The Stages of US Intervention in World War

IIFrom Isolation to World War

• Topic: War Breaks Out

• Objective: Students will be able to examine the outbreak of WWII and the events leading up to America’s involvement

• Do Now: Look at the graphic organizer you completed for homework. Which of these dictators do you think posed the biggest threat to the United States? Why? How do you think that the United States responded to the actions of these dictators?

• HW: (1) Read and outline Chapter 17, Section 1

Britain, France will go to war with Ger. If they attack Poland– SU signed nonaggression pact w/ Germ.

Contributed by Sandra Derstine Desai, TechBoston Academy, AY

2012-2013

Stages of US Intervention in WWIICopy into your Notebook/Binder

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

Isolationism Internationalism Interventionism

“The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is […] to have with them as

little political connection as possible. […] Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies,

the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns.”– George Washington

Stage 1: Isolationism• In the wake of World War I:

– US refused to join the League of Nations– Other effects of WWI?

• In the 1930s, Congress passed the Neutrality Acts– Treated all nations engaged in war as

“belligerents”– Set up embargos on warring nations

Stage 2: Internationalism• England came under attack from the Germans• Roosevelt convinced the American people to

extend a helping hand to their friends

• Cash and Carry – 1939– Allowed nations at war to buy US arms as

long as they paid cash and transported them in their own ships

• Lend-Lease Act - 1941– Gave Allies much needed war materials

“The United States must be the great arsenal of democracy.”- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Stage 3: Interventionism“A date that will live in infamy”

Contributed by Sandra Derstine Desai, TechBoston Academy, AY

2012-2013

Stage 3: Interventionism

• Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941• Surprise Japanese

attack on the US Pacific Naval Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

• Meant to prevent the US from interfering in the war Japan was about to start in the Pacific with Britain

Contributed by Sandra Derstine Desai, TechBoston Academy, AY

2012-2013

• Pearl Harbor helped to sway public opinion away from isolationist tendencies

U.S. Britain France USSR China

Axis PowersAllies

Germany Italy

Japan

Wrap Up

If you were alive in 1941, would you vote to send Americans to war?

Essential QuestionHow did conflict of WWII impact America’s role in foreign and domestic affairs? Provide

specific examples.