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103-688: Speidel is a manufacturer of watchbands and related items based in East Providence, Rhode Island , United States . It was originally founded in Germany by Friedrich Speidel in 1867 as a manufacturer of gold and silver chains . The Speidel Chain Company was formed in its modern state in the United States in 1904. It was known for its "Ratchet-buckle" watchbands (introduced in 1920), the "Scissors Action Expansion Band" (introduced in 1936),

206-659: A Neutrality Pact in April 1941, and Japan adopted the doctrine of Nanshin-ron , promoted by the Navy, which took its focus southward and eventually led to war with the United States and the Western Allies. In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria , again provoking little response from other European powers. Encouraged, Hitler began pressing German claims on

309-578: A cautious French probe into the Saarland . The Western Allies also began a naval blockade of Germany , which aimed to damage the country's economy and war effort. Germany responded by ordering U-boat warfare against Allied merchant and warships, which would later escalate into the Battle of the Atlantic . On 8 September, German troops reached the suburbs of Warsaw . The Polish counter-offensive to

412-452: A NATO style watch strap, which shield the skin from exposure to metal parts, are available for people with this type of dermatitis. Specialist expanding watch straps exist for use with diving watches . The use of wet, or in some cases, dry suits require the strap to expand in order to accommodate the added material, which increases the circumference of the wrist. Many watch straps intended for diving watches have rippled or vented sections near

515-640: A century ago. It has been noted that International Watchman Inc has NOT been successful in its recent attempts to register NATO for other product classes, on the ground that Applicant’s mark “consists of, or includes matter, which may falsely suggest a connection with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (“NATO”) for offending Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), on the ground that Applicant’s mark “consists of, or includes matter, which may falsely suggest

618-689: A connection with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (“NATO”)”, and “We therefore find that the record shows that Applicant’s NATO mark points uniquely and unmistakably to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization”. Yet International Watchman Inc has proceeded to enforce the NATO trademarks, in respect of watch straps through countless legal actions which aim to freeze the assets of those who have long manufactured, distributed and sold NATO Watch Straps, by injunction; only releasing them when International Watchman Inc has extracted

721-459: A leading manufacturer of leather watchbands in Europe. The new company was Hirsch Speidel Inc. Two years later, as part of a global manufacturing consolidation strategy, Hirsh closed Speidel's original Ship Street property and relocated its headquarters to East Providence . In coordination with the move, Speidel closed down its manufacturing operations and outsourced its workload. A portion of

824-742: A license contract with the inventor who held the German patent, Karl E. Stiegle . In 1956, the first automatically produced bracelet under Stiegel's patent was introduced as a test under the Kingsway brand. By 1959, the company officially introduced the new watchband as the “Twist-O-Flex”. Speidel introduced the Euro-Flex in 1988, an updated version of the Twist-O-Flex watchband. The new watchband used heavier materials and contemporary European styling. Speidel continued to expand its line of products with

927-438: A license fee and forced "long-established businesses to comply by changing their product classifications or business names." International Watchman Inc overtly offers licenses to use the acronym of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (“Trademark for lease”) in the “Highly Acclaimed Trademark NATO”; even citing “More Than 80,000 Google Searches and growing”. Observers have noted that, in character with other “trademark trolls”,

1030-524: A pretext to initiate the invasion. The first German attack of the war came against the Polish defences at Westerplatte . The United Kingdom responded with an ultimatum for Germany to cease military operations, and on 3 September, after the ultimatum was ignored, Britain and France declared war on Germany. During the Phoney War period, the alliance provided no direct military support to Poland, outside of

1133-728: A pretext to worsen relations. On 29 August, Hitler demanded that a Polish plenipotentiary immediately travel to Berlin to negotiate the handover of Danzig , and to allow a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor in which the German minority would vote on secession. The Poles refused to comply with the German demands, and on the night of 30–31 August in a confrontational meeting with the British ambassador Nevile Henderson , Ribbentrop declared that Germany considered its claims rejected. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland after having staged several false flag border incidents as

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1236-611: A program called “Stop the Music.” The successful campaign made Speidel well known in the US. Speidel discontinued its radio ads in 1949, opting to spend its ad dollars on TV campaigns. The company fully sponsored different TV programs, making Speidel one of the earliest television advertisers in the United States. As the Korean War got underway in 1951, Speidel began manufacturing identification bracelets . The first product in this category

1339-636: A sales force to cover the United States. In 1946, E.F.M. Speidel was awarded U.S. patent 145467, entitled "Design For An Expansible Link Chain For Watch Bracelet Or The Like". In the 1950s, Speidel invested heavily in the development of automatic equipment to produce a bracelet similar to the German Fixo-Flex watchband. A German manufacturer had sent the first version of the Fixo-Flex to Paul Levinger who had worked out

1442-475: A secret protocol that defined German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (western Poland and Lithuania for Germany; eastern Poland , Finland, Estonia , Latvia and Bessarabia for the Soviet Union), and raised the question of continuing Polish independence. The pact neutralised the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and assured that Germany would not have to face the prospect of

1545-774: A similar pact and rejected ceding part of its territory to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, and was subsequently expelled from the League of Nations for this crime of aggression. Despite overwhelming numerical superiority, Soviet military success during the Winter War was modest, and the Finno-Soviet war ended in March 1940 with some Finnish concessions of territory . In June 1940,

1648-531: A two-front war, as it had in World War   I. Immediately afterwards, Hitler ordered the attack to proceed on 26 August, but upon hearing that the United Kingdom had concluded a formal mutual assistance pact with Poland and that Italy would maintain neutrality, he decided to delay it. In response to British requests for direct negotiations to avoid war, Germany made demands on Poland, which served as

1751-428: Is a one piece strap fed through the spring bars of the watch case, then slid into the appropriate notch and folded back to secure the excess strap and prevent it from sticking out of the main watch strap portion. As the style gained popularity following its introduction in 1973, military personnel began to customize their watch straps, incorporating the colours of their regimental ties and/or Stable belts , creating

1854-604: The Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish declaration of non-aggression . The situation became a crisis in late August as German troops continued to mobilise against the Polish border. On 23 August the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, after tripartite negotiations for a military alliance between France, the United Kingdom, and Soviet Union had stalled. This pact had

1957-689: The British Empire , with fighting in the Balkans , Mediterranean, and Middle East , the aerial Battle of Britain and the Blitz , and naval Battle of the Atlantic . Through a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany took control of much of continental Europe and formed the Axis alliance with Italy , Japan , and other countries. In June 1941, Germany led the European Axis in an invasion of

2060-581: The German Revolution of 1918–1919 , and a democratic government, later known as the Weimar Republic , was created. The interwar period saw strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the political right and left. Italy, as an Entente ally, had made some post-war territorial gains; however, Italian nationalists were angered that the promises made by the United Kingdom and France to secure Italian entrance into

2163-800: The German invasion of Poland and the United Kingdom and France 's declaration of war on Germany two days later on 3 September 1939. Dates for the beginning of the Pacific War include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the earlier Japanese invasion of Manchuria , on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor , who stated that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously, and

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2266-576: The Italian mainland , and Allied offensives in the Pacific—cost the Axis powers their initiative and forced them into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France at Normandy , while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and pushed Germany and its allies westward. At the same time, Japan suffered reversals in mainland Asia, while the Allies crippled

2369-553: The Japanese Navy and captured key islands . The war in Europe concluded with the liberation of German-occupied territories ; the invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the fall of Berlin to Soviet troops; Hitler's suicide ; and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 . Following the refusal of Japan to surrender on the terms of the Potsdam Declaration ,

2472-695: The League of Nations as a force to preserve peace. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations, but the League did little when the former clearly violated Article X of the League's Covenant . The United Kingdom and France supported imposing sanctions on Italy for the invasion, but the sanctions were not fully enforced and failed to end the Italian invasion. Italy subsequently dropped its objections to Germany's goal of absorbing Austria . When civil war broke out in Spain, Hitler and Mussolini lent military support to

2575-731: The Nationalist rebels , led by General Francisco Franco . Italy supported the Nationalists to a greater extent than the Nazis: Mussolini sent more than 70,000 ground troops, 6,000 aviation personnel, and 720 aircraft to Spain. The Soviet Union supported the existing government of the Spanish Republic . More than 30,000 foreign volunteers, known as the International Brigades , also fought against

2678-690: The Rome–Berlin Axis . A month later, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact , which Italy joined the following year. The Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regional warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allies and new regional warlords . In 1931, an increasingly militaristic Empire of Japan , which had long sought influence in China as

2781-619: The Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers . Nearly all the world's countries —including all the great powers —participated, with many investing all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in pursuit of total war , blurring the distinction between military and civilian resources. Tanks and aircraft played major roles , with

2884-590: The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. By contrast, the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, massing forces on the Soviet border. Hitler believed that the United Kingdom's refusal to end the war was based on the hope that the United States and the Soviet Union would enter the war against Germany sooner or later. On 31 July 1940, Hitler decided that

2987-543: The Stresa Front in April 1935 in order to contain Germany, a key step towards military globalisation ; however, that June, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany, easing prior restrictions. The Soviet Union, concerned by Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of Eastern Europe , drafted a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before taking effect, though, the Franco-Soviet pact

3090-709: The Sudetenland , an area of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly ethnic German population. Soon the United Kingdom and France followed the appeasement policy of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and conceded this territory to Germany in the Munich Agreement , which was made against the wishes of the Czechoslovak government, in exchange for a promise of no further territorial demands. Soon afterwards, Germany and Italy forced Czechoslovakia to cede additional territory to Hungary, and Poland annexed

3193-707: The Tanggu Truce was signed in 1933. Thereafter, Chinese volunteer forces continued the resistance to Japanese aggression in Manchuria , and Chahar and Suiyuan . After the 1936 Xi'an Incident , the Kuomintang and CCP forces agreed on a ceasefire to present a united front to oppose Japan. The Second Italo-Ethiopian War was a brief colonial war that began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war began with

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3296-579: The Trans-Olza region of Czechoslovakia. Although all of Germany's stated demands had been satisfied by the agreement, privately Hitler was furious that British interference had prevented him from seizing all of Czechoslovakia in one operation. In subsequent speeches Hitler attacked British and Jewish "war-mongers" and in January 1939 secretly ordered a major build-up of the German navy to challenge British naval supremacy. In March 1939, Germany invaded

3399-558: The Treaty of Craiova . The loss of one-third of Romania's 1939 territory caused a coup against King Carol II, turning Romania into a fascist dictatorship under Marshal Ion Antonescu , with a course set towards the Axis in the hopes of a German guarantee. Meanwhile, German-Soviet political relations and economic co-operation gradually stalled, and both states began preparations for war. In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to protect shipments of iron ore from Sweden , which

3502-749: The United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany. Poland was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , in which they had agreed on " spheres of influence " in Eastern Europe. In 1940, the Soviets annexed the Baltic states and parts of Finland and Romania . After the fall of France in June 1940, the war continued mainly between Germany and

3605-709: The Wehrmacht rapidly advanced to the Channel and cut off the Allied forces in Belgium, trapping the bulk of the Allied armies in a cauldron on the Franco-Belgian border near Lille. The United Kingdom was able to evacuate a significant number of Allied troops from the continent by early June, although they had to abandon almost all their equipment. On 10 June, Italy invaded France , declaring war on both France and

3708-451: The aftermath of World War I and the rise of fascism in Europe and militarism in Japan . Key events leading up to the war included Japan's invasion of Manchuria , the Spanish Civil War , the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , and Germany's annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland . World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany , under Adolf Hitler , invaded Poland , prompting

3811-404: The reunification of East and West Germany to take place and resolved most post–World War   II issues. No formal peace treaty between Japan and the Soviet Union was ever signed, although the state of war between the two countries was terminated by the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 , which also restored full diplomatic relations between them. World War I had radically altered

3914-493: The 1970s, beginning with Canada in 1971. The company furthered its sales market by branching out to Australia and New Zealand in 1972. Great Britain and Ireland in 1973; and Germany , Switzerland , Norway , Sweden , Denmark and Finland in 1974. In the midst of their international sales expansion, Speidel started OEM ( Original Equipment Manufacturing ) Business Supplies in 1972. OEM manufactured outsourced metal watchbands for watch companies such as Seiko , which at

4017-409: The Allies were attempting to cut off . Denmark capitulated after six hours , and despite Allied support , Norway was conquered within two months. British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the resignation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain , who was replaced by Winston Churchill on 10   May 1940. On the same day, Germany launched an offensive against France . To circumvent

4120-400: The Axis war against the Soviet Union, in Romania's case partially to recapture territory ceded to the Soviet Union . In early June 1940, the Italian Regia Aeronautica attacked and besieged Malta , a British possession. From late summer to early autumn, Italy conquered British Somaliland and made an incursion into British-held Egypt . In October, Italy attacked Greece , but the attack

4223-421: The Blitz , but largely ended in May 1941 after failing to significantly disrupt the British war effort. Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy , using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic . The British Home Fleet scored a significant victory on 27   May 1941 by sinking the German battleship Bismarck . In November 1939,

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4326-405: The European Axis declaring war on the US. Japan conquered much of coastal China and Southeast Asia , but its advances in the Pacific were halted in mid-1942 after its defeat in the naval Battle of Midway ; Germany and Italy were defeated in North Africa and at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Key setbacks in 1943—including German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and

4429-410: The French possessions of Syria and Lebanon , assisted by the Free French . With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union made preparations for war. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany, and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia , the two powers signed

4532-426: The Germans, and the last large operational unit of the Polish Army surrendered on 6   October . Despite the military defeat, Poland never surrendered; instead, it formed the Polish government-in-exile and a clandestine state apparatus remained in occupied Poland. A significant part of Polish military personnel evacuated to Romania and Latvia; many of them later fought against the Axis in other theatres of

4635-433: The Golden Knight. It proved to be a tremendous success in the men's watch bracelet field. The company also introduced elaborate packaging for its line of watch bracelets. The company instituted a planned reduction of costume jewelry , leading to its discontinuation from the Speidel product line in the early 1950s. After the end of World War II , Speidel began to advertise nationally, first in magazines and then in radio with

4738-450: The Nationalists. Both Germany and the Soviet Union used this proxy war as an opportunity to test in combat their most advanced weapons and tactics. The Nationalists won the civil war in April 1939; Franco, now dictator, remained officially neutral during World War   II but generally favoured the Axis . His greatest collaboration with Germany was the sending of volunteers to fight on the Eastern Front . In July 1937, Japan captured

4841-452: The Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission after a carrier attack at Taranto , and neutralising several more warships at the Battle of Cape Matapan . Italian defeats prompted Germany to deploy an expeditionary force to North Africa; at the end of March 1941, Rommel 's Afrika Korps launched an offensive which drove back Commonwealth forces. In less than a month, Axis forces advanced to western Egypt and besieged

4944-423: The Soviet Union occupied the entire territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the Romanian regions of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Hertsa region . In August 1940, Hitler imposed the Second Vienna Award on Romania which led to the transfer of Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In September 1940, Bulgaria demanded Southern Dobruja from Romania with German and Italian support, leading to

5047-421: The Soviet Union , opening the Eastern Front and initially making large territorial gains. Japan aimed to dominate East Asia and the Asia-Pacific , and by 1937 was at war with the Republic of China . In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories in Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific , including Pearl Harbor in Hawaii , which resulted in the US and the UK declaring war against Japan, and

5150-418: The Soviet Union and Mongolia . The Japanese doctrine of Hokushin-ron , which emphasised Japan's expansion northward, was favoured by the Imperial Army during this time. This policy would prove difficult to maintain in light of the Japanese defeat at Khalkin Gol in 1939, the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War and ally Nazi Germany pursuing neutrality with the Soviets. Japan and the Soviet Union eventually signed

5253-575: The Soviet Union should be eliminated and aimed for the conquest of Ukraine , the Baltic states and Byelorussia . However, other senior German officials like Ribbentrop saw an opportunity to create a Euro-Asian bloc against the British Empire by inviting the Soviet Union into the Tripartite Pact. In November 1940, negotiations took place to determine if the Soviet Union would join the pact. The Soviets showed some interest but asked for concessions from Finland, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Japan that Germany considered unacceptable. On 18 December 1940, Hitler issued

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5356-402: The US dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August. Faced with an imminent invasion of the Japanese archipelago , the possibility of further atomic bombings, and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria , Japan announced its unconditional surrender on 15 August and signed a surrender document on 2 September 1945 , marking

5459-424: The United Kingdom and France guaranteed their support for Polish independence ; when Italy conquered Albania in April 1939, the same guarantee was extended to the Kingdoms of Romania and Greece . Shortly after the Franco - British pledge to Poland, Germany and Italy formalised their own alliance with the Pact of Steel . Hitler accused the United Kingdom and Poland of trying to "encircle" Germany and renounced

5562-489: The United Kingdom attacked on 3   July in an attempt to prevent its seizure by Germany. The air Battle of Britain began in early July with Luftwaffe attacks on shipping and harbours . The German campaign for air superiority started in August but its failure to defeat RAF Fighter Command forced the indefinite postponement of the proposed German invasion of Britain . The German strategic bombing offensive intensified with night attacks on London and other cities in

5665-401: The United Kingdom. The Germans turned south against the weakened French army, and Paris fell to them on 14   June. Eight days later France signed an armistice with Germany ; it was divided into German and Italian occupation zones , and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime , which, though officially neutral, was generally aligned with Germany. France kept its fleet, which

5768-473: The United States was assisting China and the Western Allies, and had amended the Neutrality Act to allow "cash and carry" purchases by the Allies. In 1940, following the German capture of Paris, the size of the United States Navy was significantly increased . In September the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases . Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention in

5871-434: The Yellow River ; this manoeuvre bought time for the Chinese to prepare their defences at Wuhan , but the city was taken by October. Japanese military victories did not bring about the collapse of Chinese resistance that Japan had hoped to achieve; instead, the Chinese government relocated inland to Chongqing and continued the war. In the mid-to-late 1930s, Japanese forces in Manchukuo had sporadic border clashes with

5974-487: The applicant’s requisite S. 60 TM Act “declaration of bona fide intention” that these terms were novel, despite “NATO” and “NATO G10” having already been long established as terms for this style of watch strap, and asked how it could ever have really have been in good faith that International Watchman Inc claimed to have dreamt up these historic terms. Even the real NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) explains how these historic watch strap terms came into being over half

6077-404: The architectural firm Monks & Johnson to design the company's first headquarters. The five-story building , with its European-style front , was originally called the Doran-Speidel Building. In 1937, Albert Speidel died young from pneumonia. His brother Edwin, founder of the Automatic Chain Company, became president of Speidel Corporation. Paul Levinger was made vice-president. At that time,

6180-444: The attachment points on the watch case to facilitate the required flexibility to strap the watch around the bare wrist or around wet or dry suits. NATO watch straps, also known as "NATO Straps" or "G10 straps", were developed by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) for wartime usage (DefStan 66-47 Issue 2 states the colour of the 20 mm wide nylon ribbon shall be to BS 4800 card number 3, reference 18B25, colour "Admiralty Grey"). It

6283-419: The business was held by the German family, but in 1939, all of the shares held by the German stockholders were purchased by Edwin Speidel and Paul Levinger. Watchband Watch straps may close with a buckle or a folding clasp . Expanding watch straps are designed to expand elastically, often by the use of metal springs in a segmented design, and may be slipped on like a bracelet. Attachment points for

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6386-405: The capital Nanking in December 1937. After the fall of Nanking, tens or hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants were murdered by the Japanese . In March 1938, Nationalist Chinese forces won their first major victory at Taierzhuang , but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding

6489-644: The case. Other wrist strap styles allow the back of the watch case to directly contact the skin. Although what is generically referred to as the NATO Strap or NATO G10 Strap entered the market in the early 1970s, and both terms had already been ubiquitous in the watch world for many decades, a US company (International Watchman Inc) managed to trademark the word "NATO" in 2011 (TM 3907646) and “NATO-G10” (TM 4093914) in January 2012 under product class IC 14: Watches, Watch Straps. Consequently, many watch industry participants have expressed surprise that US Patent and Trademark Office permitted these registrations, including

6592-404: The colourful striped patterns NATO straps are known for. The Zulu watch strap is a NATO watch strap adaptation using a thicker weave of fabric and more substantial metal hardware employing rounded loops and an oval-shaped buckle and both are typically made of nylon. Bund straps, Perlon straps, Marine Nationale straps, Zulu straps, and NATO straps go completely around the wrist, including behind

6695-410: The company's first factory, installing state-of-the-art machines for the production of gold chain, previously manufactured entirely by hand. Friedrich Speidel sent his three sons, Albert, Edwin and Eugene to America to establish a branch of the family's jewelry chain manufacturing business. The Speidel Chain Company was officially founded in the United States in 1904. By 1912 the Speidel brothers hired

6798-403: The conflict well into 1941. In December 1940, Roosevelt accused Hitler of planning world conquest and ruled out any negotiations as useless, calling for the United States to become an " arsenal of democracy " and promoting Lend-Lease programmes of military and humanitarian aid to support the British war effort; Lend-Lease was later extended to the other Allies, including the Soviet Union after it

6901-410: The creation of a " New Roman Empire ". Adolf Hitler , after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, eventually became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 when Paul von Hindenburg and the Reichstag appointed him. Following Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler proclaimed himself Führer of Germany and abolished democracy, espousing a radical, racially motivated revision of

7004-616: The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires. To prevent a future world war, the League of Nations was established in 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference . The organisation's primary goals were to prevent armed conflict through collective security, military, and naval disarmament , as well as settling international disputes through peaceful negotiations and arbitration. Despite strong pacifist sentiment after World War   I , irredentist and revanchist nationalism had emerged in several European states. These sentiments were especially marked in Germany because of

7107-416: The early 1920s, Albert Speidel formed Speidel Brothers , and produced watch bracelets manufactured and sold primarily to wholesalers. Both the Speidel family in Germany and the brothers who lived in the United States merged into the Speidel Corporation in 1928. The first president of Speidel Corporation was Albert Speidel, one of the Speidel brothers living in Providence, Rhode Island . In 1934 Paul Levinger

7210-421: The end of May completed the German conquest of the Balkans. Partisan warfare subsequently broke out against the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia , which continued until the end of the war. In the Middle East in May, Commonwealth forces quashed an uprising in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria . Between June and July, British-led forces invaded and occupied

7313-528: The end of the century with the struggle to compete with cheaper overseas production, and the boom in quartz watches . Friedrich Speidel founded the Speidel Company in 1867. With an initial investment equivalent to US$ 10, Speidel started making gold and silver chains with his wife, in the basement of his home in Pforzheim, Germany . He has been credited with developing the gold-over-metal method of manufacturing called " bi-metal " (also incorrectly known as gold "plating" ) which proved successful. In 1896 he built

7416-511: The end of the war. World War II changed the political alignment and social structure of the world, and it set the foundation of international relations for the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The United Nations was established to foster international cooperation and prevent conflicts, with the victorious great powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the US—becoming

7519-631: The first step of what its government saw as the country's right to rule Asia , staged the Mukden incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo . China appealed to the League of Nations to stop the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations after being condemned for its incursion into Manchuria. The two nations then fought several battles, in Shanghai , Rehe and Hebei , until

7622-864: The former Chinese imperial capital of Peking after instigating the Marco Polo Bridge incident , which culminated in the Japanese campaign to invade all of China. The Soviets quickly signed a non-aggression pact with China to lend materiel support, effectively ending China's prior cooperation with Germany . From September to November, the Japanese attacked Taiyuan , engaged the Kuomintang Army around Xinkou , and fought Communist forces in Pingxingguan . Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to defend Shanghai , but after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell. The Japanese continued to push Chinese forces back, capturing

7725-410: The introduction of the “Signet” watch line in 1994; a patented plastic top shell watchband in 1995; and the first watchband with rubberized coating in 1996. By 1964 the company, now owned by Paul Levinger, had grown significantly both in size and importance to the jewelry industry. Levinger sold the company to Textron, Inc . in May 1964. By 1966 Speidel had expanded its distribution capacity and entered

7828-525: The invasion of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia ) by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy ( Regno d'Italia ), which was launched from Italian Somaliland and Eritrea . The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa ( Africa Orientale Italiana , or AOI); in addition it exposed the weakness of

7931-528: The ladies' "Mignon" watchbands (introduced in 1939), plus costume jewelry . In the 1930s, Speidel was the first company in the world to introduce ID bracelets. During World War II , the company briefly produced cathode-ray tubes . Speidel experienced a boom in popularity, notably with their invention of the hugely popular expanding strap in the mid-1930s, and in addition to watchbands Speidel produced wristwatches , lighters , writing instruments, small jewelry, and other accessories, before beginning to decline by

8034-682: The latter enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, resulting in 70 to 85 million deaths , more than half being civilians. Millions died in genocides , including the Holocaust of European Jews, as well as from massacres, starvation, and disease. Following the Allied powers' victory, Germany , Austria , Japan , and Korea were occupied, and war crimes tribunals were conducted against German and Japanese leaders . The causes of World War II included unresolved tensions in

8137-479: The majority control of the business was held by the German family. However, in 1939, all of the shares held by the German stockholders were purchased by Edwin Speidel and Paul Levinger. At first, only jewelry chain was made in the new facilities. During the 1920s, costume jewelry and watchbands were added to the line. Men's watchbands surged in popularity due to their use in the military during World War I . In

8240-420: The men's toiletries market, with the introduction of the men's fragrance British Sterling . The company aggressively marketed the product with such enduring phrases as, “Make him a legend in his own time,” which helped to create a market success without parallel. Speidel became one of Textron's top local divisions in sales volume and performance. The company began to expand its marketing reach internationally in

8343-502: The permanent members of its security council . The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers , setting the stage for the Cold War . In the wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia . Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion . World War II began in Europe on 1 September 1939 with

8446-589: The political European map with the defeat of the Central Powers —including Austria-Hungary , Germany , Bulgaria , and the Ottoman Empire —and the 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia , which led to the founding of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the victorious Allies of World War I , such as France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, and Greece, gained territory, and new nation-states were created out of

8549-599: The port of Tobruk . By late March 1941, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact ; however, the Yugoslav government was overthrown two days later by pro-British nationalists. Germany and Italy responded with simultaneous invasions of both Yugoslavia and Greece , commencing on 6 April 1941; both nations were forced to surrender within the month. The airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete at

8652-465: The production continued in Rhode Island with local manufacturing companies, and the balance moved overseas. In 2002, the company's ownership once again returned to the United States, when JRM Holdings bought Speidel from Hirsch Armbänder . Five years later Fred Levinger (Son of Paul Levinger) acquired Speidel. In 2009, Cerce Capital LLC purchased Speidel's assets for US$ 1.65 million. The purchase

8755-722: The remainder of Czechoslovakia and subsequently split it into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a pro-German client state , the Slovak Republic . Hitler also delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania on 20 March 1939, forcing the concession of the Klaipėda Region , formerly the German Memelland . Greatly alarmed and with Hitler making further demands on the Free City of Danzig ,

8858-410: The significant territorial, colonial, and financial losses imposed by the Treaty of Versailles . Under the treaty, Germany lost around 13 percent of its home territory and all its overseas possessions , while German annexation of other states was prohibited, reparations were imposed, and limits were placed on the size and capability of the country's armed forces . The German Empire was dissolved in

8961-498: The start or prelude to World War II. The exact date of the war's end also is not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 15 August 1945 ( V-J Day ), rather than with the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, which officially ended the war in Asia . A peace treaty between Japan and the Allies was signed in 1951. A 1990 treaty regarding Germany's future allowed

9064-606: The strap to the watch are largely standardized, with a spring bar (a spring-loaded double-ended pin) used to anchor the watch strap to holes in a bracket that is integral to the watch case , allowing worn watch straps to be replaced or swapped with new straps for fashion purposes. Metal watch straps are typically stainless steel. The most common metal watch strap styles are the folded link, pushpin, and screw-in styles. Both metal watch cases and watch straps incorporating metal parts can sometimes cause contact dermatitis in susceptible individuals. Special anti-allergy watch straps, like

9167-593: The strong Maginot Line fortifications on the Franco-German border, Germany directed its attack at the neutral nations of Belgium , the Netherlands , and Luxembourg . The Germans carried out a flanking manoeuvre through the Ardennes region, which was mistakenly perceived by the Allies as an impenetrable natural barrier against armoured vehicles. By successfully implementing new Blitzkrieg tactics,

9270-510: The time had just introduced the “quartz” watch , the first totally machine-assembled timepiece, which dramatically reduced watch prices. That same year, Speidel began its watchband replacement program for mass merchandisers , making it much easier for consumers to find the appropriately sized watchband replacement at their local store . In 1997, Textron sold Speidel to the Austrian-based Hirsch Armbänder AG,

9373-585: The two wars became World War II in 1941. Other proposed starting dates for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War   II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939. Others view the Spanish Civil War as

9476-513: The war were not fulfilled in the peace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy with a nationalist, totalitarian , and class collaborationist agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed socialist, left-wing, and liberal forces, and pursued an aggressive expansionist foreign policy aimed at making Italy a world power, promising

9579-475: The war. Germany annexed western Poland and occupied central Poland ; the Soviet Union annexed eastern Poland ; small shares of Polish territory were transferred to Lithuania and Slovakia . On 6 October, Hitler made a public peace overture to the United Kingdom and France but said that the future of Poland was to be determined exclusively by Germany and the Soviet Union. The proposal was rejected and Hitler ordered an immediate offensive against France, which

9682-551: The website itself appears a front for this activity, offering no products for sale. International Watchman Inc’s recent legal actions, in 2022 and 2024, named 960 “defendants” in aggregate, from whom it was demanding up to $ 1,000,000 in “settlement”. A folding clasp or deployant clasp or deployant buckle is a device used to close a watch strap. ( Butterfly clasps have a symmetrical appearance). World War II Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups World War II or

9785-512: The west halted the German advance for several days, but it was outflanked and encircled by the Wehrmacht . Remnants of the Polish army broke through to besieged Warsaw . On 17 September 1939, two days after signing a cease-fire with Japan , the Soviet Union invaded Poland under the supposed pretext that the Polish state had ceased to exist. On 27 September, the Warsaw garrison surrendered to

9888-707: The world order , and soon began a massive rearmament campaign . France, seeking to secure its alliance with Italy, allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia , which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Territory of the Saar Basin was legally reunited with Germany, and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, accelerated his rearmament programme, and introduced conscription. The United Kingdom, France and Italy formed

9991-614: Was invaded by Germany. The United States started strategic planning to prepare for a full-scale offensive against Germany. At the end of September 1940, the Tripartite Pact formally united Japan, Italy, and Germany as the Axis powers . The Tripartite Pact stipulated that any country—with the exception of the Soviet Union—that attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three. The Axis expanded in November 1940 when Hungary , Slovakia , and Romania joined. Romania and Hungary later made major contributions to

10094-418: Was hired by Speidel Corporation as a plant foreman . Watchband production was cut back during World War II when Speidel converted most of its facilities and started manufacturing cathode ray tubes for radar and other electronic applications. However Speidel returned to watchbands as soon as peace returned. In 1947 Speidel brought out its first modernized version of the scissor-type expansion band called

10197-570: Was part of a bankruptcy settlement. Speidel has now been revived as a brand, and sells old and new watch strap lines. In 1937 Albert Speidel died at an early age from pneumonia . His brother Edwin, the founder of the Automatic Chain Company —who had not been active in the Speidel Corporation up to that time— became president of Speidel Corporation, and Paul Levinger was made vice-president. The majority ownership of

10300-456: Was postponed until the spring of 1940 due to bad weather. After the outbreak of war in Poland, Stalin threatened Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania with military invasion, forcing the three Baltic countries to sign pacts allowing the creation of Soviet military bases in these countries; in October 1939, significant Soviet military contingents were moved there. Finland refused to sign

10403-827: Was repulsed with heavy Italian casualties; the campaign ended within months with minor territorial changes. To assist Italy and prevent Britain from gaining a foothold, Germany prepared to invade the Balkans, which would threaten Romanian oil fields and strike against British dominance of the Mediterranean. In December 1940, British Empire forces began counter-offensives against Italian forces in Egypt and Italian East Africa . The offensives were successful; by early February 1941, Italy had lost control of eastern Libya, and large numbers of Italian troops had been taken prisoner. The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with

10506-673: Was required to go through the bureaucracy of the League of Nations, which rendered it essentially toothless. The United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August of the same year. Hitler defied the Versailles and Locarno Treaties by remilitarising the Rhineland in March 1936, encountering little opposition due to the policy of appeasement . In October 1936, Germany and Italy formed

10609-482: Was the Photo Ident , a combination identification bracelet with photo and an expandable wristband. Speidel advertised it on television, and it proved an immediate success. In 1956, Speidel introduced men's jewelry. The move was designed to diversify its inventory, and fend off increasingly heavy competition from Japan. Speidel also changed its method to sole distributors, in strategic geographic locations, and built

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