February 1940

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1940
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The following events occurred in February 1940:

February 1, 1940 (Thursday)

February 2, 1940 (Friday)

February 3, 1940 (Saturday)

February 4, 1940 (Sunday)

February 5, 1940 (Monday)

February 6, 1940 (Tuesday)

February 7, 1940 (Wednesday)

February 8, 1940 (Thursday)

February 9, 1940 (Friday)

February 10, 1940 (Saturday)

  • Soviet troops finally began breaking through the Mannerheim Line.[5]
  • First mass deportation of Poles from Soviet-occupied territories to prison and labour camps in Siberia/northern Russia[15]
  • To mark the 2,600th anniversary of the traditional founding date of Japan, Pope Pius XII sent Emperor Hirohito a telegram that said in part: "We ask God that may you cease hostilities and that through Divine aid may the Japanese people and their sovereigns attain greater glory and happy years."[16]
  • Czech Jews were ordered to close their shops and cease economic activity.[7]
  • From the south portico of the White House, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt confronted a gathering of 4,500 members of the American Youth Congress, which had recently passed a resolution declaring that granting aid to Finland was an "attempt to force America into the imperialistic war" against the Soviet Union. Roosevelt told them that it was "a grand thing" for youth to be interested enough in government to come to Washington, but offered "some words of warning or perhaps I should say of suggestion ... do not as a group pass resolutions on subjects which you have not thought through and on which you cannot possibly have complete knowledge." The president continued, "That American sympathy is ninety-eight per cent with the Finns in their effort to stave off invasion of their own soil is by now axiomatic. That America wants to help them by lending or giving money to them to save their own lives is also axiomatic today. That the Soviet Union would, because of this, declare war on the United States is about the silliest thought that I have ever heard advanced in the fifty-eight years of my life. That we are going to war ourselves with the Soviet Union is an equally silly thought." The organization responded by booing the president, but the event was politically useful to Roosevelt in that it served as a rejoinder to accusations from his opponents that he was sympathetic to communism.[17][13]
  • The biographical film Young Tom Edison starring Mickey Rooney had a special preview in Port Huron, Michigan, the place where Thomas Edison spent his childhood.[18]
  • Tom and Jerry made their debut in the short film Puss Gets the Boot, under their original names of Jasper and Jinx.

February 11, 1940 (Sunday)

February 12, 1940 (Monday)

February 13, 1940 (Tuesday)

  • Finland asked Sweden to provide troops to fight against the Soviet Union, but Sweden refused out of fear that both Britain and Germany would respond by invading Sweden.[5]
  • By a vote of 49 to 27 the United States Senate passed the Roosevelt Administration's bill to provide additional government loans to Finland, China and other countries. The bill went on to the House.[21]

February 14, 1940 (Wednesday)

  • Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department Osbert Peake announced in Parliament that a general license had been granted for British subjects to volunteer for service with the Finnish military.[22]
  • An authorized Nazi spokesman said that U-boats had a "theoretical right" to attack United States shipping en route to Allied ports.[23]
  • The Manstein Plan was tested again in a war game at Mayen.Heinz Guderian concluded that the plan was viable, but Franz Halder did not share Guderian's confidence that panzers could cross the Meuse on their own without waiting for infantry support. This debate was never resolved except for an agreement that panzer commanders would be authorized to attempt the crossing on their own, but if they failed Army Group A would switch to the infantry option.[8][24]

February 15, 1940 (Thursday)

February 16, 1940 (Friday)

February 17, 1940 (Saturday)

  • Erich von Manstein presented the Manstein Plan to Hitler, detailing the war plan for the German invasion of France and the Low Countries. Hitler was impressed by the plan.[5]
  • Germany accused Britain of "piracy, murder and gangsterism" over the Altmark incident and also lodged a protest with Norway demanding compensation for failing to protect the German ship within Norwegian territorial waters. Norway in turn protested to Britain for infringing on the country's neutrality.[28][29]
  • Born: Gene Pitney, singer-songwriter, in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 2006)

February 18, 1940 (Sunday)

February 19, 1940 (Monday)

February 20, 1940 (Tuesday)

February 21, 1940 (Wednesday)

February 22, 1940 (Thursday)

February 23, 1940 (Friday)

February 24, 1940 (Saturday)

February 25, 1940 (Sunday)

February 26, 1940 (Monday)

  • The large passenger liner RMS Queen Elizabeth left Clydebank on a secret maiden voyage to New York for her final fitting. The British generated false intelligence to make the Germans believe that the ship's destination was Southampton.[5]
  • In Rome, U.S. Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles had his first day of meetings with European leaders during his fact-finding mission. Welles went to the Palazzo Chigi where he found Count Ciano to be very hostile to Germany. They then went together to the Palazzo Venezia where Welles found Mussolini to be hardly better disposed towards Britain and France.[13][37] Welles later recounted being "profoundly shocked" at Mussolini's appearance, finding him looking old, slow and tired in contrast to the vital-looking Mussolini seen in photographs and newsreels.[38]
  • Died: Michael Hainisch, 81, 2nd President of Austria

February 27, 1940 (Tuesday)

February 28, 1940 (Wednesday)

February 29, 1940 (Thursday)

  • Hitler issued a secret directive to all Nazi officials who were to be meeting with Sumner Welles. They were told to maintain the narrative that Britain and France had started the war and were determined to destroy Germany, so Germany had no choice but to continue fighting.[41]
  • The 12th Academy Awards were held in Los Angeles, hosted by Bob Hope for the first of what would be nineteen times. Gone With the Wind won eight awards including Best Picture. Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Oscar when she was named Best Supporting Actress. The Los Angeles Times published the names of the winners in its 8:45 p.m. edition, so most of the attendees already knew the results ahead of time. The Academy would respond by starting a tradition the following year in which the winners were not revealed until the ceremony itself when sealed envelopes were opened.[42]
  • Born: Yoshio Harada, actor, in Tokyo, Japan (d. 2011)
  • Died: E. F. Benson, 72, English novelist

References

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  15. Soviet repressions of Polish citizens (1939–46)
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