March 21st, 1939 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: Destroyer HMS KANDAHAR is launched.
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain proposes to France that the two countries, Germany, and Poland form a mutual support pact.
GERMANY: For the
third time since 24 October 1938, Germany renews its harsh demands on Poland,
i.e., (1) the free city of Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland) be restored to Germany,
(2) the construction of a road and railway from Germany and East Prussia across
the Polish Corridor and
(3) long-term guarantees of the new territorial
boundaries.
Prior to 1919, Danzig was the provincial capital of German West Prussia but with the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Danzig became a free city with its own legislature. In order to give the newly reestablished nation of Poland a seaport, Danzig was included in the Polish customs territory and was placed under a high commissioner appointed by the League of Nations. The Treaty of Versailles also created the Polish Corridor, a strip of land 20 to 70 miles (32-112 kilometres) wide containing the lower course of the Vistula River, except the area constituting the Free City of Danzig, and the towns of Toru, Grudziz, and Bydogoszcz. Free German transit was permitted across the corridor, which separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. Although the territory had once formed part of Polish Pomerania, a large minority of the population was German-speaking and this arrangement caused chronic friction between Poland and Germany. For the third time, the Poles reject the German demands.
U.S.A.: A song, written by Irving Berlin in 1918 as a tribute by a successful immigrant to his adopted country, was recorded by Kate Smith for Victor Records on this day. Ms. Smith had introduced the song on Armistice Day, 11 November 1938, at the New York World’s Fair. It was a fitting tribute to its composer, who gave all royalties from the very popular and emotional, "God Bless America" to the Boy Scouts. The song became Kate Smith’s second signature after "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain" and the unofficial national anthem of the United States during World War II.