From May 10 To June 10
AMERICAN WAR MEASURES
New War Declarations.—The President on June 2 sent a message to Congress requesting declarations of war against Rumania, Hungary, and Bulgaria, the three Balkan satellites of the Central Powers. At German dictation, Rumania had declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941, and Bulgaria and Hungary had followed suit two days later. Rumanian assets in this country were frozen in October, 1940, and those of the other two states were frozen in March following, at the time of the German invasion of the Balkans. The President’s final request for war declarations was apparently connected with current Lease-Lend negotiations with the Soviet Republics, and was a step in the policy of bringing American, British, and Soviet war measures into closer harmony. The three war resolutions passed the House on June 3 and were approved by the Senate the next day, without debate and without a dissenting vote. The resolutions took note of the fact that the nations involved had previously declared war, and authorized and directed the President to “employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the government . . . to bring the war to a successful termination.” Similar action against Finland by
Britain and the United States was believed to be under consideration. The other puppet states allied with the Axis, but against which the United States has as yet made no declarations, are Croatia, Manchukuo, Slovakia, and Thailand. Rumanian and Hungarian first line troops have been employed on the Russian front, but Bulgaria has thus far kept out of the Soviet war and limited its Axis support to the dispatch of forces into Yugoslavia.
Pact with China.—At the close of May the United States Government extended formal invitations to both China and the Soviet Government to sign agreements, similar to the one already concluded with Britain, providing more favorable terms of settlement for Lease-Lend obligations, with as little disturbance as possible to post-war economic conditions throughout the world. Since T. V. Soong, Chinese Foreign Minister, was already in this country, the agreement with China was signed at Washington on June 2. Its terms followed closely those of the master Lease-Lend Agreement concluded with Great Britain last February. The general purport of the arrangement is that repayment for Lease-Lend obligations shall take into consideration the services and sacrifices made by the nations concerned in the prosecution of the war, and shall be made in such a way as “not to burden commerce between the two countries, but to promote mutually advantageous economic relations between them and the betterment of world-wide economic relations.” The idea is to eliminate tariffs and trade barriers, facilitate the free exchange of commodities, and in general bring the trade relations of the two countries into harmony with the “free access to the world’s raw materials” clause of the Atlantic Charter.
With the Soviet Republics, full military and economic co-operation is perhaps complicated by Soviet territorial claims for the post-war settlement. The Soviet Republics is said to have asked for an endorsement of its title to the Baltic States—Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia—which were Russian before 1918 and again in 1940-41. In the British House of Commons it has been urged that no post-war territorial settlement shall be made without first securing parliamentary approval.
Joint Production Planning.—Oliver Lyttleton, British Minister of Production, and about twelve other British production experts arrived in Washington on June 2 to consult with Harry L. Hopkins, Donald Nelson, and other American officials on a joint “Anglo-American victory production program,” the first steps toward which were made when the British Prime Minister and Lord Beaverbrook visited the United States at the end of last year. Prior to the arrival of the British mission, a tentative agreement had already been reached to set up a combined Production Planning Committee, headed by Mr. Nelson for the Americans and by Mr. Lyttleton or his appointee for the British. According to plans, the United States will specialize in the production of long range bombers; and both this country and Britain in fighter planes and tanks of standardized types. Plans were also laid for a combined Food Committee to be headed jointly by Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard and by R. H. Brand, of the British Food Mission. Meantime the more strictly military problems of supply were being taken up in London by Lieutenant General Brehon B. Somervell, Chief of the U. S. Army Service of Supply, who arrived in England late in May. The London conferences would consider not only the supply of existing battlefronts but the possibilities of establishing a second front this year on the continent.
CANADA AND THE WAR
Canada and Overseas Service.—Despite the vote of approval in the nationwide plebiscite on the question, the Mac- kenzie-King Government has shown some hesitation in removing restrictions on overseas service from proposed draft legislation. The tender handling of the question has been due largely to fears of alienating sentiment among the French population, especially in Quebec province, where the plebiscite vote was 2 to 1 opposed. Canada has also avoided a diplomatic break with the Vichy French, though on May 20 the Prime Minister announced that Vichy had been asked to close all French consulates and consular agencies for the duration of the war. The commercial duties of the consulates had largely ceased, and, according to the Prime Minister, they had “become a focus of suspicion and misunderstanding.”
Air Training Conference.—The Air Training Conference of 14 United Nations, held at Ottawa in May, though it failed to attain all the results hoped for, made a start on standardization of training methods, and set up a combined committee on air training which would hold its meetings in Washington. An agreement signed by the British, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand Governments on June 5 provided for continuation and further expansion of the present air training system, with concentration of actual training chiefly in Canada. Of the estimated cost of $1,500,000,000, Canada will pay 50 per cent and the other commonwealths will share the rest. There will be complete coordination of air training, with a single pool of trained personnel to be drawn on and sent where most needed. Canada will increase her Air Force squadrons overseas, and will supply them also in part with trained ground crews.
LATIN AMERICA AND THE WAR
Mexico Enters the War.—At the end of May the Mexican Congress by a unanimous vote of both houses authorized President Manuel Avila Camacho to declare that a state of war existed, as of May 22, between the Mexican Republic and the three Axis powers, Germany, Italy, and Japan. At a cabinet meeting on May 23 it was decided to call on Congress for such authorization, and the measure was passed by the Chamber of Deputies on May 29 and by the Senate a day later. On May 14 the Mexican Government had sent a sharp protest to Berlin demanding “complete satisfaction and a guarantee of damage reparations” for the sinking of a Mexican oil tanker on May 12 off the Florida coast. The Cabinet action followed Germany’s failure to reply. The Mexican tanker Polrero del Llano was torpedoed and sunk on May 12 with a loss of 13 out of her crew of 35. The Fajo dc Oro, another tanker, was sunk two days later with a loss of 14 out of 41 men. The Mexican protest held Germany and Italy to joint responsibility.
The war declaration placed Mexico for perhaps the first time in line with the United States in war activities, and in accord also with all the other republics of Central America and the Caribbean. Mexico was the 28th nation to join in the war against one or more of the Axis powers. The Mexican Congress granted the President power to suspend constitutional guarantees, but the Mexican Government, while increasing military preparations and further curbing Axis activities within its territory, was not expected to send troops outside the national borders.
Brazil Fights Submarines.—As a result of increased Axis submarine operations in Brazilian waters and the sinking of several of its merchant vessels, the Brazilian Government late in May ordered its aircraft and naval vessels to take an active part in chasing down submarines operating within or close to territorial waters. Thus, without an actual declaration of war, Brazil was brought closer to open hostilities with the Axis powers. Later in the month report was made of the sinking of a U-boat by Captain Pamplona, a Brazilian aviator operating from the air base at Natal. Captain Pamplona, formerly a naval lieutenant, had received a part of his aviation training under Brigadier General James H. Doolittle at Randolph Field in Texas. Brazilian air patrols were strongly reinforced, and in May 29 a second submarine was reported to have been so damaged that its crew surrendered. Up to the close of May, seven Brazilian vessels had been sunk or injured by submarine attack. The Commandante Lyra, the latest victim up to that time, was defended by United States patrol planes, and, though on fire, was towed into port. It was not clear that Brazilian craft had as yet been ordered to protect commerce outside territorial waters, but the Brazilian press insisted that such operations would not constitute an act of war but a move toward wiping out “organized piracy” in Western Hemisphere areas.
President Prado’s Visit.—President Prado of Peru ended his official visit in Washington on May 12, after delivering addresses in English before both Houses of Congress. He spoke also at Harvard University, crossed the border to Canada at Niagara, and visited munitions and aircraft factories in the Detroit area, including the Ford bomber plant at Willow Run. He returned to Peru in the third week of May, after having paid the first state visit of a South American President to this country. Secretary of State Hull spoke of the Peruvian President as an outstanding ambassador of good will and promoter of better understanding among the American republics.
DEALINGS WITH VICHY FRANCE
Martinique Pact.—Early in May, as a result of the pro-Axis shift at Vichy, the American State Department sought increased assurance regarding the strict neutrality of French colonies and naval forces on this side of the Atlantic. The negotiations were opened directly with Admiral Georges Robert at Martinique, Rear Admiral Hoover and Mr. Samuel Reber of the State Department visiting Martinique for the purpose, and, so far as the State Department was concerned, no attention was paid to the views of the Laval regime in France. As summarized in the press, the American proposals included the disarming of French warships stationed in the colonies, the turning over of about 140,000 tons of French tankers and merchantmen lying idle in French-American ports, and the placing of all communications systems under Pan-American control.
The French naval vessels, including the training cruiser Jeanne d’Arc and the auxiliary cruiser Barfleur at Martinique and the light cruiser Emile Berlin at Guadeloupe, were not an important consideration and had already been deprived of fuel and essential engine parts. The 100 or more American-made aircraft at Martinique had also deteriorated in value. The tankers and merchant vessels were chiefly desired, and it was on the question of their transfer that the French made their chief objections, on the ground that such aid to the United Nations would be a violation of the armistice arrangements with Berlin. An American naval officer, Captain Jesse Gay, with an assistant, and three consular officials have been stationed at Martinique to guard against unneutral service.
Free French Problems.—London announced on May 13 that Free French representatives would have a share in the administration of captured districts in Madagascar, and there seemed also a possibility that an agreement might be reached to avoid further fighting on the island. Nevertheless, it appeared clear that De Gaullist leaders were piqued at the small part they had been assigned both in the operations at Madagascar and in the American negotiations at Martinique. The Free French view was that anti-Vichy feeling was predominant among the people in both colonies, but that it was held in check by the military authorities, and there was little prospect that men of Admiral Robert’s type would abandon their allegiance to the Petain-Laval regime. It was pointed out that in French Guiana from 200 to 300 Germans and Italians held prisoner while France was in the war are now at large and no doubt active in the interests of the Axis.
Vichy and Berlin.—As indicated by events in May, it appeared likely that the Laval Government at Vichy would stick to its policy of avoiding a rupture with the United States until Berlin pressure made a continuance of relations impossible. Axis dissatisfaction with Laval was expressed in the French and the German press, and from Italy there was further talk of the surrender of Tunisia, Corsica, and Nice, though in Italy there is an increased realization that gains of this nature are likely to be negatived by the outcome of the general war.
CENTRAL EUROPE
Reprisals for Heydricii Killing.— On June 4 Reinhard Heydrich, Deputy Reich Protector of Bohemia-Moravia, died as a result of severe wounds from a bomb which was thrown into his automobile en route from Prague to Berlin. Last September Heydrich took charge of repression measures against the Czechs, and was one of the most hated leaders in Gestapo activities in conquered lands. The bomb killed the driver of the automobile and inflicted severe spinal injuries on Heydrich which resulted in his death eight days later. He was succeeded by Kurt Daluege, another of Himmler’s Gestapo stalwarts, who was selected in place of Karl Frank, a renegade Czech leader under Heydrich. Martial law was at once proclaimed throughout Bohemia-Moravia; a reward of 10 million Czech crowns (about $235,000 at exchange rates of a year ago) was offered for information leading to the seizure of those responsible for the assault, either dead or alive; and the whole population of the region were required to register within 36 hours. A series of mass arrests and executions followed, without much regard for evidence as to whether those put to death were in any way involved in the attack. At the time of Heydrich’s funeral on June 7 the number executed stood at 219, and two special courts at Prague and Bruenn were still busily at work. The bomb and other weapons used in the attack were of British manufacture, and the theory was advanced that men dropped in Czech territory from parachutes were responsible for the assault.
Heydrich was about 49 years of age, aided Herr Himmler in the blood purge of 1934, and the nicknames “the Hangman” and “the Cobra” evidenced his reputation as chief killer of the Gestapo gang. In the preceding month he had been called to Holland and later to Paris, in both of which places repressive measures were stepped up after his arrival.
Hitler in Finland.—During the first week in June Chancellor Adolf Hitler visited Field Marshal Manncrheim and other leaders in Finland in what was described as a desperate effort to secure further aid from Finland in the Russian campaign. Support from Finland would be of special value in reported plans for an approaching Axis offensive to cut the Murmansk Railway and interrupt Soviet supply lines from overseas. Early June saw also an intensified Axis propaganda of mingled threats and cajolery to get help from the few remaining European neutrals, notably Turkey and Sweden.
In a statement on June 6 Secretary of State Hull gave notice that the United States was “watching the situation most closely to see whether this visit of Hitler would result in any greater degree of cooperation against the United Nations.”
FAR EAST
Politics in Japan.—Late in May Japanese leaders established a new political organization, to be known as the National Service Political Council, and composed of more than 900 members. The President of the new body is former Premier No- buyuki Abe, and the Board of Governors includes Admiral Suetsugu, Colonel Hashimoto, who was responsible for the bombing of the Panay, and other men prominent in the extreme militarist faction controlling the present destinies of Japan. The function of the new organization is apparently to provide popular support for the government and to take the place of the shortlived Imperial Rule Assistance Association, which was started a year or so ago. The chief business before the new Japanese Diet, which opened its session in June, was to provide increased appropriations for shipping construction, to replace in some measure the heavy losses suffered during the past six months of war at sea. The Diet is at least 80 per cent government controlled.