ABSTRACT
The Wednesday, December 3, 1941, newspapers told of German troops fleeing Rostov under continuous Russian pressure. The Germans claimed that they were punching holes in Moscow's defenses where counterattacks sought to contain an "admittedly acute" situation. Britain and its dominions were at war on the ground in North Africa and in the Middle East, in the air over the European continent and over Britain itself, and across the seven seas. Canada was less definite in its stance. American public opinion continued to be fiercely divided. America First announced that it would campaign actively for Senator Wayland Brooks of Illinois, a leading isolationist. America was going back to work and the new demand was for swords, not plowshares. The New York Times listed previously unpublished government contracts. Transparency was important as a protection against self-serving and under-the-table dealing. The contrast between the American promise and American performance was evident in the area of race relations, and it took extreme, not to say grotesque, forms.
