1940: a year of war and conquest
Due to the sheer amount of notable events that occurred this year, the BBC decided to separate them according to geographic proximity as much as reasonably possible. If the reader is confused, or believes some information to be lacking or incorrect, the BBC will respond to such feedback as soon as possible. The BBC tries to maintain a high standard of journalism and writing.
Asia and Australasia
Given the perilous state China was in, it came as little surprise to see the USSR reject sending further aid to the Nationalists on 7 January. Fifteen days later Japan made a much unexpected move as it removed Manchukuo from its alliance. Having been formed on 18 February 1932, it received substantial support from the Japanese regime in exploiting its extensive resource base ever since. From 7 February 1940, Manchukuo became an ostensibly independent nation as Japan rescinded its’ puppet status.
However, just a day before, the world was shocked too witness Chairman Mao of Communist China declaring war on Nationalist China. Such an event surprised even the most adept political commentators of the time; no one had expected such a move. Never-the-less, this political move made little difference to the situation, because Japan controlled all the land around Communist China and the two states remained neutral.
The Japanese declaration of war on Siam on 16 February, and Manchukuo two days later did much to change the situation in Asia. It suddenly became clear why Hirohito had decided to release Manchukuo; he intended to unite all of China’s historic lands under one nation. The US denounced the Japanese attack on its former ally, “another betrayal! The hand that held the dagger has stuck it in the back of its neighbour!” Most believe Siam was targeted because of its significant rare material deposits in its southern territories. On the 23rd Chiang Kai-shek’s resistance came to an end as Japan annexed Nationalist China.
The Second Sino-Japanese war proved to be one of the bloodiest in history. Chinese losses totalled 1,547,864 men, while Japanese casualties were 354,304 and Manchu 44,177. This meant nearly two million people had died in this war alone.
Within hours of China’s annexation Hirohito declared war on Tibet and Communist China. Straight after that Japan created a puppet Chinese state under Wang Jingwei, who had been the Premier of China between 1932 and 1935. This move meant Japanese belligerence dropped to 0, and was seen as a blatant exploit of international law, but as Japan had already left the League of Nations in 1933 little could be done. Claire Chennault, after providing much aeronautical assistance to China, left the nation on 24 February in an apparent refusal to help the now fascist regime.
The new Chinese puppet state annexed Manchukuo on 8 March, receiving no belligerence for the act as it was considered part of China. On the 14th Mao’s country was annexed, and Tibet on the 20th, with Jingwei’s regime receiving no belligerence for this aggressive expansion. However, Japan astonished the world by relinquishing its control over China on 28 March, with the Chinese leader proclaiming that the “Glorious Empire of Japan, after uniting and pacifying China, stabilized it, fed it and now proved the world its non-colonialism by soonish liberation". He went onto say “So much should Imperialist Westerns learn from the Japanese Values!". Some political, and economic, commentators say this is merely a ploy, with the ultimate aim of using China as a middle-man for trades between Germany and Japan.
Another potential reason for China’s liberation came on 5 April, as Jingwei created a puppet state in Laos, territory previously controlled by Japan. Even political experts are unsure whether a client state could have its own puppet state, a term popularised as ‘puppet-ception’.
A month later the UK surprised everyone by managing to get Persia into the Allies on 2 May. As Finland had been brought into the Allies just days earlier, this meant both the Axis and the USSR were at war with Persia. The Red Army attacked from the Caucasus while the Heer stormed over the Iraq-Persia border. After an intense rush to capture Bandar-Abbas which ended in an Axis capture, Persia was annexed by the USSR on 2 July.
On 14 May 1940 the world was shaken to the core as China threatened the UK with war if Hong Kong was not handed over. The Chinese leader said to the UK, “I demand your tiranny over HK to end now. what do you say about that? will you return HK to China? [sic]". To which the defiant British government replied “icky icky kaboo snugglefish?". The Chinese, clearly offended, replied insulting! Colonialist Imperialists!"… The new China will prove the world how we treat Round eyed-devils!" and declared war within hours. Now the UK faced Germany, Italy, Japan, China, Hungary and all their allies & puppets, with just the Commonwealth by its side.
The Japanese continued their seemingly endless advance as they annexed Siam on 18 May, and showed their true intentions by joining the Axis on 21 May 1940. On the 29th China made Nationalist Vietnam a puppet state. Economic commentators point to the significant rare material deposits the country holds.
Europe brought their war to Asia with the German declaration of war on Turkey on 30 April. By the 12th May Turkey fell to Axis. The next day, Hitler declared war on Syria and Lebanon. By 24 May both countries were within Italian hands. On 5 June Iraq fell to the Axis.
In an apparent pincer movement, Japanese forces moved through India while handing the territory to the Chinese. Jingwei annexed Bhutan on 20 June, and Nepal on 4 July. The 22nd June saw the creation of a Malaysia puppet state by China. 2 July became the date of Cambodian independence, albeit under close Chinese watch. 8 July became the end date for Omani independence as Japanese forces annexed the country.
The USSR furthered its involvement in Asia with its invasion of Afghanistan on 12 July, with the Red Army soon clashing with forces in Kabul. In apparent competition with Stalin, Hitler ordered the invasion of the Afghan nation just two days later. However the conflict ended with the Soviet capture of the capital, and the immediate annexation of the entire country on 22 July.
Yemen became the next victim of Axis aggression, having been declared war on 18 July by Germany, and annexed a week later by Japan. 25 July also became the date for Bruneian independence, under intense Japanese watch.
August did not see any major events until the 10th as Saudi Arabia became the next target for the Axis. On the 14th the Imperial Japanese army had taken all the Australian strongholds and annexed the nation. A day later it made the once great nation a puppet state of the Japanese Empire, but keeping Goldsworthy under its direct control. The Saudi nation was annexed by Mussolini on 23 August after the Wehrmacht had done most of the work. Apparently oblivious to the events going on nearby, the Vichy administration in New Caledonia and Oceania changed their allegiance to the Free French just a day after Japan had taken Australia. Inevitably after the fall of Australia came New Zealand, succumbing to the Imperial Japanese Army on 7 September.
After intense battles, Ceylon finally fell to Japanese forces on 20 November. The British leader proudly proclaimed “lt general wavells brave defense of tricomalee and ceylon has earned him a promotion to general, his valiant deeds will go down in the history books on the side of the Spartans”.
In apparent preparation for a new year campaign Japan placed a naval base in Georgetown in British Guyana on Christmas day. Nick Bobbinson commented “it seems Japan has an insatiable desire to expand and conquer, devouring everything in its path along the way”.
The picture below demonstrates the sheer extent of Japan’s expansion, both of its own land and its’ de facto puppet of China. The light yellow country in the bottom right is Sarawak while the rest is China.
Europe and Africa
In Europe the events were just as interesting, with Italy declaring war on the United Kingdom on 19 February and joining the Axis soon after. With France now threatened on its southern border its survival was then in the balance.
On 11 March most of the Maginot Line was destroyed by France as Axis forces had successfully bypassed it by attacking through Belgium. On the same day Germany announced Scandinavia was not important in Fall Weserübung, surprising political commentators as the decision came at the expense of Germany’s hawk lobby and the effective loss of three transport ships.
On 22 March 1940 the French government agreed to an armistice with Germany. It is believed all of the British forces supporting its ally were successfully evacuated beforehand. The Japanese government made the most of the capitulation and took control of French Indochina with little opposition. Syrians and Lebanese declared their independence from France, creating two new independent nations. Germany destroyed the remnants of the Maginot Line three days later.
A grand total of 384,006 Frenchmen had died fighting in defence of their country. Another 63,549 British troops were killed fighting alongside them. Permanent German casualties amassed to 175,933 men; while 24,096 Italian soldiers had perished.
On 30 April 1940 the non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR ended. However the pact appeared to be more of a deal, with both countries declaring war on Finland on the same day. After the Red Army rushed into Helsinki, and the Germans captured much of the western Finnish coast, Finland was annexed on 5 May. Romania joined the Axis on the same day.
The USSR declared war on Sweden on 9 May, economic experts point to the Soviet’s reliance on foreign imports of metal, something which Kiruna is rich in. Germany declared war on the Scandinavian country four days later. Political commentators believe it done in order to arrest the Soviet advance. Sweden was annexed by Hitler on 21 May.
Soviet and German troops fight side by side
In response to alleged Soviet expansionism the Salazar government of Portugal joined forces with Germany on 20 June. Just eight days later Franco’s Spain joined the Axis alliance. With these two formidable Iberian foes, holding Gibraltar became immensely harder for the brave British garrison force and it soon fell.
On 27 June, under the threat of invasion, Romania handed Bessarabia over peacefully to the Soviet Union.
The only consolation for those opposing the Axis was the mysterious death of Italian Air Marshall Italo Balbo on 29 June. Insider reports tell the BBC he was shot down by Italian anti-aircraft when flying over an unknown location.
After the numerous Axis conquests in Asia, Europe took back the attention of the world with the Soviet declaration of war on the Axis on 14 August 1940. It made a rapid advance, taking Königsberg, came within close range of Hungary’s industrial centre and Romania’s capital within days. Having apparently made long-existing plans, much of the USSR’s industry in Europe was moved deep within its Asian interior just a day after going to war with Germany.
In an apparent act of solidarity to the Soviet threat the leader of Germany and the foreign ministers of Japan and Italy met in Berlin to sign what will be known as the Tripartite Pact on 16 August 1940.
However, the Axis alliance was not completely united, as Admiral Horthy took it upon himself to demand land from another Axis ally, Romania, while in the midst of a Soviet invasion. With Hitler backing Hungary’s demands, Prime Minister Tatarescu had little choice but to surrender Transylvania over to the Hungarians. And so the Second Vienna Dictat ended with the enlargement of Hungary’s empire on 5 September. It also led to the transformation of Romania’s government as Ion Antonescu forcibly took over from Tatarescu, declaring himself ‘Conducător’ as well as Prime Minister. He installed Iron Guard and military men into the major positions of government. King Carol II was replaced with Michael I.
After just 1 month and 10 days, the Axis made a white peace with the USSR. However, this peace was not as balanced as first appears. Stalin made the unprecedented public outcry for peace as over 600,000 Soviet troops were to be over-run after their botched retreat from Torun after an Axis counter-attack. It is believed another 9 Soviet divisions were completely over-run in their retreat from Vans in Turkey. It was agreed that the Red Army could disband an estimated 50 divisions in return for peace until 1 May 1941. This white peace also meant the loss of Mongolia for the Comintern as China had annexed it several days prior to the ceasefire.
On 18 October France was annexed by Japan after the fall of Brazzaville. Just five days later Churchill decided to release Ethiopia as a British puppet for the purported claim that it would improve its supply lines. On the 28th Belgium also fell victim to the Japanese. Rwanda emerged as a new state on 19 November after the Japanese regime decided to create it as a puppet. A day after Rwanda’s emergence came Ethiopia’s disappearance as it was annexed by Italy.
The Netherlands involuntarily entered the war on 25 November, with Germany invading its mainland while Japan went after its Asian and South American holdings. Even after the fall of Guyana and with it the last remaining Dutch post, the US government could do nothing but watch the Axis’ unstoppable advance across the world. Ostensibly to calm international opinion, Sarawak was made a puppet state by Japan. For some reason Hirohito retained the provinces of Balikpapan and Mahakam on the island.
Not wanting to be left out from the excitement, Admiral Horthy declared the creation of the Kuwaiti nation under his close watch on 27 December.
Economic editor Bobby Reston believes “the Axis has become, by far and away, the dominant economic sphere of not just a continent, but the world”.
The pictures below illustrate the extensive advance of the Axis into not only Europe but the Middle East and Africa.
USA
US President Roosevelt announced a complete trade embargo on Japan on 29 March in retaliation to Hirohito’s takeover of French Indochina. The US government apparently did not care about China’s demise, only Indochina’s. However, it appeared to be a long plan in the making as the US leader on 17 February decried the “unbridled Japanese aggression in Asia! the White House floats the idea of an embargo on Japan”. Hirohito retorted “we are willing to retreat from China as a sign of our goodwill, but it takes time… any embargo would only slowen our retreat”. Political commentators see this offer as meaningless because China’s fall was imminent, and so with it would come the removal of Japanese forces.
The US government announced it was gearing for war on 14 April, apparently in response to Soviet belligerence reaching so-called high levels. Most political experts point out that the fascist China, or the advance of Germany and Italy are much bigger threats and are bemused by Roosevelt’s justification.
Just 3 weeks after the last announcement America declared it was further strengthening its war economy for the third time on 2 May. Once again the justification was the apparently high level of Soviet belligerence. BBC political editor Nick Bobbinson lamented “it seems America is so obsessed by communism it ignores the real threat to the free world: fascism”. Economic commentators point out the justification makes little difference to the outcome: that the USA is preparing for war.
On 9 May the British and American governments came together to sign the Destroyers for Bases agreement. The Royal Navy was given 50 escort ships with the US getting full military access to the UK and its empire. 5,000 Americans were freed for other military duty, while 5,000 British were conscripted to service these newly acquired ships. The British hawk lobby was boosted by this US support for Britain’s war effort.
On 17 August the USA announced it was gearing up for war a fourth time now, in apparent response to Portugal joining the Axis as it meant a possible invasion of the USA from the Azores. On the same day President Roosevelt announced America will be “the great Arsenal of Democracy” after the fall of France just 4 months ago. The speech encouraged 10,000 Americans to volunteer themselves for military service, while the American hawk lobby received an unnecessary boost as it was already as powerful as it could be.
The USA showed its support to Britain’s war effort by passing the Lend-Lease Act on 18 August 1940. A grand total of 5,000 tonnes of supplies, 2,500 barrels of oil and 2,500 tonnes of metal were transported from American ports to British harbours in a matter of milliseconds. The next time it did so was 3 November.
On 25 September the American government publicly announced “a belligerent policy is needed” in regards to the Allies war against the Axis. 10,000 Americans subsequently signed up for military service, and the US hawk lobby received a superfluous boost in support. The cause of this declaration was apparently the fall of France, and the desire to say something in addition to “we shall be the great Arsenal of Democracy”. The next day the UK handed control over Iceland and Greenland to the USA, apparently also in respond to the speech on 17 August.
6 November 1940 demonstrated what the Britain was fighting for around the world: freedom and democracy. The US Presidential elections came about, with Franklin Delano Roosevelt winning for an unprecedented third time. Defeating his competitor Wendell Willkie quite decisively by 449 electoral votes to 82 meant the USA continued its strategy of ‘pro-active isolationism’.
By the end of 1940 the USA’s civilian economy had been entirely converted for military purposes. This was a significant increase from the previous year, whereby just 60% of its industry had been mobilised for war. Nick Bobbinson stated “it is somewhat ironic that this conversion was primarily due to Soviet action, yet the USA’s most probable enemy will be the Axis”.
However the lack of any direct involvement in the war had clear advantages, primarily the preservation of American life. By 24 January 1941 over four and a half million people had died fighting in the variety of wars going on.
