FROM DECEMBER 10 TO JANUARY 10
AMERICA AND THE WAR
Aid for Democracies. —In his radio talk of December 29, as well as in his subsequent message to Congress, President Roosevelt clearly set forth the Administration view of the international situation and of the national policies thus called for, adequately summarized in the following press excerpts from the December 29 speech:
The nub of the whole purpose of your President is to keep you now, and your children later, and your grandchildren much later out of a last- ditch war for the preservation of American independence.
Never before since Jamestown and Plymouth Rock has our American civilization been in such danger as now. The Nazi masters of Germany have made it clear that they intend ... to enslave the whole of Europe, and then to use the resources of Europe to dominate the rest of the world. The United States has no right or reason to encourage talk of peace until the day shall come when there is a clear intention on the part of the aggressor nations to abandon all thought of dominating or conquering the world.
The experience of the past two years has proved beyond doubt that no nation can appease the Nazis. No man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it.
There is far less chance of the United States getting into war if we do all we can now to support the nations defending themselves against attack by the Axis than if we acquiesce in their defeat, submit tamely to an Axis victory, and wait our turn to be the object of attack in another war later on. There is no demand for sending an American expeditionary force outside our own borders. There is no intention by any member of your government to send such a force. The nation expects our defense industries to continue operation without interruption by strikes or lockouts.
All our present efforts are not enough. We must have more ships, more guns, more planes—more of everything. There will be no “bottlenecks” in our determination to aid Great Britain. No dictator, no combination of dictators, will weaken that determination by threats of how they will construe that determination.
I believe that the Axis powers are not going to win this war. I base that belief on the latest and best information.
Congress subsequently took up a Bill, No. 1776, giving the President increased powers to extend full aid to nations subject to aggression, in accordance with the policy set forth by the Administration.
Diplomatic Changes. —Admiral Leahy, the new American Ambassador to the Vichy Government in France, reached his post in the first part of January. In addition to this renewed contact with Europe, Mr. Harry L. Hopkins, former Secretary of Commerce, was sent abroad in early January as the President’s special representative in the British Isles. A regular appointment to the British ambassadorship was to be made later in the month.
To replace Lord Lothian, whose sudden death in December was felt as a severe loss both in this country and in England, the British government on December 23 announced that the post of Ambassador at Washington would be filled by Viscount Halifax, Foreign Minister in both the Chamberlain and Churchill cabinets. Anthony Eden succeeded Halifax as Foreign Minister, and Eden’s place at the head of the War Office was taken by Captain David Margesson, who for the past nine years had served as Chief Whip of the Conservative party in the House of Commons.
CENTRAL EUROPE
Bulgaria and the Axis. —During December and January the heavy concentration of Nazi forces, to an estimated number of 600,000 or more, along the Bulgarian frontiers of Rumania gave sufficient indication of impending German diplomatic or military moves in the Balkan area, without conclusive evidence as to what such moves would be. This concentration was coupled with the sudden visit of the Bulgarian Premier, Bogdan Philoff, to Vienna and then to Southern Germany in the first week of January, a visit for which reasons of health seemed an inadequate explanation. After the Premier’s return, the signs seemed to indicate that Bulgaria was not yet to be forced to accept or reject an Axis tie-up, though the time for such decision might be near. King Boris, with the turn of events in Rumania as a warning, was expected to hold out against complete surrender to Axis demands. Meantime the German concentration served as a check on Russian moves in the eastern Danube region, and might be brought to bear elsewhere if Italian reverses became a compelling motive for German support.
Yugoslav-Hungarian Pact. —In mid- December Hungary and Yugoslavia signed at Belgrade a treaty, the three brief articles of which provided that there should be “constant peace and perpetual friendship” between the two nations and “consultation on all questions which could affect their mutual relationship.” Officials of both countries emphasized that the pact was designed for maintenance of peace in the Danube basin, in harmony “with the two friendly and great neighbor powers”— Germany and Italy; in other words, that it was a step toward the integration of the “new order” in Southeastern Europe. Others professed to see in the treaty a secret effort of the two states to bolster their independence against the Axis.
LATIN AMERICA
Argentine-Uruguay Accord. —In mid- December Argentina and Uruguay signed two agreements, one providing for closer trade relations and the other for defense co-operation in the River Plate. The terms of the latter agreement, though not made public, were understood to establish a common policy in construction of air and naval bases for control of the sea approaches to the two countries, without jeopardizing the sovereignty of either country or giving one nation sole control. The agreement was understood to consist of six chapters. Uruguay would be granted financial aid from Argentina, if desired, for the construction of bases, and Argentina would be given the right to share in their use; and they would also be placed at the disposal of other nations for hemisphere defense purposes. The plan was apparently aimed to preclude an arrangement between Uruguay and the United States which might give the latter a threatening control over a South American waterway. The proposed accord between Uruguay and the United States over common bases had previously aroused sharp opposition in the Uruguayan Cabinet and Congress.
Mission to Ecuador. —By an agreement signed December 12, the United States is to furnish both naval and military aviation officers to advise the defense forces of Ecuador. The arrangement is to run for four years, and the mission will consist of two officers and two enlisted men from each branch of the United States service. This brings to eight the number of American countries provided with United States military, naval, or aviation missions—the other countries being Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Haiti, and Peru.
New Panama Constitution. —In a popular vote on December 15 the Republic of Panama ratified the new constitution sponsored by the recently elected President, Dr. Arnulfo Arias. President Arias, who has been widely accused of anti-United States and pro-Nazi sentiments, described the new governmental setup as “both democratic and Unitarian.” For one thing, it increases the presidential term of office from 4 to 6 years. It also provides for (1) state monopoly of gas and tobacco, (2) restriction of suffrage to exclude large numbers of non-Spanish speaking negro immigrants from the British West Indies, (3) expropriation of property owned by foreigners after due compensation.
WESTERN EUROPE
Churchill to Italy. —In a radio address on December 23 directed primarily to the Italian people, Premier Churchill declared that the whole responsibility for ranging Italy on the side of the “ferocious pagan barbarians” rested with Premier Mussolini. The latter, he said, had “called in Attila over the Brenner Pass, with his hordes of ravenous soldiery and his gangs of Gestapo policemen,” against the desires of the Vatican and the Catholic Church, the King and royal family, and the Italian people. In his view, neither the British nor the Italian people wanted war. He made public his final appeal to Premier Mussolini on May 16, and the latter’s reply citing Italy’s pledges to Germany. In conclusion Premier Churchill threatened that failure of the Italians to make terms would mean “the tearing of their African empire to shreds and tatters.” The message was published in Italy, with the exception of the Churchill letter and another passage placing blame for the war on Mussolini. Italian officials expressed scorn of this effort to break Axis solidarity.
Attacks on Eire. —Early in January the government of Eire made energetic protests to Germany over the dropping of bombs on Irish territory, especially on the nights of January 2 and 3, which resulted in loss of lives, injuries, and serious destruction of property. Though the planes were not identified, Irish officials were convinced that the bombs dropped were of German manufacture. German officials stated that their investigations gave no evidence of their planes having been over Ireland at the time of the attacks, but that if such a “regrettable mistake had been committed the Reich would make full amends.”
French Submarine Sunk. —Possibilities of increased friction between England and the Petain Government in France arose from the sinking on December 19 of the French submarine Sfax and the naval tanker Rhone en route from Casabianca, Morocco, to Dakar in French West Africa. The submarine was sunk by torpedo with a loss of 64 out of a total of 67 men, and the tanker was destroyed by another torpedo shortly thereafter. No evidence was made public as to the nationality of the attacking submarine.
Spain in Tangier. —It was reported in early January that Spain and Britain had reached tentative agreement over the status of the Tangier zone, where Spain took over full control last November. Apparently the projected settlement is to be on a basis of mutual concessions, for England wants Spanish neutrality, and- Spain is in even more urgent need of foodstuffs and other supplies controlled by the British blockade. Foreign Minister Serrano Suñer declared in January that the Spanish occupation of Tangier was to forestall other claimants, that England was taking a practical view of the matter, and that other nations, referring presumably to the United States, who “cannot logically expect anything out of Tangier, have no right to interfere.” Nevertheless it was declared from Lisbon that Spain’s attitude in the Tangier affair had much to do with the holdup of a projected U. S. credit to Spain for purchase of supplies.
Vichy Government Changes. —On December 14, after a stormy meeting of the Vichy Cabinet which lasted from 8:00 p.m. till midnight, Vice-Premier Pierre Laval was ousted from his position as second in rank in the French state and placed under guard on his estate. Press versions later declared that Laval had sought vainly to secure Marshal Petain’s approval of certain measures involving positive war aid for Germany, and had also insisted that the Marshal should go personally to Paris to be present next day when the remains of Napoleon’s son (L’Aiglon) were brought from Austria to the Hôtel des Invalides. This occasion was apparently planned to have been a spectacular demonstration of the new Franco- German entente. On December 17, following a sudden visit to Vichy by the German high commissioner, Otto Abetz, M. Laval was released from detention and allowed to return with the Germans to Paris. Herr Abetz was understood to have demanded Laval’s “moral rehabilitation.” In the immediate governmental reorganization, Pierre-Etienne Flandin, another anti-war man, took over Laval’s post as Vice-Premier. Later Paul Baudoin, who had been Foreign Minister in the first Vichy setup, resigned from the ministry, and the trend appeared to be toward a new alignment in which Flandin, Admiral Jean Darlan as Minister of the Navy, and General Huntziger as Minister of War, would compose the supreme inner cabinet. Meantime negotiations for a Franco- German settlement were held up, though Admiral Darlan went to Paris in late December with a new set of proposals.
For defense on all sides, and as a makeweight in the German discussions, it was evidently the Vichy plan to organize French colonial possessions on the strongest possible military basis. The authority of General Weygand in North Africa was extended to include Syria, where General Henri Dentz arrived in January as high commissioner. As a further step in executing this policy, French Indo- China was on January 3 granted autonomous government and dominion status.
FAR EAST
Axis Joint War Boards. —Announcement was made on December 20 that Germany, Italy, and Japan had actually set up the military and economic mixed commissions provided for in the Tri- Power Treaty as a means of bringing the three allies into closer co-operation. The commissions are to operate, presumably through diplomatic representatives, in each of the three capitals—Berlin, Rome, and Tokyo. It was announced also on the same date that General Oshima would return to Berlin as Japanese Ambassador, and that Japanese military missions would soon go to Europe to study the war tactics of the Axis powers at first hand. General Oshima, regarded as strongly Germanophile, was Ambassador in Berlin at the time when Japan joined the Anti-Comintern pact. The publication of these steps toward closer solidarity between Japan and the Axis were generally interpreted as a further warning to the United States against increased aid for Britain, Greece, and China.
Further American Export Restrictions. —As a further restriction on materials essential to national defense, President Roosevelt announced in December that after December 30 licenses would be required for export of iron ore, pig iron, ferro-alloys, and almost all new iron and steel production in the fabricated and non- fabricated states. Licenses will be granted for export of these mineral products to the British Empire and to countries of the Western Hemisphere, but to other countries only in amounts limited to their prewar requirements, if at all. The restrictions were expected to bear chiefly upon Japan, but, as has been pointed out, if Japan were permitted to draw up to her pre-war quota she would still be able to secure considerable quantities.
Great Britain in December fell in with the American policy of continued aid to China by granting a further credit of £10,000,000, half of which will be applied to the Chinese stabilization fund and half to the purchase of goods within the sterling area.
Japan and French Indo-China. — Through December and early January airplane raids and skirmishes continued across the border between French Indo- China and Thai. Reports from Hanoi raised the suspicion that Japan was instigating these attacks and that Japanese aviators were actually taking part in some of the raids by Thai aircraft. There were also reports in January of clashes between French forces and the 6,000 Japanese troops in and around Hanoi. However, Admiral Decoux, Governor of French Indo-China, denied that the Japanese were seeking to garrison the capital at Saigon or to secure air and naval facilities at Cam Ranh Bay.
Threats and Appeals. —In a frank talk at a Japanese-American meeting in Tokyo in late December upon the departure of the new Ambassador to Washington, Admiral Nomura, Foreign Minister Matsuoka declared that “Japan is and will remain loyal to her allies, that Japan’s foreign policy will revolve in future around the Three-Power pact, and that to have any illusions on this point would do no good to any one.” The answer to American entry into the European war would be “Armageddon, and the total destruction of our culture and civilization.” Mr. Matsuoka proceeded to draw an idealized picture of what the new order would be “when international society is crystallized in accordance with the spirit of justice and equity.” Ambassador Grew in his comment remarked that the issues raised by Foreign Minister Matsuoka were too serious for offhand discussion, but that he wished to disabuse the minister at once of the misapprehension that American interest in China was merely “a matter of sentiment.” He added that he was glad to hear that in the Japanese program “the door is shut nowhere to no one, and that the program envisages no conquest, no oppression, and no exploitation.”
Japan’s Oil Demands. —Late in December Japan again started trade negotiations at Batavia, Netherlands Indies, with a new trade commission headed by Kenkichi Yoshizawa, a member of the Japanese cabinet. Japan is understood to be entirely dissatisfied with the oil agreement of last autumn, which made available for her only 1,800,000 tons of oil, in contrast to her expectation of 4,000,000 tons, to consist chiefly of high octane gasoline and aviation crude oil. Japan is also required to make payment in American dollars. In opposition to the Japanese demands for increased oil and mineral exports, the Netherlands Indies authorities are determined to put up a stiff front. Their particular concern is that no Dutch colonial products shall be re-exported by Japan to Germany.