Wedesday November 26, 1941. Japanese carriers depart the Kurils Islands.

Admiral Chūichi Nagumo's aircraft carrier task force departs for Pearl Harbor from the Kurile Islands, but with instructions that if contacted that negotiations have been successful with the U.S., it is to turn around and return.

On the same day, the US presented a proposal to Japan that it recognize the Chinese Nationalist government, withdraw from China and Indochina and agree to a multinational non-aggression pact.  The Japanese delegation asked for two weeks to study the proposal.  It stated:

Section I
Draft Mutual Declaration of Policy

The Government of the United States and the Government of Japan both being solicitous for the peace of the Pacific affirm that their national policies are directed toward lasting and extensive peace throughout the Pacific area, that they have no territorial designs in that area, that they have no intention of threatening other countries or of using military force aggressively against any neighboring nation, and that, accordingly, in their national policies they will actively support and give practical application to the following fundamental principles upon which their relations with each other and with all other governments are based:

1. The principle of inviolability of territorial integrity and sovereignty of each and all nations.
2. The principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
3. The principle of equality, including equality of commercial opportunity and treatment.
4. The principle of reliance upon international cooperation and conciliation for the prevention and pacific settlement of controversies and for improvement of international conditions by peaceful methods and processes.

The Government of Japan and the Government of the United States have agreed that toward eliminating chronic political instability, preventing recurrent economic collapse, and providing a basis for peace, they will actively support and practically apply the following principles in their economic relations with each other and with other nations and peoples:

1. The principle of non-discrimination in international commercial relations.
2. The principle of international economic cooperation and abolition of extreme nationalism as expressed in excessive trade restrictions.
3. The principle of non-discriminatory access by all nations to raw material supplies.
4. The principle of full protection of the interests of consuming countries and populations as regards the operation of international commodity agreements.
5. The principle of establishment of such institutions and arrangements of international finance as may lend aid to the essential enterprises and the continuous development of all countries and may permit payments through processes of trade consonant with the welfare of all countries.

Section II
Steps To Be Taken by the Government of the United States and by the Government of Japan

The Government of the United States and the Government of Japan propose to take steps as follows:

1. The Government of the United States and the Government of Japan will endeavor to conclude a multilateral non-aggression pact among the British Empire, China, Japan, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, Thailand and the United States.
2. Both Governments will endeavor to conclude among the American, British, Chinese, Japanese, the Netherland and Thai Governments would pledge itself to respect the territorial integrity of French Indochina and, in the event that there should develop a threat to the territorial integrity of Indochina, to enter into immediate consultation with a view to taking such measures as may be deemed necessary and advisable to meet the threat in question. Such agreement would provide also that each of the Governments party to the agreement would not seek or accept preferential treatment in its trade or economic relations with Indochina and would use its influence to obtain for each of the signatories equality of treatment in trade and commerce with French Indochina.
3. The Government of Japan will withdraw all military, naval, air and police forces from China and from Indochina.
4. The Government of the United States and the Government of Japan will not support - militarily, politically, economically - any government or regime in China other than the National Government of the Republic of China with capital temporarily at Chungking.
5. Both Governments will endeavor to obtain the agreement of the British and other governments to give up extraterritorial rights in China, including right in international settlements and in concessions and under the Boxer Protocol of 1901.
6. The Government of the United States and the Government of Japan will enter into negotiations for the conclusion between the United States and Japan of a trade agreement, based upon reciprocal most favored-nation treatment and reduction of trade barriers by both countries, including an undertaking by the United States to bind raw silk on the free list.
7. The Government of the United States and the Government of Japan will, respectively, remove the freezing restrictions on Japanese funds in the United States and on American funds in Japan.
8. Both Governments will agree upon a plan for the stabilization of the dollar-yen rate, with the allocation of funds adequate for this purpose, half to be supplied by Japan and half by the United States.
9. Both Governments will agree that no agreement which either has concluded with any third power or powers shall be interpreted by it in such a way as to conflict with the fundamental purpose of this agreement, the establishment and preservation of peace throughout the Pacific area.
10. Both Governments will use their influence to cause other governments to adhere to and to give practical application to the basic political and economic principles set forth in this agreement.

The Germans withdrew from Sidi Rezegh and the British 7th Armored Division entered it.

Gen. Geoges Catrooux of the Free French forces in the Levant declared Lebanon independent.

Thursday October 23, 1941. Dumbo released

On this day in 1941 the Walt Disney animated film Dumbo was released.  I've never seen it.

Free French leader Charles De Gaulle asked the French Resistance to halt assassinating Nazi figures in order to end German reprisals.

Both of these are noted here:

Today in World War II History—October 23, 1941

The German government banned the emigration of Jews from territory held by Germany, now that its mass murder campaign was in full swing.

The Germans killed all the males age 16 to 69 in Mesouvouno Greece.

Congress voted to add $5.96B to the Lend Lease bill,

Wednesday June 18, 1941. The Middle East

 The Battle of Damascus began on this day in 1941.

Free French Circassian cavalry in Damascus.

The battle pitted Allied forces, lead by Indian troops on the ground, but including various Commonwealth countries and Free French forces against Vichy French and colonial Syrian troops.

The battle ran until June 21 and resulted in the surrender of the Vichy French administration to the Allies, thereby closing an Axis rear door in North Africa.

Germany and Turkey signed a treaty of friendship.

The treaty closed the door to the possibility, in German minds, of the Allies wooing Turkey, which was unlikely in the first place. Turkey, for its part, was on a dedicated path of neutrality.

The treaty would benefit both Germany and Turkey, with the Turks benefitting in some unexpected ways.  The Germans received a guaranteed supply of chromite from turkey through the treaty, putting the Turks basically in the same position as the Swedes in buying neutrality through raw materials, although in both instances the countries would have been a handful for the Germans to attack if they'd thought it necessary.  Indeed, in Turkey's situation the country was far more valuable to Nazi Germany as a neutral than as a combatant, as that closed the door to the British to the south who, as can be seen from the above, were defeating the Vichy French in Syria and who had already defeated an attempt at fascism in Iraq.  Unbeknownst to the Turks, the treat also shortened German lines, already pretty stretched, for Operation Barbarossa, which was just about to commence.

The Turks received cash, for chromite, but they also received a large guaranteed supply of arms which, in the dangerous world in which they were living, were something they very much needed.  Germany actually took advantage of this provision to supply the Turks with a large supply of unfinished Polish arms, which were of very high quality.  Polish small arms were partially based on German designs and the Germans themselves had put them to use in their own armed forces, but Poland had used "small ring" Mausers rather than the "large ring" ones used by the Germans which made finishing them off unattractive to the Germans.  This was not the case for the Turks.

The treaty did not preclude other nations, including belligerents, from trading with Turkey and the treaty would inspire a chromite buying effort on the part of the Allies.

The treaty's term was ten years, but the Turks would terminate the agreement in 1944, seeing which way the war was going, and they declared war on Germany on February 23, 1945.  Their declaration did not mean that they contributed troops in the final months of the war but can be seen as a means of attempting to protect themselves against a potential Soviet incursion into their territory.

Joe Louis knocked out Billy Conn in a heavyweight boxing match.

Sunday June 15, 1941 Battle of Kissoué and Operation Battleaxe. The death of Evelyn Underhill.

 The Second World War became, for a time, a French civil war at the Battle of Kissoué where French "Free" forces fought "Vichy" forces in Syria. The Free French forces were part of an overall Allied force which flanked the Vichy forces and caused them to withdraw.

Fort Capuzzo.

On the same day the British launched Operation Battleaxe in North Africa which had the goal of relieving Tobruk. While it gained ground, and the British retook Ft. Capuzzo, it suffered disastrous armor losses and was an overall failure.  The results proved German superiority in the use of armor, and perhaps the superior nature of German armor itself, and lead to the British quietly sacking their command structure in Libya.

Also on this day Anglican writer  Evelyn Underhill died at age 65.  She is highly regarded in Anglican circles, having a place on the Church of England's and the US Episcopal Church's calendars on this day.  As an Anglican writer, she is regarded as being in the Anglo Catholic category.  

Anglo Catholicism was a strong movement within the Anglican Communion, particularly in England itself, in the second half of the 19th Century and emphasized the Anglican Communion's Catholic roots to the extent that it sought to emphasize that it shared Apostolic succession and, therefore, was a full Catholic church, somewhat sharing the status of the Orthodox Church, or perhaps even closure to Rome than that.  It ultimately resulted in a Vatican decree that its holy orders were "completely null and utterly void", which it has reacted to on more than one occasion by seeking ordinations from clearly valid Bishops in other denominations  The movement still exists within the Anglican Communion.

Tuesday, June 10, 1941. Words and Deeds.

The United States contracted to purchase Bolivia's entire production run of tungsten, thereby depriving the Japanese of the same, which was the goal.

Bolivia was the largest supplier of tin to the Allies during World War Two.

Today in World War II History—June 10, 1941

Mussolini delivered a speech in which he stated that the United States was effectively already at war with the Axis powers, which while an exaggeration, had some measure of truth to it, given that the US was clearly acting beyond what strict neutrality would provide for.  He claimed not to be worried and stated that the United Kingdom would fall anyhow.

At this point in time its debated on whether or not Mussolini was aware that Germany was just days away from launching at attack on the Soviet Union.

French  vice premier Darlan delivered a speech in which he warned Frenchmen not to listen to the words of the leaders of the Free French, whom he felt were merely disrupting and disquieting the French.

At this point in time Admiral Darlan, who retained his office in the French navy, was the de facto head of the Vichy government.  He would relinquish that position to Laval the following year.  He was in Algiers when Operation Torch commenced and quickly struck a deal with the Allies which effectively caused the French in North Africa to switch sides.

Darlan has been referred to as a man of "failed destiny" in that he was clearly opposed to the Germans and threatened to take the French navy over to the British during the time of the French collapse.  He was a loyal officer, however, and personally loyal to Petain and therefore collaborated with the Germans in his role as vice premier, at which time he seems to have been resigned to a German victory in Europe.  Personally a republican, when the Allies landed in North Africa his sentiments came back out and he fairly quickly negotiated a French defection to the Allies which would have long lasting as well as immediate consequences.

He wouldn't live to see them as he was assassinated by monarchist Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, a member of the resistance, who hadn't forgiven Darlan his Vichy role. 

The ironies, and indeed the tragedy, of Darlan are simply epic.  A believer in the French republican and republican values, he ended up serving in the government that opposed them,  A loyal servant of the French navy, he'd end up essentially leading a coup against Vichy that would in the end cause it to become more of a puppet than it already was and which would lead, in part, to the full German occupation of France.  His most significant opponent after switching sides was DeGaulle, who saw the Free French cause as personally belonging to him, which the republican Darlan did not, and DeGaulle was a monarchist at heart.

Sunday, June 8, 1941. The British Commonwealth invades the French Empire

On this day in 1941, Commonwealth forces and Free French forces invaded French Syria.

Today in World War II History—June 8, 1941

Britain invades French occupied Syria

The campaign is remarkable for a variety of reasons, including the use of cavalry by both sides.  The action was made necessary by legitimate British fears that Vichy would allow the Germans to occupy Syria, a threat made credible, if only from the Allied prospective, by the airborne invasion of Crete which had just occurred and by Vichy allowing the Luftwaffe airport rights in Syria.  Indeed, the action had been proceeded by Royal Air Force strikes on French airfields and retaliatory French raids on British ones in Transjordan.

The campaign was short, but it was marked by notable French resistance to the Commonwealth invasion and a decline of an offer of German Luftwaffe assistance.  The action overall is one of several that cast some legitimate doubt on the common concept of all Frenchmen being pro Ally at the time.

Surprisingly, the action did not result in a Vichy declaration of war against the United Kingdom and in fact Vichy's forces in Syria fairly rapidly fell in spite of their stout resistance.  The British had battlefield superiority, but this required diversion of Commonwealth forces from Libya, where their loss was keenly felt.  The action also, however, saw the deployment of Free French forces in what might be regarded as a near civil war being fought, and really for the first time, in a French colony.

The Free French were given military administration of Syria and Lebanon following the Allied victory, something that more or less made it clear that the British at least were recognizing a rival claim to the governance of France.  That administration, in keeping with the spirt of the age, recognized the independence of Lebanon and Syria, with Lebanon achieving a real measure of independence that Syria did not.  Lebanon declared war on the Axis powers in 1943.

DeGaulle, who was effectively the head of the Free French state by the war's end, was not sympathetic to Syrian independence and as with Algeria, the end of the war brought on demands for immediate statehood. Demonstrations in Damascus turned violent in May, 1945 which resulted in French troops being deployed inside of Syria to quite the demonstrations.  This didn't work and the British intervened with their troops having authorization to fire on the French if necessary, which it did not turn out to be, one of two instances of the British intervening in favor of a post war independence movement against a European colonial power (the other being in the Dutch East Indies).  This ended with the French leaving and the British briefly staying, until they were able to withdraw.

March 15, 1941. Storms

On this day in 1941, a huge blizzard struck in North Dakota and Minnesota. The storm resulted in 71 deaths by some counts and a 151 by others.  By some measures is regarded as the worst blizzard in modern history, although there could obviously be other contenders.

German surface raiders were busy:

Today in World War II History—March 15, 1941

Franklin Roosevelt gave his first public radio address on Lend Lease, promising to carry through until victory:

March 15, 1941: On Lend Lease

Glen Miller and his Orchestra released their version of The Song of the Volga Boatmen, sort of a surprise and a surprise hit.   The tune is a traditional Russian folk tune.

The SOE dropped Free French Paratroopers, five in number, in France on a mission to ambush German pilots on their way to their airfield.  The pilots no longer took that route, however, so the mission failed.  Ultimately two of the five would be extracted after a month, during which their commander independently had instructed them to conduct reconnaissance.

March 2, 1941. Fateful decisions.

German troops reached the Greek border.

Germany and Greece were not yet at war but their purpose was of course plain to all who might be observing them, although because of how they got there, it was less plain than might be supposed.  Also less plain was that the Germans had now diverted troops for a second time to bail Italy out of a failed military campaign.

In order to reach this point, the Germans had to cross Bulgaria, which effectively meant that Bulgaria was entering the war as an Axis belligerent. The calculation of such a decision on Bulgaria's part has to be wondered about.  Bulgaria had already enacted legislation reminiscent of Nazi Germany's regarding its Jewish population, so it was already somewhat in the Nazi sphere.  A large concern, however, was that Germany would invade Bulgaria, which it likely would have, had it not determined to throw in with Germany.

This is also noted here:

Today in World War II History—March 2, 1941

Free French troops in Kufra took an oath to keep fighting until their country was completely liberated.

On the same day, Turkey closed the Dardanelles.  Chile held election and saw the Radical Party, an anti clerical radical party with strong connections to Freemasonry take the most seats.  Once a strong party, it merged with the Chilean Social Democratic Party, which became the Social Democratic Radical Party, in 1994. 

March 1, 1941. The Free French in North Africa, the Chinese in Henan, Himmler at Auschwitz, FM Radio.

British Commonwealth and Free French forces, the latter technically in rebellion against the legal government of their country, took Kufra in Libya.

The Free French had been organized as an entity in June, 1940.  In North Africa FFF units were fighting alongside the British Commonwealth forces even as the colonial administration of much of the French Empire in Africa remained loyal to the legal government in Vichy, making for an interesting quasi civil war aspect to the fighting there.

In China, the Battle of South Henan saw a victory for the Chinese National Revolutionary Army, or as normally referred to, the Nationalist.

Heinrich Himmler, head of the German SS organization, visited Auschwitz and ordered it expanded in order to take an additional 30,000 prisoners.  Orders were also given for the construction of another camp nearby designed to take 100,000 Soviet prisoners.

Bulgaria signed the Tripartite Pact and became part of the Axis.  You can read more on that here:

Day 548 March 1, 1941

Today in World War II History—March 1, 1941

Also in that item, you ca read about the creators of the Captain American cartoon requiring and receiving police protection.

W47NV (also mentioned above) started commercial FM radio broadcasting, becoming the first radio station to do so.  The station still exists, and is located, perhaps predictably, in Nashville, Tennessee.