President Franklin D. Roosevelt around the time he ordered all Japanese assets in the United States seized.
By: Phil Kohn. Dedicated to the memory of his father, GM3 Walter Kohn, U.S. Navy Armed Guard, USNR, and all men and women who have answered the country’s call in time of need. Phil can be contacted at ww2remembered@yahoo.com.
During the night of July 25, 1941, Italian “explosive boats” and “human torpedoes” attempt to attack shipping in the Grand Harbour, at Valletta, Malta. German forces capture Tallinn, Estonia.
On July 26, President Roosevelt, in retaliation for intended Japanese moves into Indochina, orders all Japanese assets in the U.S. seized. Prime Minister Churchill does the same in the United Kingdom. The value involved is around $134 million, but Japanese oil imports are curtailed by almost 80 percent. Roosevelt also orders the nationalization of the 150,000-man Philippines Army “for the duration of the current national emergency” (the Philippines being a U.S. Commonwealth), and appoints U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur commander of all U.S. forces in the Philippines.
A German pincer movement on July 27 cuts off Soviet forces around Smolensk, Russia, located on the Dnieper River around 220 miles west-southwest of Moscow. Over 100,000 prisoners are taken. After a weeklong siege, the Germans capture Mogilev, Belorussia, about 48 miles west of the Russian border.
The Japanese army on July 28 begins occupying bases in southern Indochina, the location of which could be used as launch points for invasions of Malaya, the East Indies or the Philippines. Officials in the Dutch East Indies freeze all Japanese assets there, and cancel all Dutch-Japanese oil deals. In Europe, Finland and Great Britain break off diplomatic relations. German forces take Kingisepp, Russia, some 86 miles southwest of Leningrad.
On July 29, the governments of Vichy France and Japan sign a protocol concerning joint defense and military cooperation. The pact gives Japan the right to eight airbases in Indochina and permits a greater troop presence in the country. In Tokyo, Japan freezes all Dutch assets in the country. At this point, about 75% of Japan’s foreign trade is at a standstill, and almost 90% of its oil imports are cut off.
The American gunboat USS Tutuila, stationed at the Nationalist Chinese capital of Chungking (now Chongqing), on July 30 is severely damaged by bombs from a Japanese air raid. The government of Japan apologizes to the U.S. for the incident. At Glina, in the Independent State of Croatia (a Nazi puppet state), members of the Ustaše — the Croatian fascist militia — begin a four-day massacre of between 700 and 1,200 Serbian peasants. In Indochina, some 13,000 Japanese troops occupy Saigon. In Ukraine, the German 6th Army makes its first direct attack on Kiev.
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, under instructions from Adolf Hitler, on July 31 orders SS Gen. Reinhard Heydrich to “submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question.”
In North Africa, Axis forces are reorganized. Maj. Gen. Ludwig Crüwell is given command of the German Afrika Korps, reporting to Lt. Gen. Erwin Rommel, now in charge of the new Panzer Group Africa (Panzergruppe Afrika). The German 5th Light Division is redesignated the 21st Panzer Division, giving Rommel two panzer divisions and one German infantry division in his force. On the Eastern Front, German advances continue unabated. In Washington, the U.S. recognizes the Czechoslovak government-in-exile.
