THE AMERICAS-1940

The Americas!

11/05/1940 President Roosevelt expresses his dismay to King Leopold of Belgium about the German invasion. 30/05/1940 Roosevelt asks Congress for considerable funds to strengthen the US Armed forces. 10/06/1940 President Roosevelt announces a shift from neutrality to "non-belligerency," while condemning Germany and Italy and promising material aid to both Britain and France. 15/06/1940 Roosevelt assures Reynaud that US aid will be redoubled. 28/06/1940 The Alien Registration Act (the Smith Act) passed by the US Congress requires aliens to register and be fingerprinted. The Act makes it illegal to advocate the overthrow of the US government. 05/07/1940 President Roosevelt lays down ‘five fundamentals of freedom’: freedom from fear, of information, of religion, of expression, and from want. 20/07/1940 President Roosevelt signs the 'Two Ocean Navy Expansion Act'. This was the first step in preparing America for war against either Germany or Japan, or both. 02/08/1940 Montreal mayor Camillien Houde publicly urges Quebecers to not sign up for national registration for war duty. 05/08/1940 U.S. and Vichy France reach Green-Slade-Robert Agreement, an understanding on the status of French warships and aircraft in the French West Indies. Montreal mayor Camillien Houde is arrested, and charged under the Defence of Canada Regulations. He is imprisoned at Camp Petawawa in Ontario until the end of the war. 13/08/1940 Roosevelt agrees to supply 50 First World War destroyers to Britain in return for the lease of naval bases in the Caribbean. Colonel E.L.M. Burns proposes developing a Canadian parachute force. The idea is rejected by the Director of Military Operations in headquarters. 17/08/1940 Duke of Windsor sworn in as governor-general of Bermuda. 21/08/1940 Leon Trotsky is assassinated by a Stalinist agent while in exile in Mexico City. 03/09/1940 The US Congress finally agrees to the handing over of 50 old destroyers in return for 99 year leases of British Naval bases in Antigua, St. Lucia, Trinidad, British Guiana the Bahamas, Jamaica and Argentia. 12/09/1940 Canada's cabinet introduces Order In Council P.C. 4751, giving Canadian authorities power to imprison disobedient foreign seamen from non-Canadian ships in Canadian ports. 16/09/1940 President Roosevelt signs US Conscription Bill. 20/09/1940 The Canadian War Technical and Scientific Development Committee approves a request by Frederick Banting to begin bacterial warfare research. 25/09/1940 The US cryptanalyst, Harry L Clark, discovers the key to the Japanese top secret codes, allowing the US to read Japanese diplomatic, naval and military to top secret coded traffic. 26/09/1940 US President Franklin Roosevelt imposes an embargo on the export of aviation fuel, scrap iron, and steel to Japan, citing American defence needs. 12/10/1940 President Roosevelt in a fireside chat suggests the drafting of 18 and 19 year old men. 15/10/1940 16 million Americans already registered for National Service. 29/10/1940 Conscription begins in the U.S. It is the first military draft to occur during peacetime in American history. 05/11/1940 Roosevelt is elected as President of USA for an unprecedented third term with 54 percent of the popular vote. He defeats Republican Wendell L. Willke. 12/11/1940 Colonel Burns again proposes a Canadian parachute force to the Chief of General Staff. The idea is shelved, and no action is taken. 19/11/1940 The Canadian government approves initiation of mass production of war bacteria. 23/12/1940 Lord Halifax appointed British ambassador to Washington. 29/12/1940 Roosevelt tells Americans: "We must be the great arsenal of the democracies."