Thursday, July 22, 2021

July 22, 1941. Vichy France and Imperial Japan entered a mutual defense pact . . .

 as hard as that is to envision.

For all practical purposes, the Vichy administration in Indochina was practically on its own during the war and saw itself as fairly helpless in regard to Japan. The following day, it would allow Japanese troops to enter French Indochina.

Slovak forces engaged in combat for the first time with the Red Army at Lypovec.

They did not cover themselves in glory, from the prospective of the invading Axis forces, as they reacted poorly to combat and suffered defections.  Indeed, the Slovaks withdrew some of their forces all the way back to Slovakia on the pretext that they couldn't repair equipment in the field.

While this was an extreme example, it showed a weakness in the German efforts.  By and large, the rank and file of Germany's allies in the USSR were not enthusiastic about the cause, and indeed some of the nations that had sent them into it were lukewarm. The national reasons for joining Germany varied, but at the troop level it was an unwelcome war against a powerful enemy.  Of Germany's allies that were full participants in the war, only Finland really had troops that were first-rate.

The Vichy government again restricted Jewish participation in French civil life, now requiring the registration of their businesses, as noted here:

Today in World War II History—July 22, 1941

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