■Essential QuestionsEssential Questions:–What factors led the United

States to shift from isolation in the 1920s & 1930s to an active war participant by 1941?

–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

Foreign Policy: Economic Policy■In the 1920s, the most divisive

international issue was war debts:–European nations owed the U.S.

$10 billion; Attempts to reclaim these debts led to anti-American sentiment in Europe

–When Germany could not repay $33 billion in reparations, the U.S. negotiated the Dawes Plan

In 1924, Hoover negotiated a reduction in German debt, an extended time period to

repay debts, & U.S. loans to help Germany make payments to France & England

The Dawes Plan helped stabilize the German economy, allowed Germany to repay the

Allies, and helped France & England repay their debts to the United States

Foreign Policy: Economic Policy■But the Great Depression made

post-war recovery in Europe difficult in the 1930s:–The Hawley-Smoot TariffHawley-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

Foreign Policy: International Peace■The USA never joined the League

of Nations, but did play a role in attempts to avoid future wars:–At the Washington Disarmament Washington Disarmament

ConferenceConference in 1921, world leaders agreed to disarmament, free trade, & collective security

–In 1928, almost every nation, including the USA, signed the Kellogg-Briand PactKellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as a tool of foreign policy

The USA, England, Japan, Italy, & France signed the Five-Power Treaty & agreed to limit construction of battleships & aircraft carriers

The Nine-Power Treaty reaffirmed the Chinese Open-Door Policy

England, USA, Japan, France signed the Four-Power Treaty agreeing to collective security

But, neither the Nine- or Four-Power Acts had provisions to enforce these agreements

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

Japan Invades ManchuriaIn 1937, Japanese pilots bombed the USS 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 American involvement in 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

■ Ernest Hemingway was the Lost Generation's leader in the adaptation of the naturalistic technique in the novel. Hemingway volunteered to fight with the Italians in World War I and his Midwestern American ignorance was shattered during the resounding defeat of the Italians by the Central Powers at Caporetto. Newspapers of the time reported Hemingway, with dozens of pieces of shrapnel in his legs, had heroically carried another man out. That episode even made the newsreels in America. These war time experiences laid the groundwork of his novel, A Farewell to Arms (1929). Another of his books, The Sun Also Rises (1926) was a naturalistic and shocking expression of post-war disillusionment.

The Neutrality Acts■The “merchants of death” charges

were led by North Dakota Senator Gerald Nye from 1934 to 1936:

–Reaction to the Nye CommitteeNye Committee report led to popular support to avoid making the same mistakes that led America to enter WW1

–Congress passed 3 neutrality acts to avoid future wars

The Neutrality Act of 1935 banned arms sales to nations at war & warned citizens not to sail on belligerent ships

The Neutrality Act of 1936 banned loans to any warring nation

The Neutrality Act of 1937 made the 1935 & 1936 acts permanent & required all trade to be on a cash & carrycash & carry basis

■Essential QuestionEssential Question:–How did the Japanese attack on

Pearl Harbor alter the course of World War 2?

The Road Towards American Intervention

From Neutrality to Undeclared War■As Europe headed toward war,

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■When WW2 began in 1939,

Congress imposed a cash & carry cash & carry policypolicy to aid the Allies:–The U.S. would trade with the

Allies but would not offer loans –The U.S. would not deliver

American products to Europe■In addition, FDR traded 50 old

destroyers with England for 8 naval bases in Western Europe

“The destroyer-for-bases deal is the most important action in the reinforcement of our national defense that has been taken

since the Louisiana Purchase” —FDR

FDR responded with all-out aid to the Allies but did not call for war

From Neutrality to Undeclared WarIsolationists

■ Were appalled by this departure from neutrality & FDR’s involvement of the U.S. in foreign war

■ Their “fortress of America” idea argued that Germany was not a threat to the U.S.

Interventionists■ Groups like the

Committee to Committee to Defend America by Defend America by Aiding the AlliesAiding the Allies called for unlimited aid to England

■ They argued that the events in Europe did impact 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 ActLend-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 CharterAtlantic 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

European war to expand in Asia:–Attacked coastal China–Seized French & Dutch colonies

in East Indies & Indochina –Signed the Tripartite PactTripartite Pact with

Germany & Italy in 1940■FDR retaliated against Japan

with fuel, iron, & oil sanctions

The U.S. now faced a possible 2-ocean war…

…but Germany was still seen as the primary danger

The Greater East Asia-Prosperity Company

Rich in Tin, Oil, Rubber

Showdown in the Pacific■In 1941, the U.S. & Japan were

unable to diplomatically resolve their differences, so the USA:

–Froze all Japanese assets in USA

–Banned all oil sales to Japan

■Hideki Tojo sent an envoy to negotiate for a resolution…but secretly ordered an attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor

This was really a stall tactic intended to hide Japanese military preparations

for an attack on Pearl Harbor

U.S. wanted the Japanese removed

from ChinaJapan wanted an end to sanctions & a free

hand to China

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