Culture
189: World War II in Europe & the American Response (1941): Production & Preparation
In this episode, we delve into the pivotal moments of World War II in Europe, focusing on the armistice between Nazi Germany and France in June 1940. We explore the implications of this agreement and ...
189: World War II in Europe & the American Response (1941): Production & Preparation
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Interactive Transcript
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It's 315 in the afternoon, a gorgeous summer afternoon, June 21, 1940.
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We're in northern France's Compie-en-Forest at a secluded opening amid the largely oak
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and beach trees known as the Huttold clearing.
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Yeah, we've been here before.
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It was back in episode 146, or to put that another way nearly 22 years ago, as we gathered
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inside Supreme Allied Commander Féldenan Flushes or Nate, luxurious train carriage for the
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signing of the armistice between the Allies and Imperial Germany, that silenced the guns
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of the Great War.
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And now, that same old train car is once again sitting on the same little piece of track
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that had occupied during those fateful November days in 1918.
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It's all just as Adolf Hitler wants it.
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And speak of the devil.
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That's his Mercedes pulling up now.
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The Führer and his entourage, including Supreme Commander of the Lutth Vaffa, Hermann
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Gering, and Foreign Minister Joachim Fung Libentolp, exit their vehicles.
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To walk around, taking in with the Allies consider a sacred sighted victory, and what they
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see as a place of canniliation.
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As they do, a small granite monument with an inscription in French catches Adolf's eye.
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Translated into English, it reads, here, on the 11th of November 1918, succumbed the
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criminal pride of the German Empire, being quashed by the free peoples which it tried to
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enslave.
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American reporter William Scheerer will never forget watching Adolf's face in this moment.
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The silent rage and hate that flashes in the Führer's eyes as he reads.
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But Adolf will have his revenge, and that revenge will start in just a few minutes.
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It's now 3.30 pm.
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With Adolf and his crew waiting in the historic railway car, another group is pulling
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up.
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It's the French delegation.
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Sent by the French government, now operating out of Gordot, under the leadership of great
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war hero Fili Piedem.
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This delegation is led by General Charles Ongsinger, and is here to negotiate an armistice.
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But it's only as they step out of their cars that the group sees where the Germans have
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brought them for these talks.
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The indignity and embarrassment Adolf spitefully means to impose on them hits like a soccer
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punch.
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Nonetheless, the Frenchmen hold their heads high and step inside the railway car.
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With everyone seated, the chief of the German Armed Forces High Command, the Ube
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Commando de Vieumacht, or OkW, Villehelm Kaitel, reads the preamble of the already prepared
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armistice in French.
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Then Adolf leaves.
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He's seen the pained faces he came for, and now leaves the rest in the capable, cold
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hands of his OkW chief and General Alfred Jorl.
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At this point, the French delegation is left to read the terms of the armistice, and
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it's rough.
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The document calls for the northern half of France, as well as its entire Atlantic coast,
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three fits of the nation altogether, to be occupied.
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The French state will continue to govern the nation's unoccupied zone-livre, or free
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zone in the south, and its colonial empire, but it will do so as a rump puppet state.
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The French will also pay the cost of this Nazi occupation.
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As for the French army, the vast majority will be imprisoned, thereby making roughly 1.8
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million French troops instant prisoners of war.
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Meanwhile, any French national caught fighting in a foreign military, or as a guerrilla fighter,
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as a «fanc-ti-l'air » will be shot.
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As for civilians, France is to surrender any anti-Nazi German refugees, be they hear
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in France or in the colonies.
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Effectively, this means any German Jews who fled the Tho-Lyche.
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And just to ensure France truly stays out of the fight, it must surrender nearly all military
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material, minus the navy, whose ships are to remain in their home ports and offer no
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aid to the British.
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This is a crucial demand.
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Expecting that they'll conquer Britain in the next few weeks, the Nazis want to ensure
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that the French navy stays out of the fight.
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The French delegation is shocked.
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Harsha's the armistice imposed on Germany in 1918 was, this is significantly harsher.
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General Shah Al-Ansenga calls it «hiled» and «messages».
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We're still, the German generals are adamant that this is not, in fact, an negotiation.
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This is a take-it-or-leave-it situation.
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The French delegation is permitted to call and consult the Bordeaux-based French government.
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The conversation will continue tomorrow.
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It's now late morning on the following day, June 22, 1940.
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Having spoken with the French government last night and this morning, General Shah Al-Ansenga
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and his delegation are fighting for any concessions they can.
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They plead the case for German emigre on the basis of asylum.
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They argue for reestablishing the French government in Paris with a corridor to the unoccupied
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south.
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No dice.
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The Germans will, however, forego making the French surrender military aircraft, which
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will instead be held in custody.
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They also agree to keep the terms of the armistice secret until an armistice is made with Italy,
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so as not to bias those negotiations.
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But as the evening comes on, the clock is ticking.
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At 630, Ok W. Chief Wilhelm Kaitel says the French must assign in the next hour or the Nazi
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war machine will carry on its work of death in France.
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With orders from Bordeaux to sign, the odious task falls to General Shah Al-Ansenga.
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But before he does, the bald, slender and nearly 60-year-old Frenchman declares resolutely
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– first, by the fate of arms to cease the struggle in which we will engage on the side
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of the Allies, France sees imposed on her very hard conditions.
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France has the right to expect, in the future, negotiations, that Germany's show is spirit
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which will permit the two great neighboring countries to live and work in peace.
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And with that, Charles takes a pen in hand.
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And signs this cruel armistice.
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With tears in their eyes, the French delegation exits the old railway car.
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This wheeled shrine to the Allied victory in 1918 now made into a place of French humiliation
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in 1940.
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They step into the evening's light grain, then drive off.
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As they do, German engineers descend on the old railway car, immediately preparing their
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captured prize for transportation to Berlin.
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Welcome to History That Doesn't Suck.
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I'm your professor, Greg Jackson.
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And I'd like to tell you a story.
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You may have noticed that this armistice between Nazi Germany and the French government
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in Bordeaux soon to be remade into the Philippe Pétan-led Nazi collaborationist Vichy
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regime.
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Leave no room for French nationals to continue to fight.
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If you didn't catch that, let me emphasize it here.
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Per this armistice, the Nazis can execute any French citizen who soldiers against them.
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The reason for this severe language is one man.
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General Shah de Gaulle.
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A decorated great war veteran and commander of an armored division who was elevated to
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undersecretary of war in the final moments before France fell.
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Charles adamantly rejected his government's willingness to raise the white flag.
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On June 17, 1940, the same date a Philippe Pétan took over the French government.
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Charles fled to London.
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In the very next day, he delivered a powerful patriotic plea to the French people via the
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BBC.
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In this broadcast, he reminded them that France, not just France, France is not alone.
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The French Empire remained.
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The British Empire was still fighting and they could rely upon the immense industry of
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the États-Unis, that is the immense industry of the United States.
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In closing, he called on every French soldier and specialized worker who can to join him
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in London.
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With this broadcast, Charles effectively created the French resistance and a government in exile
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known as Free France.
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This follow-up broadcast on June 22, the same day that the armistice was signed, only
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added fuel to the fire.
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And that is why the Nazis made it clear that they would kill any French national who fights
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on.
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They hoped to snuff out the French flame of resistance.
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But it won't work.
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Like the Poles, Danes, Belgians and other European peoples blitzkrieg before them.
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A small but meaningful percentage of French, both at home and in exile, will resist to
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the death.
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And many will indeed make that ultimate sacrifice.
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Yet, it's not the Nazis who imposed the next great loss on the French.
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It's the British.
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Fully aware of Nazi Germany's proclivity for breaking its diplomatic word.
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Prime Minister Winston Churchill doesn't dare believe that Germany will abide by the
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terms of this armistice and not use the mighty French fleet against Britain.
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He pleads with French leaders to send their warships beyond the Germans' reach or scuttle
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them.
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And when they refuse to do either, Winston makes the hard decision to bombard the French
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fleet, often orth African coast of French Algeria.
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This July attack sends roughly 1300 French sailors to their watery graves.
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Somal praise Winston for making a painful but necessary decision.
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Others among the French call it the deepest betrayal and a war crime.
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Sadly, it's about one of many difficult decisions to come.
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But this is where we must leave the tale of occupied Vichy and free France for the time
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being.
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Because now, we must turn our attention back to the wanting to stay out of the war United
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States.
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We pick up where we left off in the last episode in December 1940, as President Franklin
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Delano Roosevelt pushes to build an arsenal of democracy to lend in lease to the Allies.
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Okay, basically Britain.
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It hopes of staving off the Nazi threat.
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But challenges a bound.
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Stonch isolationists, like famed aviator Charles Lindbergh push back and a spike in labor
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strikes threatens to derail the ramp up in military production.
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We'll follow FDR in Winston into their first and secretive face-to-face meeting, where
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the two leaders will envision a post-war world of freedom.
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They'll describe it in a document called the Atlantic Charter.
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Finally, we'll see how George C. Marshall is hustling to get the US Army into fight and
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shape and how relations between the US and Japan are faltering.
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Hmm, might Japan, not Nazi Germany, actually be America's most imminent threat?
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We'll explore that possibility as we follow the still-neutral United States up to a very
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specific date to the night of December 6, 1941.
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It's a jam-packed, contentious year, and we begin by heading back to the previous December
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to reorient ourselves and dive into the division.
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Rewind.
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As early 1940 fades into 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt finds himself in a position
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he never would have imagined while taking the oath of office nearly eight years ago.
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We covered this in the last episode, but here's a quick refresher.
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First off, Franklin, though at the end of his second presidential term, is not leaving
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the White House.
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He's just won a third term as President.
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The reason for this third win, which, although unprecedented, is constitutionally permissible
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in this pre-22nd amendment era, is the unprecedented foreign threat, the autocratic empires of
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Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan, together known as the Axis Powers, and
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all hellbent on expansionist conquest.
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It's because of the threat they pose, particularly Nazi Germany at this point, that FD
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are both chose to run again and experienced a mighty shift in his form policy views.
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While he entered the White House holding to a form of America's traditionally isolationist
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ways, this good neighbor of the Western Hemisphere has grown increasingly interventionist.
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First came his cash and carry policy, which began by permitting the sale of non-military
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goods, then fall on munitions, to the allies on a cash and carry basis.
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Then, in December 1940, he got even more interventionist with his lend lease concept.
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This would allow the still-neutral United States to arm the Brits, now fighting for their
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island nation's life against the Nazi war machine, without making them pay for those military
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goods up front.
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In fact, FDR wants America to provide an arsenal of democracy to the allies, with the hope
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they can defeat the fascist and authoritarian Axis Powers.
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And that's where we left off in the last episode, with Franklin pitching the idea of
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a lint and leased arsenal of democracy to the American people in a fireside chat broadcast
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on December 29, 1940.
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And now, as we pick up the story but days later in early 1941, the Commander-in-Chief
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is preparing to make lend lease not just an idea, but reality by selling it to Congress
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in his state of the Union address.
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Yet, as FDR drafts and thinks through his speech with others, and particularly with
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Eleanor, he realizes that it's important to help Congress and all Americans envision,
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even now, the post-war world.
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To remind them of the freedoms that democracy can deliver, and thus why they must stand
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with their fellow democracies now under siege by the Axis Powers.
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And as that realization distills on his mind, Franklin crafts one of his most memorable
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speeches ever.
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It's a little past 2.30 in the afternoon, January 6, 1941.
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Assisted by his leg braces, President Franklin D. Roosevelt is standing at the
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Rossstrom, delivering his state of the Union address to senators, representatives, and
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distinguished guests gathered here in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol.
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For half an hour, he's built the case for Americans to commit to all-inclusive national
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defense, and more than that, to break from the isolationist path.
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Essentially, to build the arsenal of democracy he called for in his fireside chat only a week
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before, and support their fellow democracies facing the existential threat of war the world
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over.
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But that's not the most famous and rousing section of the speech.
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In closing, Franklin calls for a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
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Let's listen.
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Only future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four
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essential human freedoms.
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The first is freedom of speech and expression everywhere in the world.
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The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way everywhere in the world.
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The third is freedom from what which translated into world term means economic understandings,
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which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants everywhere
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in the world.
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The fourth is freedom from fear which translated into world term means a world wide reduction
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of honor to such a point and in such a thorough passion that no nation will be in a position
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to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor anywhere in the world.
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The freedom of speech, the freedom to worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
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It's upon these four freedoms that FDR is making the ideological argument for his lend lease idea to support the allied forces
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without engaging in the conflict on the ground.
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And now, Franklin hopes that the country will agree with him.
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At his January 20th clear skyd sunny inauguration day, a Gallup poll shows FDR's approval rating
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at a new high 71%.
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Incredible.
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But we can hardly forget the 29% of the country that remains less certain about their three term president,
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particularly as one of those dissenters is a highly influential old friend of ours, Charles Lindbergh.
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Ah yes, Charles Lindbergh or Lucky Lindy as the famous aviator is known.
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Much has happened in his life since we witnessed his transatlantic flight in episode 181.
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Back on March 1st, 1932, his 20-month-old son, Charles Jr, was taken from his second floor nursery
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in the family's New Jersey home. After an exhaustive search, the Lindbergh gave he was found dead
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and the kidnapper sentenced to death. It's a heart-wrenching story, one that newspapers made much
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content on. I'll leave it to you to investigate further if you so choose.
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Desperate to escape the constant publicity, Charles and his wife Anne fled to England in 1935.
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Here, Charles was invited by the British, French, and German governments alike to check out
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their separate aviation capacities. From these trips, Charles came away believing that the British,
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quote, had never adjusted themselves to the tempo of this modern era, close quote.
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That generally describes how he felt about France too. But as for Nazi Germany, well, his visit
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to Berlin in 1936 at the invitation of American military attaché Colonel Truman Smith
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left Lucky Lindy and his wife convinced that Germany was the world leader in air power.
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Charles submitted reports reflecting his enammerment with the German Luftwaffe to allied governments.
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In fact, the famed aviator was left with a favorable view not only of the Luftwaffe,
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but Germany as a whole. The adoration was mutual. In 1938, Herman Gurin presented Charles
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with a Nazi medal, the service cross of the German eagle. Much to the chagrin of many Americans,
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increasingly bothered by the Nazis increasingly evident cruelty toward Jews and others,
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Charles accepted it. As Adolf Hitler kicked off World War II in 1939,
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Charles desperately wanted to keep America out of it. Primarily, he feared that this heavily European
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war would destroy all of its participants, meaning that if the US was involved, this conflict could
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destroy the whole of Western civilization. Hoping to prevent this, the famed aviator decided to
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re-engage with the public, writing in his journal, I felt I could exercise a constructive
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influence in America, trying to convince its citizens of the need for strict neutrality in the
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event of war. Then, at least, one strong Western nation would remain to protect Western civilization.
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And exercise his influence he does. On September 15, 1939, not even two weeks after Adolf's invasion
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of Poland, Charles spoke in a broadcast speaking against American involvement in the war.
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He described the coming war not as a conflict between democracy and totalitarianism,
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but as just another European fight. Regrettfully, he also laced his isolationism with white supremacist
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thinking, suggesting that Europe and the US should not fight among themselves, but rather stand united
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in, quote, defending the white race against foreign invasion. Close quote. Thus, Lucky Lindy has
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re-entered the public sphere as one of the most popular anti-war Americans in the country.
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And in our present of January 1941, he's ready to do battle against a bill now moving through
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Congress, HR 1776. And just what is this bill? Officially known as House Resolution 1776,
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this is the proposed legislation that would make FDR's lend lease take effect. It would grant the
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president the ability to transfer munitions to, quote, any country whose defense the president
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deems vital to the defense of the US. Close quote. And of course, the number 1776 feels pretty
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symbolic, but HR 1776's opponents have two clear arguments. First, they fear that it'll give
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FDR near dictatorial powers to lead undeclared war anywhere he pleases. And aren't we denouncing
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Europe's dictators right now? Second, they worry that it'll eventually force America into the very war
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that Franklin says it's avoiding. And as debate over this lend lease bill, Rages, the House
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Foreign Affairs Committee wants to hear what Charles Lindbergh thinks.
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It's a little before 10 in the morning, January 23rd, 1941. We're in Washington, DC,
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just south of the US Capitol, on the other side of Independence Avenue, in one of the city's newest
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neoclassical additions, the Longworth Office Building. More specifically, we're in the ways and
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means committee room for a public hearing of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
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And it's packed. Nearly 1,000 people are here all eager to listen to the famous Charles Lindbergh
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take on HR 1776's lend lease or rather to take on the president. Oh, and here he is.
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Photographers snap photos of the veteran pilot dressed sharply in a suit and tie. As the
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but they respect Lucky Lindy's request that the flashing photo stop as he reads is prepared
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testimony. After doing so, the aviator turned Politico hands his statement to the stenographer
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then awaits the committee's questions. Hamilton fished the third, the Republican minority leader
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from New York, begins by asking if it's likely the US could be invaded by air. Charles replies,
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I don't see how any country can successfully invade either this country or South America,
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so long as we keep a reasonable army, Navy and Air Force. Please careful to note that it might be
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worth adding to our air bases out in the Pacific and perhaps the Northern Atlantic. Texas Democrat
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and majority leader Luther A. Johnson, questions if the aviators non-plane-related testimony should be
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given any weight. I make no claim to be an expert. Charles replies, but Luther presses wanting to hear
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more about Colonel Lindbergh's political opinions shared in September and October of 1939.
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The pilot responds by suggesting that the best course of action is a quote-unquote negotiated
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piece, kind of like Neville Chamberlain's appeasement, even though that didn't work for Britain.
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And noting that he places the blame for the war, not on Nazi Germany alone, but on all of Europe.
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The faults and causes of the war aren't evenly divided in Europe. It would be better for us
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and every nation that the war in Europe end without conclusive victory. A negotiated piece
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would be the best thing for the United States.
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Yes, his disdain for the Brits and the love for the Germans is seeping through.
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It's a position that this largely lucky Lindy-loving crowd appreciates.
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But even as the gentleman from Texas asks for clarification,
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Charles still won't speak ill of Nazi Germany. He answers,
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and this is where things get interesting. Now, Luther Johnson cuts to the heart of it all.
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The bespectacled majority leader asks what everyone is waiting to hear.
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Have you ever expressed any opposition to Hitler?
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The crowd waits in anticipation. Unlike the moments after previous questions and responses,
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the room is silent. The smooth talking aviator replies carefully.
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Yes, but not publicly. I believe we should maintain neutrality publicly. There is much I do not like
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that is happening in the world. On both sides, over a period of years, however, there is not
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as much difference in philosophy as we have been led to believe.
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That's right. Colonel Charles Lindbergh really pushed so hard for neutrality that he refused
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to publicly condemn Nazi Germany or the Führer. Deeply frustrated, FDR will compare the isolationist
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and neutrality-seeking aviator to the copperheads of the Civil War at a Napier press conference.
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In response to this public lashing, Lucky Lindy will resign from the US Army Air Corps Reserve.
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Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Debate over Lend Lease, aka HR1776,
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is still going strong through the rest of January and into February 1941.
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And it's permeated the nation. If you pick up a newspaper over here a conversation at the bar
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or turn on the radio, it's highly probable that the topic is Lend Lease.
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It is, as historian Wayne Cole calls this flurry of discussion, democracy in action.
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Hoping to settle things in Congress, Franklin sends two men to London to meet with Prime Minister
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Winston Churchill and assess what the Brits really need if HR1776 becomes law.
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One is FDR's long-time New Deal ally, Harry Hopkins. The other envoy is FDR's most recent rival
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for the White House. Yes, last year's Republican presidential candidate,
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Wendell Wilkie. And it's this charismatic Republican's February 11th
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testimony before Congress that really turns the tide in the president's favor.
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Arriving on the hill in a blue suit still rumpled from his transatlantic flight.
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Wendell is ready to challenge the anti-Lend Leasers. He tells Congress that we have no idea where,
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the mad men who are loose in the world, close quote, may attack next. And he goes further,
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criticizing the very party for whom he was the presidential nominee to quote him again.
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If the Republican party makes a blind opposition to the bill, it allows itself to be presented
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to the American people as the isolationist party. It will never again gain control of the American
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government. Close quote. And so, with bipartisan support in the House and Senate,
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Lend Leas passes. Franklin signs it into law on March 11th, 1941. And it's head administrator,
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that's Harry Hopkins. He and FDR have a long bond, and Harry's already developed a close
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relationship with Winston Churchill. In short, he's perfect for the job. The Nazis take note of
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the stealthy American move. General Friedrich von Boittischer, the German military attache to DC,
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sees only mild immediate concern. He cables Berlin, that FDR, has nowhere near the production
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capabilities to meet his commitments to the Brits. With this propaganda measure,
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they can see as a simple fact that the United States is today not yet capable of giving help
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that could decisively influence the course of ZIVO. But that doesn't mean Adolf Hitler isn't
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upset at this not-so-neutral act. Nazi propagandist in chief Dr. Joseph Goebbels writes in his diary,
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Zifjuh finally gave his propagandists permission to attack America. It was high time.
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Now, Vyshalet Ripp, Mrs. Roosevelt is shooting her mouth off around the country. If she the
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my life, it would be a different story. I don't know that Magda Goebbels would appreciate her
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husband's remarks, but we have bigger concerns right now than their relationship. Even though
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Franklin has just redeclared America won't into the war as a bligerent, the nation's eventual
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participation in this war only appears more and more likely. And that's not all of America's troubles.
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All is not well on the home front.
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Amid the tales of FDR's second new deal in episode 175, you might recall my mentioning the
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American Federation of Labor, or AFL, breaking with its long tradition of only concern in itself
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with unionizing skilled or craft labor. It did so in 1935 by creating the Committee for Industrial
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Organization, often called the CIO, to serve unskilled industries. This included the auto industry.
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The CIO nurtured the newly founded United Auto Workers and upon separating from the AFL in 1938
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to become its own thing under the name of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
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A new moniker that, thankfully, kept the same abbreviation, it took the UAW with it.
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This means that, for now, this automobile union is sometimes called the UAW CIO.
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But it's fun as that nickname is. The key thing for us to track currently is that 1941 is a year
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of labor strikes. One of the most strike-filled years the nation has seen since 1919,
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and that's bad news in terms of helping Britain fight off Nazi Germany.
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Uncle Sam can't very well lend lease in Arsenal democracy if workers aren't building set Arsenal.
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Hence, journalist Raymond Clapper writes, quote, some friends of labor are very deeply troubled
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over the fact that labor is working itself into a role of irresponsible obstruction to war
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production. Close quote. And one of the most embattled labor disputes is at Ford Motor Company.
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Here's the deal. The UAW has signed contracts with all the major auto players,
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Save Henry Ford. And that's grading on the union. See, famous as Henry is for paying outstanding
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wages in years past, that's changed amid the Great Depression. But his notorious surveillance of
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employees and control freak ways have enabled him to hold out against collective bargaining.
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In 1937, men from the Ford Service Department even roughed up UAW organizers and what came to
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be known as the Battle of the Overpass. But that hasn't stopped the UAW from showing up at Ford's
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River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan, to unionized workers, particularly now as the Ford Motor
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Company cranks away on Arsenal of Democracy building government contracts, including one paying a
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cool 122 million to produce thousands of plane engines. So, in the spring of 1941, many Ford
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workers are eagerly aligning with the UAW. But the Ford Motor Company strikes back. On April
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1st, it fires eight workers for engaging with the labor union. As words spreads, many Ford employees
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start walking off the job. Yet one group disproportionately stays, and that's the Foundry Workers,
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many of whom are black. It's April 2nd, 1941. We're outside Ford's River Rouge plant in Dearborn,
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Michigan, where strikers are crowding the entrance. Walking back and forth on the pavement,
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they hold their signs high. One poses the question, why did Ford get a Nazi medal?
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Another simply reads, Ford and Hitler, with a swastika between the two names.
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Sounds like it's fair to say war tensions are bleeding into the strike. And as these strikers pace,
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they hurl insult after insult at their fellow Ford employees, still loyal enough to Henry,
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to head into work.
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Inside the plant, as many as 5,000 black workers remain on the job, some are truly loyal to their boss.
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Many others fear the predominantly white strikers outside are a mob waiting to happen.
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UAW CIO reps assure the black workers that they'll be protected from any racial violence should they
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join the picket line. But not many do. Most stand with the company.
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Likely this same day, those sources aren't entirely clear. Black employees reportedly stand at
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top of the plant, hurling buckets down at the strikers below. Around 200 others rush from the
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entrance, attacking the mostly white picket line with wooden clubs and steel bars. It's brutal.
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Finally, one black union member, Horace Schethel, Barrow's a sound truck. That is,
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a truck with amplifier megaphones to top the roof. He urges those acting violently too.
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And during 10 days in total, this strike saw ample violence.
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Black employees felt great loyalty to Henry Ford because he has hired more black workers
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into skilled positions than any other automaker. But did he do so with ulterior motives?
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According to one member, VFDR's informal black cabinet, Mary McCloud Bethune. Yes.
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In a memo, she explains that Henry intentionally hired black men and pushed anti-union propaganda
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on them so they would serve as effective strikebreakers in exactly this kind of situation.
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With FDR refusing to get involved, it falls to Michigan Governor, Marie Van Wagener,
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to run the negotiation between Ford Motor Company and the UAWCIO.
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He gets Henry Ford to agree to a national labor relations board election on April 7.
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Three days later, the 10th, Henry agrees to a settlement before the election.
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The UAWCIO wins overwhelmingly forcing Henry to capitulate to the union.
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Ironically, the terms the two corporations settle on are perhaps the most generous of any union
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auto agreement in the business. But make no mistake,
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1941's racism and discrimination are not limited to production plans.
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As we saw in the last episode, the president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters,
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A. Philip Randolph, is still pushing for desegregation of the armed forces.
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Under his influence, President Franklin Roosevelt takes one step in this direction by
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signing Executive Order 8002 on June 25. Although it does not desegregate the armed forces,
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this Executive Order bans discrimination on the basis of, quote, race, religion,
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or national origin, close quote, in industries that receive government contracts.
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Recognize that language? If not, take note. We'll hear it more than once in future episodes.
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The United States
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Back on the foreign affairs front, FDR wakes with a sore throat on a hot, sticky June 22,
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1941, to learn that the German army, the Vio-Market, has launched a surprise attack on the Soviet Union.
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The operation, codenamed Barbarossa, marks a dramatic betrayal of Nazi Germany's and the USSR's
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non-aggression agreement, the Molotov-Rubensholtpact. This means war in Eastern Europe.
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US Army analysts estimate that Adolf Hitler's new campaign against the Soviets should keep him
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tied up for roughly one to three months. The slightly ill president breathes a little easier.
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Operation Barbarossa also makes for an interesting turn of events by putting the USSR
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in the same camp as the Allies, in a, the enemy of my enemy is my friend sort of way.
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In step with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the American president soon realizes
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that the US will need to support the USSR, which will ultimately happen through land lease.
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Speaking of the British Bulldog, Franklin's determined that he needs a real face-to-face meeting
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with his British counterpart and ally Winston Churchill. But rather than use proper diplomatic channels,
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he's concocted a secret and rather dramatic scheme.
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On Sunday, August 3rd, 1941, FDR boards the presidential yacht, USS Potomac, telling reporters
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he's delighted to spend the next few days fishing near Cape Cod.
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Oh, but he's not going fishing. At least not here. While the FDR look alike sits atop the
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Atomic, waiting to unlockers, the real FDR is on board the Navy cruiser USS Augusta,
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steaming toward Newfoundland. Franklin loves the ruse, as can be seen in how he writes about it,
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to his cousin Margaret Daisy Suckley. Quote, strange thing happened this morning. Suddenly found
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ourselves transferred with our baggage and mess crew from the little Potomac to the great big cruiser
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Augusta, and then, as we headed out into the Atlantic, all we can see is our protecting escort.
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Curiously enough, the Potomac still flies my flag.
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Close quote, even Eleanor is left out. She's told her husband is enjoying his Cape Cod fishing trip.
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After a few days at sea, the Augusta glides into Newfoundland's Argenta Harbor.
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Next to the American vessel, HMS Prince of Wales appears. At 11am on August 9,
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a heavy set figure appears on the British battleships quarter deck. Yes, it's Winston Churchill.
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He finally gets to greet his pin-pow, Franklin Roosevelt, and person.
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Ording the Augusta, Winston takes in FDR for a moment,
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this man with whom he's exchanged so many messages it already feels like they know each other.
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This American who, Winston hopes, will prove the salvation of the British nation.
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Taking in FDR's developed arms, atrophied legs, and handsome 58-year-old face,
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this heavy set 66-year-old Prime Minister reflects their already strong bond in his hope,
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as he says with relief. At long last, Mr. President, Franklin responds warmly.
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Glad to have you aboard, Mr. Churchill. As they converse, the Brit speaks with 19th century
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propriety. The American is far more casual. Over the course of four days,
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talk centers around the state of war, both with Germany and feared future conflict with Japan.
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On day one, Winston gives an overview of the current situation and describes a sort of tightening
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news approach to fighting Germany. Wanting to avoid yet another lost generation,
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he hopes that blockades, bombings, and financial support of internal resistance groups will
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smother the Nazis, then the conversation pivots to Japan. The next three days are pretty similar.
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The British PM tells the US President,
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I had rather the United States came into the war now, and that we got no more supplies from the
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United States for six months, than the supplies from the United States should be doubled, but the
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USA kept out of the war. Of course, FDR isn't ready or constitutionally able to do that.
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Declaring war's Congress's role. But Franklin does make it clear to his British friend that,
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although he can't declare war, he will push the limit. The US Navy will expand its convoy
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S-scoring role, and if the German Navy, that is the Kleegsmirina, engages well, the US won't take
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that line down. Just exactly how far into the gray FDR's careful words push will always be up
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for debate, but the important thing is that Winston is persuaded that the United States' support
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is such that it will, in time, become an official co-beligerent. In the meanwhile, the British
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Bulldog is happy to draw the special friendship between himself and FDR, and between their respective
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nations, even closer with the joint statement or press release. Or perhaps something bigger than that.
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Maybe it's a charter. Composed of eight points, this charter declares the, quote,
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common principles in the national policies, close quote, of both the United Kingdom and the
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United States. Essentially, these are their shared values and vision for the future after the
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fascist threat is defeated. The first three points are very Woodrow Wilson-esque. They clarify that,
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in the process of this unfolding world war, neither the US nor the UK is looking to add new territory,
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and that they are both committed to respecting self-determination.
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Numbers four and five state their commitment to post-war prosperity for all nations,
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regardless of size or which side of this war they're on, as both the US and the UK hope to build
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a world of trade, economic advancement, and improved labor standards. Six, seven, and eight focus
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on maintaining a peaceful world, quote, after the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, close quote.
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A world where all can traverse the seas and peace, a world that encourages peace by disarming
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aggressor nations. Given its birth on the waters of the Atlantic, this document released to the
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public on August 14, 1941 is called the Atlantic Charter. Truly, the Atlantic Charter is a beautiful
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and high-minded vision for the post-war world, but the immediate response in Britain and America is
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less than positive. The British want American soldiers not post-war ideals. Moreover,
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what implications might all this self-determination talk have on the British Empire down the road?
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Across the pond, Franklin's advisors are upset. Why weren't they informed of this meeting?
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Worse, how could he make such commitments without their input on the language?
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Simultaneously, interventionists want it more, yet isolationists are concerned that this means
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America's entry into the war isn't a question of if but when. And will Congress rally behind the
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president? All these questions and arguments fill the air. As America's leaders desperately try to
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prepare for the United States not certain, but increasingly likely entrants into the war.
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While Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill are waxing eloquent in the Northern Atlantic during
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the summer of 1941, the US Army and US Navy are planning. Not that this is new. Even as the
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United States proclaimed neutrality at the start of the war in Europe in late 1939, the two military
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staffs wisely began considering strategies for waging war in both Asia and Europe simultaneously.
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Not because they wanted war, but because it's their job to be ready if it comes.
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These strategies are called the rainbow plans and following a secret American and British chat
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known as ABC1, short for American British Conversations number one, which was held earlier this year
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between January and March 1941. They've reached their fifth and most current iteration.
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Rainbow five envisions, a defensive strategy in the Pacific, combined with a British and free
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France allied offensive in Europe to take on both fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.
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Okay, good broad strokes. But if God forbid, the lending and leasing of an arsenal of democracy
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doesn't do the trick and this plan is needed. How many boys in uniform will it take?
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How many warships, tanks, planes, bullets? Those are the kind of specifics that chief of staff of
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the US Army, George C. Marshall needs FDR to think about, especially with land leased complicating
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any potential mobilization timeline. Thus, under pressure from George and others, the president finally
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asks for a report to drill down on these numbers. That's how we get Major Albert Wettamire's top secret
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victory plan. Relatively new to the war department general staff's war plans division, the major is
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cool headed, calculated and brutally honest. He doesn't sugarcoat anything.
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According to his predictions, if the US enters the war, the army will require a ground force
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of over 6.7 million men. The Air Force, which is still a part of the army at this point,
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will need just over 2 million more. Yeah, in some, the major predicts that the US Army will need
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8,795,658 men on the ground and in the sky. Oh, and between this massive military buildup and
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land lease, the US needs to roughly double its production and prepare to pay a bill of at least
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$150 billion. In other words, the country is nowhere near prepared for war.
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The classified victory plans findings shock the president into more decisive action.
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Immediately, he asks Congress for 8 billion more military appropriations. Meanwhile,
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in the aftermath of a German U-boat firing on the destroyer USS Greer,
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FDR delivers a fireside chat on September 11th to explain that US Navy warships will now
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shoot on site German vessels threatening merchant shipping. Meanwhile, General George Marshall is
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also quite busy. Grateful to have a realistic view of what war might mean thanks to the victory plan,
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he's doing all he can to ensure that US Army is prepared for the war that he believes is a certain
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eventuality. During 1940, he ran a series of training exercises for the first batch of draftees
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and is now in late 1941. He's preparing for larger-scale conflict by shipping soldiers off to war
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in Louisiana. It's 12 o'clock 1 a.m. September 15th, 1941,
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where between Shreve Port and Alexandria, Louisiana, where a grand battle has just begun.
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amidst pouring rain, courtesy of a nearby hurricane, half a million US soldiers are at war.
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Donning red armed bands and flat-brembed steel World War I air helmets,
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General Benjamin Lear's red second army was positioned to the north, facing off against
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General Walter Krueger's blue arm banded and clothed the teagat wearing blue third army to the south.
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This is a war game that is a simulated battle which General George Marshall is using to
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give his troops meaningful experience and to test battlefield readiness. But don't let the game
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aspect fool you. It isn't entirely dangerous. Early in the morning, 400 of the blue third
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army's planes are grounded after pilots killed in collision. Three more soldiers are killed before
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sunrise in traffic accidents. But as the sun rises, Benjamin's 130,000 man red army,
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with the support of George S. Patton's tanks, approaches the less armored but larger blue army.
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Armed with obsolete weapons, fake guns and a tiny air force, on the ground combat is strange
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and the soon-to-be-dubbed Battle of Red River of the officially-need Phase I exercise.
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But the phony conflict feels very real in several ways. Captain Norris Perkins has to shout to be heard,
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the scent of burned powder and diesel exhaust tickles the nostrils, and smoke and dust make it difficult to see.
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The Louisiana maneuvers, as they come to be known, are the largest-scale training exercises the
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US Army has ever attempted. And as we just saw, it doesn't necessarily feel like training.
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It's pretty authentic. One army sends fake statements over the air about traffic conditions.
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The other attempts to kidnap their foes general. One practices paratroop landings. The other drops
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propaganda leaflets. It's a real test, not just of troop strength and strategy, but of psychological
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warfare, coordination and improvisation. It also gives rising leaders like Dwight,
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Ike Eisenhower, and Joseph Stillwell a chance to prove they can adapt to the realities of modern war.
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And of course, funny things happen. Funny things that, if they happened in a real war, would not be
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funny at all. For instance, a soldier standing out of fork in the road lifts his thumb toward
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one street hoping to hitch a ride. In the process, he accidentally directs the entire army the
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wrong way. But that's fine. Now is the time to make these sorts of errors. For the army to learn
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from their mistakes while the consequences are mostly funny and not catastrophically deadly.
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That's the philosophy driving General George Marshall. He explains this clearly in a speech
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to the American Legion in Milwaukee. Broadcast nationwide on September 16th, just one day after the
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quote-unquote battle we witnessed. To quote him, the present maneuvers are the closest
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peacetime approximation to actual fighting conditions that has ever been undertaken in this country.
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But what is of the greatest importance? The mistakes and failures will not impair all the nation
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or cost the lives of men. In the past, we have jeopardized our future, penalized our leaders,
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and sacrificed our men by training untrained troops on the battlefield. I know of no single investment,
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which will give this country a greater return in security and in the saving of lives than the
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present maneuvers. Close quote. Ms. George prepares his boys for war. The urgency to do so is only growing.
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In September and October, German submarines, aka U-boats continue to strike. And on October 31st,
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Germany's U552 really makes a mark on the American 9th by sinking the destroyer USS Ruben James.
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One of five destroyers escorting merchant convoy HX-156 across the Northern Atlantic.
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The Ruben James is not far from Iceland when, at 534 in the morning, two of the U-boats torpedoes
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rip into the ancient World War I vessels port side, effectively splitting her in half.
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The ancient destroyer sinks in minutes, taking over 100 American sailors with it.
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Americans fume. Woody got through response by writing his famous song, The Sinking of the Ruben James,
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which brings the war home in a way not yet felt as the folk singer asks his American listeners.
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Did you have a friend on the good Ruben James? What were their names? Tell me, what were their names?
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Meanwhile, FDR pushes Congress to take yet another step. U.S Navy ships will no longer be the
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only American vessels ready to fight at sea. He wants the new Trailer Act amended to allow
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merchant ships to arm themselves. Congress debates and fights, but with national opinion
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swiftly moving in favor, the National Legislature gets on board, so amending it in November.
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Yes, war with Germany looks all but certain and fast.
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Yet, shockingly, late fall brings a shift in focus. While America has been focused on Nazi Germany,
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I mean the Nazi sunk U.S. warship, FDR is starting to wonder if Japan isn't the more
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looming threat. We'll get the full backstory on the rise of Imperial Japan in a later episode soon,
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but here are a few things we need to know about U.S.-Japan relations at this point.
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One, after suffering a hard military loss against the USSR in 1939, Japan decided that,
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rather than trying to expand north on mainland Asia, it would do better heading south,
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or European powers, too distracted by Adolf Hitler at home, would be hard pressed to protect
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their Asian colonies. Two, in September 1940, the same month that Germany, Italy, and Japan signed
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the Tripartite pact. Japan followed that southward expanding train of thought and sent troops
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into the northern regions of French and O'China. The U.S. responded by placing export controls
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on aviation fuel and metal to Japan. And three, in July of this year, 1941, Japan took control of
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all of French and O'China, and the U.S. responded to that with an asset freeze and an embargo on oil.
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And that hurts. While the Japanese Navy outnumbers the combined American, British, and Dutch
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fleets in the Pacific, that Navy mostly runs on U.S. oil, and when the British and Dutch follow suit,
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Japan has lost about 90% of its oil access overnight. So yes, things just got really tense between
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U.S. and Japan. In fact, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Joseph Gru, is so concerned about this
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erosion of relations he writes this in his diary, the vicious cycle of reprisals and counter- reprisals
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is on. The obvious conclusion is eventual war, close quote. Nevertheless, Franklin urges his advisors
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to keep diplomatic talks going through October and November. Let us make no more of ill, will. Let us
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do nothing to precipitate a crisis. Even as the drums of war grow louder in the Pacific,
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the President is still hoping for peace, or at least for time. Yet, by the end of November,
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pessimism sinks in. Imperial Japan won't accept any terms that forbid their expansion into Southeast Asia.
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Franklin desperately wants to find a temporary peace, so he reworks the final Japanese proposal.
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He'll resume economic relations and help the Japanese sit down with China, but not be involved in
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no more troops to Manchuria or Indochina, and not invoke the tripartite pact if the U.S. goes to
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war in Europe. Everyone in Washington waits, barely breathing, to see what the Japanese response will
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be. On November 26, only a few days after Franklin's counter-proposal is sent, Army Intelligence
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discovers five Japanese divisions sailing south of Japanese control Femosa. Or as you and I know it,
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Taiwan. FDR's peace-aspiring document is scrapped. What Franklin doesn't know, however, is that
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another Japanese fleet is also on the move. But as this other fleet quietly moves, the United
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States is reading quite the expose. On December 4, the Chicago Tribune's front page screams
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embold capital letters. FDR's war plans, underneath the subheading declares,
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goal is 10 million armed men. Yes, this is the top secret victory plan. A high-ranking army
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official slipped it to isolationist Senator Burton K. Wheeler, who, in turn, handed it off to
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the U.S.
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Italianists are incensed. To them, this proves what they have long suspected. FDR Watts
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war, and he's drawn up this secret plan with the intent of carrying it out. But to the interventionists,
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that is, FDR supporters, this merely shows forethought. Given where the world is right now,
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what kind of president wouldn't have his best military minds figuring out what war would mean
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for the nation? I mean, no one expects that the United States will enter the war anytime soon,
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but increasingly, it does indeed look like a question of not if but when.
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To interventionists, leaking this document wasn't patriotic. It was irresponsible. Traders.
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Yet, as FBI director J. Edgar Hoover tries to discover the identity of the leaking army officer,
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a search that will end in vain. Something far more shocking is coming. Something that will make
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Americans across the 48 states and several territories lose all interest in this newspaper article.
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We're not quite ready for that tale yet. That moment destined to live in infamy.
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But we are ready for FDR's final hours before that storm breaks.
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It's 11.25 in the morning, December 6, 1941. We're at the White House, where President Franklin
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D. Roosevelt is meeting with budget director Harold Smith. Running about 10 minutes behind schedule,
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the two may have decided they want to hold off on the Navy Department's request for 40,000
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Marine Corps draftees. Not only are the Marines proud of their volunteer ranks, but more to the
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point, no one is anticipating combat sea anytime soon. A call from Secretary of the Navy Frank
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Knox interrupts the meeting. He has jarring news. Japanese fleets have been spotted near Bangkok,
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Emileia. It's hard to say what this means, but it isn't good. After hanging up, FDR off-handedly
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says to Harold, we might be at war with Japan. Although, no one knows. A terrifying thought,
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perhaps especially to Franklin. As a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he counts several
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Navy officers among his dear friends. Two are his own sons, and yet another of his four sons
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is a Marine. As the day wears on, Franklin's mind focuses on what can be done to keep the Japanese at bay.
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It's now 9 in the evening. FDR decides to send a direct appeal to Japanese Emperor Hirohito
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for continued diplomacy and peace. It reads in part,
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developments are now occurring in the Pacific area, which threaten to deprive each of our nations
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and humanity of the beneficial influence of the long and unbroken peace, which has been maintained
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between our two countries for almost a century. Those developments are suggestive of tragic
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possibilities. In making this proposal, I express to your majesty the fervent hope that our two
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governments may find ways of dispelling the dark clouds which loom over the relations between our two
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countries and of restoring and maintaining the traditional condition of amity wherein both
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our peoples may contribute to lasting peace and security throughout the Pacific area.
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But ironically, earlier that very afternoon, US Navy intelligence intercepted instructions from
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Tokyo to the Japanese ambassador in Washington. Though encoded in the Japanese purple system,
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intelligence officers have decrypted the first 13 of these instructions 14 points by that night.
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A Navy officer gets them to the president just after his note to Hirohito as sent, around 930.
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Reading the translated points, Franklin is a gased. The tone is so negative, he exclaims,
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this means war. Harry Hopkins, who just so happens to be with Franklin, answers that it's
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unfortunate, we cannot strike the first below and prevent any sort of surprise.
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FDR shakes his head and replies, no, we can't do that. We are democracy and a peaceful people.
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But we have a good record. And so, with no indication of an imminent attack, but a foreboding
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sense from these first 13 points that Japan will soon break off diplomatic relations, FDRs left to
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wonder, what will the future bring? Well, from that 14th point to far more, FDR in the whole nation
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will get all those answers tomorrow. They'll get them in the most painful ways. But that, my friends,
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is a story for another day.
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History that doesn't suck is created and hosted by me, Greg Jackson. Sir Winston Churchill,
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read by Tim Wells. Episode research in written by Greg Jackson and Riley Newdall. Production by
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Airship. Sound design by Molly Bach. Audio editing by Muhammad Shazade. Theme music composed by
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Greg Jackson. Arrangement and additional composition by Lindsey Graham of Airship. For a bit of
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biography of all primary and secondary sources consulted and writing this episode, visit htbspodcast.com.
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HTS is supported by fans at htbspodcast.com slash membership. I'd like to thank you for
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providing funding to help us be going with thank you. And a special thanks to our patrons whose
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