■Essential Question:
–What factors led the United
States to shift from isolation in
the 1920s & 1930s to an active
war participant by 1941?
■Warm-Up Question:
–What caused World War 2?
–How do these factors compare
to the reasons for the outbreak
of World War 1?
American Isolationism
& Foreign Policy
in the 1920s & 1930s
Foreign Policy in the 1920s & 1930s
■After WWI, the U.S. assumed a
selective isolationist foreign policy
–Americans wanted to maintain
the economic boom of the 1920s
& desperate for an answer to the
depression in the 1930s
–But, the U.S. did play an active
role in attempts at international
disarmament & economic stability
The Hoover negotiated a reduction
In 1924,U.S. Foreign Debt Commission in
Policy: Economic Policy
Foreignlarge portion of time period to
German a
canceleddebt, an extended these debts, but
■In debts, & U.S. of the to help Germany
insisted 1920s, loans money be repaid
repay thethat some the most divisive
international to France & war debts:
make payments issue was England
–European nations owed German
The Dawes Plan helped stabilize the the U.S.
allowed Germany to repay the
economy, billion; Attempts to reclaim
$10
Allies, and helped France & England repay
their debts to led to anti-American
these debtsthe United States
sentiment in Europe
–When Germany could not repay
$33 billion in reparations, the
U.S. negotiated the Dawes Plan
Foreign Policy: Economic Policy
■But the Great Depression made
post-war recovery in Europe
difficult in the 1930s:
–The Hawley-Smoot Tariff in
1930 limited European attempts
to sell their goods in the U.S.
–The U.S. was unable to provide
loans, leaving Germany unable
to repay reparations & Europe
unable to repay its war debts
But, neither the Nine- or Italy, & France
The USA, England, Japan,Four-PowerPeace
The Nine-Power International
Foreign Policy: France signed the Acts
Treaty reaffirmed
England, USA, Japan, Treaty & agreed toFour-
signed the Five-Power joined the League
the Chinese Open-Door Policy limit
■The USA to enforce these agreements
had provisionsnever to collective security
Power Treaty battleships
construction ofagreeing & aircraft carriers
of Nations, but did play a role in
attempts to avoid future wars:
–At the Washington Disarmament
Conference in 1921, world
leaders agreed to disarmament,
free trade, & collective security
–In 1928, almost every nation,
including the USA, signed the
Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing
war as a tool of foreign policy
Foreign Policy: International Peace
■These agreements did not last:
–Japan needed raw materials to
continue its industrial expansion
–Japan began to create an Asian
empire by attacking Manchuria
in 1931 & China in 1937
–In both occasions, the League
of Nations reprimanded Japan
but chose no punitive measures
Totalitarian Regimes:
Hideki Tojo & Emperor Hirohito
Japanese pilots bombed the USS
In 1937,Japan Invades Manchuria Panay,
a U.S. gunboat stationed in China, killing 3
Americans. The U.S. accepted Japan's apology &
promise against future attacks
Unlike the USS Maine or Lusitania, few
Americans called for war against Japan
Totalitarian Regimes: Benito Mussolini
Totalitarian Regimes: Hitler
The Munich Pact
“Peace in our time”
Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis
Foreign Policy: International Peace
■In the 1930s, FDR & Congress
were preoccupied with the Great
Depression to adequately plan for
new world conflicts involving
totalitarian dictators
■The rising threat of war in Europe
& Asia strengthened Americans’
desire to avoid involvement in
another world war
Foreign Policy: Citizen Attitudes
■In the 1920s & 1930s, most
Americans wanted to avoid
another “meaningless war”
–Munitions makers & bankers
were labeled “merchants of
death” & were blamed for
Historian Walter Millis’ America’s Road to
blamed Wilson & British propaganda
WarAmerican involvement in WWI
for “duping” the U.S. into WWI
–Passivism swept across college
campuses; Students staged
“walk-outs” & anti-war rallies
The “Lost Generation”
All Quiet on the Western Front
portrayed WWI as brutal
The Neutrality Act of 1935 banned
The Neutrality Acts
arms sales to nations at war & warned
■The “merchants of death” charges
citizens not to sail on belligerent ships
Neutrality by North banned
The were led Act of 1936Dakota Senator
loans to any warring nation to 1936:
Gerald Nye from 1934
The Neutrality Act of 1937 made the
1935–Reaction to the Nye Committee
& 1936 acts permanent & required
report led to popular support
all trade to be on a cash & carry basis to
avoid making the same mistakes
that led America to enter WW1
–Congress passed 3 neutrality
acts to avoid future wars
■Essential Question:
–How did the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor alter the course of
World War 2?
■Reading Quiz Ch 25A (888-904)
The Road Towards
American Intervention
From Neutrality to Undeclared War
But…FDR was able to get $1 billion
■As Europe headed toward war,
from Congress to expand the U.S. navy
FDR openly expressed his favor
for intervention & took steps to
ready the U.S. for war
–In 1937, FDR unsuccessfully
tried to convince world leaders
to “quarantine the aggressors”
–Everything changed in 1939
with the Nazi-Soviet Pact & the
German invasion of Poland
From Neutrality to Undeclared War
“The destroyer-for-bases deal is the most
■When WW2 began in“merchants
attempting to avoid more 1939,
Still important action in the reinforcement of
of national defense that industry& carry
ourdeath” in the bankingahas been taken
Congress imposed cash
since the Louisiana Purchase”
policy to aid the Allies: —FDR
–The U.S. would trade with the
the with all-out aid
FDR responded Neutrality Acts to
Based uponwould not offer loans
Allies butbut did not call for war
the Allies 1935-1937
of
–The U.S. would not deliver
American products to Europe
■In addition, FDR traded 50 old
attempting to avoid losing American
Still destroyers with England for 8
lives at sea by German submarines
naval bases in Western Europe
From Neutrality to Undeclared War
“The future of western
Isolationists Interventionists
civilization is being decided
upon ■ Groups like the
■ Were appalled by the battlefield of Europe”
—CDAAA chair, William
this departure from Committee to
neutrality & FDR’s Allen White
Defend America by
involvement of the Aiding the Allies
U.S. in foreign war called for unlimited
■ Their “fortress of aid to England
America” idea ■ They argued that
argued Dispatch headline: events in
St. Louis that the
“Dictator Roosevelt Europe did impact
not
Germany was of War”
Commits Act
a threat to the U.S. the security of U.S.
From Neutrality to Undeclared War
■By 1940, “interventionists” had
the majority of American public
sentiment on their side:
–in 1940, Congress appropriated
$10 billion for preparedness
–FDR called for America’s first
ever peacetime draft
–In the election of 1940, FDR
was overwhelmingly elected for
an unprecedented 3rd term
From Neutrality to Undeclared War
■By 1940, England remained the
only active opposition to Hitler
but was running out of money
■FDR called for a Lend-Lease Act:
–U.S. can sell or lend war
supplies to Allied nations
–Congress put $7 billion to allow
England full access to U.S. arms
U.S. Cash and Carry Program
Lend-Lease Supply Routes
From Neutrality to Undeclared War
■England desperately needed help
escorting U.S.-made supplies
through the u-boat infested Atlantic
–FDR allowed for U.S. patrols in
the western half of the Atlantic
–German attacks on U.S. ships in
1941 led to an undeclared naval
war between USA & Germany
U.S. Cash and Carry Program
From Neutrality to Undeclared War
■In 1941, FDR & Churchill met to
secretly draft the Atlantic Charter:
–The U.S. & Britain discussed a
military strategy if the USA were
to enter the war
–They discussed post-war goals
of free trade & disarmament
■In 1941, Germany broke the
Nazi-Soviet Pact & invaded Russia
From Neutrality to Undeclared War
■FDR brought U.S. to the brink of
war & opened himself to criticism:
–In Sept 1941, polls showed
80% of Americans supported
remaining neutral in WW2
–FDR had to wait for the Axis to
make a decisive move…which
Japan delivered on Dec 7, 1941
Pearl Harbor
Showdown in the Pacific
■Japan took full advantage of the
The U.S. now faced a
possible 2-ocean war…
European war to expand in Asia:
…but Germany was still
–Attackedseen as theChina danger
coastal primary
–Seized French & Dutch colonies
in East Indies & Indochina
–Signed the Tripartite Pact with
Germany & Italy in 1940
■FDR retaliated against Japan
with fuel, iron, & oil sanctions
The Greater East Asia-Prosperity Company
Rich in Tin, Oil, Rubber
Showdown in the Pacific
■In 1941, the U.S. & Japan were
This was really a stall tactic resolve
unable to diplomatically intended
to hide Japanese military preparations
their differences, so the USA:
for an attack on Pearl Harbor end
U.S. wanted the Japan wanted an
–Froze all Japanese assets infree
Japanese removed to sanctions & a USA
from China China
hand toJapan
–Banned all oil sales to
■Hideki Tojo sent an envoy to
negotiate for a resolution…but
secretly ordered an attack on the
U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor
On Dec 7, 1941, the U.S. naval fleet in the
Pacific was crippled by the attack; 8 battleships
were sunk & 2,400 Americans were killed
Showdown in the Pacific
■After Pearl Harbor:
–Congress declared war against
Japan on Dec 8, 1941
–Italy & Germany declared war
on the U.S. on Dec 11, 1941
■American public opinion was now
fully behind the war effort to
defeat the fascist threat in Europe
& to seek revenge against Japan