Chapter 34: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Shadow of War
Identifications
Nuremburg Trials
These trials were held by the Allied forces against the Axis forces. It was most known for prosecuting prominent members of Nazi Germany. It was held in Germany at the Palace of Justice.
Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull was an American politician from theTennessee. He was known as the longest Secretary of State under Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He received the Nobel Peace Prize for establishing the United Nations.
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was a British politician and was also the Prime Minister of the UK from 1951-1955. He was a great wartime leader and served as Prime Minister twice. He also won the Nobel Prize of literature.
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh was an American pilot. He won the Orteig Prize for his non-stop fllight across the Atlantic Ocean on May2 1927. He flew 3600 miles on the plane, The Spirit of St. Louis.
Good Neighbor Policy
this policy was adapted by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt towards Latin American countries. It meant that the US would help in reciprocal exchanges and create new economic agreements.
Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act
This was enacted on June 12, 1935. It was used to reduce tariff between the US and Latin American Countries. It resulted in a reduction of duties between the separate nations.
Rome-Berlin Axis
This was book written in 1949 by Elizabeth Wiskemann. It studied the Axis Powers and the alliance between Italy’s Benito Mussolini and Germany’s Adolf Hitler. It cam out after WW2.
Nye Committee
The Nye Committee was created by Gerald Nye. It was used to investigate finance in banks after WW1. It was also know asn the Special Committee of Investigation of Munitions Industry.
Neutrality Acts
This was passed in the 1930s to prevent war in Europe and Asia. This was passed because of isolationism and non-intervention in the US. This played a part with Britain and France Vs. Germany.
Russo-German Nonaggression Pact
This was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and Russia. It involved the Soviet Union and Germany and Japan. This was signed on August 1939 and ended on June 1941.
"cash and carry"
This replaced the Neutrality Acts of 1936. It allowed the sale of material to belligerents as long as they paid immediately in cash and had their own form of transportation.
America First Committee
The AFC was the created to support those who were against Americans being in WWII. It was the largest anti-war organization in history and was started in 1940. It shut down after Pearl Harbor.
Lend-Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act was eneacted on March 11, 1941. It was signed by FDR and was aimed to give aid to Britain and China. It supplied the Allied Nations during WWII in Europe.
Atlantic Charter
This was issued on August of 1941 which defined the Allied goals in WWII and postwar. It was later agreed on by all allies. It stated that there was to be no territorial changes and self-government was to be restored.
Guided Reading Questions
The London Conference
Know: London Economic Conference
1. What were the results of Roosevelt's decision not to help stabilize currencies?
As a result of Roosevelt’s decision not to help stabilize currencies, the London Conference failed to achieve their goal of stabilizing the values of various nations’ currencies and the rates at which they could be exchanged. The delegates adjourned empty-handed. Roosevelt’s decision plunged the planet even deeper into economic crisis. The collapse of the London Conference also strengthened the global trend toward extreme nationalism, making international cooperation ever more difficult.
Freedom for (from?) the Filipinos and Recognition for the Russians
Know: Tydings-McDuffie Act
2. What was the reason for America's decision to free the Philippines?
America decided to free the Philippines too free themselves of the burden of maintaining the island. Times were hard, and American taxpayers were eager to throw overboard their expensive tropical liability in the Philippine Islands. Organized labor demanded the exclusion of low-wage Filipino workers, and American sugar producers wanted to end Philippine competition. Because of this and the earlier promise of freedom for the Philippines, Congress passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which provided for the independence of the Philippines after twelve years of economic and political tutelage. America wanted to only concern itself with its own welfare and disregarded the political situation in Asia.
Becoming a Good Neighbor
Know: Good Neighbor Policy
3. Was the United States serious about the Good Neighbor policy? Explain.
The Good Neighbor Policy was Roosevelt’s policy of friendliness towards Latin America. Roosevelt was serious about the policy, as he was eager to line up the Latin Americans to help defend the Western Hemisphere. Roosevelt renounced armed intervention. Marines were departed from Haiti, and Cuba was released from the Platt Amendment. Washington also released its grip on the country of Panama. Roosevelt made earnest attempts to usher in a new era of friendliness, even though it hurt some U.S. bondholders. His attempts did pay rich dividends in goodwill among the peoples to the south.
Secretary Hull's Reciprocal Trade Agreements
Know: Cordell Hull, Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act
4. Were reciprocal trade agreements a good idea? Explain.
The reciprocal trade policy was a policy of the New Dealers that was intimately associated with Good Neighborism and was also popular in Latin America. Secretary of State Hull believed that trade was a two-way street, that a nation can sell abroad only as it buys abroad, that tariff barriers choke off foreign trade, and that trade wars beget shooting wars. Congress passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act that lifted American export trade from the depression doldrums. It aimed at both relief and recovery. It also activated the low-tariff policies of the New Dealers. This agreement was a good idea as it avoided the dangerous uncertainties of a wholesale tariff revision. It merely whittled down the most objectionable schedules of the Hawley-Smoot law by amending them. Rates could be lowered by as much as 50% if other countries were willing to make similar reductions. Secretary Hull succeeded in negotiating pacts with twenty-one countries. U.S. foreign trade increased appreciably. Trade agreements bettered economic and political relations with Latin America and influenced for peace. The agreement paved the way for the American-led free-trade international economic system that took shape after World War II.
Storm-Cellar Isolationism
Know: Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Fascism
5. What were the reasons for American isolationism?
America maintained a policy of isolationism to not interfere with European affairs, especially as alarming events were taking place in Europe. Although dictators were on the rise in Europe, Americans still believed that by maintaining isolationist, they would be free from harm and burden. They did not believe that to totalitarian aggression in Germany and Italy would cause trouble. They were only afraid they would be drawn into it, which is why they maintained isolated.
Congress Legislates Neutrality
Know: Gerald Nye, Neutrality Acts
6. How did the Neutrality Acts attempt to keep the U.S. out of war?
The Neutrality Acts stipulated 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, sell or transport munitions to a belligerent, or make loans to a belligerent. These restrictions were meant to keep the nation out of a conflict like World War I. By not interfering with foreign wars at all, America would not be sucked into their war.
America Dooms Loyalist Spain
Know: Francisco Franco, Spanish Civil War
7. How did the Spanish Civil War contribute to WWII?
In the Spanish Civil War, Spanish rebels under fascist General Francisco Franco rose against the republican government. The US changed the existing neutrality legislation so as to apply an arms embargo to both Loyalists and rebels. Because of this, America sat on the sidelines while Franco, supplied with arms and men by other dictators from Europe, strangled the republican government of Spain. The democracies were so determined to stay out of the war that they helped condemn a fellow democracy to death. Because of this, the dictators were further encouraged to take the dangerous road that would lead to World War II.
Appeasing Japan and Germany
Know: Quarantine Speech, Panay, Rhineland, Sudentenland, Munich Conference, Appeasement
8. What actions were taken by fascist governments that showed that they were a threat?
In 1937, the Japanese militarists had an all-out invasion of China. Japanese aviators bombed and sank an American gunboat, the Panay, in Chinese waters. These actions showed that Japan was a treat, but Japan made necessary apologies and paid proper indemnities, so their actions did not provoke war. Japanese militarists were then encouraged to vent their anger against the “superior” white race by subjecting American civilians in China to humiliating slappings and strippings. In Germany, Adolf Hitler introduced compulsory military service, which went against the Treaty of Versailles. The next year, he marched his army into the demilitarized German Rhineland, also against the treaty. With no action taken in response, Hitler began to persecute and exterminate the Jewish population in the areas under his control. Hitler then occupied Austria and demanded the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. These actions by Hitler also showed that he was a threat, yet countries continued to appease him.
Hitler's Belligerency and U.S. Neutrality
Know: Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, Cash and Carry
9. How did the United States respond to the start of WWII in Europe?
The United States responded to the start of WWII with proclamations of neutrality. Americans were desperately determined to stay out of the war. Congress issued the Neutrality Act of 1939 because Britain and France urgently needed American airplanes and other weapons, but were forbidden this because of the Neutrality Act of 1937. The new Neutrality Act provided that henceforth the European democracies might buy American war materials, but only on a “cash-and-carry basis.” This meant that they would have to transport the munitions in their own ships after paying for them in cash. This would help America avoid loans, war debts, and the torpedoing of American arms-carriers. Congress also gave Roosevelt the power to authorize danger zones to which American merchant ships were forbidden to enter.
The Fall of France
Know: Phony War, Blitzkrieg, Winston Churchill
10. What further steps did the United States take after the fall of France?
Americans were extremely shocked and alarmed by the fall of France. Roosevelt called for building of huge airfleets and a two-ocean navy. Congress began preparing America for war. A conscription law was passed, the first peacetime draft in America. Under this measure, provision was made for training each year 1.2 million troops and 800,000 reserves.
Makers of America: Refugees from the Holocaust
Know: Anti-Semitism, Albert Einstein, American Jewish Committee, Father Coughlin, American Jewish Congress
11. Why did America not make more room for European Jews in the 1930's?
America did not make room for European Jews because of its restrictive immigration laws. The Great Depression also made it hard for workers to find jobs. The Jews that came over created the American Jewish Committee and American Jewish Congress.
Bolstering Britain with the Destroyer Deal (1940)
Know: Battle of Britain, Royal Air Force, Fortress America, America First, Charles Lindbergh, Destroyer Deal
12. Describe the conflict between interventionists and isolationists in America in 1940.
During the Battle of Britain, debate intensified in the United States over what foreign policy to embrace. Interventionalists wanted to aid Britain. They formed propaganda groups, such as the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, to encourage support for Britain. Isolationists were determined to avoid American bloodshed at all costs. They organized the America First Committee and proclaimed that “England Will Fight to the Last American.”Isolationists said that America should concentrate on defending its own shores in case Hitler does defeat Britain and attempts to assault America.
FDR Shatters the Two-Term Tradition (1940)
Know: Wendell Wilke
13. Interpret the results of the 1940 election.
Wendell L. Willkie was the Republican candidate in the 1940 presidential election, while Roosevelt was the Democratic candidate. Both promised to stay out of the war and both promised to strengthen the nation’s defenses. Wilkie attacked Roosevelt for running for a third term and breaking the two-term tradition. Roosevelt won the election with popular total 27 million to Wilkie’s 22 million and electoral vote 449 to 82. This was because voters felt that should war come, the experienced hand of the tried leader was needed.
Congress Passes the Landmark Lend-Lease Law
Know: Lend-Lease
14. What was so controversial about Lend-Lease?
The Lend-Lease Bill allowed for lending or leasing American arms to the reeling democracies so postwar debts could be avoided. By sending guns and not men, in a way Roosevelt was helping the democratic forces of the war. The bill would send a limitless supply of arms to the victims of aggression, who in turn would finish the job and keep the war on their side of the Atlantic. Accounts would be settled by returning the used weapons or their equivalents to the United States when the war was ended. However, the bill was controversial. Isolationists and anti-Roosevelt Republicans opposed the bill, as it marked the abandonment of any pretense of neutrality.
Hitler's Assault on the Soviet Union Spawns the Atlantic Charter
Know: Atlantic Charter
15. What was the reaction in America to the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union?
In 1941, Hitler broke his pact with Russia and attacked the Soviets. Roosevelt immediately assisted and backed up the Soviets by making some military supplies available. He supplied $1 billion of supplies in the lend-lease program to aid Russia. The Atlantic Conference was held and the Atlantic Charter was formed. The Charter was accepted by Roosevelt and Churchill of Britain and endorsed by the Soviet Union later that year. The charter outlined the aspirations of the democracies for a better world at war’s end. It promised that there would be no territorial changes contrary to the wishes of the inhabitants (self-determination). It further affirmed the right of a people to choose their own form of government and, in particular, to regain the governments abolished by the dictators. It also declared for disarmament and a peace of security, or a new League of Nations.
U.S. Destroyers and Hitler's U-Boats Clash
16. How did America's implementation of the Lend-Lease policy bring us closer to war?
America’s implementation of the Lend-Lease policy brought us to war as Germany submarines attacked American warships bringing the arms to Britain. Lend-lease shipments of arms to Britain on British ships were bound to be sunk by German submarines. Because of this, U.S. warships needed to escort the British ships, as Britain simply did not have enough destroyers. Roosevelt decided to convoy and he issued orders to the navy to escort lend-lease shipments as far as Island. Inevitable clashes with submarines ensued on the Island run. A German submarine attacked the U.S. destroyer Greer. Roosevelt then proclaimed a shoot-on-sight policy. The ships Kearny and Reuben James also engaged in battle with the German submarines. These attacks made the American public want to pull out of neutrality. Congress, responding to public pressures, recalled the Neutrality Act. Merchant ships could then be legally armed and could enter combat zones with munitions for Britain.
America's Transformation from Bystander to Belligerent
17. Was United States entry into WWII sudden or gradual? Explain.
The United States entry into WWII was gradual. From the beginning, America wanted above all to stay out of conflict, but they did not want Britain to be defeated by Germany after France fell. America wanted to halt Japan’s conquests in the Far East, as these conquests menaced American trade and security and international peace. To keep Britain from being defeated, Roosevelt felt compelled to extend the unneutral aid that invited attacks from Germany submarines. To keep Japan from expanding, Washington undertook to cut off vital Japanese supplies with embargoes that invited possible retaliation. What sparked war was Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor. War was not a sudden decision for the United States.
Nuremburg Trials
These trials were held by the Allied forces against the Axis forces. It was most known for prosecuting prominent members of Nazi Germany. It was held in Germany at the Palace of Justice.
Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull was an American politician from theTennessee. He was known as the longest Secretary of State under Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He received the Nobel Peace Prize for establishing the United Nations.
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was a British politician and was also the Prime Minister of the UK from 1951-1955. He was a great wartime leader and served as Prime Minister twice. He also won the Nobel Prize of literature.
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh was an American pilot. He won the Orteig Prize for his non-stop fllight across the Atlantic Ocean on May2 1927. He flew 3600 miles on the plane, The Spirit of St. Louis.
Good Neighbor Policy
this policy was adapted by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt towards Latin American countries. It meant that the US would help in reciprocal exchanges and create new economic agreements.
Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act
This was enacted on June 12, 1935. It was used to reduce tariff between the US and Latin American Countries. It resulted in a reduction of duties between the separate nations.
Rome-Berlin Axis
This was book written in 1949 by Elizabeth Wiskemann. It studied the Axis Powers and the alliance between Italy’s Benito Mussolini and Germany’s Adolf Hitler. It cam out after WW2.
Nye Committee
The Nye Committee was created by Gerald Nye. It was used to investigate finance in banks after WW1. It was also know asn the Special Committee of Investigation of Munitions Industry.
Neutrality Acts
This was passed in the 1930s to prevent war in Europe and Asia. This was passed because of isolationism and non-intervention in the US. This played a part with Britain and France Vs. Germany.
Russo-German Nonaggression Pact
This was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and Russia. It involved the Soviet Union and Germany and Japan. This was signed on August 1939 and ended on June 1941.
"cash and carry"
This replaced the Neutrality Acts of 1936. It allowed the sale of material to belligerents as long as they paid immediately in cash and had their own form of transportation.
America First Committee
The AFC was the created to support those who were against Americans being in WWII. It was the largest anti-war organization in history and was started in 1940. It shut down after Pearl Harbor.
Lend-Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act was eneacted on March 11, 1941. It was signed by FDR and was aimed to give aid to Britain and China. It supplied the Allied Nations during WWII in Europe.
Atlantic Charter
This was issued on August of 1941 which defined the Allied goals in WWII and postwar. It was later agreed on by all allies. It stated that there was to be no territorial changes and self-government was to be restored.
Guided Reading Questions
The London Conference
Know: London Economic Conference
1. What were the results of Roosevelt's decision not to help stabilize currencies?
As a result of Roosevelt’s decision not to help stabilize currencies, the London Conference failed to achieve their goal of stabilizing the values of various nations’ currencies and the rates at which they could be exchanged. The delegates adjourned empty-handed. Roosevelt’s decision plunged the planet even deeper into economic crisis. The collapse of the London Conference also strengthened the global trend toward extreme nationalism, making international cooperation ever more difficult.
Freedom for (from?) the Filipinos and Recognition for the Russians
Know: Tydings-McDuffie Act
2. What was the reason for America's decision to free the Philippines?
America decided to free the Philippines too free themselves of the burden of maintaining the island. Times were hard, and American taxpayers were eager to throw overboard their expensive tropical liability in the Philippine Islands. Organized labor demanded the exclusion of low-wage Filipino workers, and American sugar producers wanted to end Philippine competition. Because of this and the earlier promise of freedom for the Philippines, Congress passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which provided for the independence of the Philippines after twelve years of economic and political tutelage. America wanted to only concern itself with its own welfare and disregarded the political situation in Asia.
Becoming a Good Neighbor
Know: Good Neighbor Policy
3. Was the United States serious about the Good Neighbor policy? Explain.
The Good Neighbor Policy was Roosevelt’s policy of friendliness towards Latin America. Roosevelt was serious about the policy, as he was eager to line up the Latin Americans to help defend the Western Hemisphere. Roosevelt renounced armed intervention. Marines were departed from Haiti, and Cuba was released from the Platt Amendment. Washington also released its grip on the country of Panama. Roosevelt made earnest attempts to usher in a new era of friendliness, even though it hurt some U.S. bondholders. His attempts did pay rich dividends in goodwill among the peoples to the south.
Secretary Hull's Reciprocal Trade Agreements
Know: Cordell Hull, Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act
4. Were reciprocal trade agreements a good idea? Explain.
The reciprocal trade policy was a policy of the New Dealers that was intimately associated with Good Neighborism and was also popular in Latin America. Secretary of State Hull believed that trade was a two-way street, that a nation can sell abroad only as it buys abroad, that tariff barriers choke off foreign trade, and that trade wars beget shooting wars. Congress passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act that lifted American export trade from the depression doldrums. It aimed at both relief and recovery. It also activated the low-tariff policies of the New Dealers. This agreement was a good idea as it avoided the dangerous uncertainties of a wholesale tariff revision. It merely whittled down the most objectionable schedules of the Hawley-Smoot law by amending them. Rates could be lowered by as much as 50% if other countries were willing to make similar reductions. Secretary Hull succeeded in negotiating pacts with twenty-one countries. U.S. foreign trade increased appreciably. Trade agreements bettered economic and political relations with Latin America and influenced for peace. The agreement paved the way for the American-led free-trade international economic system that took shape after World War II.
Storm-Cellar Isolationism
Know: Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Fascism
5. What were the reasons for American isolationism?
America maintained a policy of isolationism to not interfere with European affairs, especially as alarming events were taking place in Europe. Although dictators were on the rise in Europe, Americans still believed that by maintaining isolationist, they would be free from harm and burden. They did not believe that to totalitarian aggression in Germany and Italy would cause trouble. They were only afraid they would be drawn into it, which is why they maintained isolated.
Congress Legislates Neutrality
Know: Gerald Nye, Neutrality Acts
6. How did the Neutrality Acts attempt to keep the U.S. out of war?
The Neutrality Acts stipulated 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, sell or transport munitions to a belligerent, or make loans to a belligerent. These restrictions were meant to keep the nation out of a conflict like World War I. By not interfering with foreign wars at all, America would not be sucked into their war.
America Dooms Loyalist Spain
Know: Francisco Franco, Spanish Civil War
7. How did the Spanish Civil War contribute to WWII?
In the Spanish Civil War, Spanish rebels under fascist General Francisco Franco rose against the republican government. The US changed the existing neutrality legislation so as to apply an arms embargo to both Loyalists and rebels. Because of this, America sat on the sidelines while Franco, supplied with arms and men by other dictators from Europe, strangled the republican government of Spain. The democracies were so determined to stay out of the war that they helped condemn a fellow democracy to death. Because of this, the dictators were further encouraged to take the dangerous road that would lead to World War II.
Appeasing Japan and Germany
Know: Quarantine Speech, Panay, Rhineland, Sudentenland, Munich Conference, Appeasement
8. What actions were taken by fascist governments that showed that they were a threat?
In 1937, the Japanese militarists had an all-out invasion of China. Japanese aviators bombed and sank an American gunboat, the Panay, in Chinese waters. These actions showed that Japan was a treat, but Japan made necessary apologies and paid proper indemnities, so their actions did not provoke war. Japanese militarists were then encouraged to vent their anger against the “superior” white race by subjecting American civilians in China to humiliating slappings and strippings. In Germany, Adolf Hitler introduced compulsory military service, which went against the Treaty of Versailles. The next year, he marched his army into the demilitarized German Rhineland, also against the treaty. With no action taken in response, Hitler began to persecute and exterminate the Jewish population in the areas under his control. Hitler then occupied Austria and demanded the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. These actions by Hitler also showed that he was a threat, yet countries continued to appease him.
Hitler's Belligerency and U.S. Neutrality
Know: Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, Cash and Carry
9. How did the United States respond to the start of WWII in Europe?
The United States responded to the start of WWII with proclamations of neutrality. Americans were desperately determined to stay out of the war. Congress issued the Neutrality Act of 1939 because Britain and France urgently needed American airplanes and other weapons, but were forbidden this because of the Neutrality Act of 1937. The new Neutrality Act provided that henceforth the European democracies might buy American war materials, but only on a “cash-and-carry basis.” This meant that they would have to transport the munitions in their own ships after paying for them in cash. This would help America avoid loans, war debts, and the torpedoing of American arms-carriers. Congress also gave Roosevelt the power to authorize danger zones to which American merchant ships were forbidden to enter.
The Fall of France
Know: Phony War, Blitzkrieg, Winston Churchill
10. What further steps did the United States take after the fall of France?
Americans were extremely shocked and alarmed by the fall of France. Roosevelt called for building of huge airfleets and a two-ocean navy. Congress began preparing America for war. A conscription law was passed, the first peacetime draft in America. Under this measure, provision was made for training each year 1.2 million troops and 800,000 reserves.
Makers of America: Refugees from the Holocaust
Know: Anti-Semitism, Albert Einstein, American Jewish Committee, Father Coughlin, American Jewish Congress
11. Why did America not make more room for European Jews in the 1930's?
America did not make room for European Jews because of its restrictive immigration laws. The Great Depression also made it hard for workers to find jobs. The Jews that came over created the American Jewish Committee and American Jewish Congress.
Bolstering Britain with the Destroyer Deal (1940)
Know: Battle of Britain, Royal Air Force, Fortress America, America First, Charles Lindbergh, Destroyer Deal
12. Describe the conflict between interventionists and isolationists in America in 1940.
During the Battle of Britain, debate intensified in the United States over what foreign policy to embrace. Interventionalists wanted to aid Britain. They formed propaganda groups, such as the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, to encourage support for Britain. Isolationists were determined to avoid American bloodshed at all costs. They organized the America First Committee and proclaimed that “England Will Fight to the Last American.”Isolationists said that America should concentrate on defending its own shores in case Hitler does defeat Britain and attempts to assault America.
FDR Shatters the Two-Term Tradition (1940)
Know: Wendell Wilke
13. Interpret the results of the 1940 election.
Wendell L. Willkie was the Republican candidate in the 1940 presidential election, while Roosevelt was the Democratic candidate. Both promised to stay out of the war and both promised to strengthen the nation’s defenses. Wilkie attacked Roosevelt for running for a third term and breaking the two-term tradition. Roosevelt won the election with popular total 27 million to Wilkie’s 22 million and electoral vote 449 to 82. This was because voters felt that should war come, the experienced hand of the tried leader was needed.
Congress Passes the Landmark Lend-Lease Law
Know: Lend-Lease
14. What was so controversial about Lend-Lease?
The Lend-Lease Bill allowed for lending or leasing American arms to the reeling democracies so postwar debts could be avoided. By sending guns and not men, in a way Roosevelt was helping the democratic forces of the war. The bill would send a limitless supply of arms to the victims of aggression, who in turn would finish the job and keep the war on their side of the Atlantic. Accounts would be settled by returning the used weapons or their equivalents to the United States when the war was ended. However, the bill was controversial. Isolationists and anti-Roosevelt Republicans opposed the bill, as it marked the abandonment of any pretense of neutrality.
Hitler's Assault on the Soviet Union Spawns the Atlantic Charter
Know: Atlantic Charter
15. What was the reaction in America to the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union?
In 1941, Hitler broke his pact with Russia and attacked the Soviets. Roosevelt immediately assisted and backed up the Soviets by making some military supplies available. He supplied $1 billion of supplies in the lend-lease program to aid Russia. The Atlantic Conference was held and the Atlantic Charter was formed. The Charter was accepted by Roosevelt and Churchill of Britain and endorsed by the Soviet Union later that year. The charter outlined the aspirations of the democracies for a better world at war’s end. It promised that there would be no territorial changes contrary to the wishes of the inhabitants (self-determination). It further affirmed the right of a people to choose their own form of government and, in particular, to regain the governments abolished by the dictators. It also declared for disarmament and a peace of security, or a new League of Nations.
U.S. Destroyers and Hitler's U-Boats Clash
16. How did America's implementation of the Lend-Lease policy bring us closer to war?
America’s implementation of the Lend-Lease policy brought us to war as Germany submarines attacked American warships bringing the arms to Britain. Lend-lease shipments of arms to Britain on British ships were bound to be sunk by German submarines. Because of this, U.S. warships needed to escort the British ships, as Britain simply did not have enough destroyers. Roosevelt decided to convoy and he issued orders to the navy to escort lend-lease shipments as far as Island. Inevitable clashes with submarines ensued on the Island run. A German submarine attacked the U.S. destroyer Greer. Roosevelt then proclaimed a shoot-on-sight policy. The ships Kearny and Reuben James also engaged in battle with the German submarines. These attacks made the American public want to pull out of neutrality. Congress, responding to public pressures, recalled the Neutrality Act. Merchant ships could then be legally armed and could enter combat zones with munitions for Britain.
America's Transformation from Bystander to Belligerent
17. Was United States entry into WWII sudden or gradual? Explain.
The United States entry into WWII was gradual. From the beginning, America wanted above all to stay out of conflict, but they did not want Britain to be defeated by Germany after France fell. America wanted to halt Japan’s conquests in the Far East, as these conquests menaced American trade and security and international peace. To keep Britain from being defeated, Roosevelt felt compelled to extend the unneutral aid that invited attacks from Germany submarines. To keep Japan from expanding, Washington undertook to cut off vital Japanese supplies with embargoes that invited possible retaliation. What sparked war was Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor. War was not a sudden decision for the United States.