Transcript The road to wwii - New Paltz Central School District

THE ROAD TO WWII
THINK ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE
BEGINNING OF THE YEAR….
REGENTS QUESTION:
The speakers below are discussing foreign policies that the United States
has followed at various times. Base your answers on their statements and
on your knowledge of social studies.
 Speaker A: Steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of
the foreign world.
 Speaker B: The United States will give economic aid to needy
countries anywhere in the world, but will not provide military aid .
 Speaker C: The United States must prevent the growth of
communism.
 Speaker D: The United States can take over other countries to help
them become more like us.
Which speaker states a policy most similar to the foreign policy advice
given by President George Washington in his Farewell Address?
EXPLANATION:
In his farewell address George
Washington warned the infantile America
to stay clear of “entangling alliances”
with the Europeans, but to continue
economic ties with the continent. This
policy of neutrality in Europe (and in most
external affairs) remained a fixture of US
foreign policy up until the growth of US
imperialism in the late 1800’s.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN
EUROPE??
THE TREAT Y OF VERSAILLES FAILS
Totalitarian states rise
 Single-party dictatorship exerting control over all
aspects of life
 Strong, charismatic leader often at head of government
 State control of economy
 Use of police, spies, and terror to enforce the will of the
state
 Gov’t control of the media and use of propaganda to
indoctrinate citizens
 Use of schools and youth organizations to spread
ideology to children
 Strict censorship especially of those with dissenting
opinions
REPRESSION IN THE SOVIET UNION & ITALY
1924 Stalin rises to power (Soviet Union)
“The Great Terror”-purged the Communist Party of
real or suspected traitors in the 1930s; killed or
imprisoned up to a million people
1919-1922 Mussolini rises to power (Italy)
Fascist
Outlawed political parties, took over the press,
created a secret police, organized a youth groups,
and suppressed strikes
Opposed liberalism and socialism
HITLER GAINS CONTROL OF GERMANY
Early 1930s the National Socialist
German Workers’ Party (Nazis) come to
power
Hitler was seen as the saving grace to
the crumbling Germany after WWI
because he led Germany out of the
depression
Secret police, state-controlled press,
state-controlled education system
JAPANESE EXPANSION
DID NOT become a totalitarian
dictatorship; continued as a
constitutional monarchy headed by
mainly aloof emperor
Slowly shifts to (aggressive) military
control
1931 attack on Manchuria; 1937 “Rape
of Nanjing”
SO WHAT DOES THIS
HAVE TO DO WITH US
INVOLVEMENT IN
WWII???
RETURN TO ISOLATIONISM (1930S)
Isolationism- a foreign policy of
remaining apart from political or
economic entanglements with other
countries.
NO economic activities including trading!
Everything was getting heated abroad and
Americans were (still) upset about WWI
WAIT….WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THESE FOREIGN POLICIES??
Neutrality
 Deliberately takes no
side in dispute or
controversy
 Nonaligned or
noninvolved
 Trading activities OK as
long as they aren’t
politically getting the
country involved
Isolationism
AGGRESSION ABROAD
Roosevelt opposes Japanese aggression
“War is a contagion, whether it be
declared or undeclared. It can engulf
states and peoples remote from the
original scene of hostilities. We are
determined to keep out of war, yet we
cannot insure ourselves against the
disastrous effects of war and the dangers
of involvement.”
-FDR, Quarantine speech, October 5, 1937
AGGRESSION ABROAD
Policy of appeasement
Hitler goes unchecked
War breaks out in Europe
France falls to Hitler in just 35 days
Britain was the next target
THE NEUTRALIT Y ACTS
1935, 1936, 1937
Declared the U.S. would withhold
weapons and loans of money
from ALL nations at war
Warned Americans traveling on
ships belonging to nations at war
did so at their own risk
CASH AND CARRY POLICY
NO loans!
You want our goods? Show us the
money and you can have them!
LEND-LEASE ACT
(1941) allowed President Roosevelt to sell or
lend war supplies to any country whose
defense he considered vital to the safety of
the United States
By 1945, more than $40 BILLION of LendLease aid was sent to the Allies including the
Soviet Union
Economic declaration of war against Germany
and the Axis Powers
THE ATLANTIC CHARTER
1941 FDR met with Prime Minister
Churchill (England)
Discussed problems going on now plus
hopes for the future
Document endorsed national selfdetermination and an international system
of “general security” (U.N.)
POLITICAL CARTOON ANALYSIS
VIDEO (WATCH BEGINNING TO 4 MIN)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvDFsxjaPaE