Transcript From Neutrality to War - Ms. Shauntee

World War II Continued
 War
Fatigue World War I had cost the United
States many lives and a great deal of money.
Many Americans did not understand what
purpose World War I had served and did not
want to get involved in another world war.
 International
Debt Former allies from World
War I had not repaid much of the war debt
owed to the United States. Internationalism
seemed costly.
 Nye
Committee Led by Senator Gerald Nye,
Republican from North Dakota, the
committee reported that many arms
manufacturers had profited greatly from
World War I. This led many Americans to
think that they fought in World War I to
benefit arms companies and disinclined them
to support World War II.
 1935:
In response to the findings of the Nye
Committee, this first act prohibited
Americans from selling arms to countries at
war.
 1936: Following the onset of the Spanish
Civil War, this act prohibited Americans from
selling arms to either side fighting in a civil
war.
 1937: After Germany, Italy, and Japan allied
as the Axis Powers, this act allowed the sale
of non-military supplies on a cash-and-carry
basis.
During the 1930s, Roosevelt was focused on
leading the United States out of the Great
Depression with his New Deal legislation.
 However, Roosevelt supported internationalism,
believing that international trade generated
prosperity and encouraged peaceful resolution to
conflicts.
 Roosevelt opposed but did not veto the
Neutrality Acts.
 Roosevelt authorized the sale of arms to China
when Japan invaded the country in 1937. He
claimed the Neutrality Acts did not apply
because Japan had not declared war on China.

 First
three acts were passed in 1935, 1936,
and 1937. They prohibited the sale of arms
to countries at war.
 1939: Neutrality Act allowed the sale of
weapons on a cash-and-carry basis only.
 Spring 1940: Roosevelt approved a
Destroyers-for-Bases deal with Britain.
Britain received 50 old U.S. destroyers in
exchange for the right to build American
bases on British soil.
 July 1940: Congress authorized Roosevelt to
begin an embargo against Japan.
March 1941: Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act,
allowing U.S. companies to lend or lease arms to
countries deemed “vital to the defense of the
United States.”
 April 1941: Roosevelt declared the western half
of the Atlantic Ocean to be a Hemispheric
Defense Zone, and ordered the U.S. Navy to
disclose the location of any German submarines
in the zone to the British.
 August 1941: Roosevelt and Churchill signed the
Atlantic Charter, committing the United States
and Britain to postwar security, peace, free
trade, and freedom of the seas.

 Embargo
on Japan1939: As Britain moved its
forces to the Atlantic, it left its colonies
along the Pacific vulnerable to attack from
Japan. Japan had embarked on expansionist
policies to gain more resources.
 1940: Roosevelt restricted the sale of
airplane fuel and scrap iron to pressure
Japan to pull out of China and to deter Japan
from invading British colonies. Japan
responded by joining the Axis Powers.
 1941:
The United States granted lend-lease
aid to China to keep Japan bogged down
there, but Japan continued with its plans to
invade French holdings in Indochina.
 1941: The United States froze Japanese
assets, stopped oil shipments to Japan, and
sent additional forces to the Philippines.
 1941: Japan responded by planning an
invasion of French, British, and Dutch
colonies. Japan also planned to attack Pearl
Harbor and the Philippines.
 December
7, 1941: Japan attacked the Pearl
Harbor naval base in Hawaii.
 U.S. forces had been anticipating a Japanese
attack—but not on Pearl Harbor because of
its great distance.
 The attack killed 2,403 Americans and
destroyed or severely damaged numerous
battleships and other naval vessels.
 The next day, Roosevelt asked Congress to
declare war.