a Hemisphere wholly prepared to consult together for our mutual safety and our mutual good."
D. Conference adopts a statement endorsing nonintervention. The United States supports it.
E. In case of a threat from outside the hemisphere, the American nations agree to consult with each other.
6 JAN 37: Congress passes a joint resolution forbidding the export of munitions "for the use of either of the opposing forces in Spain." The Neutrality Act now applies to this civil war as well as to wars between nations.
23 JAN 37: The government of Prime Minister Hirota falls in Japan.
2 FEB 37: GEN Senjuro Hayashi becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
30 APR 37: General election in Japan. GEN Hayashi's faction is defeated.
1 MAY 37: NEUTRALITY ACT OF 1937
A. Extended provisions of Act of 1936
B. Travel on belligerent ships now made unlawful for American citizens
C. CASH-AND-CARRY
1. President given authority, for a two-year period only, to make a list of items other than munitions which could be sold to belligerent nations.
2. Belligerent nations buying such items must pay for them in
full upon delivery, and must transport them in their own ships.
3. This provision is designed to prevent American money from becoming tied up in loans to any one faction; and to diminish the likelihood that American ships will be sunk while engaging in questionably neutral trade.
31 MAY 37: In response to the verdict of the April 30 election, GEN Hayashi resigns as Prime Minister of Japan.
3 JUN 37: Prince Fumumaro Konoye becomes Prime Minister of Japan. His cabinet includes Hirota as Foreign Minister and GEN Hajime
Sugiyama as War Minister.
7 JUL 37: THE MARCO POLO BRIDGE INCIDENT
A. A detachment of Japanese troops, stationed near Peiping,
engages in some night training exercises.
B. The training detachment encounters some troops from the Chinese army. A fight breaks out.
C. Fighting spreads rapidly into Peiping itself, then into the surrounding country.
D. Quickly, Japan and China become involved in a major, but undeclared, war.
8 AUG 37 - 8 NOV 37: THE SHANGHAI CAMPAIGN
A. Japanese invade Shanghai one more time
B. The fighting is fierce and heavy
C. Civilians suffer extensive casualties
D. Several American citizens in the area are killed.
NOTE: Roosevelt does not invoke the Neutrality Act of 1937 in this incident. By pretending that no state of war exists, he is able to continue shipping goods to both sides. Since China needs American goods more than Japan, he is thus able to continue support for China while still maintaining the Neutrality Act in effect.
14 SEP 37: Roosevelt forbids transport of munitions to China or Japan on U.S. government ships, and warns private shippers that they carry such materials at their own risk.
15 SEP 37: Joseph C. Grew, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, sends a message to Washington advising the government not to take action which might antagonize the Japanese.
5 OCT 37: THE QUARANTINE SPEECH
A. President Roosevelt delivers the speech at Chicago, called "the Isolationist Capital of America."
B. Deplores the outburst of "international lawlessness" in China.
C. Warns that continuing disruptions threaten to involve the U.S. in war.
D. Proposes that the peace-loving nations of the world deal with those nations which stir up "international anarchy" by isolating them through a mutual "quarantine."
E. Suggests that "there must be positive endeavors" to preserve peace.
6 OCT 37: The league of Nations condemns Japanese activities in
China. The United States government, not a member of the League, adds its own condemnation.
6 NOV 37: Italy joins the Anti-Comintern Pact
11 DEC 37: Italy withdraws from the League of Nations
12 DEC 37: THE PANAY INCIDENT
A. Japanese warplanes attack and sink an American gunboat, the U.S.S. Panay, on the Yangtze River in broad daylight. The boat had an American flag painted on it so that the marking would be visible from above.
B. The Japanese planes strafe survivors escaping from the sinking ship with machine-gun fire.
C. Two sailors are killed, about 30 are wounded.
13 DEC 37: After heavy fighting, the Chinese city of Nanking falls to the Japanese, amid widespread reports of Japanese atrocities committed upon civilians of the city.
14 DEC 37: The United States demands apologies and reparations for the Panay incident, as well as guarantees against anything like
it in the future. The Japanese government complies immediately.
14 DEC 37: THE LUDLOW AMENDMENT IS INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS.
A. The United States, according to this proposed constitutional amendment, may not enter a war until the war declaration has
been approved by a referendum by the entire American
population.
B. War may be declared without a referendum if the United States is attacked.
24 DEC 37: Japanese capture Hangchow.
25 DEC 37: The Japanese government's response to the Panay incident is acknowledged by the U.S. government. In the days since the attack, the Japanese had offered an indemnity of over two million dollars, and thousands of Japanese citizens had sent private donations to the United States and to the families of the victims of the incident.
27 DEC 37: The Japanese capture Tsinan.
10 JAN 38: The Ludlow Amendment is returned to committee in the House of Representatives by a vote of 209-188.
A. A poll in 1937 showed that 73% of Americans supported the amendment.
B. President Roosevelt's opposition was believed to be the decisive influence on the bill's defeat.
10 JAN 38: Japanese capture Tsingtao and begin a major advance to the Yellow River.
12 MAR 38: Germany announces the annexation of Austria
10 MAY 38: Japanese capture Amoy
17 MAY 38: The Naval Expansion Act (Vinson Act)
A. Authorized more than a billion dollars in extra funds for naval construction.
B. Provided for the creation of a full-strength "two-ocean" navy during the next ten years.
C. Called for major increases in construction of capital ships, cruisers, and aircraft carriers.
20 MAY 38: Japanese capture Suchow.
26 MAY 38: The Japanese cabinet is reorganized. Prince Konoye remains Prime Minister, but military and naval officers gain six positions in the cabinet.
6 JUN 38: Japanese capture Kaifeng.
12 JUN 38: Japanese capture Anking.
1 JUL 38: Office of Arms and Ammunition requests that shippers
observe a "moral embargo" on aircraft or aircraft parts to Japan. Licenses to ship such items would be issued by the State Department only "with great regret."
7-29 SEP 38: THE CZECHOSLOVAKIAN CRISIS
7 SEP 38: German-speaking leaders in Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland break off discussions with the government.
12 SEP 38: Hitler, in a speech at Hamberg, demands that the Sudeten Germans be given the right of self-determination.
13 SEP 38: Following widespread disorders arising from Hitler's speech, the Czech government imposes martial law.
15 SEP 38: Hitler confers with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain at Berchtesgaden, demanding annexation of Sudentenland to Germany.
18 SEP 38: British and French governments advise Czechoslovakia to agree to Hitler's terms, and promise to guarantee the independence of what's left of the country.
20 SEP 38: Czech government suggests international arbitration of the crisis.
21 SEP 38: Britain and France reject the Czech suggestion and pressure the Czech government to agree to Hitler's demands.
22 SEP 38: The Czech government resigns. The new government is headed by GEN Jan Sirovy, a popular military leader.
22-23 SEP 38: Chamberlain visits Hitler at Godesberg, to confer about the crisis.
A. Hitler's demands
1. Immediate surrender of the disputed territory to Germany, without removal or destruction of military or economic establishments.
2. Plebiscites to be held in areas with large German minority populations.
B. Chamberlain regards these demands as unacceptable.
24 SEP 38: Czech army is placed on full mobilization status.
26 SEP 38: France and Britain agree to resist the extended German demands made at Godesberg.
26 SEP 38: Chamberlain appeals to Hitler for another conference.
27 SEP 38: Roosevelt appeals to Hitler and Mussolini to agree to a conference with Chamberlain and French Premier Edouard Deladier.
28 SEP 38: Hitler agrees to a conference at Munich.
29 SEP 38: THE MUNICH CONFERENCE AND AGREEMENT
A. Key participants
1. Hitler and Ribbentrop of Germany
2. Mussolini and Ciano of Italy
3. Chamberlain of Great Britain
4. Daladier of France
5. Note that the Czechs are not represented.
B. Agreement dated 29 SEP, (Actually signed just after midnight.)
1. Czechoslovakia to give up Sudetenland by 10 OCT and leave all installations in place.
2. All areas with German minorities in Czechoslovakia to hold plebiscites, supervised by an international commission.
3. Britain and France guarantee the frontiers of the remainder of Czechoslovakia against "unprovoked aggression."
30 SEP 38: Under pressures from Britain and France, the Czech government agrees to the conditions set at Munich.
06 OCT 38: Ambassador Grew presents to the Japanese government a note strongly protesting Japanese violations of the Open Door policy in China.
21 OCT 38: Japanese capture Canton
25 OCT 38: Japanese capture Hankow, and establish rigid control over most of the coastal areas of China.
18 NOV 38: The Japanese government responds to Grew's note of 06 OCT 38, declaring that the Open Door Policy is "inapplicable" to the conditions of "today and tomorrow," and asserting that it has been replaced by a New Order in East Asia under Japanese domination.
24 DEC 38: THE DECLARATION OF LIMA
A. Issued by the Eighth International Conference of American States.
B. Reaffirmed the absolute sovereignty of the American nations.
C. Expressed mutual determination to resist "all foreign intervention or activities which may threaten them."
D. Where "peace, security, or territorial integrity" of any American state should be threatened, all would consult together.
31 DEC 38: U.S. responds to Japanese note of 18 NOV 38, refusing to recognize Japan's "New Order" in Asia.
04 JAN 39: Prince Konoye resigns as Japanese Prime Minister. He is succeeded by Baron Kiijiro Hiranuma, who keeps Konoye on as a member of the cabinet.
04 JAN 39: Roosevelt's annual message to Congress hints at the desirability of boycotting the trade of "aggressor government."
15 MAR 39: Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine, once parts of Chechoslovakia, are declared independent. Bohemia-Moravia, the core of the Czechoslovakian state, becomes a German protectorate. Czechoslovakia now ceases to exist.
16 MAR 39: Newly-independent Slovakia becomes a German protectorate.
21 MAR 39: Germany annexes Memel and makes demands on Poland for increased influence in Danzig and within the Polich corridor.
28 MAR 39: End of the Spanish Civil War.
A. Francisco Franco is in control.
B. War has cost 700,000 lives lost in battle, 30,000 lost through assassination or execution, 15,000 killed in air raids on cities.
C. Hundreds of loyalist leaders are tried and executed, despite pleadings from France and Britain on their behalf.
31 MAR 39: Britain and France pledge aid to Poland if its independence is threatened.
1 APR 39: The United States grants diplomatic recognition to Franco's Spanish government.
7 APR 39: Mussolini invades Albania.
13 APR 39: Britain and France pledge aid to Rumania and Greece if their independence becomes threatened.
15 APR 39: President Roosevelt sends a letter to Hitler and Mussolini asking assurances that the two nations will not attack a list of 31 other nations in Europe and the Near East. Hitler's reply denies any aggressive intentions, but states that Germany has many grievances against its neighbors.
22 MAY 39: Germany and Italy sign a military alliance.
26 JUL 39: The United States notifies Japan that the 1911 treaty providing for trade between the two will expire in January of 1940, and will not be renewed.
23 AUG 39: THE RUSSO-GERMAN NON-AGGRESSION PACT (The Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact)
A. Russia and Germany surprises the world by signing an agreement
B. Provisions of the agreement
1. Neither will attack the other
2. Each will remain neutral, if the other is attacked by a
third party
3. Neither will join any group of powers which is aimed,
directly or indirectly, at the other party.
C. This, of course, wrecks the Anti-Comintern pact
23 AUG 39: Upon hearing of the Non-Aggression Pact, Japan denounces the Anti-Commintern Pact and resumes full freedom of action in regard to Russia and Germany.
24 AUG 39: President Roosevelt writes letters to King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, to Hitler, and to Poland's President Ignacy Moscicki, suggesting direct negotiations to resolve the growing crisis over Germany's demands on Poland.
24 AUG 39: British Parliament votes nearly dictatorial powers to the government.
24 AUG 39: Poland begins calling its military reserve forces to active duty.
24 AUG 39: Poland accepts Roosevelt's request and agrees to conciliation of the dispute with Germany by a third party.
24 AUG 39: Britain and Poland sign a treaty pledging mutual assistance.
25 AUG 39: In conversation with the British ambassador, Hitler renews his demand for for a free hand against Poland.
25 AUG 39: Roosevelt again pleads with Hitler for a peaceful solution to the crisis.
26 AUG 39: Premier Daladier of France appeals to Hitler for a peaceful solution to the Polish crisis. Hitler responds by again demanding complete freedom of action against the Poles.
28 AUG 39: Britain urges a truce in Poland, and warns Hitler that it will take action in case of German aggression. British shipping is recalled from the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas.
28 AUG 39: Germany introduces emergency rationing of commodities within the country.
28 AUG 39: The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Hiranuma resigns. A new government is formed under General Noboyuki Abe.
29 AUG 39: Hitler, in a message to Britain, repeats his demands that Danzig be ceded to Germany and that Germany be given control of a corridor of its own across the Polish corridor, and refuses to consider negotiation unless these demands are met first.
29 AUG 39: Hitler notifies Poland that a representative of the Polish government must be sent to Berlin to meet with him within 24 hours.
30 AUG 39: Poland decrees partial mobilization of its armed forces.
30 AUG 39: A "Cabinet council for the defense of the Reich" is set up in Germany, under the leadership of Hermann Goering.
31 AUG 39: Hitler publishes a long proposal to the Polish government, rather moderate in tone, and providing for the settlement of the crisis. Communications with Warsaw are cut off before the message can be officially transmitted. Hitler, claiming that his generous terms have been rejected, orders his troops to march.
31 AUG 39: Poland orders a full mobilization of its armed forces.
01 SEP 39: GERMANY INVADES POLAND, and proclaims that Danzig has re-joined Germany.
01 SEP 39: Britain and France order mobilization of their armed forces, but announce their willingness to negotiate if Germany will withdraw its army from Poland.
01 SEP 39: Italy declares neutrality in the new war.
02 SEP 39: Italy proposes a five-power conference to discuss this war in Poland. Britain refuses to negotiate as long as German troops remain on Polish soil.
02 SEP 39: Britain and France, having received no reply from Hitler to their previous notes, send an ultimatum to Hitler, demanding his withdrawal. Hitler replies, blaming Britain for causing the problem by encouraging the Poles in a policy of "persecution and provocation."
03 SEP 39: BRITAIN AND FRANCE DECLARE WAR ON GERMANY.
03 SEP 39: Belgium proclaims neutrality.
03 SEP 39: In a fireside chat, President Roosevelt declares "This
nation will remain neutral, but I cannot ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well."
05 SEP 39: The United States officially proclaims neutrality. Under the Neutrality Act of 1937, Roosevelt prohibits the export of arms and munitions to all belligerants.
08 SEP 39: Roosevelt proclaims a limited national emergency.
17 SEP 39: Russia invades Poland.
21 SEP 39: President Roosevelt urges a special session of Congress to repeal the arms embargo.
27 SEP 39: Warsaw surrenders to the Germans, ending effective Polish resistance.
28 SEP 39: Russia and Germany divide Poland.
29 SEP 39: Russia signs a treaty with Estonia, giving Russia naval and air bases in that country.
03 OCT 39: THE DECLARATION OF PANAMA.
A. Proclaimed by the First Conference of Foreign Ministers of the American Republics.
B. Declared the existence of a "safety belt" extending 300 to 1000 miles into the sea around the Americas south of Canada, and warned belligerents to refrain from warlike actions within it.
05 OCT 39: Russia signs a treaty with Latvia, allowing it to establish fortified military bases within that small country.
10 OCT 39: Russia and Lithuania sign a mutual assistance pact, which gives the Russians the right to occupy positions of military importance within Lithuania in return for ceding to that country the city of Vilna and the surrounding territory.
11 OCT 39: Albert Einstein and other scientists inform President Roosevelt of the possibilities of development of atomic weapons.
14 OCT 39: Russia presents Finland with demands for territorial concessions and for authority to base troops on Finnish territory.
04 NOV 39: THE NEUTRALITY ACT OF 1939
A. Repealed the arms embargo against belligerents.
B. American ships still forbidden to enter war zones.
C. Arms and munitions could be sold to belligerent powers, provided they paid in cash and took delivery at an American port, carrying their new property in their own ships.
D. Loans forbidden to warning nations.
E. American citizens banned from traveling on belligerent ships.
26 NOV 39: Finland rejects Russia's ultimatum.
30 NOV 39: Russia invades Finland. Roosevelt declares Russia a "wanton aggressor" and requests a moral embargo on war material to Russia.
02 DEC 39: Roosevelt invokes a "moral embargo" upon the shipment to Japan of airplanes, airplane parts, and materials essential to airplane manufacture.
14 DEC 39: Russia is expelled from the League of Nations.
20 DEC 39: Department of State requests a moral embargo on aviation gasoline to Japan.
03 JAN 40: Roosevelt's annual budget message to Congress requests an appropriation of 1.8 billion dollars to upgrade national defense.
26 JAN 40: The US-Japanese trade treaty of 1911, having been denounced six months earlier, expires.
12 MAR 40: Finland surrenders to Russia, ceding Karelia, Viborg, 16,173 square miles of territory, and 450,000 Finnish citizens to Russia. Russia is further granted a naval base at Hangoe.
30 MAR 40: The Japanese establish a puppet Chinese government at Nanking, under the leadership of Wang Ching-wei.
09 APR 40: Germany invades Norway and Denmark. Roosevelt quickly freezes Norwegian and Danish assets in the United States so that they will not become available to Germany.
17 APR 40: Secretary of State Cordell Hull, noting the southern advance of Japanese forces, declares that any change in the status quo of the Netherlands East Indies (modern Indonesia) would be prejudicial to the peace and security of the Pacific area.
18-20 APR 40: Anglo-French expedition lands in Norway to aid Norwegian resistance against Nazis.
02 MAY 40: Anglo-French expedition to Norway is withdrawn in the face of overwhelming Nazi strength.
09 MAY 40: British troops occupy Iceland at the invitation of the Icelandic government.
10 MAY 40: Germany invades Luxemburg, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
10 MAY 40: Chamberlain resigns as British Prime Minister.
11 MAY 40: Winston Churchill is named British Prime Minister.
14 MAY 40: The government of the Netherlands leaves that country and flees to England.
15 MAY 40: The Netherlands surrenders to Germany.
16 MAY 40: Roosevelt asks Congress for an additional $1,182,000,000 and calls for American industry to gear up for airplane production at the rate of 50,000 airplanes per year.
MAY 40: Establishment of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, a public lobbying organization whose purpose is obvious in its name.
27 MAY 40: King Leopold III of Belgium orders the Belgian army to surrender. This leaves a contingent of more than 300,000 British and French troops stranded in the country, over which Germans now have free rein.
28 MAY 40 - 4 JUN: British and French troops are evacuated from Belgium via Dunkirk by a ragged fleet of more than 800 vessels of all imaginable types.
31 MAY 40: Roosevelt asks Congress for an additional $1,277,741,170 for military requirements.
03 JUN 40: America begins indirect supplying of war materiel to
England.
A. The War Department declares certain military items obsolete and unnecessary.
B. The "obsolete" items are sold to private manufacturers, who would then sell the government new items to replace them.
C. Private manufacturers sell the "obsolete" material to England, under the Cash-and-Carry provision of the Neutrality Act.
D. More than $43 million in military supplies and equipment is sent to Britain in the month of June alone.
E. The process involved approximately 600,000 rifles, 800 cannons, and large numbers of machine guns, airplanes, mortars, ammunition, and general supplies.
F. Since it is not the government which is supplying the material to the British, this procedure is, on paper at least, not unneutral.
05 JUN 40: Germany invades France.
10 JUN 40: Italy declares war on France and Britain.
13 JUN 40: French Premier Paul Reynaud appeals to the United States for aid.
14 JUN 40: German troops enter Paris. The French government flees to Bordeaux.
15 JUN 40: Roosevelt establishes the National Defense Research Committee, under the chairmanship of Dr. Vannevar Bush.
16 JUN 40: The Pittman Resolution, authorizing the sale of munitions to the governments of the republics of the Western Hemisphere, passes Congress.
16 JUN 40: The U.S. notifies Germany and Italy that it will not recognize the transfer of title to an American colony from one European power to another.
16 JUN 40: France requests release from an agreement with Britain barring it from making peace separate from Britain.
16 JUN 40: Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain is named Premier of France.
17 JUN 40: Petain asks Germany for armistice terms.
17 JUN 40: Russia occupies Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
18 JUN 40: The French National Committee, located in London and headed by GEN Charles de Gaulle, pledges continued resistance to Germany.
20 JUN 40: Roosevelt names Henry L. Stimson Secretary of War and Frank Knox Secretary of the Navy. Both are Republicans.
22 JUN 40: France and Germany sign an armistice, providing that French forces be disarmed and that 3/5 of France be surrendered to German control.
22 JUN 40: Congress adopts a national defense tax program designed to raise nearly one billion dollars per year. The national debt limit is raised from 40 million dollars to 49 billion dollars.
24 JUN 40: France and Italy conclude an armistice.
28 JUN 40: ALIEN REGISTRATION ACT (SMITH ACT):
A. Strengthened existing laws pertaining to admission and deportation of aliens.
B. Required the fingerprinting of all aliens in the United States.
C. Made it illegal for any person to advocate or teach the overthrow or destruction of any government in the United States by force or violence, and to organize or become a member of any group dedicated to teaching such a doctrine.
D. NOTE: After the war, this act is used extensively in the battle against Communism.
28 JUN 40: The Republican Party meets in Philadelphia and nominates Wendell L. Wilkie for President and Charles L. McNary for Vice-President.
JUL 40: Gen Robert E. Wood, now chairman of Sears, Roebuck, organizes the America First committee, dedicated to keeping America out of the war.
02 JUL 40: The French government of Marshal Petain establishes its capital in Vichy. This government now exercises control over the 2/5 of France not given to Germany.
10 JUL 40: The French government grants Petain dictatorial powers.
15 JUL 40: The Democratic Party meets at Chicago and nominates Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term. Henry A. Wallace is nominated for Vice-President.
16 JUL 40: Prince Konoye becomes Prime Minister of Japan, and begins organizing the government along totalitarian lines.
17 JUL 40: The British government, under Japanese pressure, closes the Burma Road, the last line of supplies coming from the outside world to Chiang kai-shek's Chinese Nationalist armies.
20 JUL 40: Roosevelt approves a bill authorizing a two-ocean navy for the defense of the United States and the Western Hemisphere. The bill provided for the construction of about 200 warships, including 7 heavy battleships.
25 JUL 40: Roosevelt announces that petroleum, petroleum products, and scrap iron may no longer be sold to Japan without special licenses from the government.
30 JUL 40: ACT OF HAVANA:
A. Approved by delegates of the Pan-American Union in Conference at Havana.
B. Provided that the American republics, individually or collectively, might take over and administer any European possession in the New World which was endangered by outside aggression. This measure was to be taken in the interests of defense of the hemisphere as a whole.
31 JUL 40: Roosevelt declares that aviation gasoline may be exported from the United States only to countries in the Western Hemisphere.
08 AUG - 31 OCT 40: THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN:
A. Germany opens a vast air offensive against England.
B. More than 2500 bombers strike at British ships, factories, cities, transportation facilities, and air force bases.
C. The campaign is intended to "soften up" England for an invasion by German land forces.
D. Official German figures show that 1,733 German aircraft are destroyed by the Royal Air Force. RAF losses are 915. RAF claims destruction of 2,698 German planes.
E. The failure of this offensive compels Germany to abandon plans for the land invasion of the British Isles.
18 AUG 40: President Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King meet at Ogdensburg, NY, and agree to establish a Permanent Joint Board on Defense, which would study common defense problems. Note that the United States, officially neutral, is making joint military plans with a belligerent.
25 AUG 40: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are incorporated into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
27 AUG 40: Congress authorizes calling the National Guard to Federal service.
31 AUG 40: The first National Guard units are called up, in what is to become an extended process.
03 SEP 40: THE DESTROYER-BASES AGREEMENT.
A. The United States transfers 50 World War I -era destroyers to Britain.
B. Britain grants America free use of sites suitable for military bases in Newfoundland and Bermuda for a period of 99 years.
C. British grant rent-free, for 99 years, additional sites in the Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Antigua, and British Guiana.
D. Note that this is all done by Executive Agreement, which requires no Congressional approval.
E. This action is a clear violation of international law and violates every known definition of neutrality. It further violates American domestic law, but Roosevelt's Attorney General argues that it is not a specific violation.
F. According to the New York Daily News, "The United States has one foot in the war and the other on the banana peel."
04 SEP 40: The American First Committee makes it first public statement, an attack on the Destroyer-Bases agreement and a warning that Roosevelt's actions were speeding the U.S. into a war it did not really want.
04 SEP 40: U.S. Secretary of State Cordall Hull warns Japan that aggressive Japanese actions against Indochina would have adverse effects upon American public opinion, which might then compel the U.S. government to take further action against Japan.
12 SEP 40: Joseph C. Grew, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, warns that the United States should not place an embargo on oil to Japan, as the Japanese might take such a action as a hostile act and retaliate accordingly.
16 SEP 40: THE SELECTIVE SERVICE AND TRAINING ACT (BURKE-WADSWORTH ACT)
A. First peacetime draft in American history.
B. Provided for registration of all men between 21 and 25.
C. Provided for training, over a 1-year period, of 1,200,000 troops and 800,000 reservists.
22 SEP 40: Japan concludes an agreement with the French government at Vichy giving Japan military bases in Indochina.
26 SEP 40: President Roosevelt proclaims an embargo, to take effect on 16 OCT, on exports of scrap iron and steel to all countries outside the Western Hemisphere, except for Britain. The Japanese ambassador to the United States declares this an "unfriendly act."
26 SEP 40: Japanese forces begin moving into Indochina to occupy the bases granted them in the 22 SEP agreement with Vichy France.
27 SEP 40: Japan signs a 3-power pact with Germany and Italy providing for a ten-year military and economic alliance. Each signatory pledged assistance should another go to war with any nation not then a belligerent, except Russia.
08 OCT 40: German troops occupy Rumania to "protect" that country's largest oil fields.
16 OCT 40: The first registration under the new draft law results in a listing of more than 16 million men.
18 OCT 40: Britain re-opens the Burma Road.
28 OCT 40: Italy invades Greece.
30 OCT 40: Russia delivers 134 fighter airplanes to the Greek government, in accordance with a prior agreement.
30 OCT 40: British troops land in Greece, on Crete, and on other Greek islands to assist the Greek government in resistance to the German attack.
30 OCT 40: In a campaign speech at Boston, President Roosevelt declares to the crowd, "I have said this before, but I shall say it again, and again and again. Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars."
05 NOV 40: Roosevelt is elected to an unprecedented third term.
20 NOV 40: Stimson-Layton agreement:
A. Agreement made by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and British Minister of Supply Sir Walter Layton.
B. Provides for partial standardization of military weaponry and other equipment, so that each side could use the other's material.
C. Provided for pooling of British and American technical knowledge, patents, and formulas pertaining to armaments.
20 NOV 40: Hungary joins the Roms-Berlin-Tokyo Axis.
23 NOV 40: Rumania joins the Axis.
08 DEC 40: British and Imperial troops open a surprise offensive from Egypt against Italian forces in North Africa.
12 DEC 40: In an amazingly rapid advance, British troops enter Libya.
20 DEC 40: Roosevelt establishes the Office of Production Management under William A. Knudsen, to coordinate defense production and organize the most rapid possible dispatch of 'all aid short of war' to the Allies.
21 DEC 40: Germany declares that American aid to Britain constitutes
"moral aggression against the Axis."
29 DEC 40: In one of his fireside chats, Roosevelt declares the Axis presents a threat to the United States, and calls for a great burst in industrial productivity which will make America "the great arsenal of democracy."
05 JAN 41: British and Imperial troops capture Bardia.
06 JAN 41: THE FOUR FREEDOMS SPEECH
A. Roosevelt's annual message to Congress.
B. Recommends that the United States lend or lease war material to the Allies, using the 'garden hose' analogy.
C. Proclaims the value of the "Four Freedoms" as principles:
1. Freedom of speech and expression.
2. Freedom of worship.
3. Freedom from want.
4. Freedom from fear.
15 JAN 41: British forces from Sudan and Kenya open drives into Italian East Africa (Ethiopia) and Eritrea.
22 JAN 41: British and Imperial forces capture Tobruk.
23 JAN 41: JOHN DOE ASSOCIATES meet with Hull and Roosevelt.
A. Bishop James E. Walsh of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society, and Father James M. Drought of the same order represent an informal group of American and Japanese civilians dedicated to keeping the peace between their two countries.
B. Walsh and Drought present an offer "from the Japanese government."
1. Japan will withdraw from the Axis.
2. Japan will withdraw all its military forces from China and "restore to China its geographical and political integrity."
3. The U.S. will restore open trade with Japan.
4. Other details will be left to future negotiations.
C. Roosevelt and Hull take the matter "under advisement," not believing the validity of such an offer, which contradicts so thoroughly the presentations of the Japanese government to this point.
D. NOTE: After the war, it is revealed that the John Doe Associates did NOT represent either government, but were misrepresenting the position of each to the other. Neither government had attempted to use it as a channel of communication, but it sought to convince each that, through its good offices, it could bring peace. The confusion wrought by misunderstandings occasioned by this well-intentioned association of amateur diplomats severely strained U.S.-Japanese relations.
24 JAN 41: Derma falls to the British.
27 JAN 41: ABC-1 TALKS BEGIN.
A. Secret conversations between top American and British military planners.
B. Worked out arrangements for improving aid programs to Britain.
C. Established a joint strategy in case the United States should enter the war, whereby priority would be given to the defeat of Germany before turning to deal with the Japanese.
05 MAR 41: Republic of Panama agrees to permit the United States to extend the limits of its air defense beyond the limits of the Canal Zone. The U.S. now, in effect, flies air missions in defense of all Central America.
FEB-MAY 41: BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
A. German submarines and cruisers cause heavy casualties and losses in Allied shipping.
B. Introduction of the convoy system, later with support from U.S. naval forces, reduces the losses.
07 FEB 41: British and Imperial forces capture Benghazi.
08 FEB 41: British and Imperial forces capture El Argheila.
26 FEB 41: British and Ethiopian forces capture Mogadiscio.
01 MAR 41: Bulgaria joins the Axis.
11 MAR 41: THE LEND-LEASE ACT passes Congress
A. Authorizes "sale, transfer, exchange, or lease" of arms or other military related supplies to any country whose defense the President may declare vital to the defense of the United States.
B. An initial appropriation of seven billion dollars is authorized.
C. During the course of the war, America sends more than 50 billion dollars in Lend-Lease supplies to Allied powers. In reverse Lend-Lease, America receives 7.8 billion dollars in supplies from Allied forces.
15 MAR 41: Roosevelt promises increasing aid to the Allies until total victory is achieved.
22 MAR 41: British and Ethiopian forces capture Neguelli.
25 MAR 41: Yugoslavia joins the Axis.
26 MAR 41: A coup d'etat in Yugoslavia overthrows the government of Prince Paul. The new government, under General Dushan Simovich, proclaims neutrality.
29 MAR 41: ABC-1 talks conclude.
03 APR 41: BEGINNING OF ROMMEL'S NORTH AFRICA CAMPAIGN.
A. Italian forces in Libya are re-enforced by German divisions specially trained for desert warfare.
B. The entire Axis force in North Africa is placed under the command of Gen. Erwin Rommel, to be known from this campaign as "The Desert Fox."
C. British and Imperial troops, weakened by the dispatch of 60,000 troops to defend Greece, are forced to retreat before Rommel's onslaught.
06 APR 41: Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece.
06 APR 41: British and Ethiopian troops re-capture Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Effective Italian resistance in East Africa collapses.
10 APR 41: The United States concludes an agreement with Denmark
A. The United States will defend Greenland (part of Denmark) from attack.
B. Denmark grants the United States the right to build military bases in Greenland.
C. America declares that Greenland is now under American protection.
D. American troops immediately begin occupation of Greenland.
E. NOTE: Denmark is, by this time, thoroughly under German control. This agreement is signed, for Denmark, by the Danish minister to Washington, whom the United States continues to recognize as the legitimate representative of the Danish government, and who signs on his own responsibility.
F. The German-dominated Danish government repudiates the agreement and recalls its ambassador, but the ambassador remains in Washington, still treated by the U.S. as legitimate.
10 APR 41: USS Niblack, a destroyer, drops depth charges in what it
assumes to be a German submarine in the North Atlantic.
11 APR 41: Roosevelt announces the establishment of a Security Zone around the Americans. American ships and planes will patrol this area and radio the positions of German submarines to nearby British ships and planes. (This is done under the aegis of the Declaration of Panama, 03 OCT 39.)
13 APR 41: RUSSO-JAPANESE NON-AGGRESSION PACT -- Russia and Japan pledge to remain neutral if the other should become involved in war.
14 APR 41: Rommel reoccupies Sollum and Bardia.
17 APR 41: The Yugoslavian Army surrenders to Germany. Guerilla forces continue resistance to German control.
20 APR 41: Rommel encircles the Imperial garrison at Tobruk, which manages to hold out, thanks largely to naval support.
23 APR 41: Greek resistance to German advances ends. King George II of Greece flees to Crete.
27 APR 41: 48,000 of the 60,000 British soldiers in Greece are evacuated. The remaining 12,000 and much military equipment fall into German hands.
02 MAY 41: Premier Rashid Ali of Iraq invites German aid to his country. British forces immediately enter Iraq.
17 MAY 41: A German cruiser sinks the Egyptian passenger liner Zam-Zam. Of the 220 passengers aboard, 135 are Americans, several of whom are injured. In response, Congress orders the seizure of foreign ships, many of them Axis-owned, presently immobilized in American ports.
20 MAY 41: Germany invades Crete from the air, in the first massive airborne attack in history. German air power inflicts severe damage on Imperial land and naval forces in the area.
21 MAY 41: The American merchant ship Robin Moor is torpedoed, shelled, and sunk by a German submarine. American public opinion explodes in anger. Roosevelt declares the sinking an act of piracy and demands reparations, but Hitler declares that the Moor was carrying contraband and refuses to pay. Roosevelt responds by freezing German and Italian assets in the United States.
27 MAY 41: Roosevelt proclaims a state of unlimited national emergency.
29 MAY 41: Rommel's forces reach the Egyptian border.
31 MAY 41: British troops occupy Baghdad.
31 MAY 41: Surviving British forces on Crete are evacuated to Cyprus
and Egypt. Germany now exercises complete control over Crete, greatly strengthening its position in the Eastern Mediterranean.
04 JUN 41: A pro-British government is installed in Iraq. The Iraqi
invitation for German assistance is withdrawn.
16 JUN 41: President Roosevelt orders all German and Italian consulates in the United States closed by 10 JUL 41, calling them hotbeds of subversive activity. Germany and Italy retaliate in kind.
20 JUN 41: The U.S. government announces that no more oil will be
shipped from Eastern U.S. ports, except to the British Empire and to ports in the Western Hemisphere.
22 JUN 41: OPERATION BARBAROSSA - Hitler launches a surprise attack on Russia along a 2,000-mile long front. An estimated 3,000,000 Axis soldiers participate.
24 JUN 41: Roosevelt promises American aid to Russia. Eventually, 11
billion dollars will be sent.
28 JUN 41: The Office of Scientific Research and Development is
established by Roosevelt. This office becomes the principle agency of coordinating the U.S. scientific effort, including work on radar, sonar, and the atomic bomb. Dr. Vannevar Bush is its chairman.
29 JUN 41: German forces in Russia have reached Grodno, Brest-Litovsk, and Vilna.
01 JUL 41: German troops occupy Riga.
07 JUL 41: By agreement with the Icelandic government, American forces enter Iceland to protect it from Axis occupation. The Americans replace British forces which had served a similar function under an earlier agreement. The agreement stipulated that the United States would withdraw after the war.
12 JUL 41: Great Britain and the USSR sign an alliance, agreeing that
neither will make a separate peace with Hitler.
12 JUL 41: British and Free French forces occupy Syria and Lebanon.
16 JUL 41: German forces in Russia capture Smolensk.
24 JUL 41: Japanese forces, by agreement with the German-controlled
French government at Vichy, occupy southern French Indo-China.
26 JUL 41: Roosevelt protests the Japanese expansion in Indo-China, and orders the freezing of all Japanese assets in the United States. Britain and the Netherlands follow suit, nearly isolating Japan's international trade. Japan retaliates in kind.
26 JUL 41: Roosevelt nationalizes the Philippine armed forces, placing them under the command of General Douglas MacArthur.
07 AUG 41: The Japanese government asks for a summit conference between the leaders of the two nations.
09 AUG 41: President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill hold a secret meeting on warships off the Newfoundland coast.
14 AUG 41: THE ATLANTIC CHARTER
A. A press release issued by Roosevelt and Churchill at the conclusion of their meeting.
B. Not a formally signed document, but becomes accepted as a statement of principle and of western war aims.
C. Provisions:
1. Both powers renounce any territorial gains as a result of war.
2. No territorial changes contrary to the wishes of the people who live in the disputed territories. (This is a re-play of Woodrow Wilson's old "self-determination of peoples" idea.)
3. Supports the right of peoples to choose their own form of government. Those countries which have been deprived of their own governments should have the right of self-government restored.
4. Access by all nations of the world, victors and vanquished, to the trade and raw materials of all the world, "with due respect for existing obligations." (This last phrase was Churchill's attempt to preserve a British Empire with special commercial privileges for its own members.)
5. International collaboration to improve the economic condition and social security of all peoples of the world.
6. A peaceful world with security for all nations, and freedom from fear and want for the world's people. (NOTE: These last two are two of Roosevelt's Four Freedoms.)
7. Freedom of the Seas
8. Disarmament of all aggressor nations, pending "the establishment of a permanent system of general security." The abandonment of force as a tool of diplomacy. Eventual arms limitation for the entire world.
17 AUG 41: Roosevelt warns Japanese Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura that further attempts to extend Japanese military power in the East would force the United States "to take immediately any and all steps necessary" to safeguard legitimate American rights and interests. Roosevelt also expresses an interest in making an "endeavor to arrange a suitable time and place to exchange views." (i.e. a response to the 07 AUG request for a summit meeting) IF Japan is ready to "suspend its expansionist activities."
18 AUG 41: Roosevelt approves a bill extending for 18 months the period of service for military draftees.
19 AUG 41: Germany now controls all the Ukraine west of the Dnieper
River, with the exception of Odessa.
24 AUG 41: Churchill pledges that Britain will support the United
States, if the Japanese-American crisis should deteriorate into war.
25-29 AUG 41: British and Soviet forces enter Iran in an effort to
"persuade" that country's Shah not to co-operate with Germany. A. Britain occupies the Southern part of the country; Russia,
the Northern.
B. 28 AUG: The Shah signs a treaty of co-operation with the Allies.
04 SEP 41: Roosevelt announces that a German submarine has fired two
torpedoes at the USS Greer, a navy destroyer, off the coast of Iceland. The Greer retaliated with depth charges. What Roosevelt does not tell the public is that the Greer had been tracking the submarine for 3 1/2 hours and broadcasting its position to nearby British patrol planes.
04 SEP 41: Germans begin siege of Leningrad, which will continue until January of 1943.
11 SEP 41: Roosevelt's "Shoot-on-Sight" order
A. Issued to all U.S. Navy vessels in previously-proclaimed American defensive areas.
B. Orders Navy to shoot first at any Axis vessel found operating within those waters.
C. Proclaims that German and Italian vessels enter those waters at their own risk.
16 SEP 41: The U.S. Navy assumes responsibility for escorting and
protecting convoys of merchant ships between American ports and Iceland, which is now considered part of the Western Hemisphere.
19 SEP 41: Germans enter Kiev and Poltava.
24 SEP 41: 15 anti-Axis nations, including the USSR, announce their
endorsement of the principles of the Atlantic Charter.
01 OCT 41: First Soviet Protocol
A. Signed in Moscow.
B. England and the United States agree to supply Russia for nine months with materials essential to the war effort.
02 OCT 41: In response to repeated inquiries about a summit meeting
between President Roosevelt and Prince Konoye, Secretary of State Hull notifies Ambassador Nomura that before any such meeting can be held, a definite agenda for it will have to be agreed upon.
08 OCT 41: Germans capture Orel.
09 OCT 41: Roosevelt asks Congress to modify the Neutrality Act of
1939 to permit the arming of U.S. merchant ships engaged in overseas commerce, and to allow such ships to pass through combat zones.
12 OCT 41: German forces capture Bryansk.
13 OCT 41: German forces capture Viazma.
16 OCT 41: German forces enter Odessa.
17 OCT 41: The USS Kearney, a destroyer, is hit by German torpedoes
while on patrol off Iceland. 11 American sailors are killed. It is not revealed to the American public that the Kearney had been following the submarine, and had engaged in a full-fledged battle with it. Roosevelt declares that "America has been attacked" by the "rattlesnakes of the sea," and that despite America's efforts to avoid it, "the shooting has started."
17 OCT 41: Prince Konoye resigns as Japanese Premier, and is replaced
by General Hideki Tojo.
24 OCT 41: Germans take Kharkov.
30 OCT 41: The United States extends the Soviet Union a credit of one
billion dollars, to facilitate Russian purchase of supplies from the U.S.
30 OCT 41: The U.S. destroyer Reuben James is sunk by German torpedoes off the coast of Iceland. 100 Americans, all military personnel, are killed. This was the first American naval vessel to be destroyed by German action.
31 OCT 41: German forces enter Crimea.
31 OCT 41: Germans besiege Moscow.
15 NOV 41: Germans besiege Sevastopol.
17 NOV 41: REVISION OF THE NEUTRALITY ACT OF 1939
A. Loans to belligerents still banned.
B. Travel on belligerent ships still banned.
C. Merchant ships may not be armed.
D. American merchant ships may legally sail anywhere, including war zones, carrying any kind of cargo, including munitions.
17 NOV 41: Joseph Grew, U.S. ambassador to Japan, warns Washington of
a possible Japanese surprise attack upon some American territory.
20 NOV 41: HULL-NOMURA CONVERSATIONS BEGIN.
A. Meetings between Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Japanese Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura.
B. Japan presents its new special negotiator to assist Nomura, Saburo Kurusu, who is said to be carrying Japan's "final proposals."
C. Japan presents proposals to Hull:
1. Japan to withdraw troops from South Indo-China into North Indo-China.
2. The United States to:
a. refrain from measures that would prevent a Japanese victory over China in their war.
b. resume full trade relations with Japan.
c. lift the orders freezing Japanese assets in the United States
d. supply Japan with a quantity of petroleum sufficient to meet most Japanese needs, either from its own stores or, through diplomatic pressure on the Netherlands, from the Dutch East Indies.
e. cease American naval expansion in the Western Pacific.
3. Upon establishment of peace in the Orient, Japan to remove all troops from Indo-China and agree not to make any armed advances into Southeast Asia or the South Pacific.
22 NOV 41: Germans take Rostov.
24 NOV 41: U.S. Forces occupy Dutch Guiana to protect its resources
from possible Axis use and to prevent possible Axis activities in South America.
25 NOV 41: A Japanese naval task force leaves a secret base in the
Northern Japanese Islands, heading for Hawaii.
26 NOV 41: HULL'S RESPONSE TO NOMURA
A. Secretary of State Cordell Hull presents American counter-proposals in response to Japan's proposals of 20 NOV.
B. Provisions:
1. The U.S. to
a. free frozen Japanese assets
b. resume treaty-based commercial relations with Japan
c. work with other nations toward the abolition of extra-territoriality in China.
d. co-operate in stabilizing the rate of exchange between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen.
2. Japan to
a. withdraw all troops from Indochina
b. withdraw all troops from China
c. support the Chinese government of Chiang kai-shek.
d. sign a multilateral pact with the United States and other nations with Pacific interests guaranteeing the future territorial integrity and security of all East Asian nations. (This would deny Japan future expansions.)
C. Restated American support for the following principles:
1. Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations
2. Non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations.
3. Equality of nations, including equality of commercial opportunity.
4. Nondisturbance of the status quo in the Pacific, except by peaceful means.
D. Kurusu declares that these proposals, in effect, "put an end to negotiations," but asks for two weeks to study them.
27 NOV 41: Hull, in private conversation, tells the Secretary of War
that the matter is now in his hands, as diplomacy has done all it can do.
27 NOV 41: The Departments of War and the Navy warn U.S. commanders in the Pacific to expect war with Japan to break out at any time. Commanders are informed that the war probably will begin with a sudden Japanese strike at the Philippines or Southeast Asia.
29 NOV 41: Hull informs the British ambassador to the U.S. that
negotiations with Japan have, for all practical purposes, collapsed.
29 NOV 41: Japanese Premier Tojo asserts publicly that U.S. and British influence must be eliminated from Asia.
01 DEC 41: Russian forces recapture Rostov from the Germans.
01 DEC 41: Japan officially rejects Hull's 26 NOV proposals, but
requests that negotiations continue.
01 DEC 41: The Japanese task force which left the Kurile Islands on
25 NOV is notified that negotiations have broken down, and that it is to go ahead with its intended attack upon Pearl Harbor. The Japanese government further orders the force to be alert to last-minute cancellations of the attack order, should the United States make necessary concessions.
02 DEC 41: Washington receives reports that Japan is massing troops in Indo-China near the border with Thailand. Roosevelt asks Japan to explain the build-up.
04 DEC 41: U.S. communications stations pick up a coded message from
Japanese radio, which indicates that an attack upon the United States is imminent.
06 DEC 41: Roosevelt cables a personal message to Japanese emperor
Hirohito, asking him to use his personal influence to preserve peace.
06 DEC 41: Washington receives military intelligence reports that two
large Japanese naval task forces are heading southward along the East Asian coast, probably heading for Thailand and the Dutch East Indies.
07 DEC 41: THE JAPANESE ATTACK
A. Air attack on Pearl Harbor begins at 7:55 AM local time (1:20 PM, Washington Time.)
1. Of the eight battleships at Pearl Harbor, three are sunk, one grounded, one capsized, and the others damaged.
2. Altogether, 19 ships are sunk or disabled.
3. About 150 planes are destroyed.
4. 2,335 soldiers and sailors and 68 civilians are killed.
5. 1,178, military and civilian, are wounded.
B. The same day (08 DEC on the other side of the International Date Line in the Far East,) the Japanese launch major attacks on the Philippines, Guam, Midway, and on British bases at Hong King and in the Malay Peninsula.
C. During the morning, Washington time, the Japanese Embassy in Washington receives an official notice from its capital, rejecting the Hull proposals. Ambassador Nomura was instructed to place the notice on Hull's desk at 1:00 PM, Washington time, just before the strike would take place in Hawaii.
D. About 2:00 PM, Hull receives word of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
E. 2:05 PM, Nomura arrives with the official rejection of Hull's proposal. Hull is not amused.
08 DEC 41: Congress declares war on Japan.
11 DEC 41: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The United States immediately recognizes that a state of war exists with Germany and Italy.