Eighty Years Ago This Week

Germany gave notice that it intended to exercise its rights under the 1935 Anglo-German Naval Treaty to increase its strength towards the limits set by the treaty. Of most interest was what the Kriegsmarine might do about its U Boot force. Under the treaty it was allowed full parity with Britain in submarine strength but had accepted that it would not exceed 45% of Royal Navy submarine tonnage unless “exceptional” circumstances arose. A Royal Navy delegation flew to Berlin at short notice to clarify the position. Germany claimed that it wanted to increase its U Boot fleet by a maximum of 10%. Applying this to the Germans' own figures for the to navies’ respective submarine strengths this implied a rise to 47% of the British total. A discreet silence was maintained as to what exceptional circumstances might have prompted the move. The New Year’s Honours list provided a handy guide to who was well in with the Chamberlain government, in particular the men who were deeme...

The Japanese began to roll out a specious vision of solidarity amongst Asian races as a justification for their policy of naked conquest and domination. Their “New Order” in north Asia was supposedly intended to bring together non-whites in the region to protect their interests against the western powers. It came two years before the Nazi "new order" for Europe but the Japanese phrase has faded from memory whilst the Nazi one took firmer hold. The prime minister Prince Konoye made a “peace offer” to the Chinese government which was the targeted launch customer for this racial-diplomatic scam. The Chinese were invited to join the anti-Comintern pact and to recognise the Japanese puppet regime in Manchukuo. Japan fielded out a tame Chinese called Wang who was a leading collaborationist in Manchukuo as an advocate of the treaty. Predictably nothing came of this overture, but the “New Order” served as a basis for the “Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere” which was to serve...

Hitler addressed a lunch for 3,000 construction workers invited to celebrate the completion of the 3,000 th kilometer of Autobahnen in Germany. The final stretched had been formally opened by Fritz Todt, the German construction supremo who had just published a hagiographic book on Hitler and the Autobahnnen . Hitler emphasised the part that the road programme had played in the elimination of unemployment and touched other economic themes as well. The massive programme of fortifications then under way, notably the Westwall (Siegfried Line to the British) along the frontier with France was part of the same quasi-Keynesian plan as well as a military necessity. Germany needed to be self-sufficient to be strong. The other power forbade her to have colonies. Britain's civil defence chief, Sir John Anderson a civil servant lightly rebranded as a non-party politician, anounced a massive construction programme of air raid shelters. It was to cost the gigantic sum of £22m. The sh...