Dallas Morning News
May 11, 1941 - Edited by Hayden Houser and Chase Hood
LONDON BURNS: DEVASTATING NIGHT ATTACKS CONTINUE ON UNITED KINGDOM
As the Battle of Britain continues, its aftermath rots
Every night, preemptively, there seems to be a collective readying of the populous for another night of bombing, of terrible tremors above their heads as they gather in underground bunkers - be they basements of shops, homes, or even the subway system.
It makes little strategic sense for a continual bombing of the civilian population in such a way that it happens now, until you look around at the faces in the shelters as they huddle together, the ground about them shaking, spitting out dust as the bombs continually hit the ground closer and closer to where they hide.
The morale, it seems - grows weaker, little by little, every night of bombing. How they've managed to survive since last September is a miracle unto itself, but the Germans seem that they're determined to focus on London and outlying industrial areas, focused on destroying manufacturing capacity, and civilian morale.
May Britain find solace in these cold nights, because we all know they need it.
As Nazi power grows, US stays silent
As Britain yearns for help, and we provide only meager arms shipments, one might question why we continue such inaction. For a large part, it's self-inflicted.
President Roosevelt has been wary to exercise his authority and that of Congress' ability to wage war, largely because involvement in European wars was never an American objective. It's been the position of the administration thus far that unless a direct threat is posed to the American homeland, no action should be taken because it would be unnecessary and simply provoke other nations of the world. He's explained this multiple times through his now notorious fireside chats which seemingly have him acting like a father figure to the country at large.
However, with the lend lease act in full swing, British ships are continuously pulling into American ports, ready to transport hundreds of millions of tons of American equipment to British shores to better aid the defense of their own nation. However, what's now been termed the Battle of the Atlantic has made that more than difficult, since every trip to and from Britain incurs massive casualties on the side of those carrying the cargo, as their sunken by German U-Boats.
Whatever the future position of the administration may be, something will change soon. Whether it is more isolationism or less, the status quo is simply inoperable.
Blue: US, UK, Colonies and Non-fascist forces
Red; Soviet Union, currently neutral
OP-ED: Japan's aggression must be addressed
Japan's expansionism seems to have no end, and are seemingly pursuing an entire sphere of influence from the northernmost regions of China to as close to Australia as they can get without aggravating the United Kingdom. But until that aggravation happens, they will continue their expansion until stopped by force. And as Japan moves south and east, we must keep in mind that in Japan's current diplomatic state, they are closer with Italy and Germany than they are with any other modern state in the world.
We must take caution to look at Japan's internal politics, and more specifically, their current attitudes of fascism and expansionism, with very much similar between Japan and Germany, Japan and Italy... to tolerate their expansion on any level will eventually result in facing attack. We are already seeing the possibility of this, as Japan takes over small nations in the Pacific, making small hops from island to island, closer and closer to our shores. Something, will, eventually happen because they are growing with more proximal ability.
We are walking down a road of appeasement, much in the way that Chamberlain did in Europe. Except we're not appeasing the leaders of Japan -- we're simply ignoring them. And in some ways, that's much, much worse.
OP-ED response: Japan and the "Embargo Card"
They in effect, cannot exist without us. Without our oil, without our resources, and without our effective permission, Japan cannot keep its military in an operable state to any real extent.
Expansion is facilitated through something we've observed very similar to Germany's blitzkrieg; a rapid movement of airpower and bombing followed by infantry and armored movement over bombed areas to take over such areas. Japan is employing somewhat similar tactics in China, Korea and Manchuria -- and all of their methods of warfare are powered by, largely, our oil. We should take responsibility for what atrocities we've provided for so far and simply revoke Japan's ability to buy such oil from both our government and private industry, becauase it simply allows for further aggression to occur in the region, which threatens everyone.
Would the embargo make things worse?
Perhaps. But to do nothing is to act, once again, permissibly towards the expansion and crimes that Japan is committing in the Asia-Pacific region. Expansions into Indochina, pushing against both several holdings of the UK and the United States, many of which have military bases or at the very least civilian settlements.
The easiest solution here is the one that I am proposing. Without American oil reserves, Japan has no oil for their planes, cars, ships -- they have no capacity to wage war and expand into the Asia-Pacific region. If our goal is to prevent war, this is the first step to doing so.
The man, the myth, the legend: Prime Minister Winston Churchill
A man of success, but also failure.
Patience, but also aggressiveness.
Winston Churchill is many things, but to call him an ineffective leader would be quite the pointed accusation. But, his extensive background is far beyond what would often be perceived from across the Atlantic - and he has a much larger background in British politics that some perceive.
Born into a large, wealthy, expansive British family with the Chancellor of the Exchequer as a father, Churchill first came to prominence in the failures of the landings at Gallipoli in the Great War. The British suffered heavy losses, and taking most of the blame, he was forced out of the Conservative government at the time, effectively exiling him from politics for the time being.
After a long period of political isolation, his frequent criticisms of then-PM Neville Chamberlain resulted in him gaining prominence, and when Chamberlain resigned, Churchill assumed his position as PM and took over the British government, drastically changing the direction of the British Government's effort in a hope to avert further losses in Europe.
However, this is where we reside now. Europe, aside from the British, has been lost. And now Churchill must manage a nation under constant attack, with British civilian morale wavering constantly.
However, with the constant pressure placed upon him, he proved himself through his effective oration and morale-raising through his own actions as being the motivating force behind saving Britain. Most famously and importantly, perhaps, is his 'Finest Hour' speech.
Saying, in part, "...let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'this was their finest hour.'"
Churchill knows that tough times lie ahead - the question is whether or not he will be capable of holding on to the British Isles long enough for Hitler to finally abandon his hopes, or if the policies of other nations change so that they may assist Britain in its fight against fascist tyranny.