December 18

1863 Birth: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria: Franz Ferdinand was born in Graz, Austria. As the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire his assassination on 28 June 1914 sparked the First World War. [For further information, click here]

1913 Birth: Willy Brandt: German Chancellor (1969-74), Nobel Peace Prize 1971.

1916 World War I: Various:

Battle of Verdun ends:

The Battle of Verdun, the longest engagement of World War I, ends on this day after ten months and close to a million total casualties suffered by German and French troops.

The battle had begun on February 21, after the Germans—led by Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn—developed a plan to attack the fortress city of Verdun, on the Meuse River in France. Falkenhayn believed that the French army was more vulnerable than the British, and that a major defeat on the Western Front would push the Allies to open peace negotiations. From the beginning, casualties mounted quickly on both sides of the conflict, and after some early gains of territory by the Germans, the battle settled into a bloody stalemate. Among the weapons in the German arsenal was the newly-invented flammenwerfer, or flamethrower; that year also saw the first use by the Germans of phosgene gas, ten times more lethal than the chlorine gas they previously used.

As fighting at Verdun stretched on and on, German resources were stretched thinner by having to confront both a British-led offensive on the Somme River and Russia's Brusilov Offensive on the Eastern Front. In July, the Kaiser, frustrated by the state of things at Verdun, removed Falkenhayn and sent him to command the 9th Army in Transylvania; Paul von Hindenburg took his place. By early December, under Robert Nivelle, who had been appointed to replace Philippe PÉtain in April, the French had managed to recapture much of their lost territory, and in the last three days of battle took 11,000 German prisoners before Hindenburg finally called a stop to the German attacks.

The massive loss of life at Verdun—143,000 German dead out of 337,000 casualties, to France's 162,440 out of 377,231—would come to symbolize, more than that of any other battle, the bloody nature of trench warfare on the Western Front. (History.com)

President Wilson asks the warring European powers to state their conditions for peace negotiations.

1917 Russian Revolution: The Soviet regime approves Finland's proclaimed independence:

As the answer to the appeal of the Finnish Government to recognise the independence of the Republic of Finland, the Soviet of People's Commissars, in full accordance with the principle of nations' right to self-determination, HAS DECIDED: To propose to the Central Executive Committee that: a. The independence of the Republic of Finland as a country is recognised, and b. A special Commission, in agreement with the Finnish Government, comprising members of both parties, should be instituted to elaborate those practical measures that follow from the partition of Finland from Russia.

1918 Gefreiter Adolf Hitler is ordered to Traunstein for guard duty at a prisoner of war camp:

Meantime Hitler had turned up, back from Pasewalk. We met, we two, and cemented our old friendship. This was the first I heard of his being gassed and in the hospital. He hadn't much to say about the Revolution, but it was plain to see how bitter he felt . . . . Then, one day, volunteers were called for as guards for the prisoners' camp at Traunstein . . . . Hitler said to me, "Say, Schmidt, let's give in our names, you and me. I can't stick it here much longer." . . . . [It] was mid- December when we went to Traunstein. They were mostly Russian prisoners there and a few English . . . . We hadn't a great deal to do. We mounted guard at the gate . . . . for 24 hours at a stretch. The next 24 hours we were off duty. At the end of January they broke up the camp.

1920 Volkishness: Rudolf Gorsleben delivers a speech entitled "The Aryan Man" to the Thule Society. In his diary, Johannes Hering writes of Gorsleben's occult tendencies and describes his doctrine of "Aryan" mysticism. (THP)

1929 Various:

Protocols: Nazi Party obtains rights to Gottfried zur Beek's translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. (THP)

Arab Revolt: Jews and Arabs clash at the "Wailing Wall" (Western Wall). In Hebron, Arabs kill 67 Jews and begin driving Jewish families out of the city and surrounding areas.

1930 Weimar: Theodor Eicke joins the SS as member No. 2921.

1933 Various:

Holocaust: A Nazi decree bars Jews from the field of journalism and associated professions.

London: In Hyde Park, more than 50,000 Jews demonstrate against the Nazis and call for war against Germany. (THP)

1935 Eduard Benes: is elected second president of Czechoslovakia, after the resignation of Tomas Masaryk.

1936 Holocaust: The Nazis proclaim an anti-Jewish boycott, limited to Breslau.

1939 World War II: Various

Battle of the Heligoland Bight: The German Luftwaffe victory over the Royal Air Force in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight greatly influenced both sides' future air strategy. [For further information, click here]

Poland: Lavrenti Beria, head of the NKVD, orders the start of large-scale deportation of Poles to the USSR.

1940 World War II: Barbarossa: Hitler issues Directive #21 for the invasion of the Soviet Union, code-named Operation Barbarossa. Hitler orders that everything must be concluded no later than May 15, 1941.

1941 Various:

World War II: Japan invades Hong Kong:

On this day, Japanese troops land in Hong Kong and a slaughter ensues.

A week of air raids over Hong Kong, a British crown colony, was followed up on December 17 with a visit paid by Japanese envoys to Sir Mark Young, the British governor of Hong Kong. The envoys' message was simple: The British garrison there should simply surrender to the Japanese—resistance was futile. The envoys were sent home with the following retort: "The governor and commander in chief of Hong Kong declines absolutely to enter into negotiations for the surrender of Hong Kong."

The first wave of Japanese troops landed in Hong Kong with artillery fire for cover and the following order from their commander: "Take no prisoners." Upon overrunning a volunteer antiaircraft battery, the Japanese invaders roped together the captured soldiers and proceeded to bayonet them to death. Even those who offered no resistance, such as the Royal Medical Corps, were led up a hill and killed.

The Japanese quickly took control of key reservoirs, threatening the British and Chinese inhabitants with a slow death by thirst. The Brits finally surrendered control of Hong Kong on Christmas Day. (History.com)

USA: War Powers Act:

The War Powers Act was passed by Congress on the same day, authorizing the president to initiate and terminate defense contracts, reconfigure government agencies for wartime priorities, and regulate the freezing of foreign assets. It also permitted him to censor all communications coming in and leaving the country.

FDR appointed the executive news director of the Associated Press, Byron Price, as director of censorship. Although invested with the awesome power to restrict and withhold news, Price took no extreme measures, allowing news outlets and radio stations to self-censor, which they did. Most top secret information, including the construction of the atom bomb, remained just that.

The most extreme use of the censorship law seems to have been the restriction of the free flow of "girlie" magazines to servicemen—including Esquire, which the Post Office considered obscene for its occasional saucy cartoons and pinups. Esquire took the Post Office to court, and after three years the Supreme Court ultimately sided with the magazine. (History.com)

Holocaust: Hans Fritzsche speaks:

The fate of Jewry in Europe has turned out to be as unpleasant as the Fuehrer predicted it would be in the event of a European war. After the extension of the war instigated by Jews, this fate may also spread to the New World, for it can hardly be assumed that the nations of this New World will pardon the Jews for the misery of which the nations of the Old World did not absolve them.

Holocaust: From 'Memorandum to the Fuehrer—Concerning Jewish Possessions in France' by Reich Foreign Minister Alfred Rosenberg:

In compliance with the order of the Fuehrer for protection of Jewish cultural possessions, a great number of Jewish dwellings remained unguarded. Consequently, many furnishings have disappeared because a guard could, naturally, not be posted. In the whole East the administration has found terrible conditions of living quarters, and the chances of procurement are so limited that it is not possible to procure any more. Therefore, I beg the Fuehrer to permit the seizure of a Jewish home furnishings of Jews in Paris who have fled or will leave shortly and those of Jews living in all parts of the occupied West to relieve the shortage of furnishings in the administration in the East. A great number of leading Jews were, after a short examination in Paris, again released. The attempts on the lives of members of the Forces have not stopped; on the contrary they continue. This reveals an unmistakable plan to disrupt the German-French cooperation, to force Germany to retaliate and, with this, evoke a new defense on the part of the French against Germany. I suggest to the Fuehrer that, instead of executing 100 Frenchmen, we shoot in their place 100 Jewish bankers, lawyers, etc. It is the Jews in London and New York who incite the French Communists to commit acts of violence, and it seems only fair that the members of this race should pay for this. It is not the little Jews but the leading Jews in France who should be held responsible. That would tend to awaken the anti-Jewish sentiment.

1942 World War II: Stalin to FDR:

Thank you very much for the willingness to help us. The Anglo-American squadrons with crews are no longer needed in Transcaucasia. The main battles are being fought, and will be fought, on the Central Front and in the Voronezh area. I should be most grateful if you would expedite the dispatch of aircraft, especially fighters, but without crews, whom you now need badly for use in the areas mentioned. A feature of the Soviet Air Force is that we have more than enough pilots but suffer from a shortage of machines.

1944 World War II: Various:

War in the Pacific: The British destroyers Hull, Spence and Monaghan sink during a typhoon, off the Philippines.

Netherlands: The German occupiers of Amsterdam destroy the city's electric plants.

1945 Nuremberg Tribunal: Twenty-Second Day: The prosecution begins introducing evidence to prove the criminality of seven German organizations: the Nazi party leadership, the German High Command, the SS, the SA, the SD, the Reich Cabinet, and the Gestapo. It will prove to be a near fruitless endeavor.

1946 Birth: Steven Spielberg:

On this day in 1946, Steven Spielberg, who will become one of the most successful directors in modern movie history with such blockbusters as . . . Schindler's List . . . is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. [For further details, Click here.]

1995 Death: Konrad Zuse, a German engineer who built one of the world's first computers, and lost it in the wartime Allied bombing of Berlin.

Edited by Levi Bookin (Copy editor)
levi.bookin@gmail.com

 


 







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