Nazi Germany Expansion

Trying to Stay Out of the Good War• Wars in Korea (1950-53),

Vietnam (1961-75), and Iraq (2003-present)— were supported by 75% of surveyed Americans

• Summer 1940 79% of surveyed Americans declared they would vote "no" to a referendum on American entry into war.

Neutrality Acts - 1935• Goal: Protect US from events which

pressured US to enter WW1

• Requirements:1.arms embargo against both victim and

aggressor in armed conflict; 2. warning American citizens that traveling

on ships of warring nations is at own risk.

Neutrality Act of 19391. Prohibited from transporting any

passengers or articles to belligerents2. U.S. citizens forbidden from traveling on

ships of belligerent nations.3. Cash and Carry Policy

- people in a fight could purchase only non-military goods from the US,

- had to pay cash &- carry goods away on their own vessels.

Why do you think FDR/Congress added the cash

and carry stipulation?

From Neutrality to Undeclared War

• When WW II began in 1939, FDR extends Cash and Carry to military goods to help allies.

• Responded with all-out aid to the Allies but did not call for war

• In addition, FDR traded 50 old destroyers with England for 8 naval bases in Western Europe

“The destroyer-for-bases deal is the most important action in the reinforcement of our national defense that has been taken

since the Louisiana Purchase” —FDR

From Neutrality to Undeclared War

Isolationists• Appalled by this

departure from neutrality & FDR’s involvement of the US in a foreign war

• “Fortress of America” idea

• Germany was not a threat to the US

Interventionists• Groups like the

Committee to Defend Committee to Defend America by Aiding the America by Aiding the AlliesAllies called for unlimited aid to England

• Events in Europe did impact US security

St. Louis Dispatch headline:

“Dictator Roosevelt Commits Act of War”

“The future of western civilization is being decided upon the

battlefield of Europe” CDAAA chair, W. A.

White

From Neutrality to Undeclared War

• By 1940, England remained the only active opposition to Hitler but was bankrupt & couldn’t pay cash for weapons,

• FDR called for a Lend-Lease ActLend-Lease Act:– US can sell or lend war supplies to G.B on

promise it will return or pay U.S. back after war

– Congress put $7 billion to allow England full access to US arms

US Cash and Carry Program

Lend-Lease Supply Routes

From Neutrality to Undeclared War

• England desperately needed help escorting these supplies through the u-boat infested Atlantic– FDR allowed for US patrols in the western half

of the Atlantic to reveal the location of German subs

– German attacks on US ships led to an undeclared naval war in 1941 & allowed US ships to fully deliver war supplies to Allies

US Cash and Carry Program

Roosevelt’s Four Freedom’s Speech

January 6, 1941

"In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

" The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.”

“The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.”

“The third is freedom from want which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.”

“The fourth is freedom from fear—which means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor —anywhere in the world.”

Reception of the Speech

• Received heavy criticism from anti-war contingents and many pro-liberty advocates within Congress

• Only a vengeance for an aggression would have been a good reason for war

America Embargoes Japan• FDR wanted to weaken Japan

– Restricted strategic materials to Japan• 80% of Japan’s oil came from the U.S.

• Congress passes the Export Control Act– Japan allied itself with Germany & Italy

• Lend-Lease aid to China– FDR froze Japanese assets– Force Japan out of China– Japanese negotiate, but prepare for war

FDR asks Congress to declare war on Japan: Near unanimous vote supporting war

Japan Continuation & Conclusion

• A huge invasion force stood ready to attack Japan.

• The United States had developed a frightfully destructive new weapon.

• The top-secret Manhattan Project had begun in 1942.

Japan: To surrender unconditionally or face "utter

destruction." • Truman decided to use the new weapon on

two Japanese cities.• On August 6, an A-bomb was dropped on

Hiroshima, and on August 9, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. About 250,000 Japanese died, either immediately or after a prolonged period of suffering