11 Oct 1939 | World War II Database

11 Oct 1939

Germany

The radio station in Berlin, Germany reported the false rumor of the fall of the British government, and that the new government was to offer Germany peace terms. "Old women in the vegetable markets tossed their cabbages into the air, wrecked their stands in sheer joy and made for the nearest pub to toast the peace", reported journalist William Shirer. ww2dbase [Berlin | CPC]
Wilhelm von Leeb wrote a note to Walther von Brauchitsch and other German Army leaders, noting that Germany should not invade neutral Belgium due to moral reasons. ww2dbase [CPC]

Russia

Russia demanded from Finland rights to establish airfields on Finnish territory as well as ceding of large amounts of Finnish soil; Finland rejected the demands. ww2dbase [The Winter War | TH]

United States

Leó Szilárd and Albert Einstein's letter (sent on 2 Aug 1939) reached Franklin Roosevelt, who agreed to establish a committee for the research of nuclear energy as a weapon. This led to Roosevelt's decision to establish the Uranium Advisory Committee shortly after. ww2dbase [Operation Trinity and Manhattan Project | CPC]
US President Franklin Roosevelt sent a cable to Soviet President Mikhail Kalinin, asking the Soviet Union to de-escalate the tension with Finland. ww2dbase [The Winter War | Franklin Roosevelt | CPC]

Photo(s) dated 11 Oct 1939