Transcript Chapter 16

Chapter 34
Franklin Roosevelt and the
Shadow of War
The London Conference
1933 - The London Conference: 66 nations came together to
try to develop a worldwide solution to the Great Depression.
– FDR agreed to send Sec of State Cordell Hull, but withdrew from the
conference & scolded the other nations for trying to stabilize
currencies.
– nothing was accomplished & strengthened American isolationism.
Freedom for the Filipinos & Recognition for the Russians
1934 - Congress passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act
– stating that the Philippines would receive their independence in 1946.
– Army bases were relinquished, but naval bases were kept.
– Japan began to see that it could take over the Pacific easily without
U.S. interference or resistance.
1933 - FDR formally recognized the Soviet Union
– hoping that the U.S. could trade with the U.S.S.R.
– hoped the Soviets would discourage German & Japanese
aggression.
Becoming a Good Neighbor
the U.S. wanted to be a “good neighbor,” showing that it was
content as a regional power, not a world one.
1933 - FDR renounced armed intervention in Latin America
at the Seventh Pan-American Conference in Uruguay
– 1934 - U.S. marines left Haiti.
The U.S. also lifted troops from Panama, but when Mexican
forces seized Yankee oil properties, FDR found himself urged
to take drastic action.
– However, he resisted and worked out a peaceful deal.
– “good neighbor” policy was a great success, improving the U.S. image
in Latin American eyes.
Secretary Hull’s Reciprocal Trade Agreement
Secretary of State Hull believed that trade was a two-way
street, and he had a part in Congress’s passing of the
Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act in 1934 which activated
low-tariff policies while aiming at relief and recovery by
boosting American trade.
– This act whittled down the most objectionable schedules
of the Hawley-Smoot law by amending them, lowering
rates by as much as half, provided that the other country
would do the same toward the United States.
The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act reversed the
traditional high-tariff policy that had damaged America
before and paved the way for the American-led free-trade
international economic system that was implemented after
World War II.
Storm-Cellar Isolationism
After WW I, many dictatorships sprang up, including Joseph Stalin
(U.S.S.R), Benito Mussolini (Italy), and Adolph Hitler (Germany).
– Hitler was the most dangerous
– because he was a great orator and persuader
– made the German people think that he could lead the country back to
greatness and out of this time of poverty and depression.
1935 - Mussolini attacked Ethiopia, but the League of Nations
failed to take effective action against the aggressors.
1936 - Nazi Hitler & Fascist Mussolini allied themselves in the
Rome-Berlin Axis.
America continued to hide behind the shell of isolationism,
believing everything would be good if the U.S. wasn’t drawn
into any international embroilments.
– 1934 - Johnson Debt Default Act forbade any countries that still
owed the U.S. money from borrowing any more cash.
Congress Legislates Neutrality
Neutrality Acts (1935-37) – passed to prevent America from
being sucked into another war
– stated that when the president proclaimed the existence of a foreign
war, certain restrictions would automatically go into effect:
no American could legally sail on a belligerent ship or sell or
transport munitions to a belligerent, or make loans to a belligerent.
– the flaw - these acts were designed to prevent America from being
pulled into a war like WW I, but WW II would prove to be different.
America Dooms Loyalist Spain
Spanish Civil War (1936-39) - Spanish rebels led by fascist
Francisco Franco rose up against the republican government.
– the U.S. put an embargo on both the loyalist government (supported
by the USSR) and the rebels (aided by Hitler and Mussolini).
– America failed to build up its navy, since most people believed that
huge fleets led to huge wars.
– 1938 - Congress passed a billion-dollar naval construction act, but
then it was too little, too late.
Appeasing Japan and Germany
1937 - Japan essentially invaded China
– FDR didn’t call this combat “a war,” allowing the Chinese to still get
arms from the U.S.
– Gave his “Quarantine Speech,” asking America to stay neutral but
morally side against fascist nations.
– this angered many isolationists, & FDR backed down a bit from any
more direct actions.
Dec 1937 - Japan bombed and sank the American
gunboat, the Panay, but then made the necessary
apologies, “saving” America from entering war.
– To vent their frustration, the Japanese resorted to humiliating white
civilians in China through slappings and strippings.
– The Panay incident further supports America’s determination to stay
neutral.
Hitler was growing more bold after:
– being allowed to introduce mandatory
military service in Germany,
– retake the German Rhineland
– persecute Jewish citizenry
– occupy Austria (Anschluss)
European nations naively hoped each
request of Germany would be the last.
– referred to as appeasement.
Sept 1938 – Munich Conference
– France & Britain agree to let Hitler take the
Sudentenland in Czechoslovakia
– six months later, Hitler took all of
Czechoslovakia.
British PM Neville Chamberlain returned to
England and claimed that he’d achieved
“peace in our time”
– true, but “our time” didn’t last long.
Hitler’s Belligerency & U.S. Neutrality
Aug 1939 – Nazi-Soviet NonAggression Pact signed by the
U.S.S.R. & Germany.
– Germany would not have to worry
about fighting a two-front war, if
someone stood up to him.
– pact opened the door to invade
Poland.
Sept 1, 1939 - Hitler invaded
Poland
– France and Britain finally declared war
on Germany
– America refused to enter the war, not
wanting to be “suckers” again.
– America was anti-Hitler & anti-Nazi
and wanted Britain & France to win,
but refused to be dragged into another
war.
The Allies needed American
supplies, but the Neutrality
Acts forbade the sale of
arms to nations in war
– Neutrality Act of 1939 allowed
European nations to buy war
materials, but only on a “cashand-carry” basis
– meant Europeans had to
provide their own ships and
pay for the arms in cash.
British and French
controlled the seas, so the
Germans couldn’t buy arms
from America, as it was
intended
The Fall of France
After the fall of Poland, Hitler positioned his forces to attack
France which led to a lull in the war
– the invasion of Poland was now called the “phony war
1940 - the “phony war” ended, Hitler overran Denmark and
Norway, and then took over the Netherlands & Belgium.
– used blitzkrieg (lightening war) tactics
– Blitzing without mercy, he then struck a paralyzing blow toward
France, which was forced to surrender by late June of that year.
– the speed of which France fell was shocking
all that stood between Hitler and the world was Britain
– if the English lost, Hitler would have all of Europe in which to operate.
Roosevelt called for the nation to begin building-up its armed
forces
– expenses totaling more than $37 million.
– Sept 6, 1940 - Congress passed 1st peacetime draft in U.S. history.
– 1.2 million troops and 800,000 reserves would be trained.
Bolstering Britain with the Destroyer Deal
With Britain the only power fighting Germany, FDR had to
decide whether to remain neutral or help Britain.
Aug 1940 –Battle of Britain begins
– devastating aerial bombardments & Hitler planned for invasion in
Sept., but the defense of the British Royal Air Force ruined invasion
plans.
Opposing support groups formed in America
– Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies – supported
US involvement to help Britain.
– America First Committee – supported isolationism.
Sept 1940 - Britain need destroyers FDR boldly moved to
transfer 50 left-over from WWI
– the U.S. got eight defensive base sites from Newfoundland to South
America which would stay in American ownership for 99 years.
Still over a year from entering the war, FDR was preparing
for the eventuality of war.
FDR Shatters the Two-Term Tradition
1940 - Wendell L. Willkie, became the dark horse Rep.
candidate against Dem. candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt.
– Willkie and FDR weren’t really different in the realm of foreign affairs,
but Willkie hit hard with his attacks on the third term issue.
– voters felt that, should war come, FDR was the best man to lead
America.
Congress Passes Lend-Lease Law
Britain - running out of money & FDR didn’t want the hassles
that came with calling back debts
came up with the idea of a lend-lease program
– in which the arms and ships, etc. that the U.S. lent to the nations that
needed them would be returned when they were no longer needed.
– Critics retorted that the U.S. wouldn’t want them back because it
would be like lending chewing gum then taking it back after it’d been
chewed.
The lend-lease bill was argued over heatedly in Congress,
but it passed
– by war’s end, America had sent about $50 billion worth of arms and
equipment.
– The lend-lease act was basically the abandonment of the neutrality
policy, and Hitler recognized this.
German submarines had avoided attacking U.S. ships, but
after the passage, they started to fire upon U.S. ships as
well, such as the May 21, 1941 torpedoing of the Robin
Moor.
Hitler’s Assault on the Soviet Union Spawns the Atlantic
Charter
June 22, 1941 - Hitler attacks Russia (Operation Barbarosa)
– Hitler always planned on invading Russia but his need of natural
resources moved up his timetable.
the valor of the Red army, U.S. aid to the U.S.S.R. (through lendlease), and an early and bitter winter stranded the German force at
Moscow and shifted the tide against Germany.
The Atlantic Conference was held in August 1941, and the
result was the eight-point Atlantic Charter. Main points
included…
– no territorial changes contrary to the wishes of the natives.
– affirmed the right for people to choose their rulers (selfdetermination).
– declared disarmament & a peace of security, also a new League of
Nations.
– Critics claimed “neutral America” was interfering, ignoring that America
was no longer neutral.
U.S. Destroyers & Hitler’s U-Boats Clash
To ensure that arms sent to Britain would reach there, FDR
finally agreed that a convoy would have to escort the arms as
far as Iceland, as Britain would take over from there.
– U.S. destroyers like the Greer, the Kearny, and the Reuben James
were attacked by the Germans.
mid-Nov. 1941 - Congress annuls the now-useless Neutrality
Act of 1939.
Surprise Assault at Pearl Harbor
Japan was still embroiled in war with
China
– 1940 - US imposed embargoes on key
supplies on Japan
– Japan had to either back off of China or
attack the U.S.
The US had broken the Japanese
code and knew that they would
declare war soon
– most Americans thought that the
Japanese would attack British Malaya or
the Philippines.
Dec. 7, 1941 - the paralyzing blow
struck Pearl Harbor
– Where almost the entire U.S. fleet was
located
– wiped out many ships & killing/wounding
3,000 men.
America’s Transformation from
Bystander to Belligerent
Dec. 8, 1941 - “a date which will live in infamy” FDR goes
before Congress to ask for a declaration of war
Dec. 11, 1941 - Germany & Italy declared war on the U.S.
Until the Pearl Harbor attack, most Americans still wanted to
stay out of war, but afterwards the American people were
completely infuriated & wanted to go to war.
– the U.S. had wanted to stay out of war, but had still supported Britain
more and more
– the U.S. had been against the Japanese aggression but had failed to
take a firm stand on either side.
The government had decided that appeasement didn’t work
against “iron wolves,” and that total war was needed to keep
the world safe for democracy vs. anarchy and dictatorship.