2-Nov-39: Hitler Recalls Ambassadors to Italy, USSR for Consultations; Soviets Complete Polish Annexations; King George VI Awards RAF Medals
Today is 2-Nov-1939, the 33rd day of World War II; there are 2,130 days left in the conflict.
Two German diplomats, Ambassador to the Soviet Union Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg and Ambassador to Italy Hans Georg von Mackensen are recalled to Berlin for consultations with Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler.
The Soviet Union continues its pattern of annexation of former Polish territory after conducting plebiscites in the conquered area as another portion of east Poland is incorporated as the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. It will be the final incorporation of territory conquered by the Red Army in September and October.
In London, British King George VI awards medals to five Royal Air Force pilots who led an air raid on Germany’s Kiel Canal in September.
3-Oct-39: Chamberlain Rejects Various Peace Overtures; Germans Begin Troop Movements Westward; Soviets Wily Over Lithuania
Today is 3-Oct-1939, the 33rd day of World War II; there are 2,160 days left in the conflict.
The New York Times reports that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain tells a “wildly cheering House of Commons” that Russian and German collaboration on peace initiatives will not change Great Britain’s determination to “put an end to successive acts of German aggression … no threat will ever induce this country or France to abandon the purpose for which they entered this struggle.” He adds that his government is ready to consider any proposal that holds the prospect of stable peace, but also warns that “no mere assurances from the present German government could be accepted by us.”
But a counterpoint to his speech is made by former Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who led the country to victory in the First World War, startled the House by “counseling the Allies to move slowly while there yet remained a chance of avoiding another slaughter.”
“The words of the patriarchal elder statesman, envisaging the possibility of a world conference that would include Italy, Russia and possibly the United States to discuss the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia as well as Poland in some form, the redistribution of colonies and disarmament, fell like a bombshell in the House, whose members heard him through in silence.”
Prime Minister Chamberlain is urged to make an immediate response:
“Mr. Chamberlain, who had listened carefully to one of the bitterest critics of his appeasement policy, rejected flatly the proposed closed session, and said that a discussion of peace terms that had not been submitted was ‘premature,’ pointing out that when a peace offer came it might be ‘one which no self-respecting government could consider.’”
Meanwhile in Poland, the final cohesive Polish army units surrender en masse near the city of Luck. Over 700,000 Poles are prisoners of the Germans and another 200,000 are in the hands of the Soviets, although many will escape and make their way west. Polish casualties are extremely high, but the losses to the German Wehrmacht total 10,000 dead and 30,000 injured.
Fresh from their victory, German forces begin to withdraw from Poland for rest and redeployment to the western front. The Tenth Army is the first unit to do so. The Germans also begin the assessment of the successes and failures of the campaign; official staff thinking is that tanks are useful auxiliaries, but the infantry continues to be responsible for carrying the most important load in a campaign.
On the western front itself, in order to straighten the front line, the British Expeditionary Force orders the First Corps to hold down a section of the French/Belgian border at the same time that French troops withdraw from German territory, specifically the Warndt Forest and the Saarbrucken Salient.
German Ambassador to the Soviet Union Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg sends another in a series of diplomatic cables from Moscow to German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in Berlin noting that dealing with the Soviets will be full of ups and downs over the longterm; Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov is now being difficult over Lithuania:
“Molotov summoned me to his office at 2 p. m. today, in order to communicate to me the following:
“The Soviet Government would tell the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, who arrives today, that, within the framework of an amicable settlement of mutual relations (probably similar to the one with Estonia), the Soviet Government was willing to cede the city of Vilna and its environs to Lithuania, while at the same time the Soviet Government would indicate to Lithuania that it must cede the well-known portion of its territory to Germany. Molotov inquired what formal procedure we had in mind for carrying this out. His idea was the simultaneous signing of a Soviet-Lithuanian protocol on Vilna and a German-Lithuanian protocol on the Lithuanian area to be ceded to us.
“I replied that this suggestion did not appeal to me. It seemed to me more logical that the Soviet Government should exchange Vilna for the strip to be ceded to us and then hand this strip over to us. Molotov did not seem quite in accord with my proposal but was willing to let me ask for the viewpoint of my Government and give him a reply by tomorrow noon.
“Molotov’s suggestion seems to me harmful, as in the eyes of the world it would make us appear as “robbers” of Lithuanian territory, while the Soviet Government figures as the donor. As I see it, only my suggestion enters into consideration at all. However, I would ask you to consider whether it might not be advisable for us, by a separate secret German-Soviet protocol, to forego the cession of the Lithuanian strip of territory until the Soviet Union actually incorporates Lithuania, an idea on which, I believe, the arrangement concerning Lithuania was originally based.”
Both governments continue their jockeying over eastern Europe.
23-Sep-39: Sigmund Freud Dies in London; Poles Fight on in Warsaw; Italy Reaffirms Neutrality; Germans, Soviets Plan Moscow Meeting
Today is 23-Sept-1939, the 23rd day of World War II; there are 2,170 days left in the conflict.
From London comes news that renowned Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud is dead at 83 years of age.
In Warsaw, Polish forces continue to fight on in the surrounded capital city even as food supplies begin to run low.
German authorities in the Reich ban all non-German citizens (mainly Jews) from owning wireless radio sets; non-Germans are ordered to turn in their existing sets to the nearest authorities.
The German Kriegsmarine reports that Unterseeboots have sunk two cargo ships from Finland in the North Atlantic. The cargo was reported to be cellulose.
Italian Fascist Prime Minister Benito Mussolini announces that he still intends to keep his country neutral in the European conflict unless it is attacked; he says he is following a policy to “strengthen our army in preparation for any eventualities and support every possible peace effort while working in silence.” Mussolini also says that the “liquidation” of Poland as an independent nation could be the starting point of a general European peace settlement.
At a meeting in Panama, nations from North and South America agree to a neutral zone around the two continents extending 300 miles (480 km) off the continental coasts.
From Tokyo comes an announcement that Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura is appointed foreign minister in General Nobuyuki Abe’s recently appointed government. The Abe government will, from this point until January 1940, make a few conciliatory moves toward the United States, but these will be rebuffed. The U.S. stance is said to strengthen both the convictions and reputation of the more militant Japanese politicians, contributing to a steady deterioration in relations.
German Reich Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop sends a secret diplomatic cable to German Ambassador to the Soviet Union Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg. Ribbentrop states that he will be visiting Moscow in person for a second time in a little over a month, in order conclude negotiations over the exact new borders between Gerrmany and the Soviet Union in the former Poland. The telegram states:
“We, too, consider the time now ripe to establish by treaty jointly with the Soviet Government the definitive structure of the Polish area. The Russian idea of a border line along the well-known Four-Rivers Line coincides in general with the view of the Reich Government. It was my original intention to invite Herr Molotov to Germany in order to formulate this treaty.
“In view of your report that the leading personages there cannot leave the Soviet Union, we agree to negotiations in Moscow. Contrary to my original purpose of entrusting you with these negotiations, I have decided to fly to Moscow myself. This particularly because-in view of the full powers granted me by the Führer, thus making it possible to dispense with counter-inquiries, etc.-negotiations can be brought to a speedier conclusion.
“In view of the general situation, my sojourn in Moscow will have to be limited to one or two days at the most. Please call on Herren Stalin and Molotov and wire me earliest proposed date.”
The final partition and destruction of Poland is now imminent.
20-Sep-39: First RAF vs. Luftwaffe Clashes of the War Occur Over Aachen; Britain and France Vow to Keep Fighting; British Conservatives Under Fire for Lack of Assistance to Poland
In a foreshadowing of greater clashes to follow, the British Royal Air Force and German Luftwaffe engage each other for the first time in the war. Three British Fairey Battle reconnaissance bombers are on a patrol over the Siegfried Line near Aachen, Germany when they are attacked by a flight of German Messerschmitt Me109 fighters.
This first fight results in one Me109 and two Battles being shot down.
In Poland, the Battle of Grodno gets underway between a hodgepodge of Polish forces under Gen. Józef Olszyna-Wilczyński and the Soviet Red Army. Soviet tanks of the 27th Armoured Brigade/15th Armoured Corps reach the city’s outskirts but, lacking infantry support and oil, they are forced to halt before capturing the city. They are also hampered because of their lack of experience in urban tank warfare (a situation which will quickly change and cease to be a problem for the rest of the war).
The Red Army attempts to seize Grodno from a bridge over the Niemen River on the south side of the city, but the Poles repulse the attempt.
In Moscow, German Ambassador to the Soviet Union Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg replies to the previous day’s telegram from Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop instructing him to inform Soviet General Secretary Josef Stalin that the German Reich will keep its agreements and obligations under the 23-Aug Nonaggression Pact with a message from Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov:
“Molotov stated to me today that the Soviet Government now considered the time ripe for it, jointly with the German Government, to establish definitively the structure of the Polish area. In this regard, Molotov hinted that the original inclination entertained by the Soviet Government and Stalin personally to permit the existence of a residual Poland had given way to the inclination to partition Poland along the Pissa-Narew-Vistula-San Line. The Soviet Government wishes to commence negotiations on this matter at once, and to conduct them in Moscow, since such negotiations must be conducted on the Soviet side by persons in the highest positions of authority, who cannot leave the Soviet Union. Request telegraphic instructions.”
In other words, the Soviets and Germans are moving toward a finalization of their partition of Poland, which means its elimination as a nation.
Meanwhile in the west, despite German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler’s triumphant entry into and defiant speech from Danzig yesterday, the British and French vow to keep fighting in spite of HItler including a tentative peace offering in his speech. They announce that they “will not permit a Hitler victory to condemn the world to slavery and to ruin all moral values and destroy liberty.”
In London, the government of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain is beginning to come apart; the Labour Party opposition attacks the Conservative Party and the government in the House of Commons in Parliament for “failing to help Poland enough” against the invasions by Germany and the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, the British Conservative Party government, under the leadership of Neville Chamberlain, is denounced by the Labour Party opposition, in the House of Commons, for failing to help Poland enough against the German and Soviet invaders.
The government will, however, last for another eight months.
19-Sep-39: Hitler Triumphantly Enters Danzig, Declares It Will Be German Forever; Wilno Falls to Soviets; 100,000 Poles Surrender at Bzura
Today is 19-Sept-1939, the 19th day of World War II; there are 2,174 days left in the conflict.
German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler arrives in Danzig for a triumphant parade and speech commemorating its return to the Reich. In his speech, he celebrates the return of the city, claims that it will be forever German, and ends on a note of defiance towards Britain and France, invoking God’s blessing on the German cause:
“But there should be no doubt about one thing: England’s goal is not ‘a fight against the regime’ but a fight against the German people, women and children. Our reaction will be compatible, and one thing will be certain: This Germany does not capitulate. We are determined to carry on and stand this war one way or another.
“We have only this one wish, that the Almighty, who now has blessed our arms, will now perhaps make other peoples understand and give them comprehension of how useless this war, this debacle of peoples, will be intrinsically, and that He may perhaps cause reflection on the blessings of peace which they are sacrificing because a handful of fanatic warmongers, persons who stand to gain by war, want to involve peoples in war.”
As Hitler speaks in Danzig, the Red Army ends its advance through Poland at the Hungarian border. After three days of battle, Wilno (Vilna) finally falls to the Soviets. And at Brest-Litovsk, the Soviet army links up with the German Wehrmacht. Since the secret protocols of the 1939 Nonaggression Pack of 23-Aug calls for Brest-Litovsk to be in the “Soviet sphere of influence,” the Germans vacate the city and the Red Army marches in.
After fighting their way out of the city of Kutno, some 30,000 Polish troops join the fighting around Warsaw, while the German Luftwaffe continues to pound the capital, especially public utilities and facilities.
Units of two Polish brigades and pieces of other forces escape from the Battle of Bzura and also make their way to Warsaw. But the battle ends today with 150,000 Polish troops from the Pomorze and Poznan armies prisoners of the Wehrmacht, which has also now surrounded the city of Lvov.
In Berlin, the new era of cooperation and alliance between Germany and the Soviet Union is underscored by a telegram sent from German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop’s special train to Ambassador to Moscow Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg. Ribbentrop instructs the ambassador to convey to Soviet General Secretary Josef Stalin that Germany will be standing by her obligations under the Nonaggression Pact:
“I request that you tell Herr Stalin that you reported to Berlin about your conference with him, and that you are now expressly directed by me to inform him that the agreements which I made on the authorization of the Fuehrer at Moscow will, of course, be kept, and that they are regarded by us as the foundation stone of the new friendly relations between Germany and the Soviet Union.”
Von der Schulenberg scrambles to comply with Ribbentrop’s instructions.
15-Sep-39: Japan, Soviet Union Sign Armistice; Warsaw Commander Refuses German Surrender Demands; First British Trans-Atlantic Convoy Sails from Halifax
Today is 15-Sept-1939. It is the 15th day of the war; there are 2,178 days left in the war.
Japan and the Soviet Union end the four-month-old “Nomonhan Incident” — in which the Japanese were disastrously defeated in the Battle of Khalkin Gol — with an armistice agreement signed in Moscow.
After their defeat in the battle (in which they lost over 17,000 soldiers), a new Japanese cabinet came to power and pressed for the armistice. The Germans had also been pressing for their two ostensible allies to come to an agreement and end the fighting ever since the 22-Aug signing of the Soviet-German Nonaggression Pact.
This armistice is another action designed to clear the decks for the Soviet invasion of Poland, planned for two days hence. German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop sends an urgent, top secret telegram to the Reich’s Ambassador to the Soviet Union Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg. In it, he instructs the ambassador to convey to Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov the following information:
“1. The destruction of the Polish Army is rapidly approaching its conclusion, as appears from the review of the military situation of September 14 which has already been communicated to you. We count on the occupation of Warsaw in the next few days.
“2. We have already stated to the Soviet Government that we consider ourselves bound by the definition of spheres of influence agreed upon in Moscow, entirely apart from purely military operations, and the same applies of course to the future as well.”
Ribbentrop instructs von der Shulenberg to give Molotov a thinly veiled warning: if the Soviets do not act and invade Poland as agreed in the 22-Aug Nonaggression Pact, the Soviet government might not like the results:
“From the communication made to you by Molotov on September 14, we assume that the Soviet Government will take a hand militarily, and that it intends to begin its operation now. We welcome this. The Soviet Government thus relieves us of the necessity of annihilating the remainder of the Polish Army by pursuing it as far as the Russian boundary. Also the question is disposed of in case a Russian intervention did not take place, of whether in the area lying to the east of the German zone of influence a political vacuum might not occur. Since we on our part have no intention of undertaking any political or administrative activities in these areas, apart from what is made necessary by military operations, without such an intervention on the part of the Soviet Government there might be the possibility of the construction of new states there.”
In other words, if the Soviets fail to act, they will find the German Wehrmacht at their borders along with possibly unknown and unwelcome new states along that border.
Ribbentrop then suggests that the Soviet government agree to the public issuance of a joint declaration, which would state:
“In view of the complete collapse of the previous form of government in Poland, the Reich Government and the Government of the U.S.S.R. consider it necessary to bring to an end the intolerable political and economic conditions existing in these territories. They regard it as their joint duty to restore peace and order in these areas which are naturally of interest to them and to bring about a new order by the creation of natural frontiers and viable economic organizations.”
The Reich’s foreign minister then urges his ambassador to speed the Soviets along:
“Since the military operations must be concluded as soon as possible because of the advanced season of the year, we would be gratified if the Soviet Government would set a day and hour on which their army would begin their advance, so that we on our part might govern ourselves accordingly. For the purpose of the necessary coordination of military operations on either side, it is also necessary that a representative of each Government, as well as German and Russian officers on the spot in the area of operations, should have a meeting in order to take the necessary steps, for which meeting we propose to assemble at Bialystok by air.”
Von der Shulenberg follows the instructions and presents Ribbentrop’s communique to Molotov.
Meanwhile, the fighting in Poland is increasingly going the Germans’ way; the Poles’ Poznan Army is encircled at Kutno and is steadily being destroyed by the Wehrmacht. Also encircled is the city of Brest-Litovsk, 120 miles east of Warsaw. The Bzura battles are also going badly for the Poles; the heaviest fighting is ending.
And in Warsaw itself, Major General Juliusz Rommel, the city’s military commander, receives a surrender proposal from German military representatives, but refuses to discuss it. The Poles will fight on in their capital.
The Romanian government in Bucharest makes a decision designed to at least partially placate the German government by granting asylum only to Polish civilian refugees fleeing the fighting by crossing the border into Romania proper. Any Polish military personnel who do the same will, the government declares, be disarmed and interned in camps.
The Germans make the decision to use captured allied flyers in propaganda radio broadcasts. On the air, they interview aircrew from Britain and New Zealand who were shot down and captured during the 4-Sept Royal Air Force raid on Wilhelmshaven.
On the high seas, a British TransAtlantic convoy departs Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and thus becomes the first such long-distance supply convoy of the war. The ships are supplying wheat and munitions from Canada and the United States.
From this point, all vital shipping will be required to travel in convoy form, scheduled by the military; naval forces from Britain and Canada will jointly provide protection for them from German U-Boats. Convoys are also organized for sailings from European ports to the British home isles such as Gibraltar, as well as ships sailing up and down the English/Scottish coasts and to Ulster and Ireland.
6-Sep-39: Polish Government Flees Warsaw; German Ambassador Discusses Soviet Mood; French Introduce 72 Hour Week for Munitions Workers
Over Britain, there is confusion in the air during the first air raid warning of the war. Two Royal Air Force Spitfire fighters accidentally shoot down two RAF Hurricane fighters. The incident becomes known as the “Battle of Barking Creek.” The air raid warning proves to be a false alarm.
In Poland, the invasion continues apace as von Reichenau’s German Tenth Army continues to lead the advance, penetrating to the east of Lodz. Armored units capture the cities of Tomaszow and Kielce, southwest of Warsaw. Krakow is captured by troops of List’s Fourteenth Army. German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler visits the headquarters of General Heinz Guderian’s Panzer Corps on the northeastern front.
The Polish government and supreme military command abandon Warsaw. The government flees to Luck-Kremieniec; the supreme military command to Brzesko on the Bug River. The supreme command also issues orders for all Poles in and out of uniform still capable of fighting to retreat to the line of the Narew, Vistula and San rivers.
In international affairs, the South African government of new Prime Minister Jan Smuts in Pretoria officially declares war on Germany. And the Iraqi government in Baghdad breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany. But the Spanish government of General Francisco Franco declares its neutrality, disappointing Hitler (although the news was expected). He is somewhat mollified that Franco makes a secret pledge to support Germany.
The French introduce a 72-hour working week for the munitions industry.
The German Ambassador to the Soviet Union Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg sends a revealing telegram to the German Foreign Office in Berlin regarding the state of mind of the Soviet people and the impact of propaganda on them. He writes:
“Since anxiety over war, especially the fear of a German attack, has strongly influenced the attitude of the population here in the last few years, the conclusion of a non-aggression pact with Germany has been generally received with great relief and gratification. However, the sudden alteration in the policy of the Soviet Government, after years of propaganda directed expressly against German aggressors, is still not very well understood by the population. Especially the statements of official agitators to the effect that Germany is no longer an aggressor run up against considerable doubt. The Soviet Government is doing everything to change the attitude of the population here toward Germany. The press is as though it had been transformed. Attacks on the conduct of Germany have not only ceased completely, but the portrayal of events in the field of foreign politics is based to an outstanding degree on German reports and anti-German literature has been removed from the book trade, etc.
“The beginning of the war between Germany and Poland has powerfully affected public opinion here, and aroused new fear in extensive groups that the Soviet Union may be drawn into the war. Mistrust sown for years against Germany, in spite of effective counter-propaganda which is being carried on in party and business gatherings, cannot be so quickly removed. The fear is expressed by the population that Germany, after she has defeated Poland, may turn against the Soviet Union. The recollection of German strength in the World War is everywhere still lively.
“In a judgment of conditions here the realization is of importance that the Soviet Government has always previously been able in a masterly fashion to influence the attitude of the population in the direction which it has desired, and it is not being sparing this time either of the necessary propaganda.”
The war is now six days old.
5-Sep-39 — Germans Cross Vistula River, Put Pressure on Soviets; Americans Declare Neutrality, New South Africa Government Declares War
On the fifth day of the Polish invasion, the German Tenth and Fourteenth armies break through Polish lines and cross the Vistula River. The Polish supreme command orders a general retreat to new positions behind the Vistula.
Polish rear guards and armed civilians put up a determined resistance at the city of Bydgoszcz, which is on the southern end of the Polish corridor; units of the German Third Corps finally eliminate the pocket. German Heer troops find the corpses of hundreds of ethnic German residents of the Bydgoszcz, massacred by the retreating Poles. The find is loudly trumpeted by German media and the Propaganda Ministry as proof of German Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler’s justification for the invasion, that the Poles were massacring and terrorizing ethnic Germans in the country.
German troops enter the town of Piotrkow and set fire to the Jewish quarter. Southwest of Warsaw, German Luftwaffe bombers destroy the town of Sulejow.
On the diplomatic front, the Germans begin putting pressure on the Soviet Union to live up to its obligations under the secret protocols of the recent Nonaggression Pact and invade Poland from the east. German Ambassador to the Soviet Union Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg sends two telegrams back to Berlin and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop communicating the official Soviet view as expressed by Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov.
The first telegram, sent at 14:30 and marked strictly secret, tells Ribbentrop that Molotov called in von der Schulenberg at 12:30 and stated:
“We agree with you that at a suitable time it will be absolutely necessary for us to start concrete action. We are of the view, however, that this time has not yet come. It is possible that we are mistaken, but it seems to us that through excessive haste we might injure our cause and promote unity among our opponents. We understand that as the operations proceed, one of the parties or both parties might be forced temporarily to cross the line of demarcation between the spheres of interest of the two parties; but such cases must not prevent the strict execution of the plan adopted.”
In other words, the Soviets will delay their own invasion of Poland for the time being. Von der Schulenberg then asks Molotov to work on the Turks, pressing them to declare permanent neutrality, thus protecting the southwest European flank. The Germans also want the Turks to close off the Dardanelles straits completely, preventing naval traffic between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, which will also prevent the British from sending aid to Rumania. Von der Schulenberg informs Ribbentrop:
“Today at 12:30 p. m. I again asked Molotov to have the Soviet Government continue to work on Turkey with a view to permanent neutrality. I mentioned that rumors were current to the effect that England was putting pressure on Rumania to take active part and was holding out a prospect of aid from British and French troops. Since this aid might come by sea, it was in the interests of the Soviet Government to prevail upon Turkey to close the Dardanelles completely.
“Molotov replied that the Soviet Government had considerable influence with Turkey and was exerting it in the sense desired by us. Molotov added that there was only the non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Turkey; conversations regarding the conclusion of a mutual assistance pact had, it is true, been carried on at one time but had borne no fruit. He would have rumors about Rumania looked into through the Soviet Embassy in Bucharest.”
In Washington, D.C., President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues a proclamation declaring the neutrality of the United States of America in the war now existing between Germany and France; Poland; and the United Kingdom, India, Australia, and New Zealand. Roosevelt issues Executive Order #8233, “Prescribing Regulations Governing the Enforcement of the Neutrality of the United States.”
The order prescribes that, “during said war, the departments and independent offices and establishments of the United States Government shall have the following duties to perform in enforcing the neutrality of the United States, which duties shall be in addition to the duties now prescribed, or hereafter prescribed, by law, or by other executive order or regulation not in conflict herewith, for the departments and independent offices and establishments of the United States Government.” The order has instructions for the War Department, the Navy Department, the Treasury Department, the Commerce Department, the Governor of the Panama Canal, the Department of Justice, and all other “Departments and Independent Offices and Establishments of the United States.” The duties are spelled out in more detail in the remainder of the document.
American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt writes in her daily column, My Day:
“I hope that, in spite of the contagion of war, we can keep out of it, but I hope that we will decide on what we believe and do what we can to keep ourselves from being bitter even against those we think are in the wrong. I hope that we will throw our weight as best we can toward a speedy termination of the war, for when there is war no one is safe and the economic consequences of war are serious even to those not involved in the actual fighting. We should do all we can to bring war to an end with as little loss as possible, and to keep ourselves in the frame of mind where we can be fair, just and merciful. Our prayer should not be like the Pharisees: “I thank God for what I am,” but a petition that we may be worthy of the mercy which is being shown us. Let us do all we can for those who suffer.”
In Africa, conflict over the war arises in the nation of South Africa; General Jan Christian Smuts is named prime minister after the legislature defeats a proposal to declare neutrality. Many South Africans of Dutch descent are sympathetic to German racial policies and are opposed to supporting the British war effort. Smuts replaces pro-German Prime Minister Barry Herzog.
South Africa, a dominion of Great Britain, is constitutionally obligated to support Great Britain against Germany since the Polish-British Common Defence Pact required Britain and its dominions to help Poland if attacked by the Germans.
As Prime Minister, Jan Smuts officially declares war on Germany and its Axis allies. He begins fortifying the country against possible German sea invasion since the country has global strategic importance via its control of the long sea route around the Cape of Good Hope.
John Vorster and his Ossewabrandwag group begin to actively carry out sabotage against Smuts’ government; Smuts answers the threat by jailing the Vorster and the movement’s other leaders for the duration of the war.
The British create a new Ministry of Information in London.