Crisis in the Pacific

Series

Series Name

The March of Time 5th Year

Issue

Issue No.

10

Date Released

Mar 1940

Length of issue (in feet)

1630

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1Crisis in the Pacific

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 1

Summary

The March of Time synopsis: Europe today, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean has thirty million men under arms, fighting or prepared to fight French and British forces are spread out along every frontier of France, for they cannot risk a flank attack around the ends of the Maginot Line. The war on land is developing into a "war of position", on the seas it has become a slow deadly war of attrition, featuring the most potent weapon - naval blockade. The March of Time in its latest release "Crisis in the Pacific" shows first how the Allies are preparing for the war on land and how at sea an elaborate convoy system is keeping open the vital sea-lanes to the East and West. But while the tragedy of Europe is filling men’s minds the world over, Admiral Yarnell, retired Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, points out that "there is a far more terrible war still raging in China" where Japan’s invasion has, in two years, caused greater misery and destruction, than the World War caused in its four years. For Japan, 1940 promises to be a year of wider conquest, with Russia now in the camp of her good friend, Nazi Germany, and England and France occupied in Europe. From Tokyo comes the boast that her militarists plan to dominate the whole South Pacific area, from Hawaii to Singapore, and the frank statement that their new order in Asia will have no place for the white man. Meanwhile, Hong Kong, is completely surrounded by the armed forces of Japan, but, with the help of Britain’s China Squadron, a well-prepared system of defence and air raid precautions, this small island is still a formidable outpost of the British Europe. The one nation whose support of Britain in the Pacific may act as a check on Japan’s headstrong militarists is the United States. Americans are beginning to blame themselves for this critical situation as they have been supplying the aggressor nation with materials necessary for conquest.

The United States’ vital interest in Pacific affairs dates back to the Spanish-American war, when the Philippine Islands became a U.S. possession. But Japan knows that whether or not these islands gain their promised independence in 1946, the U.S. will still retain a strategic foothold in the Pacific - the island of Guam. Only thirty miles long and nine miles wide, Guam is an open gateway in a barricade of Japanese islands, which were once owned by Germany then mandated to Japan in 1920. Captured without battle by the U.S. in the Spanish-American war, Guam is inhabited by a branch of the Malay race, the Chammaros, who are today loyal American subjects. A naval officer, Captain James T. Alexander, governs the island under a type of naval dictatorship. There are no paupers, no unemployed, and in return for taxes paid to the U.S. Navy, Guam is granted its own advisory congress. The Guamanians’ one fear is that Japan may one day try to take over the island. American administration has helped Guam to economic independence through development of progressive agricultural methods and small industries. But the real importance of this island to the United States is its strategic position as a naval base. Today the dockyards are only large enough to berth small harbour craft, the harbour still undeveloped and too shallow. In 1940 the Washington Government is rushing to completion its two billion pound rearmament programme, new bases are being built, old ones strengthened. And although the authorization for the militarization of Guam was refused by Congress last year - because of the fear of offending Japan - plans are ready, prepared by naval engineers, to make the island an invulnerable outpost for the U.S. Fleet, completing the American chain of defences in the Pacific. For this year, Americans are determined to keep war out of the Western hemisphere.

Researcher Comments

This story was included in Vol.6 No.5 of the US edition.

Keywords

Foreign relations; War and conflict; Military

Written sources

Documentary News Letter   Vol.1 No.3 March 1940, p6.
The March of Time Promotional Material   Lobby Card, Used for synopsis

Credits:

Production Co.

Time Inc.