12 December 1939

CHINA: Two Chinese provinces bordering Manchukuo, Chahar and Hopei, are declared to be autonomous by the Japanese.

SWITZERLAND: Ethiopia asks the League of Nations Assembly to discuss the Hoare-Laval peace proposal before Ethiopia replies stating that ". . . in order that, by a full and free public debate, conducted frankly in the face of the world, free from all pressure, direct or indirect, every Member State should be enabled to express its opinion on the true practical significance of the proposals submitted to Ethiopia and: on the general problem of the conditions which are indispensable if a settlement between the victim of a properly established act of aggression and the aggressor government is not in practice to result in destroying the League of Nations by bringing final ruin upon the system of guaranteed collective security provided for by the Covenant."

The League of Nations Committee of Eighteen postpones the adoption of the oil sanctions against Italy for the invasion of Ethiopia stating ". . . the committee should refrain from any measure which might have a political character, so long as the Council of the League had not been able to take a decision on the merits of the new proposals put forward by France and the United Kingdom. The adoption of any new measure by the Committee of Eighteen might prejudice the action which the Council, in virtue of its powers, would shortly have to take."

CHINA: Zhang Xueliang and General Yang Hucheng kidnap General Chiang Kai-shek in Xi'an (Sian) in an effort to force Chiang to declare war against the Japanese. There are demonstrations of support for Chiang across China, including the Communist Chinese. These demonstrations force Chang to release Chiang and Chiang's support reflects a great deal of unity among the Chinese people. Hucheng is imprisoned by Chiang and spends decades under house arrest until Chiang Kai-shek dies in the 1970s.

INTERNATIONAL: Italy, Germany, and Portugal reject the Franco-British proposal of 4 December on mediation in Spain because they consider reconciliation between the Nationalists and Republicans as hardly conceivable. The Franco-British proposal asked Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Russia to mediate in Spain and organize an effective control scheme.

UNITED STATES: The motion picture "Camille" opens in New York City. This romantic drama directed by George Cukor stars Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor and Lionel Barrymore. Garbo is nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress in a Leading Role. Members of the American Film Institute voted this film as No. 33 on the list of the 100 Greatest American Love Story.

CHINA: Yesterday, the USN river gunboat USS Panay (PR-5) departed Nanking with the remaining members of the U.S. Embassy staff. As the Japanese are attacking the city, the majority of the staff had left on 22 November. Also embarked on Panay are a number of civilians. The ship starts upriver, escorting three Standard Oil barges. Two British river gunboats, HMS Ladybird and HMS Bee and a few other British craft follow the same course. For 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) this little flotilla is fired upon repeatedly by a shore battery commanded by Colonel HASHIMOTO; his object is to provoke the U.S. into a declaration of war, which will eliminate civilian influence from the Japanese government and complete the "Showa Restoration." (The Showa Restoration was a combination of Japanese nationalism, Japanese expansionism, and Japanese militarism all carried out in the name of the Showa Emperor, Hirohito.) The shooting is so wild that Panay and her convoy, making slow speed against the current, pull out of range without suffering a hit. An advanced Army unit notifies naval authorities that Chinese troops are fleeing the capital in ten ships. At 1100 today, USS Panay and the three tankers anchor near Hoshien, upstream from Nanking. American flags are hoisted on their masts and painted on the awnings and topsides. The day is clear, sunny and still. Panay's crew eat their Sunday dinner and secure. No guns are manned or even uncovered. Shortly after 1330 hour, three Japanese Navy aircraft fly overhead and release 18 bombs, one of which disables Panay's forward 3-inch (7,62 centimeter) gun, wrecked the pilothouse, sick bay and fire room and wound the captain and several others. Immediately after, 12 more planes dive-bomb and nine fighters strafe, making several runs over a space of 20 minutes. Panay's crew fight back with 30-caliber (7.62 millimeter) machine guns. By 1406 hours all power and propulsion are lost, the main deck is awash and, as the captain sees that his ship is sinking, he orders her to be abandoned. Japanese planes strafe the boats on their way to shore, and even comb the reeds along the riverbank for survivors. Two of the three oil barges are also bombed and destroyed. The Panay survivors, kindly treated by the Chinese, manage to get word through to Admiral Harry Yarnell, Commander-in-Chief Asiatic Fleet, and are taken on board U.S.S. Oahu (PR-6) and HMS Ladybird two days later. Two sailors and a civilian passenger die of their wounds; eleven officers and men were seriously wounded. The Japanese maintain that the attack was unintentional, and they agree to pay US$2 million (US$26.3 million in 2004 dollars) in reparations.

GERMANY: The Government announces they would never return to the League of Nations stating, "At no period of its existence has it proved competent to make a useful contribution to the treatment of actual problems of world politics. On the contrary it has exercised only a harmful, even dangerous, influence on the whole political development of the post-war period. Under the protection of alleged ideals it became more and more the instrument of particular wire-pullers of the Versailles order. Instead of guiding international politics along the road of fruitful development through a reasonable balance of the natural forces and needs of the nations, Geneva has principally occupied itself with the elaboration and application of methods for working against such a development. The complete failure of the League is today a fact which requires no further proof and no further discussion. The hopes which, above all, many small nations. placed in the League have given way to the realization that the Geneva policy of collective security has in fact led to a collective insecurity . . . the political system of Genera is not only a failure but pernicious."

UNITED STATES: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a bit upset with National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio. The FCC scolds the radio network for a skit that starred Mae West. The satirical routine is based on the biblical tale of Adam and Eve and, well, it got a bit out of hand. So, following its scolding by the FCC, NBC banned Miss West from its airwaves for 15 years. Even the mere mention of her name on NBC was prohibited.

UNITED KINGDOM: Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announces that Britain has no legal obligation to assist France in the event of Italian aggression.

RAF Bomber Command: 'Security Patrols' - Hornum - Borkum. 77 Sq. Six aircraft. One bombed a flarepath, one damaged by Flak. Two enemy aircraft seen, but these did not attack. 102 Sq. Two aircraft One bombed a flarepath. The purpose of these operations over the seaplane bases of Borkum and Hornum was to curb the activities of the German mine laying aircraft. A system of standing patrols is initiated with Whitley's operating in relays and bombing any sign of activity.

RAF Coastal Command: The Secretary for Air announces that 57 attacks have been made on German submarines.

U-13 laid a mine barrier off the Firth of Tay, which later claimed one ship sunk.

Destroyer HMS Kipling commissioned.

Destroyer HMS Cottesmore laid down.

Destroyers HMS Atherstone and Hambledon launched.

Minesweeping trawlers HMS Elm and Bay launched.

GERMANY: The German liner 'Bremen' (51000 tons) arrives at Bremerhaven from Murmansk, having evaded the British blockade. Bremen had been steaming down the North Sea at full speed from her temporary hiding place at Petsamo, in Kola Fjord, U.S.S.R., up in the Arctic circle. When Bremen was in the North Sea about 117 nautical miles (216 kilometers) south of Stavanger, Norway, she was intercepted by the British submarine HMS/M Salmon (N 65) within easy torpedo range, and her huge size made her a target that could hardly be missed. Yet, even though she was escorted by German aircraft, the Bremen was still a merchant ship and so, in international law, could not be sunk unless she refused to stop when challenged. It was not an easy decision for Salmon's captain to make, especially with his knowledge of what was happening to British liners and merchant ships out in the Atlantic, where they were being sunk by U-boats without warning. Yet, in spite of the great temptation, he brought the Salmon to the surface and flashed the letter K, which in code meant "Stop Instantly." The Salmon's gun was loaded, but before a shot could be fired across the Bremen's bows, the escorting Dornier-18 aircraft came diving down allowing the ship to proceed to Germany.(Peter Beeston)

The Government issues a decree making two years of forced labor mandatory for all male Polish Jews between 14 and 60.

U-141, U-142 laid down

U-50 commissioned.

FINLAND: Today Colonel Paavo Talvela's seven Finnish battalions start a counter-attack against Soviet 139th Division at Tolvajärvi, northern Karelia. The Soviet division has been stopped in numerous small battles in four previous days. By Christmas the 139th and the assisting 75th Division had been beaten back almost to their starting positions.

U.S.S.R.: Moscow: Russia rejects the League of Nations demands for peace with Finland.

U.S.A.: Actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman), 56, dies in Santa Monica, California of a heart attack.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: On U-23, two later heroes of the U-boat war, Otto Kretschmer and Adi Schnee, fired two torpedoes at a rock, which appeared in the darkness to be a warship.