1940 Cleveland Indians season
The season is infamous for ten Indian players confronting owner Alva Bradley and demanding the removal of manager Ossie Vitt, saying the man's behavior was harming the team. When the news broke, the public sided with Vitt and the Indians were dismissed as "crybabies." The movement has since been named the "Crybaby Mutiny."


1940 Cleveland Indians season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1940 Cleveland Indians season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1940 Cleveland Indians season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1940 Cleveland Indians season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1940 Cleveland Indians season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1940 Cleveland Rams season
The 1940 Cleveland Rams season was the team's fourth year with the National Football League and the fifth season in Cleveland.


1940 Cleveland Rams season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1940 Cochinchina uprising
Cochinchina uprising (Nam Kỳ khởi nghĩa)  was an armed uprising against the French and Japanese by the South Vietnamese (at that time known as Cochinchina) in 1940, led by the Indochinese Communist Party.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Historical background
In June 1940, France was invaded and occupied by Nazi troops. Taking this opportunity, in September of that year, Japanese imperialists invaded the Indochina peninsula then colonised by France. From here, Vietnam was dominated by two foreign powers, the French and the Japanese. The Vietnamese appear to have expected Japanese support for the uprising, given the fact that the Japanese had been aiding most other Southeast Asian nations with the hope that they would support the plan for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Historical background
Instead the Vietnamese denounced the Japanese as traitors for not helping them to achieve independence from French colonial rule. With the anti-French sentiment and the imitation of the Bac Son revolutionary, many South Vietnamese provinces revolted against the French and Japanese. In Southern Indochina, the French had to deal with claims from Thailand which, backed by the Japanese, demanded territories situated to the Northwest of Cambodia's Tonle Sap and on the right bank of the Mekong River in Laos. Units of Vietnamese troops were sent to the front to fight the Thais.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Historical background
Some of these units stationed in Saigon decided to rebel against being sent to the front. This plan was part of the program of the Party Committee for Cochin-China which from June 1940 on had actively prepared for an uprising. A plan of action was worked out with the aim of combining the actions of military units in revolt with those of worker and peasant organizations throughout Cochin-China. As it so happened, the French did not go to war with Thailand, and thus they could devote their whole strength against the insurgents and easily decimated the South Vietnamese ICP. With this, it can be said that the insurgents who carried out the uprising had initially believed that Thailand would involve themselves in the conflict, causing a distraction to the French, which would help them, unfortunately for them, this would not happen.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Preparation
In March 1940, the Standing Committee of the Party, headed by Mr. Võ Văn Tần, drafted the outline to prepare for sporadic activities in the anti-French movement, and then prepared for armed uprising. Besides, many demonstrations were held during that time.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Preparation
Self-defense forces and guerrillas which directly led by Võ Văn Tần, Phan Đăng Lưu were formed in big factories in Saigon such as Ba Son, FACI, pier, Cho Quan lamp, In rural areas, most communes had a squadron or even a guerrilla platoon.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Preparation
Popular discontent was on the rise in the South and provided, at least momentarily, an opportunity for the ICP to release its frustration at the events since the previous September. At the root of the unrest in the South was economics. High taxes, a fall in the price of rice, and an increase in unemployment all served to cut the standard of living for the average Vietnamese. Throughout the spring and summer of 1940, peasant riots against French conscription for military service along the Cambodian-Thai border, where the threat of war was high. Peasant protests against conscription took place in several towns and villages throughout the delta.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Preparation
As the wave of discontent in the South rose, the Party's Regional Committee for Cochin China attempted to ride the crest, concentrating its propaganda on peasants and newly drafted Vietnamese troops. Since the restoration of the Party apparatus in Cochin China in the early 1930s, the regional Party organization under the direction of Stalin School graduate Tran Van Giau had possessed a unique degree of autonomy and under Giau's autocratic leadership was somewhat inclined toward making decisions independent of the national party leadership.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Preparation
Now, with almost all members of the ICP central Committee in the South in jail, regional leaders took matters in their own hands and began to plan for a general uprising in response to the decisions reached at the Sixth Plenum the previous November. After the French surrender to Nazi Germany in June, they hastily convened an expanded Party conference in My Tho, deep in the heart of the Mekong delta and agreed to initiate preparations for the insurrection. By autumn, half the indigenous troops in Cochin China were allegedly sympathetic to the Communists, with ICP sources estimating that up to 30 percent of the entire population of the colony was on its side.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Preparation
All blacksmiths produced weapons day by day in order to provide ammunition to army. The anti-war movement, combating the soldiers with the slogan "no soldier, no penny for imperial war" took place the people and soldiers community. Due to good military service, most of the 15,000 Vietnamese soldiers in the French army stationed in Saigon were willing to co-ordinate the uprising.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
Party leaders in Cochin China, however, were understandably hoping to seek support for the uprising from revolutionary elements elsewhere in the country, and in October they sent Phan Đăng Lưu, representative of the Central Committee of the Indochinese Communist Party, to consult with members of the ICP Regional Committee for Tonkin. North Vietnamese delegates had not been able to attend the Sixth Plenum in November 1939 and were thus not well informed about the Central Committee's plans to move toward a general insurrection against French colonial rule.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
Several members of the regional committee, including Truong Cinh, Hoang Van Thu, and Hoang Quoc Viet met with Phan Dang Luu in early November in a suburb of Hanoi. The meeting took place in the immediate aftermath of the abortive revolt in Bac Son, and its decisions reflected an understandable ambivalence about the possibilities of armed uprising.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
The session reaffirmed the decision of the Sixth Plenum to begin preparations for a future armed uprising against French power, and it affirmed the contention that, if conditions were favorable, a local uprising could be launched in one area of the country even if Vietnamese society as a whole was not in a revolutionary situation. But it condemned what it considered the mistakes committed at Bac Son.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
The local leadership at Bac Son, it claimed, did not know how to establish revolutionary power, did not know how to conduct propaganda activities and develop revolutionary strength, and, when the battle was over, did not know how to retreat. The decision to abandon the cities for the countryside was termed an error that weakened the Party's urban base. Then, it said, the Party had lost an opportunity to launch a general uprising after French surrendered in June 1940. Finally, it criticized the new united front as vaguely defined and not sufficiently focused on the worker-peasant alliance.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
Looking to the future, the plenum concluded that Vietnam was not yet in a directly revolutionary situation, but that the revolution could break out in the form of local uprising where conditions were appropriate, leading the way toward a general uprising that would result in a seizure of power in the country as a whole. In perpetration for that moment, the Committee members called for the conservation of the remnants of the Bac Son forces, which were to be reorganized as guerrilla units, and for a revolutionary base in the Viet Bac to wait for the appropriate moment to launch an uprising.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
Given the judgments above, it is not surprising that the meeting suspected that conditions for an armed uprising were lacking in the South. Local forces were too small, and units in the Center and the North were in no position to give adequate support. So Phan Dang Luu was informed that an uprising in Cochin China should be postponed until the Central Committee could send a representative to check on the national situation and provide proper leadership. If the uprising should fail in spite of such preparations, the rebels must be prepared to make an orderly retreat and transform the defeated forces into guerrilla units.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
The meeting also took steps to reconstitute the ICP Central Committee, which had become nearly defunct as the result of the recent arrest of most of its members in the South. Acting on the authority of the one remaining member, Phan Dang Luu, those in attendance named themselves a new provisional central committee with Truong Cinh serving temporarily as general secretary until new elections could be held. This November meeting of the Regional Committee of Tonkin is thus known in Party histories as the Seventh Plenum of the ICP.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
Immediately after the meeting, Phan Dang Luu returned to Cochin China to give his colleagues the bad news that their comrades in Tonkin did not favor a general uprising. But on the evening of 22 November he was arrested by French police at the railway station in Saigon. Advised in advance of the revolt, the French declared martial law and disarmed all indigenous troops in the area.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
In the Mekong delta, however, the Regional Committee was growing increasingly restive. With 15,000 in the uprising organization and the rebellious troops increasingly impatient for action, the Regional Committee now decided that it could wait no longer for the return of Phan Dang Luu and decided to schedule the outbreak for the night of 22–23 November. the uprising was concentrated on several district and provincial capitals throughout the Mekong delta. French military posts were to be attacked, communications links cut, and revolutionary power established at the village level.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
Attacks took place as scheduled in such delta towns as Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Tan An, Vinh Long and Can Tho, as well as in rural areas along the edge of the Plain of Reeds. In some areas, the masses seized power, formed revolutionary tribunals to punish class enemies, and raised flags in the name of the National United Front. These were plans for an attack on Saigon as well, but the French prevented disturbances by confiscating weapons and blocking entrances to the city.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
The course of the insurrection can be divided into three periods. The first period was from 22 to 30 November which was the most intense period of the insurgency. The second was from 30 to 13 December when the insurrection spread to the region of the inter-provincial committee of Long Xuyen and to Rach Gia and Bac Lieu. The final period from 12 to 31 December is centered on the Poulo-Obi incident in Bac Lieu


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development
The revolutionary governments were existed in very short time, the longest one in My Tho was about 49 days. French colonialists vehemently oppressed, seeking to destroy the revolutionary government. It was during this uprising that the flag of North Vietnam was raised at Cao Lanh in the western delta. The revolt began in the Plaine des Joncs in the western delta and none of the northern provinces were affected. The slogans of the uprising included "Land to the Tillers, Freedom for the workers and independence for Vietnam". One of the leaders of the uprising was a man who later became the father of the trade union movement in Vietnam, Tran Quoc Buu. Buu was the founder of the CVT.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, The 22–30 November Period
The most intense fighting occurred simultaneously on 22 and 23 November 1940 in Gia Dinh, Cholon, My Tho and Can Tho, which were centres of inter-provincial committees of the ICP. The attacks started at 10 pm on 22 November. The success of the insurrection in Gia Dinh My Tho and Can Tho on 22 and 23 November persuaded ICP insurgents in other provinces to fight. As a result, from 23 November, the insurrection spread to many provinces, even though by that time the government had started to retaliate by using all its force to suppress the rebellion.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, The 22–30 November Period
These included aerial bombardment and the leveling of many villages. However, the government was not able to stop the uprising in the provinces. Village notables were the main targets of the attacks because they were representatives of the colonial administration of the village level. Even though their administrative power was very limited, they were still the liaison between the colonial administration and the peasants.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, The 30 November – 13 December period
This was the period where the insurrection in Gia Dinh, My Tho and Can Tho became less intense and the ICP was on the defensive but when fighting broke out in the inter-provincial region of Long Xuyen. Communist insurgents in that region were in disarray due to the repressive measures of the government, and were not able to rise at the same time as their comrades in other areas even though they received the insurrection order on 22 November.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, The 30 November – 13 December period
The ICP in this region lost a good opportunity, given that the Inter-Provincial Committee of Long Xuyen was very active in preparing the insurrection. The Long Xuyen Committee ordered its party members to manufacture arms and ammunition in September, and that in October it asked the Cochin China Committee to send instructors to teach tactics to the guerrilla groups newly formed by the Committee. Moreover, the Far West region had serious peasants problems in the second half of the 1930s which would have been an important factor if the ICP were to win over the masses should the insurrection have taken place as originally planned.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, The 30 November – 13 December period
The main targets were the three town centres and their suburbs. Strategic targets such as post offices, police stations and ferries were included in the attack plans. Due to bad communications between party members and the arrest of important members of the party, the provinces of Rach Gia and Bac Lieu remained calm during this period, even though Rach Gia was the first province able to form an insurrection group, in September 1940, Ben Tre also saw only small-scale fighting during this period.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, The 13–31 December Period
The high point of this period was the attack on Poulo Obi lighthouse in Ca Mau district on 13 and 14 December which cost the life of M Olivier, A French lighthouse keeper. By the second half of December, the insurrection had lost momentum and was dying down. In most areas the ICP had to retreat, and the insurgents were only able to distribute tracts or threaten village notables but no serious attacks were undertaken.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, The 13–31 December Period
In Gia Dinh, as well as in Tan An and the Plain of Reeds, the insurgents had to retreat to the dense forests to avoid being hunted down by the authorities. According to a French report, by mid-December, the government was able to control the situation. Thousands of villages who had fled during the insurrection started to return to their homes. Schools reopened and confidence in the French authorities among the Vietnamese was gradually revived. By the end of the year, the insurrection had completely died down.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, Class distinction during the uprising
The picture of solidarity between the revolutionaries and the rich peasants is contradicted by another account of the period, that the revolutionaries destroyed the crops of some rich peasants and well-off middle peasants who possessed a lot of land. A poor peasant whose resentment of the wealthier classes in his village still burned bright in 1971 said that in the pre-1945 period village officials had to be at least middle peasants, and that middle peasants were allied to the landlords and with the hamlet and village te or officials.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, Class distinction during the uprising
Village officials were not without their own influence and support against the insurrection, but it was usually not enough to stem the tide. In the market town of Tan Hiep, the village chief had gathered 200 villagers to support the soldiers in the post against the large crown of peasants insurrectionists sweeping through the area. When the crowd approached, however, the villagers all fled, leaving the village officials and militia to cope with the situation. As during the "Vietnam War" period, loyalty to the authority structure did not always extend to defending it to the death, and there was often an asymmetry of commitment between the followers of the opposing sides.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, Class distinction during the uprising
The class categories mentioned in later accounts by witnesses of the 1940 Cochinchina Uprising and the August 1945 revolution were assigned only later, during the land reform after 1945. several interview sources assert that there was little or no awareness of class labels at this time, but only a general awareness of a great divide between the minority of the rich and the majority of the poor in their province.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, Class distinction during the uprising
The social and economic dominance of a small number of large landholders and the very high percentage of the rural population who were poor and landless peasants make it easy to see why the simple rich-poor categorization of provincial society was prevalent at the time.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, Class distinction during the uprising
It is also clear, however, that almost all observers of these events had little difficulty in retrospectively identifying the different socioeconomic positions of the protagonists of social conflict in the 1930s in terms of the more highly differentiated class categories of a later period, even though the exact designations and terminology may have been applied retrospectively.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, Class distinction during the uprising
The seems to have been a case of a new analytic framework so exactly fitting the reality of the times that it seemed always to have been true. Everyone knew, for example, that landlords were people who owned more land than was necessary to support their families, and that they did not work the land but rented it out.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, Class distinction during the uprising
Rich peasants were a less distinct category but it was generally understood that they were in essence small landlords who owned less land but still more than they needed for bare survival, who farmed what they could themselves but hired laborers or rented what they could not work to tenants. Middle peasants were self-sufficient owner-cultivators who owned just enough land to support their families, and who worked it themselves. Poor peasants may have owned a bit of land but not enough to support a family.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, Class distinction during the uprising
Typically, they were tenants who rented a specified piece of land from one of the large landholders. Very poor peasants were landless peasants who worked as occasional hired laborers, usually in a depressed labor market. Although these class categories were more elaborately defined during the subsequent land reform period, they were simple and serviceable ways to describe the social reality of the 1930s and 1940s and were used consistently by both interviewees and written sources.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Development, Class distinction during the uprising
The French response was swift. In Saigon an attempted uprising was quelled in a day; in the delta, unrest dragged on and was finally put down in early December. Unlike their counterparts in the Viet Bac, the rebels were unable to preserve their forces by retreating to isolated areas, and their defeat signaled the temporary collapse of the Party in Cochin China.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Aftermath
The Communist movement in the south was gravely set back after the suppression of the 1940 uprising, an upsurge of the Hoa Hao movement taking advantage of the new situation. Surviving Communists then purged their own ranks, condemning several to death on the accusation of being double agents.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Aftermath
Much later, on the seventeenth anniversary of the uprising, the former chairman of the Viet Minh Committee of the south, Tran Van Giau, cited the November 1940 example as a warning to militants to bide their time against Diem's repressions, least a premature uprising in the south be crushed in 1957 as in 1940  The principal reasons for these failures were that the communists had insufficient men and arms and that the colonial police and security services had broken into the party's communications networks. The repression was directed by the governor of Indochina, Rivoal and his inspector of political and administrative affairs, Brasey, whose chief aide was Nguyen Van Tam. Some 50 people were guillotined, including Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, the sister in law of Vo Nguyen Giap.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Aftermath
In the face of defeat, the province insurrection leadership made three decisions. First, put all the people captured during the uprising of trial right away. The intention was to scare them but release them, recognizing that if they were badly mistreated, they-or their friends, allies and family-would later seek revenge which would not be advantageous for the revolution. There should be no repeat of the public execution of Constable Trau in 1930. A People's Court was set up, with prosecutors chosen from among the peasants and Party members overseeing the proceedings.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Aftermath
All those detained were released after warnings not to repress the revolution if they did return to work for the French. The second decision made by the province leadership was to break open the rice granaries and distribute the rice to the needy. The peasants needed little encouragement In Nhi Binh village, they seized the granaries of Nguyen Thanh Long, a large landlord and Doc Phu Mau in Ngu Hiep, as well as other smaller landlords. It took the peasants three days to cart away the contents of Doc Phu Mau's granary.


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Aftermath
In Long Trung village, the granary of Ho Khai Khoa was spared because his son aligned himself with the revolution. The third decision of the province leadership was to order the insurrection participants to retreat back into clandestiny, hide their weapons and wait for an order from the Central Committee for a second uprising. Jennings has called the French reaction to the uprising "repressive" and has also used terms such as "repressive" and "brutal", highlighting how serious the uprising was to the French. Interestingly enough, he also suggests that the event was important in highlighting the need for rural reform as he credits the uprising to the "diminishing prestige of conservative pro-French patriarchs."


1940 Cochinchina uprising, Aftermath
The Cochinchina Uprising was a traumatic event but it did not leave as big a mark on My Tho as might have been expected. The event does not feature prominently in revolutionary historiography because it was judged to be a rash and premature act, taken without authorization from the Party's top leadership. It did, of course, result in the temporary breakup of the small band of clandestine organizers. Despite the reports of hundreds or even thousands of participants, and the temporary immobilization of the French authority in much of My Tho province, it seems that the number of core activists was relatively small.


1940 Colgate Red Raiders football team
The 1940 Colgate Red Raiders football team was an American football team that represented Colgate University as an independent during the 1940 college football season. In its 12th season under head coach Andrew Kerr, the team compiled a 5–3 record and outscored opponents by a total of 125 to 76. James Garvey was the team captain. The team played its home games at Colgate Athletic Field in Hamilton, New York.


1940 College Football All-America Team
The 1940 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1940. The nine selectors recognized by the NCAA as "official" for the 1940 season are (1) Collier's Weekly, as selected by Grantland Rice, (2) the Associated Press (AP), (3) the United Press (UP), (4) the All-America Board (AAB), (5) the International News Service (INS), (6) Liberty magazine, (7) the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), (8) Newsweek, and (9) the Sporting News (SN).


1940 College Football All-America Team
Michigan halfback (and Heisman Trophy winner) Tom Harmon, Texas A&M fullback John Kimbrough, and Tennessee guard Bob Suffridge were the only three unanimous first-team All-Americans chosen by all nine official selectors.


1940 College Football All-America Team, Consensus All-Americans
For the year 1940, the NCAA recognizes nine published All-American teams as "official" designations for purposes of its consensus determinations. The following chart identifies the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans and displays which first-team designations they received.


1940 Colorado A&M Aggies football team
The 1940 Colorado A&M Aggies football team represented Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in the Mountain States Conference (MSC) during the 1940 college football season. In their 30th season under head coach Harry W. Hughes, the Aggies compiled a 3–4–2 record (1–3–2 against MSC opponents), finished fifth in the MSC, and were outscored by a total of 131 to 85.


1940 Colorado Buffaloes football team
The 1940 Colorado Buffaloes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Colorado during the 1940 college football season. Head coach Frank Potts  led the team to a 4–1–1 mark in the MSC and 5–3–1 overall.


1940 Colorado gubernatorial election
The 1940 Colorado gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1940. Incumbent Republican Ralph Lawrence Carr defeated Democratic nominee George E. Saunders with 54.37% of the vote.


1940 Columbia Lions football team
The 1940 Columbia Lions football team was an American football team that represented Columbia University during the 1945 college football season. In their 11th season under head coach Lou Little, the team compiled a 5–2–2 record and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 81 to 72.


1940 Connecticut Huskies football team
The 1940 Connecticut Huskies football team represented the University of Connecticut in the 1940 college football season. The Huskies were led by seventh-year head coach J. Orlean Christian and completed the season with a record of 4–4.


1940 Connecticut gubernatorial election
The 1940 Connecticut gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1940. Democratic nominee Robert A. Hurley defeated incumbent Republican Raymond E. Baldwin with 49.54% of the vote.


1940 Constitution of Cuba
The 1940 Constitution of Cuba was implemented during the presidency of Federico Laredo Brú and took effect on 10 October 1940. It was primarily influenced by the collectivist ideas that inspired the Cuban Revolution of 1933. Widely considered one of the most progressive constitutions at the time, it provided for land reform, public education, a minimum wage and other social programs. It had 286 articles in 19 sections.


1940 Constitution of Cuba, Origins
Despite the fact that some political parties had refused to participate in some elections in anticipation of fraud by the government in power, all parties presented candidates for the election of a Constitutional Assembly in November 1939. Beneath the variety of parties, the two national leaders who had dominated Cuban politics since the ouster of Gerardo Machado in 1933: former President Ramón Grau and Fulgencio Batista, a military leader who had dominated several recent presidents. Each maneuvered to form coalitions, but public interest was only sufficient to produce a turnout of 57% of the eligible voters.


1940 Constitution of Cuba, Origins
The 76 delegates from nine political parties first elected Grau chairman, but he was removed when the Conservative Party delegates, who had campaigned in opposition to Batista, switched sides and supported Batista's candidate for chairman, Carlos Márquez Sterling. The assembly debated publicly for six months and adopted the constitution at the Capitol in Havana. It was signed on 1 July 1940, in Guáimaro, Camagüey, as a tribute to the anti-colonial revolutionaries who signed a draft of a proposed Cuban constitution there in 1869. A later U.S. Ambassador to Cuba, Philip Bonsal assessed the outcome:


1940 Constitution of Cuba, Origins
The final product was generally considered enlightened and progressive. It reflected a serious consideration of Cuba's experience and of Cuba's problems. It embodied the hopes and aspirations of many. Some of its clauses may have been, as alleged particularly by conservatives, unworkable. It contained a number of provisions requiring implementing legislation from the Congress. That legislation, in matters affecting the propertied classes and their American allies, was either not forthcoming or was delayed to the very end of the twelve years during which the constitution was in force....


1940 Constitution of Cuba, Origins
For example, the Constitution established as national policy restrictions on the size of land holdings and an end to common ownership of sugar plantations and sugar mills, but these principles were never translated into legislation.


1940 Constitution of Cuba, Provisions
The Constitution of 1940 (a) substantiated voting as a right, obligation and function of the people; (b) endorsed the previously established  form of government, specifically republican, democratic and representative; (c) confirmed individual rights and privileges including private property rights; and (d) introduced the notion of collective rights.


1940 Constitution of Cuba, Provisions
Under the Constitution of 1940, the separation between the three branches of government remained, but with obvious distinctions: (a) the role of the prime minister was introduced; (b) the executive branch converted to semi-parliamentary form, where half of its ministers could also be congressmen; and (c) Congress’ form was changed to one member in the house for every 35,000 citizens or greater fraction of 17,500, and nine senators per province.


1940 Constitution of Cuba, Provisions
The Constitution of 1940 ratified the authority and independence of the judiciary. Specifically, the judicial branch remained autonomous and empowered to nominate judges and magistrates. Like the Constitution of 1901, and the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court justices were appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. In addition, the Constitution of 1940 instituted a Court of Constitutional and Social Guarantees, known as the Constitutional Court, under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court was empowered to hear labor and constitutional law disputes and to set remedies for violations.


1940 Constitution of Cuba, Provisions
Under the Constitution of 1940, provincial government was terminated. The provincial councils endured, but were now composed of the mayors of various municipalities incorporated into each province. The governor’s power to suspend mayors ceased, while the municipalities gained the right to impose local taxes. Public expenses and budgeting at all levels became subject to a ministerial officer under the auspices of a new Court of Public Administration. A Court of Public Works was instituted.


1940 Constitution of Cuba, Provisions
The constitutional amendment clause was strictly enforced in the Constitution of 1940. A constitutional convention was required to modify the language of the Constitution. Congress was authorized to make minor reforms to the document, provided that the following requirements were adhered to: (a) quorum (joint session); (b) two thirds vote of the total number of legislators; and (c) proposed amendments needed to be approved at two consecutive legislative sessions. The Constitution of 1940 could also be modified via referendum.


1940 Constitution of Cuba, Provisions
The most notable difference between the Constitution of 1901 and the Constitution of 1940 was the addition of constitutional protection for issues relating to family, culture, property and labor. Without constitutional antecedents and expertise in the area of protection of social rights, the drafters of the Constitution of 1940 used as models the Second Spanish Republic's Constitution of 1931 and Germany's Weimar Constitution.


1940 Constitution of Cuba, History
The Constitution of 1940 was in effect for 12 years until, in 1952, following a coup d'état by Fulgencio Batista, parts of it were suspended.


1940 Constitution of Cuba, History
In 1953, Fidel Castro's manifesto "History Will Absolve Me" declared the restoration of the 1940 Constitution one of the principal aims of his revolutionary movement. In 1957, he and two of his fellow revolutionaries in the "Manifesto of Sierra Maestra" announced their intention to restore the 1940 Constitution should they succeed in defeating the Batista dictatorship. They delayed doing so until 1976. A referendum that year approved the adoption of a new constitution, the 1976 Constitution of Cuba, which defined the country as a one-party state under the Communist Party of Cuba and replaced the office of Prime Minister of Cuba with the executive office of the president.


1940 Constitution of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic
The 1940 Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (Estonian: Eesti Nõukogude Sotsialistliku Vabariigi konstitutsioon; Russian: Конституция Эстонской Советской Социалистической Республики, Konstitutsiya Estonskoy Sovetskoy Sotsialisticheskoy Respubliki) was adopted by the 2nd People's State Assembly of Estonia (Riigivolikogu) on August 25, 1940.


1940 Constitution of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic
The constitution was based on the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union.


1940 Constitution of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Background
Shortly after the entry of the Estonian SSR to the Soviet Union on 21 July 1940, which was formalized by the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On the Entry of the Estonian SSR into the Soviet Union" on 6 August 1940, a new constitution was adopted for the Estonian SSR on 25 August 1940. The constitution itself symbolizes the establishment of the Soviet government in Estonia "as a result of the overthrow of the power of capitalists and large landowners."


1940 Constitution of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Background
In later years, the constitution was amended in the sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR. The constitution was replaced by the 1978 Constitution of the Estonian SSR.


1940 Constitution of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Structure
The Constitution is divided into 11 chapters and 119 articles.


1940 Constitution of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Provisions, Economic system
The Constitution abolished the private economy and replaced the system with the socialist economy. The prerequisite was the liquidation of the private sectors of economy, such as nationalization of industrial enterprises, production facilities, banks, land ownership, transport and communications. Socialist ownership in the Estonian SSR was either a national property or cooperative ownership. In addition to the socialist economic system, the private households of individual peasants and craftsmen and small industrial and commercial private companies were allowed within the limits set by the Law of the Estonian SSR.


1940 Constitution of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Provisions, Territorial divisions
The territorial divisions of the Estonian SSR is regulated in the Article 14 of the Constitution. Until 1950, the territorial divisions of the pre-occupation Estonia was still maintained in the constitution. At the time of the promulgation of the constitution in 1940, Estonian SSR is divided into 11 counties (maakonnad) and 4 cities which does not belong to any counties. Counties and cities with no counties were completely dissolved in 1950 as Estonian SSR was divided into regions (rajoonid) and (until 1953) oblasts. Until the 1960s the borders of regions changed often until 15 rayons were left.


1940 Constitution of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic
The 1940 Constitution of the Latvian Soviet Socialist  Republic (Latvian: Latvijas Padomju Sociālistiskās Republikas Konstitūcija; Russian: Конституция Латвийской Советской Социалистической Республики, romanized: Konstitutsiya Latviyskoy Sovetskoy Sotsialisticheskoy Respubliki) was adopted by the 2nd session of the People's Saeima of Latvia on August 25, 1940.


1940 Constitution of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic
The constitution was based on the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union. The basic provisions of both constitutions were basically same, except the second chapter of the constitution, on which Latvia retains its pre-Soviet territorial division.


1940 Constitution of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, History
Two days after the formation of the Latvian SSR on 21 July 1940, which was formalized by the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On the Entry of the Latvian SSR into the Soviet Union" on 5 August 1940, the People's Saeima of Latvia formed a commission for the constitution of the Latvian SSR, which consisted of 15 deputies headed by Žanis Spure. The commission formulates the constitution by translating the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union and made several changes to the translated version that account the specific situation of Latvia. The final constitution symbolizes "the tremendous upsurge of the masses who overthrew the exploiting classes".


1940 Constitution of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, History
The constitution itself was approved by acclamation in the 2nd session of the People's Saeima of Latvia on August 25, 1940. The constitution was first published on the News of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Latvian SSR (Latvijas PSR Augstākās Padomes Prezidija Ziņotājs) on 3 October 1940. The constitution was amended in the sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR. The constitution lasted for 38 years, which was replaced by the new Brezhnevist Constitution on April 18, 1978, at the extraordinary eighth session of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR.


1940 Constitution of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Structure
The Constitution is divided into 11 chapters and 118 articles.


1940 Copa Aldao
The 1940 Copa Aldao was the final match to decide the winner of the Copa Aldao, the 13th. edition of the international competition organised by the Argentine and Uruguayan Associations together. The final was contested by Uruguayan club Nacional and Argentine side Boca Juniors.


1940 Copa Aldao
The match was played at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo. With Boca Juniors winning 2–1, on 88 minutes Nacional striker Atilio García forced a draw. Players of Boca Juniors protested alleging the goal had been scored after the regulatory time, but referee Tejada not only awarded the goal to Nacional but sent off Pedro Arico Suárez and coach Enrique Sobral.


1940 Copa Aldao
As a result, players of Boca Juniors left the field in disagreement with Tejada's decision (who reported the goal was scored on 88'). In order to define a winner, both associations, AFA and AUF, agreed to play a second match which was scheduled for January 22, 1941. Nevertheless, Boca refused to play it and no champion was crowned.


1940 Copa Ibarguren
The 1940 Copa Ibarguren was the 17° edition of this National cup of Argentina. It was played by the champions of both leagues, Primera División and Asociación Rosarina de Fútbol (successor of Liga Rosarina de Football, folded in 1930) crowned during 1940.


1940 Copa Ibarguren
Boca Juniors (Primera División champion) faced Rosario Central (Asociación Rosarina champion) at Chacarita Juniors Stadium located in the Villa Crespo district of Buenos Aires. The match was played on January 4, 1941.


1940 Copa del Generalísimo
The 1940 Copa del Generalísimo was the 38th staging of the Copa del Rey, the Spanish football cup competition.


1940 Copa del Generalísimo
The competition started on 12 May 1940 and concluded on 30 June 1940 with the final, held at the Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas in Madrid.


1940 Copa del Generalísimo Final
The Copa del Generalísimo 1940 Final was the 38th final of the King's Cup. The final was played at Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas in Madrid, on 30 June 1940, being won by CD Español, who beat Madrid CF 3-2 after extra time.


1940 Coppa Italia Final
The 1940 Coppa Italia Final was the final of the 1939–40 Coppa Italia. The match was played on 15 June 1940 between Fiorentina and Genova 1893. Fiorentina won 1–0.


1940 Corio by-election
A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Corio on 2 March 1940. This was triggered by the resignation of United Australia Party MP Richard Casey to become Australian Ambassador to the United States.


1940 Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship
The 1940 Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship was the 31st staging of the Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board in 1909.


1940 Cork Intermediate Hurling Championship
Buttevant won the championship following a 2-04 to 1-04 defeat of Ballincollig in the final. This was their first ever championship title.


1940 Cork Junior Hurling Championship
The 1940 Cork Junior Hurling Championship was the 43rd staging of the Cork Junior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board.


1940 Cork Junior Hurling Championship
On 21 October 1940, Cloughduv won the championship following a 10–00 to 5–01 defeat of Newtownshandrum in the final at Fermoy Sportsfield. It was their first ever championship title.


1940 Cork Senior Football Championship
The 1940 Cork Senior Football Championship was the 52nd staging of the Cork Senior Football Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board in 1887. The draw for the opening round fixtures took place on 28 January 1940. The championship began on 31 March 1940 and ended on 15 September 1940.


1940 Cork Senior Football Championship
Clonakilty were the defending champions, however, they were beaten by Beara at the quarter-final stage.


1940 Cork Senior Football Championship
On 15 September 1940, Beara won the championship following a 2-08 to 1-07 defeat of Millstreet in the final at Skibbereen Town Park. This was their fourth championship title overall and their first title since 1934.


1940 Cork Senior Hurling Championship
The 1940 Cork Senior Hurling Championship was the 52nd staging of the Cork Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board in 1887. The draw for the opening round fixtures took place at the Cork Convention on 28 January 1940. The championship began on 10 March 1940 and ended on 29 September 1940.


1940 Cork Senior Hurling Championship
On 29 September 1940, Glen Rovers won the championship following a 10-6 to 7-5 defeat of Sarsfields in the final. This was their seventh championship title and the seventh of eight successive championships.


1940 Cornell Big Red football team
The 1940 Cornell Big Red football team was an American football team that represented Cornell University during the 1940 college football season. In their fifth season under head coach Carl Snavely, the Big Red compiled a 6–2 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 201 to 38.


1940 Costa Rican general election
General elections were held in Costa Rica on 11 February 1940. Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia of the Independent National Republican Party won the presidential election. Voter turnout was 80.8% in the presidential election and 65.6% in the parliamentary election.


1940 Costa Rican general election
Since 1938, two tendencies had begun to emerge in the ranks of the Republican Party, one revolving around the popular ex president Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno and another around the young doctor and charismatic politician Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia. Jiménez, however, an old man, would gradually leave power and influence, and the "Jimenismo" lost ground to Calderonismo, which also has full support from the government chaired by León Cortés Castro who pressures Jiménez into retirement.


1940 Costa Rican general election
To prevent a triumph of the Calderonismo a coalition was tried between the Communist Party, a faction of the jimenismo and the Social Democratic Guanacastecan Brotherhood called National Democratic Alliance, nevertheless when Jiménez declines to be candidate this is broken so the parties that integrate it ran separately. During the National Republican Convention Calderón is selected presidential nominee and wins the elections.


1940 Cotton Bowl Classic
The 1940 Cotton Bowl Classic was the fourth edition of the postseason college football bowl game, between the Clemson Tigers and the Boston College Eagles. It was played on Monday, January 1, 1940, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.


1940 Cotton Bowl Classic, Background
Texas A&M, the 1939 SWC Champion, declined to be in this game, instead playing in the Sugar Bowl. Tennessee of the SEC and Oklahoma of the Big Six also declined this game. Fearing for the longevity of the game, J. Curtis Sanford strove to keep the bowl game alive, extending invites to Clemson and BC, who accepted; this was the first bowl game for both schools.


1940 Cotton Bowl Classic, Background
With both teams from outside the region, attendance was low; the first three editions (and next six) included a team from the state of Texas.


1940 Cotton Bowl Classic, Lou Montgomery Controversy
The star player on the Boston College team was running back Lou Montgomery, who was the first Black student-athlete in B.C. 's history. Sportswriters used adjectives like "flashy" and "brilliant" to describe his running ability and his skill at evading anyone trying to tackle him. He was an important part of B.C. 's successful season, and very popular with the fans. But America was segregated at that time, and despite being a key part of the Eagles' offense, whenever B.C. played against southern teams, even if the game was played up north,  Montgomery had been benched.


1940 Cotton Bowl Classic, Lou Montgomery Controversy
And when Boston College received its invitation to the Cotton Bowl, the President of the Cotton Bowl's Athletic Association, Curtis Sanford, announced that Montgomery would not be allowed to participate, and that he had discussed this with "officials at Boston College," who agreed. Sanford asserted that keeping him out of the game was "advisable...in view of the general Texas attitude regarding Negroes." The story was reported as if Montgomery too agreed with the decision, although some fans believed he felt there was no other option but to accept it.


1940 Cotton Bowl Classic, Lou Montgomery Controversy
Montgomery was praised in the major Boston newspapers for being such a good sport about not playing in the Cotton Bowl. Years later, some Boston sportswriters had second thoughts, and wondered why they hadn't protested the injustice of a star player being excluded from a bowl game because of his race, but at the time, few of the white sportswriters spoke up. Sportswriters at Black newspapers were outraged over it, however. One Boston-based reporter for the Chicago Defender accused coach Frank Leahy of giving in to Jim Crow customs and "catering to southern prejudice," charges that Leahy denied.


1940 Cotton Bowl Classic, Lou Montgomery Controversy
Other Black sportswriters accused Boston College, a Catholic institution, of not living up to its own ideals, by allowing Montgomery to endure discrimination and doing nothing to defend him. In mid-January 1940, the Boston Veterans of Foreign Wars gave Montgomery an award for "sportsmanship, citizenship, and athletic ability," and praised him for his "self-effacement."


1940 Cotton Bowl Classic, Game summary
Boston College took the lead on a 30-yard field goal by Alex Lukachik early in the second quarter, after four failed plays following a punt return to the Clemson 13. After both teams exchanged punts throughout most of the quarter, Clemson got it back at their 43. They drove 57 yards and it culminated with a touchdown by sophomore Charlie Timmons, but the extra point was missed. The remainder of the game was scoreless as Clemson won their first bowl game, and All-American back Banks McFadden was named the game's most valuable player.


1940 Cotton Bowl Classic, Aftermath
Boston College returned to the Cotton Bowl Classic 45 years later in 1985 and won, led by Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie; Clemson returned in 2018 with a 30-3 College Football Playoff semifinal victory over Notre Dame.


1940 Cotton Bowl Classic, Aftermath
The teams have been conference foes since 2005, when BC joined the Atlantic Coast Conference. Since 2008, the O'Rourke–McFadden Trophy is awarded to the winner of the annual Boston College–Clemson game, honoring Charlie O'Rourke of BC and McFadden of Clemson, leaders of their teams in the 1940 Cotton Bowl.


1940 Coupe de France Final
The 1939–40 Coupe de France football competition concluded with a final at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on May 5, 1940, between RC Paris, the winners of the previous competition, and Olympique de Marseille, winners of the 1937–1938 competition. The closing stages of the competition were held against a backdrop of war against Germany, with the invasion of France imminent by the day of the final.


1940 Coupe de France Final
Paris had used 20 different players during their progression to the final, highlighting the difficulty in forming a consistent team during war-time. Only the team's captain, 20-year-old René Roulier played in every cup tie.


1940 Coupe de France Final
Both teams contained a number of naturalised players in their squads, Paris with five: goalkeeper Hiden, midfielder Jordan and centre forward Hiltl of Austria; and wingers Mathé and Weiskopf from Hungary. For their part, Marseille included a "stateless" Austrian in the form of their winger, Donnerfeld (Austria having annexed by Germany in the Anschluss of 1938), together with a naturalised former German, centre forward Heiss, and a Hungarian, centre forward Eisenhoffer, a 40-year-old veteran.


1940 Coupe de France Final
The game itself was an aggressive affair, with a player on each side dismissed from the field of play. Having taken the lead in the 16th minute through Emmanuel Aznar, Marseille conceded two goals, on the 25th minute to Paris captain Roulier, and on 70 minutes, to Mathé; Marseille claimed that both Paris goals were offside.


1940 Creighton Bluejays football team
The 1940 Creighton Bluejays football team was an American football team that represented Creighton University as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) during the 1940 college football season. In its first season under head coach Maurice H. Palrang, the team compiled a 6–2–2 record (2–2 against MVC opponents) and outscored opponents by a total of 178 to 79. The team played its home games at Creighton Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.


1940 Croatian local elections
The 1940 Croatian local elections were held in 625 municipalities of the Banovina of Croatia on 19 May 1940, and in 33 municipalities on 26 May and 2 June. These were the first elections following the Cvetković–Maček Agreement and the establishment of the autonomous Croatian Banate within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The elections were not held in cities and some Adriatic counties bordering, or adjacent to, Italy. Only men older than 24 were allowed to vote. Voting was public and conducted by voice.


1940 Croatian local elections
The elections were a landslide victory for the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) and the Independent Democratic Party (SDS), the ruling parties of the Banovina of Croatia, which together won a majority in 90% of municipalities. Serb independent lists, supported by organizations opposing the Cvetković–Maček Agreement, won around 5% of municipalities. The Yugoslav Radical Union (JRZ), the ruling party of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, suffered a heavy defeat and lost control in 80% of its previously held municipalities.


1940 Croatian local elections
Due to the outbreak of World War II, the 1941 invasion of Yugoslavia, and the subsequent period of communist rule, these were to be the last multi-party elections in Croatia until the 1990 parliamentary election, almost exactly fifty years later.


1940 Croatian local elections, Background
On 26 August 1939, the autonomous Banovina of Croatia was established within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was formed under the Cvetković–Maček Agreement, signed by Dragiša Cvetković, in the name of the Yugoslav Government, and Vladko Maček, the leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS). The Banovina of Croatia included the entire Sava Banovina and Littoral Banovina, as well as parts of the Drina, Zeta, and Danube Banovinas. Its capital was Zagreb and Ivan Šubašić of the HSS was appointed as Ban of Croatia.


1940 Croatian local elections, Background
After the HSS achieved its main goal, Croatian autonomy in Yugoslavia, it had to face many new and difficult challenges in taking political responsibility in Croatia and addressing the hopes and expectations of the electorate. Due to the outbreak of the World War II, political leaders in Yugoslavia wanted to appease Germany and align the country with the Third Reich, tying their exports in vital war materials (aluminium, grain etc.) to Germany. Dire economic situation that resulted from the war heavily struck the impoverished peasants and workers in Croatia, still recovering from the Great Depression of the 1930s.


1940 Croatian local elections, Background
The price of food in Croatia rose by between 50% (beef) and 100% (flour, potatoes, beans) between August 1939 and the summer of 1940. Gaping social inequality and the disappointment with the lack of profound political and social change that many expected to occur after Croatia gained its autonomy soon resulted in the rise of support for the Communists and right-wing extremists. Protests and demonstrations against the rising living costs, food and fuel shortages, high unemployment and inequality, as well as the approaching of the war, became ever more often.


1940 Croatian local elections, Background
HSS authorities responded by persecuting trade unions, communists, underground Ustashe, as well as Yugoslav and Serb nationalists, increasingly relying on its paramilitary, Zaštita. During a communist protest in Split on December 17, 1939, the police fired at the crowd, injuring many and killing young shipyard worker and communist party member, football player Vicko Buljanović. His funeral the next day drew a crowd of 25,000 while 12,000 participated in a mass strike in Split and the surrounding region.


1940 Croatian local elections, Background
After terrorist attacks that included planting explosives in public locations in Zagreb, in February 1940 the Croatian Government banned the fascist Ustashe periodicals (among which Hrvatski narod) and interned 50 Ustashe members in Lepoglava prison, among whom was Mile Budak. Maček viewed the Greater Serbian organizations, the Communists, and the Frankists (Frankovci), a name he used for far-right extremists, as a danger to the existence of the common state. For him, the Communists were a "fifth column" of the Soviet Union, and he described the actions of the Frankists as "directed by Pavelić's emigrants from Italy". The Croatian Government also used the Lepoglava prison for the imprisonment of Communists, and the newly built Kruščica camp near Travnik as a detention site for the Frankists.


1940 Croatian local elections, Background
Under the Cvetković–Maček Agreement that established the Croatian autonomy, it was envisaged that the Croatian Parliament (Hrvatski Sabor) would be elected. Since August 1939, in absence of a Croatian legislature, Ban Šubašić governed through decrees and executive orders. Finally, on January 14, Regent Paul visited Croatia's capital, Zagreb, and co-signed the electoral law for Sabor elections. In preparation of these elections to elect the first Croatian legislature since Sabor of Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia was elected in 1913, the local elections in municipalities were about to take place. The last local elections of 1936 and the most recent parliamentary elections of 1938, despite being marred by regime violence, police obstruction and occasional casualties, showed strong support for the HSS-led opposition to the ruling parties and the King of Yugoslavia.


1940 Croatian local elections, Background
In April, Ban Ivan Šubašić issued an executive order detailing the rules for the local elections. The list that gains relative majority was to be assigned a third of the seats in the council, while the remaining two thirds were to be divided among the lists relative to their votes under the proportional d'Hondt method. Under the old rules, the party with relative majority was immediately assigned two-thirds of the seats. The council president (mayor) was to be elected on a secret ballot in the council, but does not necessarily have to be a councilman. Municipal clerks (notaries, treasuries) became Banovina's employees, not local ones. Ban of Croatia also had the right to regroup the municipalities, dissolve them, and change their borders. Šubašić used this right to regroup municipalities in Posavina, in Derventa, Brčko and Gradačac districts.


1940 Croatian local elections, Background
On April 22, Šubašić called the elections for May 19. Due to the WWII engulfing most of Europe and the Royal Yugoslav Army being placed at the higher level of alertness, many men were called to serve with the reserve troops or to take part in the army maneuvers. HSS decided not to call the elections in cities, but just municipalities. In cities, HSS-led Croatian government appointed HSS members as mayors or commissioners. In April, after the increased Serb nationalist activities refuting the Cvetković-Maček agreement, the government also dissolved the municipalities in Serb-majority Kistanje and Obrovac. Smilčić and Skradin municipalities were also dissolved.


1940 Croatian local elections, Background
On May 10, German army attacked the Low Countries and France, intensifying the war. Netherlands surrendered on 15 May. By 17 May, Germans occupied Brussels and overran most of Belgium, reaching the French channel. These events had a deep impact on public opinion in Yugoslavia.


1940 Croatian local elections, Background, Women's vote
Yugoslav magazine Žena danas ("Woman Today") started campaigning in October 1939 to extend the suffrage to women. Socialist trade unions and communists in Croatia supported the action. However, the women's organisation of HSS opposed it, declaring that the party leadership will decide when the best moment to introduce women's suffrage in Croatia is.


1940 Croatian local elections, Campaign
Ban Šubašić visited less developed regions in Lika and Dalmatia in late 1939, promising public works on infrastructure. Secretary-general of the Croatian Peasant Party, Juraj Krnjević, toured Croatia, visiting municipal and district party organizations, trying to settle some disputes, unite fractions and revert splits in the party.


1940 Croatian local elections, Campaign
For instance, the differences in opinion on certain appointments and on the issue of supporting the metal workers' strike in Slavonski Brod alienated the district party organisation from the national HSS leadership; as Brod HSS refused to toe the party line and split into many factions, the entire district organisation was dissolved in March 1940, despite the 37-6 vote of confidence in the Brod party chairman. In general, Krnjević tried to assuage dissidents and remind the party cadre of the importance of the elections.


1940 Croatian local elections, Campaign
While he had some success in Dubrovnik, still, according to historian G. Jakovčev, there were as many as 70 lists by HSS dissidents in Dalmatia alone (e.g. Ston, Šipan, Makarska, etc.). Krnjević also tried to address the economic concerns, declaring at a rally in Split that Croatia has to be more equal and that HSS will not allow some to be millionaires while others are hungry.


1940 Croatian local elections, Campaign
Maček tried to downplay the importance of the elections, going as far as saying that he does not attach "any political importance" to it, as many local and even personal particularities play a role in them. In a circular note to HSS organisations he reminded them to consider economic interests first when choosing candidates for councilmen and mayors. However, it was still important to eliminate anti-agreement forces (JRZ in particular) from positions of power in Croatia and show HSS and SDS' strength.


1940 Croatian local elections, Campaign
Due to the royal Yugoslav regime's ban and persecution since 1921, Croatian communists had to run in the elections as the Party of the working people (Croatian Stranka radnog naroda, SRN). According to historian Sibe Kvesić, the gendarmerie and the local authorities frequently harassed the communists and their supporters, spreading rumours and threatening voters who intended to vote for the communists. In some places, the judicial or administrative authorities pressed hard to bar the SRN putting the candidates due to any petty mistakes.


1940 Croatian local elections, Campaign
Political opponents of Cvetković-Maček agreement and the establishment of Banovina of Croatia had different strategies for contesting the elections. Yugoslav people's party (JNS) in Croatia, chaired by Grga Andjelinović, chose not to contest the elections, while it advised party cadre and fractions under senator Petar Zec to still put up lists in some municipalities together with the Yugoslav radicals (JRZ) and other Serb parties. These were usually named "nonpartisan Serb lists." Serb nationalists claimed that the Banovina of Croatia was Maček's dictatorship and that only a unitary and centralised Kingdom of Yugoslavia could bring prosperity to Croatian Serbs. Some of them openly advocated secession of Serb-majority municipalities and counties from Banovina of Croatia and joining neighbouring, Serb-majority Vrbas Banovina. JRZ chairman, Yugoslav prime minister Cvetković, called Serbs of Croatia to cast their votes for JRZ as a show of support for unitary Yugoslavia.


1940 Croatian local elections, Campaign
On May 1, Croatian communists organised a mass strike in Zagreb to commemorate the International Workers' Day, claiming strike participation rate close to 90%. Communist activists and protests, predominantly students, blocked the tram depot and thus prevented the trams in Zagreb from operating the entire day. Tram workers' trade union joined them as well. Protesting workers clashed with the police and HSS paramilitary (Zaštita), resulting in numerous wounded and injured. This was the first time in Kingdom of Yugoslavia the workers decided to organize mass strikes and protests on May 1.


1940 Croatian local elections, Campaign
On May 17, just two days ahead of the elections, Ban Šubašić postponed indefinitely the elections in municipalities in Kastav, Čabar, Delnice, Sušak, Benkovac and Šibenik district. The Croatian government officially stated that it exempted them due to their proximity to the Adriatic military area surrounding important naval harbors. Namely, this operational zone was put under alert after the begin of the WWII due to its bordering Italy or being adjacent to Italian coast, as Yugoslavia was wary of an Italian attack.


1940 Croatian local elections, Campaign
However, others suspected that the elections were not held there due to some of these municipalities being communist strongholds (such as Tisno, Zlarin and Vodice, where communists won in 1936) as an expected communist victory there would make HSS weaknesses very visible. At the same time, Ban Šubašić postponed the elections in Brčko and Gradačac district and Konavle municipality for May 26, and in Derventa district as well as Pazarište, Brestovsko, Kloštar Ivanić, Bosiljevo, Šamac and Cvetlin municipalities for 2 June.


1940 Croatian local elections, Voting
Only men older than 24 were allowed to vote. Voting was public; a voter had to loudly declare his name and the list he wanted to vote for. In many municipalities, the only list contesting the elections was the HSS one. In some municipalities (Andrijaševci, Retkovci, Opuzen, Gunja and Farkaševac), clashes between the voters and incidents occurred so the elections had to be repeated or postponed for a week. Elections were held in 620 municipalities on May 19, while some counties voted a week later or in June. After Šubašić's reshuffling prior to the local elections, the Banovina of Croatia had altogether 693 municipalities and 25 cities within 99 districts at the end of 1940. Two of those municipalities were created after the local elections were held.


1940 Croatian local elections, Voting
Due to gerrymandering of municipal borders just before the elections, most notably in attaching JRZ-leaning Cavtat to HSS-leaning Gruda to form a new municipality (Konavle) south of Dubrovnik or Independent Democratic Party (SDS)-advocated border changes in Bosanska Posavina around Odžak, some Bosniaks and Serbs boycotted the elections there.


1940 Croatian local elections, Election results
The HSS-SDS coalition won a majority of municipalities and established full political control over the territory of the Banovina of Croatia. Preliminary results of the 19 May elections showed that the HSS alone won a majority in 425 municipalities, the SDK in 106, the SDS in 27, the HSS and the Muslim Organization of the HSS in 4, the HSS and Germans in 1, the Muslim Organization of the HSS in 2, the SDK with other groups in 1, and the SDS with other Serb parties in 1. The JRZ won a majority in 20 municipalities, the JRZ and Farmers in 1, joint Serb lists in 8, Serb non-partisan lists in 18, non-partisan city lists in 2, independent lists in 2, Farmers in 1, leftists in 1, Germans in 3, and ethnic minority lists in 2.


1940 Croatian local elections, Election results
The election showed some weakening of support for the major political parties. After the local elections in 1936, HSS won majority in 512 out of 612 municipalities in Sava and Littoral banovina, roughly corresponding with the later-established Banovina of Croatia. In littoral banovina, in 1936 HSS won 75 out of 94 municipalities (80%).


1940 Croatian local elections, Election results
The results were especially poor showing for Yugoslav radical union (JRZ), which won majority in 21 municipalities, compared to 108 they held power in before the elections. In 195 municipalities with absolute or relative Serb majority, out of 121,429 voters JRZ and independent Serb lists won 36,502 votes, SDS alone 15,183 while HSS-SDS coalition (SDK) won 44.262 votes. The JRZ lost most of its previously held municipalities to the SDK and the SDS.


1940 Croatian local elections, Election results
The Communists won the majority in the councils of Sinj, Trogir, Komiža, and Vrboska (2/3 majority), a third of votes in Omiš, and a quarter in Makarska in Dalmatia. In Vrgorac, communists came second and won 8 seats in the council, while in Smiljan they lost by 4 votes in repeated elections, also winning 8 seats in the council.


1940 Croatian local elections, Election results
Independent German ethnic lists won majority in 5 municipalities. Ethnic Germans ran on other lists, too, mostly on HSS tickets. Joint HSS-German list won in one municipality. Altogether, ethnic Croatian Germans won 177 mandates in 45 municipalities.


1940 Croatian local elections, Election results
Elections in 20 municipalities were held on 26 May, and in 13 municipalities on 2 June. On 5 June, the Government published the corrected results for some municipalities.


1940 Croatian local elections, Election results, Turnout
As the 1936 local elections were used by the HSS-led Croatian opposition to wrestle some self-government from the central Yugoslav authorities, the turnout stood at around 80%. The turnout in 1940 was significantly lower in many areas, partially reflecting the dissatisfaction and the lack of interest of the population. In Osijek district as a whole, the turnout was 50.89% (4,708 voted out of 9,250), in Drniš it was 52.11%, while In Daruvar district the turnout was 48% (4,076 voted). At some parts of Daruvar area it was as low as 21%. As the communists were administratively barred from contesting the elections in Vis, many chose to abstain in protest, bringing the turnout to 50%. On the other hand, Royal Yugoslav Armed forces mobilized many men fit for military service in its 1939/40 mobilization.


1940 Croatian local elections, Aftermath
Elected municipal council members met after the elections to constitute the council and elect the municipality mayor among themselves. Communist council members in Trogir and Vis refused to take an oath of loyalty to the king and consequently had their mandates made void. According to Jakovčev, 60 municipalities in Dalmatia alone protested due to forgeries and irregularities. In Vrboska, one of the few municipalities that were won by communists, elections were declared void by the government and then repeated on July 28. Busing in voters from Dol and elsewhere and intimidating the communists, HSS managed to secure the majority. Workers' list with Pero Nagulic on the ticket lost to the HSS list headed by Mihovil Stojsic.


1940 Croatian local elections, Aftermath
In Knin, where the Serb nationalist non-partisan list under dr. Niko Novaković got 27 out of 36 councilmen, Croatian government dissolved the Knin town council and appointed secretary of the local HSS, Vice Musić, as the mayor.


1940 Croatian local elections, Aftermath
In Bobota, all municipal councilmen elected on non-partisan Serb list decided to join SDS, disappointed by the election results in eastern Slavonia.


1940 Croatian local elections, Aftermath
Maček declared the elections as a "90% victory for the pro-agreement parties", emphasizing that "the SDS won the majority among Croatian Serbs". He touted the results as a "lesson" for anti-agreement parties. Shortly after the elections, having in mind the incidents that occurred, ban Šubašić indefinitely banned all public gatherings, rallies or protests except for religious events.


1940 Croydon North by-election
The Croydon North by-election, 1940 was a parliamentary by-election held in the British House of Commons constituency of Croydon North on 19 June 1940. The seat had become vacant when the Conservative Member of Parliament Glyn Mason had resigned. Mason had held the seat since the 1922 general election.


1940 Croydon North by-election
During World War II, the major parties had formed a Coalition Government and agreed an electoral pact, whereby they would not contest by-elections in seats held by the other parties in the government. However, there was nothing to prevent other candidates from standing, and A. L. Lucas stood in Croydon North as an independent candidate.


1940 Croydon North by-election
Despite a very low turnout, the Conservative candidate Henry Willink held the seat for his party with a large majority. Lucas forfeited his deposit.


1940 Croydon state by-election
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Croydon on 7 September 1940 because of the resignation of Bertram Stevens (United Australia), to contest the federal seat of Lang at the 1940 election, however he was unsuccessful.


1940 Cuban general election
General elections were held in Cuba on 14 July 1940. Fulgencio Batista won the presidential election running under the People's Socialist Coalition banner, whilst the Partido Auténtico emerged as the largest party in the House of Representatives. Voter turnout was 73.4%.


1940 Cup of the Ukrainian SSR
The 1940 Ukrainian Cup was a football knockout competition conducting by the Football Federation of the Ukrainian SSR and was known as the Ukrainian Cup.


1940 Cupa României Final
The 1940 Cupa României Final was the seventh final of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. It was disputed between Venus București and Rapid București, and was won by Rapid București after 4 games. This final is unique in the history because the winner decided after 4 games, 3 games ended draw after extra-time and just after the third reply Rapid București won with 2–1.


1940 Dartmouth Indians football team
The 1940 Dartmouth Indians football team was an American football team that represented Dartmouth College as an independent during the 1940 college football season. In their seventh and final season under head coach Earl Blaik, the Indians compiled a 5–4 record. Louis Young was the team captain.


1940 Dartmouth Indians football team
George Wolfe was the team's leading scorer, with 48 points, from eight touchdowns.


1940 Dartmouth Indians football team
Dartmouth played its home games at Memorial Field on the college campus in Hanover, New Hampshire.


1940 Dayton Flyers football team
The 1940 Dayton Flyers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Dayton as an independent during the 1940 college football season. In their 18th season under head coach Harry Baujan, the Flyers compiled a 6–3 record.


1940 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team
The 1940 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team was an American football team that represented the University of Delaware in the 1940 college football season. In its first season under head coach William D. Murray, the team compiled a 5–3 record and outscored opponents by a total of 87 to 54. The team's victory on October 26, 1940, started a 22-game undefeated streak that was not broken until five years later on October 27, 1945.


1940 Delaware gubernatorial election
The 1940 Delaware gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1940. Incumbent Democratic Governor Richard McMullen originally ran for re-election to a second term, and was renominated by the Democratic Party. However, less than a month before the election, McMullen suffered a heart attack and he dropped out of the race. The state party named Secretary of State Josiah Marvel Jr., as McMullen's replacement on the ballot. On the Republican side, Wilmington Mayor Walter W. Bacon was nominated by the Republican Party for Governor.


1940 Delaware gubernatorial election
Ultimately, even as President Franklin D. Roosevelt was handily winning Delaware en route to re-election nationwide, and as Democratic Senator James M. Tunnell was narrowly winning re-election, Bacon defeated Marvel by a decisive margin to regain the governorship for the Republican Party. Bacon received 52% of the vote to Marvel's 45%.


1940 Democratic National Convention
The 1940 Democratic National Convention was held at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois from July 15 to July 18, 1940. The convention resulted in the nomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term. Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace from Iowa was nominated for vice president.


1940 Democratic National Convention
Despite the unprecedented bid for a third term, Roosevelt was nominated on the first ballot. Roosevelt's most formidable challengers were his former campaign manager James Farley and Vice President John Nance Garner. Both had sought the nomination for the presidency and soundly lost to Roosevelt who would be "drafted" at the convention. Henry Wallace was Roosevelt's preferred choice for the vice presidency. His candidacy was opposed vehemently by some delegates, particularly the conservative wing of the party which had been unenthusiastic about Wallace's liberal positions. Nonetheless, Wallace was ultimately nominated with the votes of 59% of the delegates, on the first ballot.


1940 Democratic National Convention, Democratic candidates
By late 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plans regarding a possible third term in 1940 affected national politics. A Republican leader told H. V. Kaltenborn in September 1939, for example, that Congressional distrust of the president was a cause of the controversy over revising the Neutrality Acts of 1930s. The politician, who supported selling weapons to Britain and France, claimed that Roosevelt could "regain the complete confidence of Congress and the country" by announcing that he would not run for a third term. An unnamed Roosevelt advisor said, however, that doing so would reduce the president's influence on Congress and the Democratic party. Roosevelt would not announce his intentions until spring 1940, the advisor said.


1940 Democratic National Convention, Democratic candidates
Throughout the winter, spring, and summer of 1940 whether Roosevelt would run again remained unknown. The "two-term" tradition, although not yet enshrined in the U.S. Constitution as the 22nd Amendment, had been established by President George Washington when he refused to run for a third term in 1796, and the tradition was further supported by Thomas Jefferson. Roosevelt, however, refused to give a definitive statement as to his willingness to be a candidate, even indicating to his old friend and political kingmaker James Farley that he would not be a candidate again and that he could seek the nomination; Farley thus began his campaign.


1940 Democratic National Convention, Democratic candidates
Roosevelt told others of his plans not to run, including Cordell Hull, Frances Perkins, and Daniel J. Tobin. His wife Eleanor was opposed to a third term. Perhaps the most definitive evidence of Roosevelt's intention to not run for a third term is that in January 1940 he signed a contract to write 26 articles a year for Collier's for three years after leaving the presidency in January 1941.


1940 Democratic National Convention, Democratic candidates
However, as Nazi Germany defeated France and threatened Britain in the summer of 1940, Roosevelt decided that only he had the necessary experience and skills to see the nation safely through the Nazi threat. His belief that no other Democrat who would continue the New Deal could win was likely also a reason. He was aided by the party's political bosses, who feared that no Democrat except Roosevelt could defeat the charismatic Wendell Willkie, the Republican candidate.


1940 Democratic National Convention, The "voice from the sewers"
By the convention Farley and Vice President John Nance Garner were declared candidates, and Paul McNutt was a possibility. Roosevelt still did not want to declare openly for re-nomination, so his backers arranged a stunt at the convention. Roosevelt dictated a message on the phone to Kentucky Senator Alben Barkley, which Barkley read out to the convention during the first day's proceedings. It concluded


1940 Democratic National Convention, The "voice from the sewers"
The President has never had, and has not today, any desire or purpose to continue in the office of President, to be a candidate for that office, or to be nominated by the convention for that office. He wishes in earnestness and sincerity to make it clear that all of the delegates in this convention are free to vote for any candidate.


1940 Democratic National Convention, The "voice from the sewers"
John Gunther later wrote that Barkley's message "can scarcely be said to have conveyed the whole or literal truth". When it ended, the convention sat in shocked silence for a moment. The silence was then broken by a voice thundering over the stadium loudspeakers:"We want Roosevelt! We want Roosevelt!" The voice was Thomas D. Garry, Superintendent of Chicago's Department of Sanitation (the sewers department), a trusted henchman of Chicago Mayor Ed Kelly. Garry was stationed in a basement room with a microphone, waiting for that moment.


1940 Democratic National Convention, The "voice from the sewers"
Kelly had posted hundreds of Chicago city workers and precinct captains around the hall; other Democratic bosses had brought followers from their home territories. All of them joined Garry's chant. Within a few seconds, hundreds of delegates joined in. Many poured into the aisles, carrying state delegation standards for impromptu demonstrations. Whenever the chant began to die down, state chairmen, who also had microphones connected to the speakers, added their own endorsements: "New Jersey wants Roosevelt! Arizona wants Roosevelt! Iowa wants Roosevelt!"


1940 Democratic National Convention, The "voice from the sewers"
Life wrote the following week that "the shabby pretense ... fooled nobody", describing it as a "cynical, end-justifies-the-means alliance of New Deal reformers with self-seeking city bosses to engineer the 'draft'" and "one of the shoddiest and most hypocritical spectacles in [US] history". The effect of the "voice from the sewers" was overwhelming. The next day Roosevelt was nominated by an 86% majority.


1940 Democratic National Convention, Vice Presidential selection
Incumbent Vice President John Nance Garner opposed Roosevelt's re-election, so the party had to choose a new vice presidential nominee. Roosevelt asked Secretary of State Cordell Hull to serve as his running mate, but Hull preferred to remain in his Cabinet position. Roosevelt's aides also strongly considered South Carolina Senator James F. Byrnes, but the president settled on Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace.


1940 Democratic National Convention, Vice Presidential selection
James Farley was considered, but was not selected, because both he and Roosevelt were from New York State; if they had run together, the electors from New York could not have voted for both, in keeping with the terms of the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution. Others considered were Kentucky Senator Alben Barkley, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives William B. Bankhead of Alabama.


1940 Democratic National Convention, Vice Presidential selection
Roosevelt chose Wallace because of Wallace's positions on the New Deal and aid to Britain, and because he hoped that Wallace would appeal to agricultural voters. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt had flown to Chicago to campaign; after her husband's nomination, she gave what came to be known as her "No Ordinary Time" speech in support of Wallace. Though many Democrats regarded Wallace as a mystic or an intellectual, the delegates acquiesced; Wallace won the nomination on the first ballot over Bankhead.


1940 Democratic National Convention, Vice Presidential selection
The Roosevelt–Wallace ticket defeated the Republican ticket to win the 1940 presidential election. Roosevelt's decision to select his own running mate set a powerful precedent, and presidential candidates after 1940 became much more influential in the choice of their running mate.


1940 Democratic National Convention, Roosevelt's acceptance speech
Franklin D. Roosevelt, playing coy about his intentions to seek a third term, did not attend the convention himself, instead sending his wife Eleanor there on his behalf.


1940 Democratic National Convention, Roosevelt's acceptance speech
Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted his party's nomination after the convention had closed. Shortly after midnight Eastern time on July 19, 1940, Roosevelt delivered his acceptance speech from the White House in front of news radio microphones and newsreel cameras.


1940 Democratic National Convention, Roosevelt's acceptance speech
Later that morning, the American Pathé sent footage of his speech to New York City, where it was developed and had a portion aired on television at 3:30 Eastern time, making Roosevelt the first incumbent president to be shown on television accepting his party's nomination.


1940 Democratic Party presidential primaries
From March 12 to June 27, 1940, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 1940 United States presidential election. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1940 Democratic National Convention held from July 15 to July 18, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois.


1940 Denver Pioneers football team
The 1940 Denver Pioneers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Denver in the Mountain States Conference (MSC) during the 1940 college football season. In its second season under head coach Cac Hubbard, the team compiled a 6–2–1 record (4–1–1 against RMC opponents), tied for second in the conference, and outscored opponents by a total of 155 to 93.


1940 Detroit Lions season
The 1940 Detroit Lions season was their 11th in the league. The team failed to improve on their previous season's output of 6–5, winning only five games. They failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.


1940 Detroit Lions season
Due to a dispute between new Lions owner Fred Mandel and Detroit Tigers owner Walter Briggs, the Lions played the entire 1940 home schedule at University of Detroit Stadium.


1940 Detroit Lions season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1940 Detroit Tigers season
The 1940 Detroit Tigers season was their 40th since they entered the American League in 1901. The team won the American League pennant with a record of 90–64, finishing just one game ahead of the Cleveland Indians and just two games ahead of the New York Yankees. It was the sixth American League pennant for the Tigers. The team went on to lose the 1940 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds 4 games to 3.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season
The 1940 Tigers were led by: Hank Greenberg, who won his second American League MVP award; Rudy York, who was #2 in the AL behind Greenberg in RBIs, total bases and extra base hits; Barney McCosky, who led the major leagues in hits and triples; and Bobo Newsom, who led the major leagues in Adjusted ERA+ and was #2 in the AL behind Bob Feller in ERA, wins, and winning percentage.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season
With the expansion of Briggs Stadium, the Tigers set a major league attendance record with 1,112,693 fans attending games in 1940. The 1940 Tigers were the first team to draw over 1,000,000 fans.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, Season summary
The 1940 Tigers won the American League pennant with a record of 90–64. They narrowly beat the Cleveland Indians led by Bob Feller in a tight pennant race that went back-and-forth right down to the end of the season. The Tigers outscored their opponents 888 to 717 for the season. The Tigers set a major league attendance record with 1,112,693 fans attending games at Briggs Stadium during the 1940 season. The 1940 Tigers were the first team to draw 1,000,000 or more fans.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Catcher: Tebbetts and Sullivan
Catcher Birdie Tebbetts played for the Tigers from 1936 to 1947, missing the 1943–1945 seasons for military service. He was chosen four times for the AL All Star team. In 1940, Tebbetts hit .296 and led all AL catchers in assists (89), errors (17) and double plays (10).


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Catcher: Tebbetts and Sullivan
Catching duties were shared with Billy Sullivan, Jr.. He hit .309 with a .399 on-base percentage and .450 slugging percentage for the 1940 Tigers. Sullivan played in 5 of 7 games of the 1940 World Series for the Tigers, scoring three runs with a .389 on-base percentage. His father, Billy Sullivan, was also a catcher for the Tigers in 1916.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Infield: York, Gehringer, Bartell, and Higgins
First baseman Rudy York started as a catcher in 1937. In 1940, the Tigers persuaded Hank Greenberg to move to left field, allowing York to take over at first base. The experiment was successful, as York finished 2nd in the AL in RBIs (134), total bases (343), and extra base hits (85). He also finished 8th in the AL MVP voting, 3rd in the major leagues in times on base (279) and doubles (46) and 4th in the AL in slugging percentage (.583). York was among the American League leaders in home runs for 11 consecutive seasons from 1937 to 1947, and his .503 slugging percentage as a Tiger ranks #4 in franchise history.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Infield: York, Gehringer, Bartell, and Higgins
Charlie Gehringer, known as "The Mechanical Man" for his quiet consistency, was the Tigers' second baseman from 1924 to 1942. In 1940, the 37-year-old Gehringer hit .313, scored 108 runs, and was 4th in the major leagues in on-base percentage (.428) and 3rd in AL in bases on balls (101).


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Infield: York, Gehringer, Bartell, and Higgins
Shortstop Dick Bartell was known as one of the most ferocious competitors of his era. In 1940, he hit only .233 for the Tigers, but he had 76 walks boosting his on-base percentage by 100 points to .335. He scored 76 runs and drove in 53 runs for the 1940 season. Bartell finished 12th in the AL MVP voting in 1940.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Infield: York, Gehringer, Bartell, and Higgins
Third baseman Pinky Higgins was the team's starting third baseman from 1939 to 1944. In 1940, he hit .271, drove in 76 runs, hit 13 home runs, and walked 61 times, boosting his on-base percentage to .357.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Outfield: Greenberg, McCosky, Fox, Campbell, and Averill
Left fielder "Hammerin' Hank" Greenberg was the team's and the league's MVP. He was awarded the AL Most Valuable Player award for the second time in his career, the first person to win the MVP award at two different positions (1935 at first base, 1940 at left field). In 1940, Greenberg led the major leagues in RBIs (150), extra base hits (99), slugging percentage (.670), OPS (1.103), total bases (384), doubles (50), and runs created (166). He also led the AL in home runs (41) and at bats per home run (14.0).


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Outfield: Greenberg, McCosky, Fox, Campbell, and Averill
He was 4th in AL in batting average (.340) and 2nd in the major leagues in on-base percentage (.433),  runs scored (134), and times on base (289). Greenberg was drafted into the military in early 1941 (one of the first major league players to be drafted) and lost parts of five seasons (1941–1945) to military service.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Outfield: Greenberg, McCosky, Fox, Campbell, and Averill
Center fielder Barney McCosky also had a tremendous year. For the 1940 season, McCosky led the major leagues in hits (200) and triples (19). He was also 3rd in the major leagues in runs scored (123), and 4th in the AL in times on base (268), 5th in the AL in batting (.340). In the World Series, he hit .304 (7-for-23) with five runs. McCosky finished 16th in the 1940 AL MVP voting. Since 1940, the only Tiger to exceed McCosky's 19 triples is Curtis Granderson in 2007.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Outfield: Greenberg, McCosky, Fox, Campbell, and Averill
Right fielder Pete Fox played 82 games in right field, hitting .289 with a .403 slugging percentage.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Outfield: Greenberg, McCosky, Fox, Campbell, and Averill
Bruce Campbell was traded to the Tigers in January 1940. Campbell played 74 games in right field for the Tigers, sharing the position with Pete Fox. During the regular season, Campbell hit .283 with a .381 on-base percentage and .448 slugging percentage. Campbell played all 7 games of the 1940 World Series and hit .360 with a slugging percentage of .520 in the Series, with a home run and five RBIs.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Outfield: Greenberg, McCosky, Fox, Campbell, and Averill
Hall of Famer Earl Averill was acquired by the Tigers in 1938 and was a backup outfielder for the 1940 team. Averill retired in 1941.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Newsom, Bridges, Rowe, Gorsica, Newhouser, and Trout
Bobo Newsom finished 4th in the AL MVP voting in 1940 and was the ace of the Tigers' pitching staff. After losing on Opening Day, Bobo won 13 straight games during the regular season before injuring his thumb. He finished the season as the major league leader in Adjusted ERA+ (167), second in the major leagues in strikeouts (164), and second in the AL in ERA (2.83), wins (21), and winning percentage (.808). Newsom gave a historic effort in the 1940 World Series, pitching three complete games with a 1.38 ERA.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Newsom, Bridges, Rowe, Gorsica, Newhouser, and Trout
After watching his son win Game 1, Bobo's father died in a Cincinnati hotel. Bobo promised to win Game 5 for his father and shut out the Reds, 5–0. Newsom started Game 7 on only one day's rest, and held the Reds to 2 runs, but the Tigers scored only once. The Reds won the game and the World Series, but Newsom's performance was one of the greatest efforts in World Series history.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Newsom, Bridges, Rowe, Gorsica, Newhouser, and Trout
Schoolboy Rowe finished 7th in the AL MVP voting in 1940 and was the AL leader in winning percentage (.842) with a 16–3 record. He started two games in the 1940 World Series. He lasted a combined 3-2/3 innings in his two starts and lost both games with an ERA of 17.18.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Newsom, Bridges, Rowe, Gorsica, Newhouser, and Trout
Tommy Bridges was fourth in the AL in both strikeouts (133) and Adjusted ERA+ (140). He was also second in the major leagues in strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (6.06). He started one game of the 1940 World Series, pitching a complete game for the win.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Newsom, Bridges, Rowe, Gorsica, Newhouser, and Trout
Closer Al Benton led the major leagues in saves (17) and was second in the major leagues in games finished (35).


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Newsom, Bridges, Rowe, Gorsica, Newhouser, and Trout
Hal Newhouser was the youngest player in AL in 1940 at age 19. The future two-time AL MVP started 20 games for the 1940 Tigers and had a record of 9–9.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Newsom, Bridges, Rowe, Gorsica, Newhouser, and Trout
Rookie Floyd Giebell was one of the most interesting stories of the 1940 season. Giebell made his major league debut in September 1940 as a 30-year-old rookie. Giebel pitched a pair of complete game victories and gave up only two runs in 18 innings for an earned run average of 1.00. On September 27, 1940, the Tigers needed one more win to clinch the pennant. With Bob Feller scheduled to pitch for the Indians, Detroit manager Del Baker decided to start Giebell rather than "waste" his aces Bobo Newsom or Schoolboy Rowe.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Regular season, The players, Pitching: Newsom, Bridges, Rowe, Gorsica, Newhouser, and Trout
Time magazine described Giebell at the time as "a gawky stringbean" — Geiebell was 6'2½" (189 cm) and 172 pounds (78 kg) —who "looked like a sacrificial lamb as he ambled out to the mound." But, as Time reported after the game, Giebell was "no lamb" that day. Instead, "[w]ith cunning change of pace and the control of an oldtimer, the green-as-grass rookie shut out the Indians 2-to-0." Feller gave up only 3 hits for the day, but one of them was a 2-run wind-blown home run by Rudy York. Giebell shut out the Indians for 9 innings in one of the great "David vs. Goliath" moments in baseball history.


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1940 Detroit Tigers season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L= Losses; SV = Saves; GF = Games Finished; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts