Transcript The Shadows of War - Moore Public Schools

The Shadows of War
“We must band together to prevent the loss of
more American lives in these internal struggles
of Europe…”
—Charles Lindbergh
“Dictatorship, however, involves costs which the
American people will never pay: The cost of our
spiritual values…The cost of having our children
brought up, not as free and dignified human
beings, but as pawns molded and enslaved by a
machine…”
--Franklin Roosevelt
In the early and mid-1930s, the United
States attempted to isolate itself from
foreign involvements and wars. But by
the end of the decade, the spread of
totalitarianism and war in Europe forced
Roosevelt to provide more assistance to
desperate Britain, despite strong
isolationist opposition.
Interventionists - Those
advocating direct
engagement in overseas
conflicts.
*Hitler’s control of the seas
would imperil the United
States
* Stay out of war but aid
Britain
Non-Interventionists - Those urging the
nation to stay out of overseas conflicts.
America First Committee:
* No foreign power, nor group of
powers, can successfully attack a
prepared America
* "Aid short of war" weakens national
defense at home and threatens to
involve America in war abroad.
Nye Committee:
A committee led by Gerald P. Nye that
investigated the reasons for US entry into
WWI.
 They claimed that the US had been
pushed into war by weapons
manufactures who wished to see profits.
 This solidified the isolationist sentiments
of many people.
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Gerald Nye
Spanish Civil War:
a prelude to World War II in that the two
major fascist powers (Germany and Italy);
provide economic and military aid to help
General Francisco Franco defeat Spain’s
Loyalists.
 The loyalists get assistance from the
Soviet Union and volunteers from many
countries, however, Western democracies
stay mostly uninvolved.
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Francisco Franco
Appeasement:
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“…peace for our time…” –Neville
Chamberlain
To try and avoid another blood bath like
World War I, Britain and France adopt a
policy of appeasement in dealing with
German, Italian, and Japanese aggression
and territorial expansion.
 Appeasement means that a country will
give in to aggressor nations to avoid war.
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Neville Chamberlain
Appeasement:
The Munich Conference, where British and
French leaders allowed Hitler to annex
part of Czechoslovakia in return for his
promise to make no further territorial
demands, is a prime example of this.
 This action led Winston Churchill to state,

“Britain and France had to choose
between war and dishonor. They chose
dishonor. They will have war.”

Neville Chamberlain holding the paper containing the
resolution to commit to peaceful methods signed by both
Hitler and himself on his return from Munich. He is
showing the piece of paper to a crowd at Heston
Aerodrome on 30 September 1938
Neutrality Acts:
A series of laws that banned the transportation
or sale of arms to warring nations and banned
loans to nations at war outside the Western
Hemisphere.
 These laws were passed in 1935, 1936, and
1937 to prevent being drawn into war again.
 FDR believed that a distinction should be made
between aggressors and victims, but was
outnumbered by American isolationists.

The Nazi-Soviet NonAggression Pact
The world is stunned to learn of this alliance
between former enemies, Germany and the
USSR.
 This agreement, signed in August 1939, assures
that neither nation will attack the other, and that
the two countries agree to divide Poland.
 It removed the threat of a two-front war with
the USSR and cleared the way from Hitler to
invade Poland.


Soviet Foreign
Minister Molotov signs
the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact while
German Foreign
Minister Von
Ribbentrop and Soviet
leader Stalin look on
under a portrait of
Lenin, August 23,
1939.
Europe at War:
As predicted by Churchill, Hitler violated the
Munich Pact in 1939 by invading Czechoslovakia.
 France and Britain pledged to protect Poland
from Hitler, but Hitler still doubted that they
would resist him.
 On September 1, 1939, German forces used a
blitzkrieg (meaning “lightning war”) attack on
Poland.
 This time, Britain and France decided to fight
and declared war on Germany on September 3.

Europe at War cont’d
Although FDR declared the US neutral, he asked
Congress to lift the arms embargo of the
Neutrality Acts.
 The Neutrality Act of 1939 was a compromise
between those who wanted to help Britain and
France and those who wished to remain
isolationist.
 It stated that the US would sell arms to the
Allies if they paid cash and carried the items in
their own ships. (Hence the cash and carry
policy.)
 Many people still believed that FDR was violating
US neutrality and would pull the US into the
war.

Fall of France:
After a lull in fighting in later 1939 and early 1940, Hitler
launched an offensive that swept through Norway,
Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
 In May, 1940, German forces defeated the Allied army
and drove it to the sea at the French town of Dunkirk.
 300,000 French and British troops evacuated across the
English Channel…had that not happened, it is estimated
that Britain would have been unable to stay in the war.
 In June of 1940, Italy invaded France and declared war
on Britain, and on June 22, 1940, France surrendered,
leaving Britain to face Hitler alone.

Battle of Britain:
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The German air force bombed British Airfields, factories,
and cities to prepare the way for German armies to cross
the English Channel.
For months, London suffered constant bombing by
hundreds of German planes.
The Royal Air Force however kept the Germans from
gaining control of the skies over Britain and forced Hitler
to abandon his invasion plans.
In September 1940, To assist Britain, who stood alone
against the Germans after the fall of France, FDR used
executive order to circumvent the Neutrality acts, by
giving the British destroyers in return for British military
bases.
The US moves away from
neutrality
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With the fall of France, and the threat to Britain, many
American were shaken out of their belief that evens
outside the Western Hemisphere were none of their
business.
Congress began to heed FDR's warnings, appropriating
billions of dollars for defense, and passing a Selective
Service act in September 1940 (the first ever peace time
draft).
FDR also abandoned his old cash-and-carry policy,
instead offering to lend goods to Britain, which the
British could return or replace after the war. This
became known as the Lend-Lease policy.
America Moves cont’d
In trying to make sure their supplies reached the
intended recipients, the US was drawn into a
naval war with Germany in the Atlantic.
 In June of 1941, when the Germans violated
their alliance with the USSR, by attacking and
invading, FDR offered the Soviets lend-lease aid.
 By the end of November 1941, very few
Americans were still preaching isolationism.

Atlantic Charter
An agreement signed between FDR and
Winston Churchill in August 1941.
 It endorsed self-determination and an
international system of “general security.”
 This signaled the deepening alliance
between the two countries.
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Japanese Aggression
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To sustain industrial growth, Japan needed larger
markets for its products and raw materials for its
factories.
Japan was also seeing population growth, therefore, the
nation needed to expand to meet industrial needs and
ease overcrowding.
Although Japan had supported the Allies in WWI, it was
bitter towards the west for limiting its gains in China,
and banning immigration in 1924.
In September, 1931, Japan invaded and occupied
mineral rich Manchuria in northeastern China.
Japanese Aggression
The League of Nations demanded that
Manchuria be returned to China, but Japan
ignored the order.
 Once war broke out in Europe, Japan took
advantage of the distraction of European nations
by moving to take over European colonies in
Southeast Asia.
 With Europe engaged in war, the US remained
the only threat to Japanese ambitions in the
Pacific.
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Japanese Aggression
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In September of 1940, Japan allied with the Axis
powers by signing the Tripartite Pact.
The US responded by cutting off exports of
scrap metal to Japan.
Japan continued its aggression in Asia, so the
US extended the embargo.
After Japan refused to abandon their policy of
conquest in Asia, FDR cut off all trade with the
country and began preparing for war in the
Pacific.
Although war with Japan seemed inevitable, it
remained uncertain when and where Japan’s
attack would come.
Pearl Harbor
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“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in
infamy—the United States was suddenly and deliberately
attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of
Japan…”
On December 6, 1941, American officials intercepted a
coded message from Japan to its embassy in
Washington, indicating that Japan was about to break
relations with the US.
American authorities sent warnings to military
commanders throughout the Pacific, but by the time the
messages reached Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the American
fleet there was already under attack.
Pearl Harbor
Just after noon on December 7, 1941 FDR
received an urgent telephone call from the
secretary of the navy who had just received a
message from Pearl Harbor… “Air Raid on Pearl
Harbor. This is no Drill.”
 In two hours, Japan’s planes sank many vessels,
including 5 battleships, and 3 destroyers and
heavily damaged many others.
 250 planes were destroyed and about 4500
people were killed or wounded. The fleet’s
aircraft carriers were out of the harbor and
escaped devastation.
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