FROM AUGUST 10 TO SEPTEMBER 10
AMERICA AND THE WAR
Roosevelt-Churchill Meeting. —On the week-end of August 10 President Roosevelt and Premier Churchill met aboard naval vessels at sea in a series of conferences of first international importance. The meetings took place aboard the U. S. cruiser Augusta and the British battleship Prince of Wales. The President was accompanied by Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles and Lease-Lend Administrator Harry L. Hopkins, as well as by General George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, Admiral Harold L. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations, and other army and naval officers. British representatives included Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Supply, Chief of Imperial Staff General Sir John Dill, and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Dudley Pound. The discussions, as indicated in later announcements, took a wide range, including the situation in the Far East, supply problems relating especially to Russia, and the formulation of a statement of post-war aims. These latter, described as “certain common principles in the national policies of their respective countries on which they base their hopes for a better future of the world,” were framed in 8 points as follows:
(1) Their countries seek no aggrandizement, territorial or other; (2) they desire to see no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned; (3) they respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self- government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them; (4) they will endeavor, with due respect for their existing obligations, to further the enjoyment by all states, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world which are needed for their economic prosperity; (5) they desire to bring about the fullest collaboration between all nations in the economic field with the object of securing, for all, improved labor standards, economic adjustment and social security; (6) after the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, they hope to see established a peace which will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries, and which will afford assurance that all the men in all the lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want; (7) such a peace should enable all men to traverse the high seas and oceans without hindrance; (8) they believe that all of the nations of the world, for realistic as well as spiritual reasons, must come to the abandonment of the use of force. Since no future peace can be maintained if land, sea or air armaments continue to be employed by nations which threaten, or may threaten, aggression outside of their frontiers, they believe, pending the establishment of a wider and permanent system of general security, that the disarmament of such nations is essential. They will likewise aid and encourage all other practicable measures which will lighten for peace- loving peoples the crushing burden of armaments.
Of chief interest, in comparison with President Wilson’s Fourteen Points, was the emphasis in the 5th point on free access for all nations to world trade and raw materials, and in the 8th on the disarmament of aggressor nations.
Later, in his speech on Labor Day, President Roosevelt emphasized the closer co-ordination of American policy with that of the nations at war by his definite reference to Hitler as “the enemy,” his pledge of “single mindedness and sacrifice” in arms production, and his statement that our fundamental rights were threatened by the Nazi dictator’s “violent attempt to rule the world.”
Conference at Moscow. —During their conference at sea the President and Prime Minister joined in a message to Joseph Stalin stating that they were taking steps to “help your country in the splendid defense that you are making” and would provide “the maximum of supplies,” and suggesting a joint conference to be held at Moscow to consider supply problems and long range plans for allocation of joint resources. The Soviet reply was immediate and favorable. On September 3 the President named a 5-man delegation headed by W. Averell Harriman, Lease-Lend representative in London, the other members being Major General James H. Bums, Major General George H. Brett, Admiral William H. Standley, and William L. Batt, director of Materials Division in the Office of Production Management. The British delegation was headed by Lord Beaverbrook.
Prior to the conference, the British and Soviet Governments ended their trade negotiations on August 17 by signing an agreement which provided for a £10,000,000 credit to the Soviet Government and extensive exchange of raw materials.
American Destroyer Attacked. —On the morning of September 4, according to a release by the Navy Department, the U. S. destroyer Greer, en route to Iceland with mail, was attacked by a submarine. The torpedoes missed and the Greer immediately counterattacked with depth charges, with unknown results. On September 6, the German Government, without giving definite sources of information, admitted that at 2:49 P.M. on September 4, about 200 miles southwest of Iceland, a German submarine had fired two torpedoes at a war vessel of “unknown nationality,” but insisted that the stranger had opened the attack earlier, at 12:30. Pending further evidence, the American Naval report was given full credence in Washington, and, coupled with the subsequent sinking of the American ship Seafarer in the Red Sea by German aircraft, appeared certain to lead to stronger policies and measures for the protection of our shipping.
CONTINENTAL EUROPE
Axis Plans United Europe. —According to Italian press reports, one of the chief occupations of the German and Italian dictators, during their 5-day conferences in the Russian war area at the close of August, was the completion of plans for the unification of all continental Europe into a single Axis-dominated state. Even a “European national flag” was adopted, containing the colors of all the countries to be included. It was stated that Finland, Slovakia, Croatia, and Bulgaria were already co-operating with the Axis, and that it remained for France to “assume her responsibility toward the continent in which she lives.” In a bid for Turkish support, the Italian press added that the new Europe would “guard the integrity of the Dardanelles and guarantee Turkey against any attack.” No doubt these plans for a European federation were intended chiefly for propaganda purposes, in the face of increasing disturbances in Serbia, France, Norway, and other occupied areas. However, lest subject nations build up false hopes, the German High Command on September 6 distributed a pamphlet declaring that the “essence of a state is might” and that it lay solely with the Führer to determine what measure of self- rule he would restore to conquered countries. Furthermore, according to an article in Neues Folk, there must be no “disorder of blood by the mixing of races.”
Petain’s New Decrees. —In a broadcast to the nation on August 12 Marshal Petain announced a series of new orders tending toward a more completely authoritarian state and apparently toward closer conformity with Nazi demands. Of chief significance in the cabinet reorganization was the appointment of Admiral Jean Francois Darlan, pro-Axis Vice Premier, to the additional post of Minister of Defense, in complete control of “all land, sea, and air forces.” While announcing this and other alterations, the Marshal recognized in his speech the growing unrest in France — “the ill wind rising in many regions . . . disquiet overtaking minds . . . doubt gaining control of spirits.” New measures to impose governmental authority included complete suppression of political party activities in the unoccupied zone, ending of pay to members of Parliament after September 30, creation of a new group of “commissioners of authority”—one chief and 11 assistants—to strengthen the enforcement of laws, increased powers to regional prefects, and establishment of a special council of justice to try political prisoners and report by October 15. Later, on August 31, the Marshal announced a plan to extend membership in the French Legion not only to veterans of the first and second World Wars but to all who were “ready to volunteer their service in the National Revolution.” This meant in effect that the Legion would become a nation-wide party to back up the state.
Symptomatic of the increasing unrest mentioned by the Marshal was the shooting and serious wounding on August 27 of Pierre Laval and Marcel Deat, two outstanding advocates of collaboration with Germany. The attack was made by a young De Gaulist sympathizer, Paul Collette, who had been admitted into the German-sponsored French Legion against Bolshevism. Thereafter some 16 Frenchmen were put to death up to the close of August for espionage and anti-German activities, and there was a general outbreak of attacks on Germans and retributory executions.
NEAR EAST
Occupation of Iran. —Following Iran’s unsatisfactory response to an Anglo- Russian joint demand of August 16 that German “tourists” and fifth columnists be immediately expelled from the country, British forces invaded Iran from the Iraqui frontier and the Persian Gulf, while Russian troops and aircraft made a simultaneous entry from the north. Diplomatic relations were not broken off, but the Iranian Premier protested at the violation of his country’s neutrality and there was sharp criticism of the Anglo-Russian move in the Turkish press and radio. Iranian troops offered little more than formal resistance. On August 27 a new government was set up at Teheran and orders were at once issued to cease opposition. Soviet and British forces met on August 31 at Kazvin, about 90 miles northwest of the Iranian capital. Meantime about 700 German nationals took refuge in the German summer embassy 8 miles outside Teheran. On September 2 it was reported that diplomatic negotiations at Teheran had reached a satisfactory basis for settlement including immediate expulsion of the Germans and British-Soviet control of Iranian transport facilities and oil production. Security of Persian oil fields and control of a short route for transport of supplies to southern Russia were in fact primary aims of the invasion. Occupation of Iran would also facilitate British assistance in case of a German attack on the Russian oil fields east of the Black Sea. In a statement on August 30 Foreign Secretary Eden declared that neither the British nor the Soviet Government had any design to annex any part of occupied Iranian territory, and pledged the withdrawal of forces as soon as it was justified by the military situation.
Assurances to Turks. —In identic notes on August 13, Britain and the Soviet Republic gave a renewed pledge that they would “scrupulously observe the territorial integrity of the Turkish Republic” and that they had “no aggressive intentions or aims whatever in regard to the Straits.” Furthermore while appreciating Turkey’s desire to keep out of the war, they were “prepared to render Turkey every help and assistance in event of her being attacked by a third power.” These renewed assurances were no doubt prompted by plans for the invasion of Iran, which took place within the next fortnight, and they were also designed to support Turkish resistance to German pressure. At the close of August German sources reported that for the present the only demands the Führer would be likely to impose on Turkey would be for possible use of Turkish territorial waters in naval operations in the Black Sea, including perhaps the free use of the Straits for transport of troops and supplies.
UNITED STATES AND LATIN AMERICA
Agreement on Axis Shipping. —On August 28 delegates of the 21 American republics, at a meeting of the Inter- American Financial and Economic Advisory Committee, announced that their governments had given approval to a plan for the employment of the 80 or more German, Italian, and Danish ships immobilized in Western Hemisphere ports. The plan provided for “just and adequate compensation” to the owners and for employment of the vessels “in such a manner as to promote the defense of the economies of the American republics as well as the peace and security of the western continents.” On condition that the use of the vessels would not release other ships to services inimical to Great Britain, the British Government agreed to waive any belligerent rights in connection with the shipping involved. The ships were to be used solely in inter-American trade. Argentina and Brazil, it was said, would purchase the vessels in their ports, dealing directly with the Axis powers. The agreement came after 7 months of negotiations and was described by Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles as the most important work accomplished by the Advisory Committee since its organization in November of 1939.
Accord with Mexico Near. —In his address on September 1 at the opening of the Mexican Congress, President Avila Camacho spoke hopefully of an approaching general agreement in negotiations at Washington covering all outstanding questions at issue between the United States and Mexico. These included the oil claims of expropriated companies, the similar American claims for expropriated lands, the financial problems involved in American silver purchases, the stabilization of the peso, and the adverse balance of Mexico’s foreign trade, and finally the matter of a new commercial treaty, in which Mexico would like a reduction of United States duties on oil, strategic materials, and foodstuffs. It was suggested in Washington that part of the American loan to Mexico inevitable in such a settlement might be used for token payments on American oil claims.
FAR EAST
Japan Seeks Accord. —On August 28 the Japanese Ambassador, in a meeting at the White House with President Roosevelt and Secretary Hull, delivered to the President a personal note from Prince Konoye, Japanese Premier. Though the contents were not published, the note was understood to be conciliatory in tone and to propose an exploration with the Ambassador of the possibility of improving Japanese-American relations. On September 5 the President stated to the press that the note would be answered “in due course” but gave no hint of progress in negotiations. It was evident, however, that since the Roosevelt-Churchill meeting, Anglo- American policy in the Orient had stiffened and was less than ever inclined to appeasement or half measures. The President indicated that a settlement with Japan must be based on principles already stated, involving no surrender of treaty rights or violation of the Pacific status quo. Prime Minister Churchill, in a radio talk on August 24 reviewing the Atlantic conference, declared bluntly that in the event of trouble in the Far East “we shall of course range ourselves unhesitatingly on the side of the United States.” He prefaced this with a lively denunciation of Japanese acts and policies:
For five long years the Japanese military factions, seeking to emulate the style of Hitler and Mussolini, taking all their posturing as if it were a new European revelation, have been invading and harrying the 500,000,000 inhabitants of China. Japanese armies have been wandering about that vast land in futile excursions, carrying with them carnage, ruin, and corruption, and calling it “the Chinese incident. ...”
They snatch Indo-China from the wretched Vichy French. They menace by their movements Siam; menace Singapore, the British link with Australasia, and menace the Philippine Islands under the protection of the United States. It is certain that this has got to stop. Every effort will be made to secure a peaceful settlement. The United States are laboring with infinite patience to arrive at a fair and amicable settlement which will give Japan the utmost reassurance for her legitimate interests. We earnestly hope that these negotiations will succeed.
Oil for Vladivostok. —On the question of shipments of oil and war materials from the United States to Russia via Vladivostok Japanese envoys were understood to have made “representations,” late in August, in both Washington and Moscow. According to Mr. Ishii, spokesman of the Cabinet, Japan recognized both the Soya and Tsugaru Straits as open water, but considered that shipments of aviation fuel to Russia through this area, while Japan was barred from similar accommodation, involved an affront to Japanese national prestige. In the press it was stressed that the oil might be used by the Soviet Government in an attack on Japan. On September 4 the American tanker L. P. St. Clair with 95,000 barrels of high octane fuel arrived at Vladivostok without interference. Two other tankers came in later with 170,000 barrels. It was stated that several American carriers were engaged in the service and that oil was also being shipped in Russian vessels.
Pressure on Thailand. —The Anglo- American warnings to Japan over Thailand, voiced earlier by Secretary of State Hull and Foreign Secretary Eden, were formally conveyed to the Tokyo Government on August 13. Later reports indicated that, though the rainy season made an immediate advance into Thailand impracticable, Japan had moved at least 100,000 troops from Central China into French Indo-China.
American Mission to China. —President Roosevelt announced that early in September the United States would send a military mission to China to arrange for increased Lease-Lend aid and to assist and advise the Chinese Army, as part of “the world effort in resistance to movements of conquest by force.” The mission was to be headed by Brigadier General John Magruder, twice military attaché in China.