During the Second World War, Free French forces seized Saint-Pierre and Miquelon from Vichy control. Secretary of State Cordell Hull objected that the operation violated the Monroe Doctrine, creating a short dispute inside the Allied coalition. Other Allied leaders accepted that he had a formal point but treated it as secondary to wartime strategy. The episode shows an old hemispheric doctrine colliding with coalition warfare and the ambiguous status of a European power's American possession.
Notable Point · 1:12:56-1:14:50
The Free French seizure of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon tested wartime doctrine
Cordell Hull treated the Free French seizure of Vichy-held Saint-Pierre and Miquelon as a Monroe Doctrine violation, but coalition strategy took priority.