1940s, See also, Timeline
The following articles contain brief timelines listing the most prominent events of the decade.


1940s Australian region cyclone seasons
The following is a list of all reported tropical cyclones within the Australian region between 90°E and 160°E, after the start of World War II in September 1939 and before the start of the satellite era during the 1969–70 Season.


1940s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons
The years between 1940 and 1949 featured the 1940s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons. Each season was an ongoing event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation. The North Indian tropical cyclone season has no bounds, but they tend to form between April and December, peaks in May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean. Below are the most significant cyclones in the time period.


1940s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons
Because much of the North Indian coastline is near sea level and prone to flooding, these cyclones can easily kill many with storm surge and flooding. These cyclones are among the deadliest on earth in terms of numbers killed. On 27 April 1949, India Meteorological Department (IMD) became a member of the World Meteorological Organization after independence.


1940s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, 1940 season, November 1940 Mumbai Cyclone
In November 1940, A Severe Cyclone Struck Mumbai, Gusts reached 121km/h in Colaba, There were bodies floating in floodwaters, The Cyclone cost the city 25 Lakh Rupees


1940s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, 1944 season, July 1944 Karachi cyclone
On 27 July 1944, a cyclone left some 20,000 people homeless in Karachi.


1940s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, 1946 season, November 1946 Andhra coast cyclone
This significant storm killed 750 people and led to a loss of 30,000 cattle.


1940s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, 1948 season, 1948 Balochistan cyclone
In 1948, a tropical storm made landfall along the Makran coast in Balochistan province in Pakistan.


1940s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, 1948 season, 1948 Mumbai Cyclone
On November 21 1948 a strong cyclone struck Bombay(Present Day Mumbai) Gusts in Juhu reached 151 km/h Torrential rains lashed the metropolis , The storm left 38 people dead and 47 missing  Mumbai wouldn't be hit by a Cyclone until 72 years later The city was paralyzed, Trees were uprooted, The city reported 5 Inches of rain in 24 hours There was floods due to Torrential rains and Power Supply was disrupted, The Bombay station of All India Radio was also affected, and local transport came to a standstill, The fierce storm reportedly impacted Bombay for 20 hours and put the city in a Standstill


1940s South Pacific cyclone seasons
The following is a list of all reported tropical cyclones within the South Pacific Ocean to the east of 160°E after the start of World War II in September 1939 and before the start of the 1950s decade.


1940s South Pacific cyclone seasons, Background
During the decade, meteorology in the Pacific rapidly developed after Britain, France and their dependent territories including Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia and New Zealand, declared war on Germany during September 1939. In particular, the New Zealand's Meteorological Service also took control of the Apia Observatory and created a facility at Lacuala Bay in Suva, Fiji during 1940. Meteorological operations were also started at the Nadi Airport by the United States Army Air Forces Meteorological Unit during 1942.


1940s South Pacific cyclone seasons, Background
During 1946, the Nadi military establishment was converted to a civilian unit, before the forecasting unit at Lacuala Bay was merged with the Nadi weather office during the following year. At this time, the Nadi Weather Office (NWO) primarily provided meteorological services for aviation as a branch of the NZMS. However, over the next few years, the NWO gradually expanded its services to the non-aviation sector, providing daily weather forecasts and tropical cyclone warnings for most Pacific island countries and some territories, and international marine services for a large part of the tropical South Pacific Ocean.


1940s South Pacific cyclone seasons, Background
During the decade, tropical cyclones would have been impacted by the El Niño events of 1940–41, 1941–42 and 1946–47 as well as the La Niña events of 1942–43 and 1949–51.


1940s World War II Era Ball
1940s World War II Era Ball is an annual historical reenactment event in Boulder, Colorado. The event is a ball, which features swing music from the 1940s and impersonators of musicians and entertainers such as Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and the Andrews Sisters. The ball is held in a hangar at the Boulder Airport and features World War II-era airplanes including C-45 Expeditors and B-25 Mitchells. The ball also holds an annual 1940s White Christmas Ball. Net proceeds from the event are donated to local charities including those that support World War II veterans and the preservation of aviation history.


1940s World War II Era Ball
The 1940s World War II Era Ball was first held in 2008. The ball was founded by Khyentse James, who previously founded the Decibelle Music and Culture Festival. The ball was created in honor of James' grandparents, who were radio performers and met while they were working at a radio station together in the 1940s.


1940s World War II Era Ball
In 2016, the ball expanded to two nights for its ninth annual event. The theme was "Our Troops Bring Home Paradise: A Tiki Explosion" and included car shows, film screenings and other events.


1940s in Angola
The 1940s in Angola saw the emergence of the first separatist agitation in the province of Cabinda. By the 1950s Angolan Communists actively campaigned against the Salazar government's control over Angola. Cabindans rallied for independence from Portugal in 1946. The Portuguese colonial authorities responded by deporting separatists to Baía dos Tigres where they held and tortured them. Viriato da Cruz and others formed the Movement of Young Intellectuals, an organization that promoted Angolan culture, in 1948. Nationalists sent a letter to the United Nations calling for Angola to be given protectorate status under UN supervision.


1940s in Angola
Colonial authorities established the Mission of Angola in 1941 and the Center of Overseas Geography and Anais, an annual publication, in 1946.


1940s in Angola
Agostinho Neto, the future President of Angola, traveled to Portugal in 1947, studying medicine at the University of Coimbra.


1940s in Angola, Economy
By 1940 the white population in Angola had risen to forty thousand, 2% of the population. Most of these émigrés, illiterate and landless, took the best farming land, regardless of availability, without compensating existing landowners. Colonial authorities expelled and enslaved natives, forcing them to harvest maize, coffee, and beans. Natives could "volunteer" to work on the plantations or face conscription, working for $1.50 per month. Salazar's system of slavery prompted 500,000 Angolans to flee, creating a labor shortage, which in turn created the need for more slaves for the colonial economy.


1940s in Angola, Economy
Marcello Caetano, Salazar's Minister of Colonies, recognized the inherent flaws in the system, which he described as using natives "like pieces of equipment without any concern for their yearning, interests, or desires". Parliament held a closed session in 1947 to discuss the deteriorating situation. Henrique Galvão, Angolan deputy to the National Assembly, read his "Report on Native Problems in the Portuguese Colonies". Galvão condemned the "shameful outrages" he had uncovered, the enslavement of "women, of children, of the sick, [and] of decrepit old men." He concluded that in Angola, "only the dead are really exempt from forced labor."


1940s in Angola, Economy
As much as 30% of all Angolan slaves died. The government's control over the natives eliminated the slave-owner's incentive to keep his slaves alive because, unlike in other slave-master societies, the state replaced deceased slaves without directly charging the slave owner. Salazar ignored Galvão's report and had him arrested in 1952.


1940s in comics
See also:1930s in comics,1950s in comics and thelist of years in comics


1940s in comics
Publications: 1940 - 1941 - 1942 - 1943 - 1944 - 1945 - 1946 - 1947 - 1948 - 1949


1940s in comics, Events, 1940
The Justice Society of America, the first superhero team in comic book history first appear in All Star Comics #3. The team is conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox.


1940s in comics, Events, 1940
Captain America, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, first appears in Captain America Comics #1, published by Timely Comics. Appearing a year. The Flash


1940s in comics, Events, 1941
Wonder Woman, created by William Moulton Marston, first appears in All Star Comics #8. She is among the first and most famous comic book superheroines.


1940s in comics, Events, 1941
Adventures of Captain Marvel, a twelve-chapter film serial adapted from the popular Captain Marvel comic book character for Republic Pictures, debuts. It was the first film adaptation of a comic book superhero.


1940s in comics, Events, 1941
Archie Andrews, created by Bob Montana first appears in Pep Comics #22, published by MLJ Magazines.


1940s in comics, Events, 1941
Plastic Man, created by writer-artist Jack Cole, first appears in Police Comics #1, published by Quality Comics.


1940s in comics, Events, 1942
Crime Does Not Pay debuts, edited and mostly written by Charles Biro and published by Lev Gleason Publications. It was the first "true crime" comic series and also the first comic in the crime comics genre. One of the most popular comics of its day, at its height the comic would claim a readership of six million on its covers.


1940s in comics, Events, 1944
Charlton Comics, an American comic book publisher, publishes its first title, Yellowjacket, an anthology of superhero and horror stories, under the imprint Frank Comunale Publications. The company would begin publishing under the Charlton name in 1946.


1940s in comics, Events, 1944
Superboy, the adventures of Superman as a boy, first appears in More Fun Comics #101. The character is currently the subject of a legal battle between Time Warner, the owner of DC Comics, and the estate of Jerry Siegel. The Siegel estate claims that the original "Superboy" character published by DC Comics is an independent creation that used ideas from Jerry Siegel's original rejected pitch and was created without his consent.


1940s in comics, Events, 1946
The All-Winners Squad, the first superhero team in the Marvel Universe, first appears in All Winners Comics #19, published by Timely Comics.


1940s in comics, Events, 1947
Li'l Folks, the first comic strip by Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, debuts mainly in Schulz's hometown paper, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, on June 22. Li'l Folks can almost be regarded as an embryonic version of Peanuts, containing characters and themes which were to reappear in the later strip: a well-dressed young man with a fondness for Beethoven a la Schroeder, a dog with a striking resemblance to Snoopy, and even a boy named Charlie Brown.


1940s in comics, Events, 1948
The Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP) forms on July 1, 1948, to regulate the content of comic books in the face of increasing public criticism. Founding members included publishers Leverett Gleason of Lev Gleason Publications, Bill Gaines of EC Comics, Harold Moore (publisher of Famous Funnies) and Rae Herman of Orbit Publications. Henry Schultz served as executive director.


1940s in film
Hundreds of full-length films were produced during the decade of the 1940s. The great actor Humphrey Bogart made his most memorable films in this decade. Frank Capra's masterpiece It's a Wonderful Life and Orson Welles's masterpiece Citizen Kane were released. Citizen Kane made use of matte paintings, miniatures and optical printing  techniques. The film noir genre was at its height. Alfred Hitchcock made his American debut with the film Rebecca, and made many classics throughout the 1940s. The most successful film of the decade was Samuel Goldwyn's The Best Years of Our Lives; the film was directed by William Wyler, and starred Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, and Harold Russell. The film won nine Academy Awards.


1940s in film, Technicolor
By the 1940s, Hollywood's effects specialists had over a decade of studio experience. Technicolor had been especially challenging but faster film introduced in 1939 began to make Technicolor a viable option for studio production. Rear projection in color remained out of reach until Paramount introduced a new projection system in the 1940s. New matte techniques, modified for use with color, were for the first time used in the British film The Thief of Bagdad (1940). However, the high cost of color production in the 1940s meant most films were black and white.


1940s in film, World War II
Hollywood films in the 1940s included morale films for the those serving in World War II and their families. War films made extensive use of models and miniature photography. New techniques developed to realistically depict naval battles were used in films like Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) and Ships with Wings (1942). In Mrs. Miniver (1942) a technique using systems of wires was used to depict two dozen model aircraft taking off in precise formation. Miniature explosions were needed for the destruction of models.


1940s in film, Post-war slowdown
Cinemas were located in the city and the expansion of suburban housing in the post-War period meant declining revenues at the box office. The availability of television in homes was another factor that gave families in the suburbs an alternative to traveling to the theaters located in city centers. Between 1948 and 1952 average weekly attendance declined from 90 million to 51 million.


1940s in film, Post-war slowdown
The Supreme Court in 1948 decided in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. that owning both studios and theaters violated the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. After this decision film studios were forced to sell their theater chains.


1940s in jazz
In the early 1940s in jazz, bebop  emerged, led by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and others. It helped to shift jazz from danceable popular music towards a more challenging "musician's music." Differing greatly from swing, early bebop divorced itself from dance music, establishing itself more as an art form but lessening its potential popular and commercial value. Since bebop was meant to be listened to, not danced to, it used faster tempos.


1940s in jazz
Beboppers introduced new forms of chromaticism and dissonance into jazz; the dissonant tritone (or "flatted fifth") interval became the "most important interval of bebop" and players engaged in a more abstracted form of chord-based improvisation which used "passing" chords, substitute chords, and altered chords. The style of drumming shifted as well to a more elusive and explosive style, in which the ride cymbal was used to keep time, while the snare and bass drum were used for accents. This appealed to a more specialized audiences than earlier forms of jazz, with sophisticated harmonies, fast tempos and often virtuoso musicianship.


1940s in jazz
Bebop musicians often used 1930s standards, especially those from Broadway musicals, as part of their repertoire. Among standards written by bebop musicians are Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts" (1941) and "A Night in Tunisia" (1942), Parker's "Anthropology" (1946), "Yardbird Suite" (1946) and "Scrapple from the Apple" (1947), and Monk's "'Round Midnight" (1944), which is currently the most recorded jazz standard composed by a jazz musician. An early 1940s style known as "jumping the blues" or jump blues used small combos, uptempo music, and blues chord progressions. Jump blues drew on boogie-woogie from the 1930s.


1940s in jazz
Kansas City Jazz in the 1930s as exemplified by tenor saxophonist Lester Young marked the transition from big bands to the bebop influence of the 1940s. These divergences from the jazz mainstream of the time initially met with a divided, sometimes hostile response among fans and fellow musicians, especially established swing players, who bristled at the new harmonic sounds. To hostile critics, bebop seemed to be filled with "racing, nervous phrases". Despite the initial friction, by the 1950s bebop had become an accepted part of the jazz vocabulary. The most influential bebop musicians included saxophonist Charlie Parker, pianists Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Clifford Brown, and drummer Max Roach.


1940s in jazz
The swing era lasted until the mid-1940s, and produced popular tunes such as Duke Ellington's "Cotton Tail" (1940) and Billy Strayhorn's "Take the 'A' Train" (1941). When the big bands struggled to keep going during World War II, a shift was happening in jazz in favor of smaller groups. Some swing era musicians, like Louis Jordan, later found popularity in a new kind of music, called "rhythm and blues", that would evolve into rock and roll in the 1950s.


1940s in jazz
In the late 1940s there was a revival of "Dixieland" music, harkening back to the original contrapuntal New Orleans style. This was driven in large part by record company reissues of early jazz classics by the Oliver, Morton, and Armstrong bands of the 1930s. There were two populations of musicians involved in the revival. One group consisted of players who had begun their careers playing in the traditional style, and were either returning to it, or continuing what they had been playing all along, such as Bob Crosby's Bobcats, Max Kaminsky, Eddie Condon, and Wild Bill Davison.


1940s in jazz
Most of this group were originally Midwesterners, although there were a small number of New Orleans musicians involved. The second population of revivalists consisted of young musicians such as the Lu Watters band. By the late 1940s, Louis Armstrong's Allstars band became a leading ensemble. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Dixieland was one of the most commercially popular jazz styles in the US, Europe, and Japan, although critics paid little attention to it.


1940s in jazz
By the end of the 1940s, the nervous energy and tension of bebop was replaced with a tendency towards calm and smoothness, with the sounds of cool jazz, which favoured long, linear melodic lines. It emerged in New York City, as a result of the mixture of the styles of predominantly white jazz musicians and black bebop musicians, and it dominated jazz in the first half of the 1950s.


1940s in jazz
The starting point were a series of singles on Capitol Records in 1949 and 1950 of a nonet led by trumpeter Miles Davis, collected and released first on a ten-inch and later a twelve-inch as the Birth of the Cool. Cool jazz recordings by Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Gil Evans, Stan Getz and the Modern Jazz Quartet usually have a "lighter" sound which avoided the aggressive tempos and harmonic abstraction of bebop.


1940s in jazz
Cool jazz later became strongly identified with the West Coast jazz scene, but also had a particular resonance in Europe, especially Scandinavia, with emergence of such major figures as baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin and pianist Bengt Hallberg. The theoretical underpinnings of cool jazz were set out by the blind Chicago pianist Lennie Tristano, and its influence stretches into such later developments as Bossa nova, modal jazz, and even free jazz. See also the list of cool jazz and West Coast musicians for further detail.


1940s in jazz, 1943, Events
The American Federation of Musicians recording ban, called by James Petrillo, continued through 1943.


1940s in music
For music from a year in the 1940s, go to 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49


1940s in music
This article includes an overview of the major events and trends in popular music in the 1940s.


1940s in music
In the Developed World, Swing, Big band, Jazz, Latin and Country music dominated and defined the decade's music. After World War II, the big band sounds of the earlier part of the decade had been gradually replaced by crooners and vocal pop.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Pop
Ragtime can be described as the first truly American music genre and it remained popular for over 20 years. After its best-known exponent, Scott Joplin, died in 1917, the genre faded. As the 1920s unfolded,  jazz rapidly took over as the dominant form of popular music in the United States.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Pop
In addition, a new form of popular music, crooning, emerged during the early 1930s. Technology played a large part in the development of this style, as electronic sound recording had emerged near the end of the 1920s and replaced the earlier acoustic recording. While singers such as Al Jolson and Billy Murray had recorded songs by yelling into a Victrola horn, as this was the only way to get audible sound with acoustic recording, the new electronic equipment allowed for a softer, more intimate style of singing. Many of the older singers such as Jolson and Murray consequently fell out of favor during the 1930s with changing tastes (although Al Jolson managed a successful career comeback after World War II).


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Pop
Bing Crosby was the leading figure of the crooner sound as well as its most iconic, defining artist. By the 1940s, he was an entertainment superstar who mastered all of the major media formats of the day, movies, radio, and recorded music. Other popular singers of the day included Cab Calloway and Eddie Cantor.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Pop
Bandleaders such as the Dorsey Brothers often helped launch the careers of vocalists who went on to popularity as solo artists, such as Frank Sinatra, who rose to fame as a singer during this time. Sinatra's vast appeal to the "bobby soxers" revealed a whole new audience for popular music, which had generally appealed mainly to adults up to that time, making Sinatra the first teen idol. Sinatra's music mostly attracted young girls to his concerts. This image of a teen idol would also be seen with future artists such as Elvis Presley and The Beatles.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Pop
Sinatra's massive popularity was also one of the reasons why the big band music declined in popularity; major record companies were looking for crooners and pop singers to attract a youth audience due to his success. Frank Sinatra would go on to become one of the most successful artists of the 1940s and one of the best selling music artists of all time. Sinatra remained relevant through the 1950s and 60s, even with rock music being the dominant form of music in his later years. In the later decades, Sinatra's music would be mostly aimed at an older adult audience. Sinatra became one of the most respected and critically acclaimed music artists of all time.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Pop
Big band swing could variably be an instrumental style or accompany a vocalist. In comparison to its loud, brash, rhythmic sound stood the "sweet" bands which played a softer, more melodic style. The most notable of these, in no small part thanks to a long postwar TV career, was the band of Lawrence Welk.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Pop
While swing bands could be found in most major cities during the 1930s–1940s, the most popular and famous were the bands of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Artie Shaw, which had national followings and sold huge numbers. World War II brought an end to big band swing as many musicians were conscripted into the armed forces and travel restrictions made it hard for bands to tour. In 1944, Glenn Miller was killed when his plane crashed into the English Channel en route to a USO show in France. His death is widely considered to mark the close of the swing era.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Pop
After the war, a combination of factors such as changing demographics and rapid inflation made large bands unprofitable, so that popular music in the US came to be dominated instead by traditional pop and crooners, as well as bebop and jump blues.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Jazz
In the early 1940s, bebop emerged, led by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and others. It helped to shift jazz from danceable popular music towards a more complex "musician's music." Differing greatly from swing, early bebop divorced itself from dance music, establishing itself more as an art form but lessening its potential popular and commercial value. Since bebop was meant to be listened to, not danced to, it used faster tempos.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Jazz
The swing era lasted until the mid-1940s, and produced popular tunes such as Duke Ellington's "Cotton Tail" (1940) and Billy Strayhorn's "Take the 'A' Train" (1941). When the big bands struggled to keep going during World War II, a shift was happening in jazz in favor of smaller groups. Some swing era musicians, like Louis Jordan, later found popularity in a new kind of music, called "rhythm and blues", that would evolve into rock and roll in the 1950s.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Jazz
By the end of the 1940s, the nervous energy and tension of bebop was replaced with a tendency towards calm and smoothness, that eventually influenced the birth of cool jazz, which favoured long, linear melodic lines in the 1950s.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Jazz
By the 1940s, Dixieland jazz revival musicians like Jimmy McPartland, Eddie Condon and Bud Freeman had become well-known and established their own unique style. Most characteristically, players entered solos against riffing by other horns, and were followed by a closing with the drummer playing a four-bar tag that was then answered by the rest of the band.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Jazz
Some of the most notable Jazz artists of the 1940s include Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and also Nat King Cole.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Country music
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or Western music, became widely popular through the romanticization of the cowboy and idealized depictions of the west in Hollywood films. Singing cowboys, such as Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, sang cowboy songs in their films and became popular throughout the United States. Film producers began incorporating fully orchestrated four-part harmonies and sophisticated musical arrangements into their motion pictures.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Country music
In the post-war period, country music was called "folk" in the trades, and "hillbilly" within the industry. In 1944, The Billboard replaced the term "hillbilly" with "folk songs and blues," and switched to "country" or "country and Western" in 1949.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Country music
But while cowboy and Western music were the most popular styles, a new style – honky tonk – would take root and define the genre of country music for decades to come. The style meshed Western swing and blues music; featured rough, nasal vocals backed by instruments such as the guitar, fiddle, string bass, and steel guitar; and had lyrics that focused on tragic themes of lost love, adultery, loneliness, alcoholism and self-pity.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Country music
One of the earliest successful practitioners of this style was Ernest Tubb, a Crisp, Texas native who had perfected his style on several Texas radio stations in the mid- to late-1930s. In 1940, he gained a recording contract with Decca Records, and a year later released his standard "Walking the Floor Over You." The single became a hit and sold over 1 million copies. Allmusic critic David Vinopal called "Walking the Floor Over You" the first honky tonk song that launched the musical genre itself. As the decade progressed, the style was picked up by Floyd Tillman and Hank Williams, and by the end of the 1940s was the predominant style in country music.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Country music
Williams, a Butler County, Alabama native, began earning a reputation as both a songwriter and a performing artist. Using traditional honky-tonk themes, Williams grew to become one of the most important country performers of all time. His recording of "Lovesick Blues" (and its flip side, "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry") in 1949 remains a landmark in both country and popular music to this day. But even by the late 1940s, it became well known that Williams drank heavily, and his personal problems would continue to grow as the 1950s dawned. Still, his overall style inspired countless artists in country and other styles of music, including rock music, and his songs would be performed by numerous artists in many styles.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Country music
On August 25, 1945 Jenny Lou Carson became the first woman to write a No. 1 country music hit when "You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often," performed by Tex Ritter, reached the top of the Billboard Most Played Juke Box Folk Records. In 1949 Carson had another No. 1 country music hit as a songwriter when "Don't Rob Another Man's Castle," performed by Eddy Arnold, topped the Billboard Folk Best Seller Charts. From 1945 to 1955 Carson was one of the most prolific songwriters in country music.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Country music
Women weren't absent from the scene as vocalists; in fact, the No. 1 song on Billboard magazine's very first Most Played Juke Box Folk Records chart, dated January 8, 1944, saw The Andrews Sisters get co-credit along with Bing Crosby on "Pistol Packin' Mama." In 1949, Margaret Whiting teamed with Jimmy Wakely to have a No. 1 country and pop hit, a cover of the Floyd Tillman song "Slippin' Around."


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Country music
Kitty Wells was a popular concert attraction, performing with her husband Johnnie Wright and his duet partner, Jack Anglin; and Wilma Lee Cooper was prominently featured on recordings with her husband, Stoney. Other popular female acts were Patsy Montana, Martha Carson, The Maddox Brothers and Rose, Molly O'Day with the Cumberland Mountain Folks, and Lulu Belle (of Lulu Belle and Scotty), while Mother Maybelle Carter re-formed the Carter Family with her daughters, Anita, June, and Helen and their popularity would only grow in time.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Country music
Eddy Arnold, known as "The Tennessee Plowboy," became an innovator of crossover music, or music of one particular genre (in this case, country) that was popular among mainstream audiences. His style combined elements of refined honky tonk with popular music sounds, evident on hits like "That's How Much I Love You," "I'll Hold You In My Heart ('Til I Can Hold You In My Arms)," "Anytime" and "Boquet of Roses," and several of these songs charted on both the Billboard country and pop charts.


1940s in music, The U.S. and North America, Country music
He was so dominant that by 1948, five of that year's six No. 1 songs on Billboards' country chart bore Arnold's name, a record that Charlie Rich would tie 26 years later but otherwise has been unmatched. Arnold would go on to score more than 150 chart hits during a career that spanned until his death in 2008.


1940s in music, Europe
Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet, Tino Rossi, were popular French singers.


1940s in music, Latin America
Mariachi an ensemble that consists of guitarrón, vihuela, guitar, violins and trumpets. Between 1940 mariachi and rancheras originated in the western states of the country.


1940s in music, Latin America
This folk ensemble performs ranchera, son de mariachi, huapango de mariachi, polka, corrido, and other musical forms. It originated in the southern part of the state of Jalisco during the 19th century. The city of Guadalajara in Jalisco is known as the "Capital of Mariachi". The style is now popular throughout Mexico and the Southwestern United States, and is considered representative of Mexican music and culture.


1940s in music, Latin America
Other famous mariachi performers include José Alfredo Jiménez, Javier Solís, Miguel Aceves Mejía, Lola Beltrán, Antonio Aguilar, Flor Silvestre, Lucha Villa


1940s in music, Asia
In China, the 1940s was the golden era of Mandarin pop songs which were collectively termed 'Shidaiqu', literally 'songs of the era'. Shanghai Pathe Records, then belonging to EMI, emerged to be the leading record company in China and featured a blend of Chinese melodies and Western orchestrations as well as Big Band Jazz elements in arrangements of music, leading to their superseding traditional Chinese operas in radio broadcasts. With the help of growing radio audience in the nation, Shidaiqu successfully became prevalent and listening to Mandarin pop songs was regarded as trendy.


1940s in music, Asia
Among all Chinese contemporary singers, Zhou Xuan, Yao Li (also known as Hue Lee), Wu Yingyin, Bai Guang, Bai Hong, Gong Qiuxia and Li Xianglan were the seven most famous artists (七大歌星), who gained nationwide popularity. Zhou Xuan was the most representative of all, who later became one of the emblematic and legendary figures in the history of Chinese pop songs. In addition, despite the ravages of the Japanese occupation, there saw an immense development and maturation in the Chinese movie industry.


1940s in music, Asia
Very often, pop songs were intermingled with episodes in films, providing the audience with multiple entertainment at one time. Nonetheless, little attention was paid on the groundbreaking breakthroughs of Chinese Mandarin pop songs in the 1940s, both by the academia and the community in China as well as Western countries. Shidaiqu had its influence even in Hong Kong and Taiwan music in the 1950s and 1960s as well as in Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese communities. Rose, Rose, I Love you, the renowned song presented by Frankie Laine, and An Autumn Melody, were two symbolic Shidaiqu.


1940s in music, Asia
In Japan, Nihon Columbia and Nihon Victor were two of the larger record companies. Blues, boogie-woogie and jazz were popular. Ryouichi Hattori was a popular composer, and Shizuko Kasagi was one of the popular singers.


1940s in sociology
The following events related to sociology occurred in the 1940s.


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya
The 1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya was an autonomous revolt against the Soviet authorities in the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Beginning in early 1940 under Khasan Israilov, it peaked in 1942 during the German invasion of North Caucasus and ended in the beginning of 1944 with the wholesale concentration and deportation of the Vainakh peoples (Chechens and Ingushes) from their native lands as well as from the locations across the USSR, resulting in the death of at least 144,000 civilians. However, scattered resistance in the mountains continued for years.


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Beginning
In January 1940, encouraged by the Soviet failures in the Winter War against Finland, Chechen ex-communist intellectual Khasan Israilov and his brother Hussein had established a guerrilla base in the mountains of south-eastern Chechnya, where they worked to organize a unified guerrilla movement to prepare an armed insurrection against the Soviets. By early February 1940, Israilov's rebels took over several auls in Shatoysky District. The rebel government was established in Israilov's native village of Galanchozh. They then defeated the NKVD's punitive detachments sent against them, capturing modern weapons.


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Beginning
Israilov described his position on why they were fighting numerous times:


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Beginning
"I have decided to become the leader of a war of liberation of my own people. I understand all too well that not only in Checheno-Ingushetia, but in all peoples of the Caucasus it will be difficult to win freedom from the heavy yoke of Red imperialism. But our fervent belief in justice and our faith in the support of the freedom-loving peoples of the Caucasus and of the entire world inspire me toward this deed, in your eyes impertinent and pointless, but in my conviction, the sole correct historical step. The valiant Finns are now proving that the Great Enslaver Empire is powerless against a small but freedom-loving people. In the Caucasus you will find your second Finland, and after us will follow other oppressed peoples."


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Beginning
"For twenty years now, the Soviet authorities have been fighting my people, aiming to destroy them group by group: first the kulaks, then the mullahs and the 'bandits', then the bourgeois-nationalists. I am sure now that the real object of this war is the annihilation of our nation as a whole. That is why I have decided to assume the leadership of my people in their struggle for liberation."


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Beginning
After the German invasion in the USSR in June 1941, the brothers convened 41 different meetings in summer 1941 to recruit local supporters under the name "Provisional Popular Revolutionary Government of Chechen-Ingushetia", and by the end of midsummer of that year they had over 5,000 guerrillas and at least 25,000 sympathizers organized into five military districts encompassing Grozny, Gudermes and Malgobek. In some areas, up to 80% of men were involved in the insurrection. It is known that the Soviet Union used carpet bombing tactics against the revolutionaries, causing losses primarily to the civilian population. Massive Soviet bombing air raids twice targeted Chechen-Ingush mountain villages in the spring of 1942, completely devastating several auls and killing most of their inhabitants, including large numbers of elderly and children.


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Beginning
By January 28, 1942, Israilov had decided to extend the uprising from Chechens and Ingush to eleven of the dominant ethnic groups in the Caucasus by forming the Special Party of Caucasus Brothers (OKPB), with the aim of an 'armed struggle with Bolshevik barbarism and Russian despotism'. Khasan also developed a code among the guerrilla fighters to maintain order and discipline, which stated:


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Beginning
Brutally avenge the enemies for the blood of our native brothers, the best sons of the Caucasus; Mercilessly annihilate seksoty [secret agents], agents and other informants of the NKVD; Categorically forbid [guerrillas] to spend the night in homes or villages without the security of reliable guards.


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Beginning
In February 1942, another Chechen ex-communist, Mairbek Sheripov, organized a rebellion in Shatoi and tried to take Itum-Kale. His forces united with Israilov's army relying on the expected arrival of the German Wehrmacht. In neighbouring Dagestan rebels also took the neighbourhoods of Novolakskaya and Dylym. The insurrection provoked many Chechen and Ingush soldiers of the Red Army to desert. Some sources claim that the total number of the mountaineers deserting reached 62,750, exceeding the number of mountaineer fighters in the Red Army. In fact, this figure refers to the whole North Caucasus for the whole period of the war.


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, German activity in Chechnya
On August 25, 1942, nine German-trained saboteurs from Abwehr's Nordkaukasisches Sonderkommando Schamil landed near the village of Berzhki in the area of Galashki, where they recruited 13 local Chechens for their cause. Later in August and September, a total of 40 German agents were dropped in various locations. All of these groups received active assistance from up to 100 Chechens. Their mission was to seize the Grozny petroleum refinery in order to prevent its destruction by the retreating Soviets, and to hold it until the German First Panzer Army arrived.


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, German activity in Chechnya
However, the German offensive stalled after capturing only the ethnic-Russian town of Malgobek in Ingushetia. The Germans made concerted efforts to coordinate with Israilov, but his refusal to cede control of his revolutionary movement to the Germans, and his continued insistence on German recognition of Chechen independence, led many Germans to consider Israilov as unreliable, and his plans unrealistic. Although the Germans were able to undertake covert operations in Chechnya—such as the sabotage of Grozny oil fields—attempts at a German–Chechen alliance floundered.


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, German activity in Chechnya
That the Chechens actually were allied to the Germans is highly questionable and usually dismissed as false. They did have contact with the Germans. However, there were profound ideological differences between the Chechens and the Nazis (self-determination versus imperialism), neither trusted the other, and the German courting of the Cossacks angered the Chechens (their traditional enemies with which they still had numerous land disputes and other conflicts). Mairbek Sheripov reportedly gave the Ostministerium a sharp warning that "if the liberation of the Caucasus meant only the exchange of one colonizer for another, the Caucasians would consider this [a theoretical fight pitting Chechens and other Caucasians against Germans] only a new stage in the national liberation war."


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Deportation
By 1943, as the Germans began to retreat in the Eastern Front, the mountain guerrillas saw their fortunes change as many former rebels defected to the Soviets in exchange for amnesty. On December 6, 1943, German involvement in Chechnya ended when Soviet counter-intelligence agents infiltrated and arrested the remaining German operatives in Chechnya. After the German retreat from the Caucasus, almost 500,000 Chechen and Ingush people from Checheno-Ingushetia as well as other republics were forcibly resettled to Siberia and Central Asia (mostly to Kazakhstan SSR) en masse, resulting in a large number of deaths among the deportees. Many of those who were not deported were simply massacred on the spot. In mountainous regions of the country, mass atrocities such as the Khaibakh massacre took place.


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Deportation
By the next summer, Checheno-Ingushetia was dissolved; a number of Chechen and Ingush placenames were replaced with Russian ones; mosques and graveyards were destroyed, and a massive campaign of burning numerous historical Chechen texts was nearly complete. Throughout the North Caucasus, about 700,000 (according to Dalkhat Ediev, 724,297, of which the majority, 479,478, were Chechens, along with 96,327 Ingush, 104,146 Kalmyks, 39,407 Balkars and 71,869 Karachays) were deported. Many died along the trip, and the extremely harsh environment of Siberia as well as of other regions the people were deported to (especially considering the amount of exposure) killed many more.


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Deportation
The NKVD, supplying the Russian perspective, gives the statistic of 144,704 people killed in 1944–1948 alone (death rate of 23.5% per all groups), though this is dismissed by many authors such as Tony Wood, John Dunlop, Moshe Gammer and others as a gross understatement. Estimates for deaths of the Chechens alone (excluding the NKVD figures), range from about 170,000 to 200,000, thus ranging from over a third of the total Chechen population to nearly half being killed in those 4 years alone (rates for other groups for those four years hover around 20%). In 2004, the European Parliament recognized it as a genocide.


1940–1944 insurgency in Chechnya, Deportation
However, some rebel groups stayed in the mountains, continuing the resistance. Rebel groups were also formed in Kazakhstan. Israilov was betrayed and killed by two of his own men in December 1944. Following his death, the resistance was led by Sheikh Qureish Belhorev, who was captured in 1947. Several security divisions were sent to suppress the remnants of partisan movement, achieving this task only in the mid-1950s.


1940–1945 African War Medal
The 1940–1945 African War Medal (French: Médaille de la Guerre Africaine 1940-1945, Dutch: Afrikaanse Oorlogsmedaille 1940-1945) was a Belgian war service medal established by royal decree of the Regent on 30 January 1947 and awarded to officers and soldiers for at least one year's service in the Force Publique between 10 May 1940 and 7 May 1945. This service was not limited to the Belgian colonies of the Congo and Ruanda-Urundi but also included the Middle East, Nigeria, Madagascar and Burma, for which clasps were awarded for six months service in those areas.


1940–1945 African War Medal
Persons eligible for award of both the 1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal and the 1940–1945 African War Medal could only receive one of the two, usually the one earned for the longest period of service.


1940–1945 African War Medal, Award description
The 1940–1945 African War Medal was a 52mm high (including suspension) by 33mm wide rectangular medal struck from bronze with sloped upper shoulders and rounded lower corners. Its obverse bore the relief images of the left profiles of a native African soldier wearing a fez and of a pith-helmeted Belgian soldier, both within a recessed central area. Under the recess, the embossed years "1940 - 1945". The reverse was plain.


1940–1945 African War Medal, Award description
Four clasps were issued for wear on the ribbon inscribed in French:


1940–1945 African War Medal, Award description
Air force personnel who served in theatre whether on an operational combat or transport unit received the medal with a miniature set of bronze wings on the ribbon.


1940–1945 African War Medal, Award description
The 1940–1945 African War Medal was suspended by a ring passing laterally though a suspension loop at the top of the medal, from a 37mm wide light blue silk moiré ribbon with a 5mm wide central yellow stripe and 3mm wide yellow stripes situated 5mm from the ribbon edges.


1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal
The 1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal (French: Médaille de l'Effort de Guerre Colonial 1940-1945, Dutch: Medaille voor de Koloniale Oorlogsinspanning 1940-1945) was a Belgian war service medal established by royal decree of the Regent on 30 January 1947 and awarded to government civil servants, magistrates, volunteer members of the female auxiliary service, missionaries, civilian agents of the different departments and civilians who served honourably for at least one year in the Belgian Congo or Ruanda-Urundi colonies of the Kingdom of Belgium in Africa between 10 May 1940 and 7 May 1945.


1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal
Persons eligible for the award of both the 1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal and the 1940–1945 African War Medal could only receive one of the two, usually the one earned for the longest service.


1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal, Award description
The 1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal was a 31mm wide by 52mm high bronze rectangular medal with sloping upper corners. Its obverse bore at its upper center an embossed five pointed star above the relief inscription on five rows "1940" "1945" "PRO PATRIA" "ET" "VICTORIA" between vertical laurel leaves. The smooth reverse was plain.


1940–1945 Colonial War Effort Medal, Award description
The medal is suspended by a ring through a lateral suspension hole from a 37mm wide yellow silk moiré ribbon with 5mm wide light blue edge stripes.


1940–1945 Military Combatant's Medal
The 1940–1945 Military Combatant's Medal (French: Médaille du Combattant Militaire de la Guerre 1940–1945, Dutch: "Medaille van de Militaire Strijder 1940–1945") was a Belgian war medal established by royal decree on 19 December 1967 and awarded to all members of the Belgian Armed Forces who fought from the United Kingdom during the Second World War.


1940–1945 Military Combatant's Medal, Award description
The 1940–1945 Military Combatant's Medal is a 38mm wide bronze Greek cross with semi-circular protrusions filling the gaps between the arms up to 3mm from the cross arms' ends. The obverse bears the relief image of a "lion rampant" at the centre of the cross. The reverse bears a vertical broadsword bisecting the years "1940" and "1945" inscribed in relief.


1940–1945 Military Combatant's Medal, Award description
The medal is suspended by a ring through a suspension loop from a 36mm wide silk moiré ribbon. The colours of the ribbon are divided as follows from the left to the right edge: 6mm green, 2mm red, 3mm yellow, 2mm black, 1 cm yellow, 2mm black, 3mm yellow, 2mm red, 6mm green.


1940–1945 Military Combatant's Medal, Notable recipients (partial list)
The individuals listed below were awarded the 1940–1945 Military Combatant's Medal:


1940–1946 in French Indochina
1940—1946 in French Indochina focuses on events that happened in French Indochina during and after World War II and which influenced the eventual decision for military intervention by the United States in the Vietnam War. French Indochina in the 1940s was divided into five protectorates:  Cambodia, Laos, Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina. The latter three made up Vietnam. In 1940, the French controlled 23 million Vietnamese with 12,000 French soldiers, about 40,000 Vietnamese soldiers, and the Sûreté, a powerful police force. At that time, the U.S. had little interest in Vietnam or French Indochina as a whole. Fewer than 100 Americans, mostly missionaries, lived in Vietnam and U.S. government representation consisted of one consul resident in Saigon.


1940–1946 in French Indochina
The years 1940 to 1946 saw the rise of the communist-led Việt Minh insurgents whose objective was independence from France. The Việt Minh was most prominent in northern Vietnam (Tonkin) with a plethora of other, semi-allied insurgent groups developing in central (Annam) and southern (Cochinchina) Vietnam. During World War II (1939–1945), Japan stationed a large number of soldiers in Vietnam and reduced French influence. The Việt Minh also contested the growing Japanese influence. Late in WW II the United States gave limited assistance to the Việt Minh to assist it in its struggle against the Japanese.


1940–1946 in French Indochina
After World War II, France attempted to regain its colonial domination of Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) which led in 1946 to the outbreak of an insurgency against France by the Việt Minh. The U.S., which initially favored Vietnamese independence, came to support France due to Cold War politics and American fears that an independent Vietnam would be dominated by communists.


1940–1946 in French Indochina
The most important events occurring in the 1940–1946 period were: (1) The creation of the Việt Minh by Ho Chi Minh and other communist leaders in 1941; (2) The Japanese takeover of the government of Vietnam from France in March 1945; (3) The partition of Indochina into two occupation zones to be pacified by the British in the south and China in the north as decided at the Potsdam Conference in July 1945; and (4) The August Revolution in August and September 1945 in which Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France; (5) The beginning of the First Indochina War, usually dated in December 1946, although preceded by many clashes, as France attempted to regain full control of Indochina.


1940–1946 in French Indochina
This timeline is continued in 1947–50 in the Vietnam War and subsequent articles. The article titled First Indochina War describes in more detail the struggle for independence from France led by the Việt Minh.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1940
The French government never agreed to allow Japan to station soldiers in Tonkin after clashes between French and Japanese soldiers. During World War II Japan would station a large number of soldiers and sailors in Vietnam although the French administrative structure was allowed to continue to function.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1940
The rising power of Japan in Vietnam encouraged nationalist groups to revolt from French rule in Bac Son near the Chinese border and in Cochin China. The American Consul in Saigon reported that "thousands of natives have been killed and more are in prison awaiting execution." He described "promiscuous machine-gunning" of Vietnamese civilians" by French soldiers.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1941
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, chaired by Ho Chi Minh (then known as Nguyen Ai Quoc), held its 8th Plenum in the Vietnamese village of Pac Bo in Cao Bằng province, near the border of Vietnam with China. This was the first time that Ho had set foot in Vietnam since 1911 after living in England, France, the United States, the USSR, and China.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1941
The Central Committee created the Việt Minh as a broad-based, nationalist organization to struggle for independence from France and Japan. "By founding the Việt Minh, Ho Chi Minh brought together...the dynamism of nationalism and that of international communism. As a temporary measure, the Central Committee emphasized patriotism and nationalism more than communist objectives. The resolution of the Central Committee toned down its previous support for seizing the land of landlords to redistribute it to peasants, instead promoting reductions of rent for land and land seizures only from French colonialists and Vietnamese "traitors."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1941
The Central Committee also concluded that the independence of Vietnam would be won only by armed rebellion which linked urban nationalism with rural rebellion. Armed forces were to be created in all areas of the country in which the Communist Party was active. Võ Nguyên Giáp would become the primary leader of the armed forces.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1941
Japan demanded and received approval from the Vichy French government to establish military bases in southern Vietnam in addition to bases in northern Vietnam.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1941
News that Japanese warships and troopships were near Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam caused the U.S. to freeze Japanese assets, impose an embargo, and terminate the export of petroleum to Japan. For Japan the potential economic consequences of the U.S. actions were dire. The U.S. "now preferred to risk war rather than allow Japan to become more powerful."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1941
The United States declared war on Japan after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and launched invasions throughout Southeast Asia. Japan already had garrisoned 50,000 troops in Vietnam with the consent of the Vichy French government.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1943
U.S. Navy Commodore Milton E. Miles, stationed in Chungking, China proposed that twenty Office of Strategic Services (OSS) agents be parachuted into the Central Highlands of Vietnam to organize guerrilla bands among the highland peoples to oppose the Japanese forces. The plan was approved, but never implemented. The United States, however, established a network of Vietnamese and French colonials for intelligence and espionage.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1944
President Roosevelt of the United States wrote that "Indo-China should not go back to France...France has had the country...one hundred years, and the people are worse off than they were at the beginning." Roosevelt envisioned a post-World War II trusteeship for Indochina.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1944
The French Sûreté discovered a Việt Minh base in Cao Bằng Province with arms and other material and warned of an immediate need "to re-establish authority." The Việt Minh at this time controlled much of the border areas on northern Vietnam in Cao Bằng, Bắc Kạn, and Lạng Sơn provinces.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1944
U.S. General Albert C. Wedemeyer in Chungking reported that Ambassador Patrick J. Hurley was displeased with aid given to intelligence operatives in Vietnam. Hurley "had increasing evidence that the British, French, and Dutch are working...for the attainment of imperialistic policies and he felt we should do nothing to assist them in their endeavors which run counter to U.S. policy." Hurley was reflecting President Roosevelt's position.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1944
The Việt Minh claimed to have 500,000 members of whom 200,000 were in Tonkin, 150,000 in Annam, and 100,000 in Cochinchina. The Việt Minh military and political structure was strongest and best organized in Tonkin."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
United States Airforce planes shot down three British bombers over Indochina, mistaking them for Japanese planes. The British were conducting clandestine operations in Indochina without informing the United States.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
A famine began in northern Vietnam which would result in about one million people dying—approximately 10 percent of the population of Tonkin and Annam—within a few months. Vietnamese blamed France and Japan for the disaster. The Việt Minh were credited with seizing stocks of rice and distributing it to the poor to ameliorate the famine.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
President Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference said he was "in favor of anything that is against the Japanese in Indochina provided that we do not align ourselves with the French."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
U.S. General Claire Lee Chennault in Chungking said that "any help or aid given by us [to Vietnam] shall be in such a way that it cannot possibly be construed as furthering the political aims of the French."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
Japan demanded that the French colonial government of Vietnam be placed under its control, including the banks and French and Vietnamese armed forces. When the French did not immediately accede to their demands the Japanese seized the government by force, defeating the French in several battles. The reason for the Japanese action was a fear that the United States would invade Vietnam. Japan was fortifying its defenses and eliminating the remaining French influence in the country. Japan persuaded the former emperor Bảo Đại to declare Vietnam independent of France and set up a puppet government headed by Trần Trọng Kim.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
U.S. General Robert B. McClure in China authorized air support to the French resisting Japanese control of Indochina. However, President Roosevelt in Washington said that he wanted "to discontinue colonialization" in Southeast Asia and did not wish that any military assistance be given to the French in Indochina.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
French Leader Charles de Gaulle in Paris criticized the United States and its allies for not helping the French in Indochina. De Gaulle affirmed that France would regain control of Indochina.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
Ho Chi Minh and Phạm Văn Đồng met with American Captain Charles Fenn who worked for the Office of Strategic Services in Kunming, China. Three days later the OSS agreed to provide radio equipment, arms, and ammunition to the Việt Minh. Ho agreed to gather intelligence, rescue downed American pilots, and sabotage Japanese installations. Fenn was favorably impressed with Ho.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
Yielding to pressure from the French and his advisers, President Roosevelt authorized American aid to the French in Indochina. The French would charge that U.S. aid was limited and late. Historians disagree about whether or not Roosevelt's action was a change in his policy of opposing a French return to power in Indochina.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
France issued a declaration, which assumed that France would regain control of Vietnam, announcing the formation of an Indochinese Federation in which France would extend additional rights to Indochinese, but retain control of defense and foreign affairs. Vietnamese nationalists of all political persuasions condemned the declaration, especially the continued division of Vietnam into three parts: Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
Ho Chi Minh met with U.S. General Chennault in Kunming, China. Chennault thanked Ho for rescuing downed American pilots. Ho requested and received an autographed photograph of Chennault which he used to demonstrate the support he had from the United States.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
The United States Department of War authorized General Wedemeyer in China to support French forces in Vietnam "providing they represent only a negligible diversion" from U.S. priorities. Wedemeyer was hard pressed for resources and dropped mostly medicine to the French.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt died. Harry S. Truman became president.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
U.S. Under Secretary of the Army Robert A. Lovett said that former President Roosevelt's prohibition on a definite U.S. policy regarding Indochina was a "serious embarrassment to the military." Lovett's statement initiated a debate among Washington government agencies.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
A policy paper given new U.S. President Truman by the European office of the Department of State advocated a pro-French policy in Indochina. Southeast Asian specialists at the State Department complained later that the policy paper deliberately excluded information about President Roosevelt's opposition to the French in Indochina.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
The United States Department of State approved a policy paper stating that the U.S. would not oppose restoration of French sovereignty in Indochina, but would seek to ensure that the French permitted the Indochinese peoples more autonomy. This new policy was a large step away from Roosevelt's previous opposition to the French, but, except for Asian experts in the State Department, there was little support in the U.S. government for continuing to follow Roosevelt's policy.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
U.S. General Wedemeyer in China complained of a "British and French plan to reestablish their pre-war political and economic positions in Southeast Asia" and said they were using American supplies to "invade Indochina...and re-establish French imperialism. In the response from Washington, Wedemeyer was informed that the U.S. now "welcomes French participation in the Pacific War."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
The U.S. Secretary of State sent a report to President Truman stating that "the United States recognizes French sovereignty over Indochina." Thus, the U.S. had reversed Roosevelt's opposition to supporting the French in their efforts to regain control of Indochina.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
Three U.S. soldiers from the OSS led by Major Allison Thomas parachuted into the Việt Minh's base camp in northern Viet Nam. They were cordially greeted. Thomas said "Việt Minh league is not Communist. Stands for freedom and reforms against French harshness." The objective of the Americans was to organize a guerrilla group to attack a Japanese railroad. Ho Chi Minh introduced himself to them as Mr. Hoo.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
The Potsdam Conference of victorious allies decided that the British would accept the surrender of Japanese troops in Indochina south of the 16th parallel and China would accept their surrender north of the 16th parallel.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
The August Revolution broke out. The National Congress of the Việt Minh declared a general uprising to take political power in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was elected to preside over the National Liberation Committee. The call for the general uprising was prompted by the news that Japan would surrender.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
The Việt Minh organized a very large demonstration in Hanoi and took charge of the government in the city and much of northern Vietnam.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
American intelligence officer Major Archimedes L. Patti arrived in Hanoi to secure the release of American POWs held by the Japanese in Indochina. Accompanying Patti was a French team headed by Jean Sainteny, ostensibly in Indochina to care for French POWs. Ho Chi Minh warned Patti that Sainteny's real objective was to reassert French control over Vietnam. Patti reported to his superiors in China that "Việt Minh strong and belligerent and definitely anti-French. Suggest no more French be permitted to enter French Indo-China and especially not armed." Patti refused to allow the release of 4,500 French soldiers imprisoned in Hanoi by the Japanese.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
Ho Chi Minh entered the city of Hanoi. The Việt Minh military force that had taken control of Hanoi consisted of about 200 men. The Việt Minh army numbered about 1,200 trained men and hundreds of thousands of militia, men and women, most of them without firearms.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
Japan signed the instrument of surrender in Tokyo Bay ending World War II.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
In Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh declared independence from France, the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and the formation of his government. In his speech Ho referred to the U.S. Declaration of Independence and appealed to the victorious allies of World War II "to oppose the wicked schemes of the French imperialists, and...to recognize our freedom and independence."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
In Saigon and southern Vietnam, there was political disorder with competition, often violent, among religious sects and political factions. The Việt Minh organized a large demonstration which resulted in attacks on French residents of the city. A recently arrived team of American OSS personnel enlisted Japanese soldiers to protect French citizens.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
The main force of a 150,000 men Chinese army arrived in Hanoi to accept the surrender of Japanese forces and preserve law and order north of the 16th parallel of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh initially cooperated with the Chinese who unceremoniously evicted the French from the Governor-General's Palace. American advisers accompanied the Chinese but were ordered "not to become involved...in French-Chinese relations or in any way become associated with either side in possible conflicts."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
To combat disorder and establish Vietnamese rule in southern Vietnam, nationalists set up a Committee of the South in Saigon. The committee was composed of 13 persons, including 4 members of the communist party, and headed by a nationalist.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
British forces of the Indian Army numbering 20,000, led by General Douglas Gracey, entered Saigon to accept the surrender of Japanese troops south of the 16th parallel of Vietnam. Gracey refused to meet with Vietnamese leaders and said that "Civil and military control [of Vietnam] by the French is only a matter of weeks."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
General Philip E. Gallagher, commander of the U.S. military mission in Hanoi, reported that Ho Chi Minh was a "product of Moscow" but that "his party represented the real aspirations of the Vietnamese people for independence.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
General Gracey, commander of British forces in Saigon, declared martial law and released and armed more than 1,000 French soldiers held prisoner by the Japanese.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
The French Flag once again flew over the major government buildings of Saigon. Historian Frederick Logevall has suggested this as the start date for the Việt Minh war against the French.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
In Saigon, the Việt Minh declared a general strike and they and other nationalist groups attacked French, British, and Japanese, and European civilians. About 20,000 French citizens lived in Saigon. Over the next several days, 150–300 French and Eurasian civilians and about 200 Vietnamese were killed.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
Lt. Colonel A. Peter Dewey, son of U.S. presidential nominee Thomas E. Dewey, was killed, apparently by mistake, by Việt Minh soldiers in Saigon – the first American to die in Vietnam. Dewey was in Saigon to arrange for the repatriation of American prisoners of war captured by the Japanese. Dewey had complained about abuses of power by British and French soldiers in Saigon and had been prohibited by British commander Douglas Gracey from flying a U.S. flag on his vehicle. The Việt Minh apparently thought that he was French.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
Dewey's appraisal of the situation was that "Cochinchina is burning, the French and the British are finished here, and we [the United States] ought to clear out of Southeast Asia."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
French general Marcel Alessandri, visiting Hanoi, asked help of U.S. General Gallagher in persuading the Chinese military forces to release all French prisoners, rearm the French police and military, and return control of the radio station and public utilities to the French. The Chinese commander agreed only to release French prisoners.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
In a meeting with U.S. Army officers General Gallagher and Major Patti, Ho Chi Minh "expressed the fear that the Allies considered Indochina a conquered country and that the Chinese came as conquerors." Gallager and Patti attempted to reassure him and urged continued negotiations with the French.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
U.S. General Gallagher in Hanoi reported a "noticeable change in the attitude of the Annamites [Vietnamese] here...since that became aware of the fact that we were not going to interfere and would probably help the French.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
French general Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque arrived in Saigon as head of a regiment of French soldiers. He and General Gracey and a large number of Japanese troops pushed the Việt Minh out of Saigon and captured nearby areas. More than 1,000 Japanese soldiers deserted rather than fight with the British and French and fought on the side of the Việt Minh. By early November, the British and Japanese fighting the Việt Minh had suffered 19 and 54 soldiers killed respectively.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
The British and French governments concluded an agreement in London in which the British recognized France as the "sole legitimate authority" south of the 16th parallel. The United Kingdom agreed to help transport French troops to southern Vietnam to reinforce General Leclerq. In the meantime, the agreement specified "close and friendly cooperation between the French and British commanders." The ships used to transport French soldiers included eight U.S. flag vessels, the first significant American aid to the French in Vietnam.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
French General Leclerq with 35,000 French, British, and Japanese soldiers launched an offensive against the nationalist forces, including the Việt Minh, who controlled much of the countryside of southern Vietnam. By the middle of December, Leclerq had gained control of most towns and cities south of the 16th parallel. The Việt Minh and others began a guerrilla campaign against the French. A journalist said, "What was needed was not 35,000 men...but 100,000 and Cochinchina was not the only problem."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
Former Catholic monk and supporter of French leader Charles de Gaulle, Thierry d'Argenlieu arrived in Saigon as High Commissioner for Indochina. Described by one wag as having "the most brilliant mind of the twelfth century", D'Argenliu shared De Gaulle's belief that the French empire, including Indochina, should be retained intact.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
At a meeting in Hanoi the Indochina Communist Party dissolved itself, citing a need to foster national unity in search of independence from France as the reason. Communist domination of the Việt Minh had been criticized by other nationalist groups and Ho Chi Minh had apparently decided that unity was more important for the moment than communist ideology.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
Ho Chi Minh began negotiations in Hanoi with French Commissioner for Tonkin, Jean Sainteny. Ho's concern was that the 150,000 Chinese troops in northern Vietnam would not go home and that they were aiding the Việt Minh's rival nationalist groups, the Vietnamese Nationalist Party and the Nationalist Party of Greater Vietnam. Ho had decided to seek cooperation with the French even though that might delay Vietnam attaining independence from France.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
U.S. General Gallagher departed Hanoi and shut down the U.S. advisory mission in northern Vietnam. The U.S. was blamed by the French for colluding with the Việt Minh and by the Việt Minh for facilitating the resumption of French control over Indochina


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1945
The French estimated that the Việt Minh army in northern Vietnam, mostly Tonkin, numbered 28,000 men.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
After negotiations with other nationalist groups, a new government in Hanoi was set up with Ho Chi Minh as president and Nguyen Hai Than as vice president. Elections were to follow to elect a national assembly with some seats guaranteed to two nationalist organizations. Earlier, Ho had abolished the communist party of Vietnam to emphasize his nationalist credentials.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
In an election for the National Assembly in northern Vietnam, the Việt Minh and allied nationalist groups won 300 of 350 seats. Most observers believed the elections were fair, although there were a few charges that voters had been intimidated.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
French General Leclerq declared that, as a result of his military campaigns against nationalist groups, "the pacification of Cochinchina [southern Vietnam] is entirely achieved." Author Bernard Fall later commented that Leclerq gained control of Cochin China but only "to the extent of 100 yards on either side of all major roads."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
Despite his apparent success pacifying Cochinchina General Leclerq appealed to France to grant concessions to the Việt Minh. At this time Ho Chi Minh was engaged in negotiations with French representative Sainteny in Hanoi. De Gaulle and d'Argenlieu opposed any concessions toward independence for Vietnam.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
Twenty-one thousand French soldiers boarded ships in Saigon for Tonkin with the goal of reoccupying northern Vietnam, putting pressure on Ho Chi Minh to come to terms in his negotiations with France about the future of Vietnam, and gaining the release of 3,000 French soldiers still held prisoner in Hanoi.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
France completed an agreement with the Chinese government for the withdrawal of Chinese soldiers from Vietnam north of the 16th parallel.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
Việt Minh leader Ho Chi Minh sent a telegram to U.S. President Truman appealing to the U.S. "to interfere urgently in support of our [Vietnamase] independence." This was one of several letters and telegrams that Ho sent to the United States appealing for support. The U.S. never answered him.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
The British completed their withdrawal from Vietnam south of the 16th parallel, leaving French forces in control of the government of Cochinchina.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
In the morning, the French armada of 35 ships and 21,000 men attempted to land at Haiphong in Tonkin. Their landing was prevented by Chinese soldiers occupying the harbor who exchanged fire with the French ships. The Chinese pressured both the French and the Vietnamese to sign an agreement.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
In the afternoon, Ho Chi Minh and Sainteny concluded a provisional agreement. France recognized the "Republic of Vietnam" as a "free state" within the French Union. The Vietnamese agreed to the stationing of 25,000 French troops for five years in Tonkin to replace the departing Chinese. France agreed to allow an election to decide whether the three regions of Vietnam would be united.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
Ho Chi Minh was severely criticized by other nationalists for the agreement, which offered Vietnam less than independence and that only on a provisional basis. He reportedly said that "I prefer to sniff French shit for five years than eat Chinese shit for the rest of my life."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
Insurgent leader Nguyễn Bình in Cochinchina announced the creation of a National United Front to unite nationalist groups to fight the French and gain independence. In June, Nguyen would join the Communist party but would retain some independence from the Việt Minh in northern Vietnam.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
Ho Chi Minh left Vietnam for negotiations concerning Vietnamese independence in Paris. He was warmly received in France.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
French High Commissioner for Indochina Thierry d'Argenlieu in Saigon said that the 6 March agreement between the Việt Minh and the French did not apply to Cochinchina and announced the formation of the Republic of Cochin China for southern Vietnam.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
General Leclerc (who had departed Vietnam) wrote a letter to the French ruling party stating that the war in Vietnam was practically won and that France should not concede much to the Vietnamese negotiators in Paris. Leclerq said "it would be very dangerous for the French representatives at the negotiations to let themselves be fooled by the deceptive language (democracy, resistance, the new France) that Ho Chi Minh and his team utilize to perfection."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
Illustrating the paucity of military capability among the Việt Minh and other nationalist groups resisting the French, a commander named Nguyen Son in the Central Highlands had about 12,000 fighters under his command, but one of his brigades had only 1,500 rifles for 4,000 men. Nevertheless, Nguyen was able to turn back a French offensive aiming to capture the coastal city of Qui Nhơn.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
The U.S. vice-consul in Hanoi, James L. O'Sullivan, reported "an imminent danger of an open break between the French and Viet Nam", and said "that, although the French could quickly overrun the country, they could not...pacify it except through a long and bitter military operation."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
A report by the French authorities in southern Vietnam (Cochinchina) was much more pessimistic than earlier reports. Insurgent groups, earlier reported as destroyed, had reconstituted themselves and the Việt Minh was gaining strength by accepting "semi-complicity" by the population, e.g. cooperating openly with the French and secretly with the Việt Minh.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
In Paris, Ho Chi Minh achieved a modus vivendi in negotiations with France by which a ceasefire in southern Vietnam was to come into effect on 30 October. France, however, did not promise independence for Vietnam. The fact that the ceasefire proved to be effective was a measure of the control the Việt Minh had over nationalist groups in southern Vietnam even though its power base was in the north.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
Ho Chi Minh arrived in Haiphong after an absence of more than 4 months. He had been negotiating, with little success, for Vietnamese independence with the French government in Paris. In his absence, Việt Minh military leader Võ Nguyên Giáp had prepared for war with the French. With the departure of the Chinese army in June, Giap had crushed the pro-Chinese nationalist groups in northern Vietnam, killing hundreds or thousands of their followers and, despite a cease fire, engaged the French when they attempted to expand their control out of the cities to the countryside. The Việt Minh, said historian Frederik Logevall, "previously had genuine legitimacy in calling themselves a broad-based nationalist front" but were now "synonymous with the Communist movement."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
The French estimated that Việt Minh fighters in northern Vietnam (mostly Tonkin) numbered 40,000 to 45,000, an increase from an estimated 28,000 at the end of 1945. In southern Vietnam, there were probably only about 5,000 Việt Minh fighters of unquestioned loyalty, although many other nationalistic insurgent groups existed. The French had 75,000 soldiers in Vietnam, more than one-half in the north.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
The Việt Minh in Hanoi demanded that the three regions of Vietnam—Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina—be united into one.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
The anti-communist leader of the French-backed government of Cochinchina, Dr. Nguyen Van Thinh, committed suicide.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
Fighting broke out in Haiphong between the French and the Việt Minh. A cease fire was arranged.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
The French commander in Tonkin was ordered "to teach a hard lesson to those [the Việt Minh] who have so treacherously attacked us. By every possible means you must take complete control of Haiphong and force the Vietnamese government and army into submission."


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
After giving the Việt Minh an ultimatum to withdraw from Haiphong, the French under General Jean Étienne Valluy began a naval and aerial bombardment of the city that endured 2 days and destroyed much of the Vietnamese and Chinese quarters of the city. An estimated 6,000 civilians were killed. French Commissioner General d'Argenlieu in Paris informed Valluy that he approved of the bombardment.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
As American diplomat Abbot Low Moffat  prepared to meet with Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, Under Secretary of State Dean Acheson instructed him to "keep in mind Ho's clear record as [an] agent of international communism." Acheson said that the worst outcome of the French/Việt Minh struggle in Vietnam would be a "Communist-dominated, Moscow-oriented state." The policy struggle in the Department of State about Vietnam between the Europeanists, represented by Acheson, and the Asian hands had been won by the Europeanists whose priority was maintaining a friendly French government in power in France to further American aims in Europe.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
American diplomat Moffat reported to the Department of State about his visit to Hanoi. Moffat had met with Ho Chi Minh. His brief was to assure Ho of U.S. support of "autonomy" for Vietnam but to warn Ho not to use force to achieve his objective. Ho asked for U.S. assistance and offered a naval base to the U.S. at Cam Ranh Bay. Moffat reported to Washington that the Việt Minh communists were in control of the Vietnamese government and that a French presence in Vietnam was required to prevent an expansion of Soviet and possible Chinese communist influence. However, Moffat also expressed sympathy with the nationalist aspirations of the Việt Minh and said that France had no viable option other than compromise.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
The U.S. Department of State in Washington informed its personnel worldwide that the Việt Minh were communists and that the French presence in Vietnam was imperative "as an antidote to Soviet influence [and] future Chinese imperialism. Thus, Vietnam was identified by the United States as a participant in the intensifying Cold War tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. In the opinion of some authorities, this was a moment in which the U.S. might have averted the First Indochina War (and the later Vietnam War) had the U.S. told France bluntly to observe the 6 March agreement which recognized the Việt Minh as a legitimate government authority.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
Socialist Léon Blum became premier of France. A few days earlier, Blum had stated that "We must reach agreement [with the Việt Minh] on the basis of independence [for Vietnam]". Blum's assumption of power came too late to decelerate the movement toward outright war between the French and the Việt Minh. France feared that any concessions to the Việt Minh would inspire rebellion in France's African colonies plus the takeover by the Việt Minh of all French assets in Indochina.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
French and Việt Minh forces clashed in Hanoi with casualties on both sides as the French advanced to take control of the city.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
French leader Charles de Gaulle met with French High Commissioner for Indochina Thierry d'Argenlieu in France and expressed support for the Commissioner's uncompromising stance against independence for Vietnam.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
The Việt Minh launched their first ever large-scale attack against the French. The Việt Minh military leader, Võ Nguyên Giáp, had three divisions of soldiers stationed near Hanoi and used his few pieces of artillery to blast away at the French. French negotiator Jean Sainteny was seriously wounded when a land mine blew up his car. It would take the French two months to expel the Việt Minh from Hanoi as combat spread to all parts of Vietnam.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
This date and the Việt Minh attack—actually a counter-attack—is often considered by pro-French historians the beginning of the First Indochina War.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
Ho Chi Minh broadcast by radio a nationwide appeal to Vietnamese to rise up in resistance to French rule.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
The Communist Party of France voted in favor of a message supporting French troops in Vietnam. The communists were attempting to maintain a place in the Cabinet of Ministers and in mainstream politics of France and had little interest in supporting the Việt Minh in Vietnam.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
U.S. State Department Asian expert John Carter Vincent wrote that the French lacked the military strength to gain control of Vietnam, lacked public support in France for the war, and had a weak and divided government. He predicted that guerrilla war would continue indefinitely.


1940–1946 in French Indochina, 1946
The Việt Minh army numbered about 60,000 of whom 40,000 had rifles. Another 40,000 were in militia and para-military organizations.


1940–41 1re série season
The 1940–41 1re série season was the 24th season of the 1re série, the top level of ice hockey in France. The championship was not completed, and no champion was declared.


1940–41 1re série season, Results, Final
The final between Briançon and Paris Université Club was not held due to World War II.


1940–41 AHL season
The 1940–41 AHL season was the fifth season of the American Hockey League, which had operated the previous four seasons as the "International-American Hockey League." Nine teams played 56 games each in the schedule.


1940–41 AHL season
The Cleveland Barons won their second F. G. "Teddy" Oke Trophy as the Western Division champions, and their second Calder Cup as league champions.


1940–41 AHL season, Final standings
Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points;


1940–41 AHL season, Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes


1940–41 Allsvenskan, Overview
The league was contested by 12 teams, with Hälsingborgs IF winning the championship.


1940–41 Allsvenskan (men's handball)
The 1940–41 Allsvenskan was the seventh season of the top division of Swedish handball. Nine teams competed in the league. Majornas IK won the league, but the title of Swedish Champions was awarded to the winner of Svenska mästerskapet. Göteborgs IK and Ystads IF were relegated.


1940–41 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team
The 1940–41 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas in the 1940–41 college basketball season. The Razorbacks played their home games in the Men's Gymnasium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It was former Razorback All-American Glen Rose's eighth season as head coach of the Hogs. Arkansas won the Southwest Conference championship for the ninth time overall and first time since the 1937–38 season, finishing with a perfect 12–0 record in conference play and 20–3 overall. It was Arkansas's second perfect conference season (along with 1927–28) and its last until 1976–77.


1940–41 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team
The Razorbacks did not lose a game against collegiate competition during the regular season, but lost two out of three games away from Fayetteville against the Amateur Athletic Union powerhouse Phillips 66ers. Arkansas was invited to the NCAA Tournament for the first time (narrowly missing out on the inaugural tournament in 1939, with rival Texas winning the SWC by one game and gaining the league's bid to the tournament) and won its first ever NCAA Tournament game against Wyoming, 52–40. The Razorbacks advanced to their first ever Final Four, where they fell to eventual national runner-up, Washington State.


1940–41 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team
Multiple Razorbacks had outstanding seasons, with Johnny Adams, Howard Hickey, and John Freiberger all garnering First Team All-SWC honors. Adams, a pioneer of the jump shot, was also recognized as a First Team All-American by Helms. Adams set the SWC scoring record during the February 21 game against TCU with 36 points. Gordon Carpenter and R.C. Pitts would go on to be Olympic gold medalists in basketball during the 1948 Summer Olympics.


1940–41 Blackpool F.C. season
The 1940–41 season was Blackpool F.C. 's second season in special wartime football during World War II. They competed in the North Regional League, finishing sixth.


1940–41 Blackpool F.C. season
Jock Dodds was the club's top scorer for the third consecutive season, with 28 goals in all competitions. These don't count in official statistics, however.


1940–41 Bohemian-Moravian Hockey League season
The 1940-41 Bohemian-Moravian Hockey League season was the second season of the Bohemian-Moravian Hockey League. Six teams participated in the league, and I. CLTK Prag won the championship.


1940–41 Bohemian-Moravian Hockey League season, Promotion
AC Stadion Ceske Budejovice was promoted to the Bohemian-Moravian League for 1941–42.


1940–41 Bologna F.C. 1909 season
During the 1940–41 season Bologna Associazione Giuoco del Calcio competed in Serie A and Coppa Italia.


1940–41 Bologna F.C. 1909 season, Summary
Even with the war the season started four months before, Bologna won its fourth title;  This was the last trophy for the club until the 60s: the next season Bologna grab the 7th spot and the, due to war, the tournament was in fact suspended. Also, Uruguayan striker Puricelli repeated his feat as capocannoniere with 22 goals  At the end of the tournament, Felsner returned to his country Germany in a first signal of the end of an era for the club.


1940–41 Bologna F.C. 1909 season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


1940–41 Boston Bruins season
The 1940–41 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 17th season in the National Hockey League, and they were coming off of a successful season in 1939–40, leading the NHL in points for the third season in a row, as they finished with a 31–12–5 record, accumulating 67 points. However, the Bruins lost to the New York Rangers in the NHL semi-finals, ending their chances for a second-straight Stanley Cup. This year, the Bruins repeated as regular-season champs and returned to the Final, and defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to none to win the organization's third Stanley Cup.


1940–41 Boston Bruins season, Regular season
Boston would have a slow start to the season, going winless in their first 4 games (0–2–2), and sat with a 6–7–3 record 16 games into the season, fighting with the Chicago Black Hawks and New York Americans for 3rd place in the league. The Bruins would then go on a record breaking unbeaten streak, as they would have a 15–0–8 record in their next 23 games, and sit in 2nd place to the Toronto Maple Leafs. After a 2–0 loss to the New York Rangers, Boston would finish the season 6–0–2 to pass the Leafs, and finish with the most points in the NHL for the 4th straight year. Boston had an amazing 21–1–10 record to close out the season.


1940–41 Boston Bruins season, Regular season
Bill Cowley would lead the NHL in scoring with 62 points, as he scored 17 goals and added 45 assists. Roy Conacher led the Bruins in goals with 24, and added 14 assists for a career high 38 points. Eddie Wiseman and Bobby Bauer had productive seasons, earning 40 and 39 points respectively, while Milt Schmidt finished with 38. Team captain Dit Clapper led the Boston blueline with 26 points, while Flash Hollett led the Bruins defense with 9 goals.


1940–41 Boston Bruins season, Regular season
In goal, Frank Brimsek had another outstanding season, winning 27 games, while earning 6 shutouts and posting a 2.01 GAA.


1940–41 Boston Bruins season, Regular season, Final standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against         Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


1940–41 Boston Bruins season, Playoffs
In the playoffs, Boston would have a first-round bye, advancing straight to the NHL semi-finals, where they would face the second place Toronto Maple Leafs in a best of seven series. The Bruins finished 5 points ahead of the Leafs during the regular season. The series opened at the Boston Garden, with each team winning a game, before moving to Maple Leaf Gardens for games three and four. The Leafs took a 2–1 series lead with a big 7–2 victory, however, Boston evened the series up at two games each with a solid 2–1 win in game four.


1940–41 Boston Bruins season, Playoffs
Game 5 shifted back to Boston, but it was Toronto who took a 3–2 series lead, with a 2–1 overtime victory. The series moved back to Toronto for the 6th game, and with Boston facing elimination, the Bruins would hold off the Leafs for a 2–1 win to force a 7th and deciding game in Boston. The Bruins once again would fend off Toronto, hanging on for a 2–1 win, to take the series 4–3, and earn a spot in the Stanley Cup final.


1940–41 Boston Bruins season, Playoffs
The Bruins opponent was the Detroit Red Wings, who finished the regular season with 53 points, 14 less than Boston. Detroit had defeated the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks to earn a spot in the final. The series opened in Boston, with the Bruins winning the first 2 games by close scores of 3–2 and 2–1 to take a 2–0 series lead.


1940–41 Boston Bruins season, Playoffs
The series moved to the Detroit Olympia for the next 2 games, but Boston would complete the sweep, winning games 3 and 4 by scores of 4–2 and 3–1 to become the first team in NHL history to sweep a 4-game series, and win their 2nd Stanley Cup in 3 seasons, and their 3rd in franchise history. It was also the last time the Bruins would win the Stanley Cup until 1970.


1940–41 Boston Bruins season, 1941 Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champions
Bill Cowley, Des Smith, Dit Clapper, Frank Brimsek, Flash Hollett, John Crawford, Bobby Bauer, Pat McReavy, Herb Cain, Mel Hill, Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart, Roy Conacher, Terry Reardon, Art Jackson, Eddie Wiseman, Art Ross (manager), Cooney Weiland (coach), Win Green (trainer)


1940–41 Brentford F.C. season
During the 1940–41 English football season, Brentford competed in the Football League South, due to the cessation of competitive football for the duration of the Second World War. Though the Bees finished well down in the league placings, the club enjoyed some measure of success in the London War Cup, finishing as runners-up to Reading.


1940–41 Brentford F.C. season, Season summary
In Brentford's first full season of wartime football during the Second World War, low crowds and takings of just £30–40 per match during the first half of the Football League South season brought about fears that the club would be unable to fulfil the remaining fixtures of the season. Manager Harry Curtis, backed by his directors, elected to carry on and welcome respite was found in the new London War Cup, in which the Bees advanced to the final, largely helped by 8 goals in five matches from guest forward Eddie Perry. Despite a further two goals for Perry in the final, Brentford finished as runners-up to Reading, losing 3–2 at Stamford Bridge.


1940–41 Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team
The 1940–41 Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team represented the University of Buffalo during the 1940–41 NCAA college men's basketball season. The head coach was Art Powell, coaching his twenty-fifth season with the Bulls.


1940–41 Celtic F.C. season
During the 1940–41 Scottish football season, Celtic competed in the Southern Football League.


1940–41 Challenge Cup
The 1940–41 Challenge Cup was the 40th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The competition was re-introduced after a season’s absence. The competition was won by Leeds who beat Halifax 19–2 in the final on 17 May 1941.


1940–41 Challenge Cup
At the August 1940 rugby league council meeting it was proposed the complete the league season, play the county cup competitions and then finish the season with the Challenge Cup. A decision on the structure of the Challenge Cup was deferred at the December meeting of the council but in January the dates for the competition were finalised.


1940–41 Challenge Cup
The competition was to be played on consecutive weekends commencing 12 April 1941, there would be three rounds then the four teams in the semi-finals would play on a home and away two-legged basis on the first two weekends in May 1941 with the final on a neutral venue on 17 May. Players were not allowed to play for more than one club in the competition and there were to be no replays.


1940–41 Challenge Cup
Extra time of 20 minutes was to be played and in the event of the scores still being level then the game would continue until one team scored. Medals would not be presented to the players in the final, instead war savings certificates were to be awarded, four to each player on the winning team and three to each player on the losing team.