Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-1941
Moscow, German advance on
Mosley, Oswald
Mukden Incident see Manchuria
Müller, Heinrich, head of Gestapo
Munich Agreement
role of Mussolini in
Mussolini, Benito and Abyssinian war
and Anglo-French approach (1935)
British view of
character
grandiose visions
vanity of
control of state ministries
and cult of the Duce
decision-making
deposition and execution
and France
and Germany: anger at German occupation of Romania
confidence in German victory
state visit (1937)
support for remilitarization
and Greece: ambitions for decision to attack
invasion of
and Hitler
resentment of
and King Victor Emmanuel
Mussolini, Benito–cont. limits to power of
meetings with Hitler
Brenner Pass (March 1940)
Brenner Pass (October 1940)
Florence (October 1940)
and Nazi–Soviet Non-Aggression
Pact
personal policy-making
possibility of British negotiation with
rejection of Roosevelt’s offer of mediation
relations with armed forces
rise of
and Salò Republic
vision as mediator between
Germany and Britain
and war: alternatives to intervention
commitment to intervention
decision to enter
enthusiasm for
postponement of
and Yugoslavia
Nagano Osami, chief of Japanese naval General Staff
commitment to war
and negotiations with America
war preparations
Nagasaki
Nanking, Chinese nationalist government in
Napoleon Bonaparte, invasion of Russia
Nazism antisemitism of party members
demonization of Jews
and genocide of Jews
outrages
Netherlands German invasion
see also
Dutch East Indies
Neurath, Konstantin von, German Foreign Minister
New Guinea
New York Times
New Zealand
Nomura Kichisaburo, Admiral, Japanese ambassador in Washington
as Foreign Minister
and negotiations between Japan and
America
and proposed meeting of Konoe and Roosevelt
Non-Aggression Pact (Hitler–Stalin)(August 1939)
to buy time for Stalin
north Africa
British offensive in
German campaign in
Italian campaign in
Operation Torch
see also
Egypt; Libya
Northern Rhodesia
Norway, German invasion of
nuclear weapons see atomic bombs
Oikawa Koshiro, Japanese Navy Minister
and alliance with Axis powers
and negotiations with America
oil American embargo on Japan
American exports
Dutch East Indies supplies
Japanese dependence on imports
Romanian
Okamoto Kio Puku, General
Operation Barbarossa
intelligence warning to Stalin
Operation Dynamo (evacuation of Dunkirk)
Operation Sealion (German invasion of Britain)
Oran
Oshima Hiroshi, Japanese ambassador in Berlin
and declaration of war
Ott, General Eugen, German ambassador to Tokyo
Oumansky, Konstantin, Soviet ambassador in Washington
Outer Mongolia, Japanese clashes with Soviet troops
Pacific, war in
‘Pact of Steel’ (May 1939)
Palestine
Panay, USS gunboat, Japanese bombing of
Paresci, Gabriele, press attaché at Italian embassy
Pariani, Alberto, Italian Under-Secretary for War
Paris, German occupation
Paris Peace Conference (1919)
Pavlov, General D. G.
Pearl Harbor
attack on
casualties
German reaction to
preparations for
Peking, skirmish at Marco Polo bridge (1937)
Pershing, General John J.
Persian Gulf
Petacci, Claretta
Pétain, Marshal Philippe
meeting with Hitler
Philippines Japanese attack on
neutrality of
Phillimore, Lord
Pirelli, Alberto
Poland
division of
elimination of Jews from
German invasion
German non-aggression treaty (1934)
Jewish ghettos
Ponomariov, Nikolai Vasilievich
Portugal
press German right-wing
Japan
Soviet
see also
public opinion
Pricolo, Francesco, Italian air force chief of staff
Prince of Wales, HMS
Pripet marshes
murder of Jews in
Prytz, Bjorn, Swedish chargé d’affaires in London
public opinion Britain
Germany
Italy
Japan
West, anti-Japanese
see also
United States of America
Raeder, Grand Admiral Erich
and Greer
incident
recommendation of ‘peripheral strategy’
and war with United States
Rankin, Jeannette, US Representative
Rapallo, Treaty of (1922)
Red Army
air defences
casualties
counter-offensive
defence strategy (war games)
deficiencies
effect of purges on
expectation of direction of German attack
and German invasion
growing US optimism about
lack of operational war plan
lack of trained leadership
and military intelligence of German preparations
mobilization plans
rearmament
size of
and Stalin Line fortifications
Stalin’s speech to Military Academy
strategic theory
suggestion of pre-emptive strike
underestimated
and Winter War in Finland
see also
Soviet Union; Stalin, Joseph
Reuben James, USS, sinking of
Reynaud, Paul, French Prime Minister appeal to United States
and approach to Mussolini
expectation of defeat
visit to London (26 May)
War Cabinet reply to
Rhineland, German remilitarization
, Ribbentrop, Joachim von, Foreign Minister
and declaration of war on United
States
and Italy
and Japan
on Pearl Harbor
and Soviet Union
Richardson, Admiral James O., US naval Commander-in-Chief
Riga, killing of Jews at
Roatta, General Mario, deputy chief of Italian army staff
Robin Moor, USS
Romania German troops in
oil wells at Ploesti
Soviet annexations
Rome, Franco-Italian armistice
Rommel, General Erwin
Roosevelt, Eleanor
Roosevelt, Elliott
Roosevelt, Franklin D., US
President
and 1940 presidential election
and aid for Soviet Union
appeals for peace (1939)
and Atlantic convoys
career and character
and Churchill: correspondence with
meeting with (August 1941)
collective security initiative (1938)
commitment to Britain
commitment to neutrality (1939–40)
and deal to lend destroyers to
Britain
decision to prepare for war
and defence policy
exploitation of Greer
incident,
[speech to nation]
and hawks among advisers
on Hitler
and inevitability of war with
Germany
and Japan
condemnation of (1937)
declaration of war
last-ditch negotiations (‘modus vivendi’)
personal message to
Hirohito
and proposed meeting with Konoe
reluctance to commit to war in Pacific
and lend-lease deal
idea for
and Mussolini: proposed intercession with
rebuff by
and New Deal
options available to
personal role of
political opposition to
and possibility of negotiated peace
and public opinion
and debates over Iceland
‘quarantine speech’ (1937)
reluctance to commit to war
and Soviet Union
speech on armed defence (October 1941)
State of the Union address (January 1941)
style of government
on threat to America (December 1940)
and ‘undeclared war’
and war planning
Roosevelt, Theodore, US President
Rosenberg, Alfred, German minister for Eastern Territories
Rosenman, Judge Samuel, speech-writer to FDR
Rössler, Rudolf (‘Lucy’), Soviet agent in Lucerne
Rosso, Augusto, Italian ambassador in
Berlin
Royal Air Force
Royal Navy
suggestion of removal to Canada
Rundstedt, Colonel-General Gerd von
Russo-Japanese war (1904–5)
Saint-Germain, Treaty of
Saionji Kinmochi, Japanese imperial adviser
Sakhalin Island, Japanese occupation
Salonika
Sawada Shigeru, vice-chief of Japanese army General Staff
Scholl, Lieutenant-Colonel Erwin
Schönerer, Georg, Pan-German leader
Schulenburg, Count Friedrich Werner von der, German ambassador in Moscow
Schulze-Boysen, Harro (‘Starshina’), German communist agent
Second World War course of
legacy of
‘phoney war’
Seychelles
Shanghai, bombing of
Shaposhnikov, V. M., chief of Soviet General Staff
Sherwood, Robert, speech writer for Roosevelt
Shetland Islands
Shigemitsu Mamoru, adviser to
Hirohito
Shimada Shigetaro, Japanese Navy Minister
Shirer, William, journalist
Siberia, as potential colony for deported Jews
Sidi Barrani, Egypt
Simon, Sir John, British Foreign Secretary
Sinclair, Archibald, leader of Liberal Party
Singapore
Japanese attack on
Smolensk
Sobibor camp
social Darwinism
Soddu, General Ubaldo, deputy head of Italian Supreme Command
Somaliland
Sorge, Richard (‘Ramzai’), Soviet agent in Tokyo
South Africa
South China Sea, Japanese expansion into
South Tyrol
Southern Rhodesia
Soviet Union
antisemitism in
and Britain