American GothicAmerican Gothicby Grant Woodby Grant Wood

(I would know

about this painting if

I were you…)

I would also know that the Clark Memorandum ended the Roosevelt

corollary.

Chapter 35Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Shadow of War

The London Conference• FDR refused to support the

London Economic conference (to coordinate an attack on the Depression by stabilizing currencies) because it might hurt the U.S. recover from the Depression

– As a result, the trend toward extreme nationalism was strengthened at home and abroad, making international cooperation more difficult

• Philippines (1934): Tydings-McDuffie Act

– provided for independence by 1946

– Islands were economic liabilities to the U.S.

• Recognition of Russia: 1933– to increase trade & boost

economy– Also to counter the rising power

of Germany and Japan

Becoming a Good Neighbor• Good Neighbor Policy: 1933 with respect to L. Am.

– US seemed only interested in being a regional (not world) power– Military intervention had produced resentment– US not investing in L. America b/c of Depression (so no need for troops

to protect investments)– 7th Pan-American Conference – US formally endorsed nonintervention

(renunciation of Teddy’s Roosevelt Corollary)– Cuba: freed from Platt Amendment EXCEPT Guantanamo Bay– US hold on Panama Canal loosened– FDR wanted Latin American allies to defend the west against European

and Asian dictators– Withdrew American marines from Haiti

Becoming a Good Neighbor• Policy paid off by L.Americans giving

US good will & support• Sec of State Hull said trade must be reciprocal (a nation can

sell abroad only if it buys from abroad)– Tariffs stop foreign trade & can cause wars b/c of mistrust

• Reciprocal Trade Agreements (1934) allows Pres. to reduce tariffs as much as 50% to “most favored nations.”– Increased America’s foreign trade (lowered tariffs to increase trade)– Done w/out Senate approval (avoided politics & time delays)– By 1929 21 countries had reciprocal trade agreements w/US

President Franklin Roosevelt with Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza

Storm-Cellar Isolationism• America retreated further into isolationism in the

1930s in the face of GER, Italian, and Japanese aggression– Chaos after WWI made the situation perfect for a dictator– Hitler Germany– Mussolini - Italy– Franco Spain– Japan Manchuria– Joseph Stalin USSR

Storm-Cellar Isolationism• Hitler promised to fix GER

economic problems & national disgrace caused by postwar Allied policies– 1933: GER withdrew from the LofN &

began secretly rearming

• 1935: Mussolini attacked Ethiopia w/bombers & tanks– The LofN did nothing to stop it

• 1936: Rome-Berlin Axis an alliance b/w Hitler & Mussolini

Italian Attack on Ethiopia

Storm-Cellar Isolationism• Japan resented Treaty of Versailles b/c it limited their

actions in the Pacific• 1934: Japan terminated Washington Naval Treaty (had

limited the size of their navy)• 1935: London naval conference

– Japan demanded equality w/US and BR but they were turned down so they walked out

• Japan began building giant battleships• 1935: withdrew from LofN• 1940: Tripartite Pact b/w Japan, GER, Italy

Storm-Cellar Isolationism• US isolationism increased as problems in Asia & EUR got

worse• Isolationist propaganda flooded the public

– Articles condemned munitions manufacturers as war mongers who profited from WWI

– 1934 Senate Investigation by Gerald Nye• Blamed US involvement on WWI on US bankers & arms manufacturers

– Isolationists in both parties were majority in Congress through 1938

Congress Legislates Neutrality• Neutrality Acts (1935-37):

prohibits arm shipments to either side once the Pres. has determined a “belligerency” exists– President prohibited all arms

shipments & forbid US citizens to travel on ships of belligerent nations

– No loans to belligerents– Abandoned policy of freedom of

the seas– Navy and armed forces declined– Made no distinction b/w

aggressors and victims– Encouraged aggressors’

attempts at conquest

Dr. Seuss illustrates the Neutrality Acts

America Dooms Loyalist Spain• 1936 – 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Leftist Loyalist government against

fascist rebels led by General Francisco Franco• Fascists helped by Hitler and Mussolini• Loyalists received less help from Soviet Union

– Turned some Americans against helping Loyalists– Loyalists defeated – US stayed out while dictators destroyed democracy

• 1938 – America finally began building up its fleet but too late to stop WWII

Appeasing Japan and Germany• 1937 Japan invaded China

but FDR refused to call it a war– Allowed US to continue shipping

small amount of munitions to China but also allowed Japan to purchase huge amounts of war material

Appeasing Japan and Germany• 1937 FDR’s Quarantine Speech : Japan as an ex. of world

lawlessness– Called for “positive endeavors” to “quarantine” aggressors– Resulted in protests by isolationists

• the Panay (1937): Japan “accidentally” sinks her– FDR demands an apology & gets it so we don’t go to war– *indemnity

Some of the crew being ferried to shore as the Panay begins to list.

Appeasing Japan and Germany• Hitler’s violations of Treaty of Versailles in which BR, FR &

LofN do nothing:– 1935: compulsory military service in GER

– 1936: troops marched into demilitarized Rhineland

– 1930s: attacks on German Jews

– 1930s: built GER mechanized army & air force

– 1938: Anschluss – bloodless takeover of Austria

Dr. Seuss takes on appeasement

Appeasement• U.S. doesn’t attempt

to aid Europe’s Jews in the 30s b/c:– Tensions b/w Jewish communities in U.S.– Immigration Act of 1924 restricted further immigration– Feared a flood of Jewish refugees that would add to

unemployment problem of the Depression– Anti-Semitic attitudes in Congress and State

Department• U.S. saved only a small number of Jews from the Nazis

Appeasement• BR and FR consent to Germany’s taking of the Sudetenland

from Czech. In Sept of 1938– Munich Conference sacrifices Czech. to keep peace with Hitler– Munich becomes a symbol of appeasement

March 1939 – Hitler took over the rest of Czechoslovakia

Appeasement• Shortly after Hitler signs a nonaggression pact with Stalin

(Soviet Union), he invades Poland and starts WWII– GER now free to attack in west w/out fear of attack on east

Axis Aggression Through 1941•Hitler demands GER land given to Poland after WWI•Sept 1, 1939: Hitler sends his army and airforce into Poland (blitzkrieg)

•BR & FR declare war against GER•Poland defeated in 3 weeks•USSR entered from east to split Poland w/GER as part of their earlier secret agreement

Hitler’s Belligerency & US Neutrality• US issues statement of neutrality (US is anti-German but didn’t want to

be sucked into war)• Cash & Carry (1937): non-military goods

– EUR can buy US war materials but would have to pay cash and transport them in their own ships

– Helped BR & FR b/c they controlled the seas• Oct 1939-April 1940: “Phony war”

– EUR was peaceful after Poland fell b/c Hitler had to transfer army to the west to attack FR

– Hitler then attacked Denmark & Norway, then Netherlands and Belgium– May 1940: GER attacked and defeated FR, with Italy attacking from the South

• BR evacuated most of their troops in a frantic transport across the English Channel at Dunkirk

• Winston Churchill elected as prime minister of England

The Fall of France• Fall of FR in 1940: BR now

last democracy in EUR• Congress passes a

conscription law– Begin military buildup– First peacetime draft in US

• Conquered territories in EUR had colonies in L. America– 1940 Havana Conference: US &

L.American countries together reasserted Monroe Doctrine to warn GER against trying to take the colonies over

• American neutrality is ended

Bolstering BR w/the Destroyer Deal• Aug 1940: Battle of BR

– GER air attacks & sustained bombing of civilian cities– Hitler planned for Sept invasion– Royal Air Force’s defense of England made Hitler put off plans for

invasion indefinitely• FDR decided to help BR by any means except actual war

– Supporters argued BR was fighting to defend US too– Isolationists thought US should concentrate its strength at home so

that Hitler would not attack US after defeating BR

American Involvement• America First Committee (1940): isolationist group• In the 1930s many in the nation wanted an amendment that

would require the public to approve a war before Congress’s declaration could be issued

Lindbergh

Bolstering Britain• Shoot-on-Sight (July 1941): U.S.

Navy to escort BR ships carrying lend-lease materials [after Greer]

• Destroyers for Bases (1940): GB traded 50 over-age U.S. destroyers for 99 yr. leases on 8 valuable naval bases in this hemisphere (Caribbean)

• By 1940 most Americans begin to favor providing BR with “all aid short of war”

1925 to 1940: America 1925 to 1940: America transitions from embargo, to transitions from embargo, to cash & carry, to lend-leasecash & carry, to lend-lease

FDR Shatters the Two-Term Tradition

• Results: FDR (Dem.) defeats Willkie (Rep.)– FDR motivated to run for a third term b/c America needed

his experienced leadership during this international crisis

Voters wanted FDR’s experience in case of war

Congress Passes the Landmark Lend-Lease Law

• BR’s credit was running out with US but they still needed lots of help• FDR’s Garden Hose Speech (Dec. 17, 1940): “Suppose my neighbor’s

house catches on fire...I don’t say to him, “Neighbor, my garden hose cost $15. You have to pay me $15 for it. I don’t want $15 -- I want my garden hose back after the fire is over.”– Compared loaning guns & tanks to loaning a neighbor a hose when his house is

on fire (remembered bitterness of debts from WWI)– leads to Lend-Lease Act

• Lend-Lease Act (1941): allows U.S. to furnish supplies to Allies– Caused intense debate b/w internationalists & isolationists– Program a challenge to Axis dictators– All hints of neutrality are abandoned– U.S. factories begin to prepare for war production & become an “arsenal of

democracy” (store of weapons)– GER responds by beginning to sink US ships

Main Flow of Lend-Lease Aid

Hitler’s Assault on the Soviet Union Spawns the Atlantic Charter

• Hitler & Stalin didn’t trust each other

• June 1941 – Hitler attacks USSR (hoped to knock them out & use their oil to defeat BR)– FDR used lend-lease to give USSR aid– Hitler held back at Moscow by Soviet red army

& Russian winter

The Atlantic Charter• FDR secretly met w/Churchill to make 8 points for postwar

world– renounced war spoils– *self-determination, disarmament, collective security, future international

organization– Also endorsed by the Soviet Union

FDR and Winston

Churchill

Clashes with U-Boats• BR couldn’t protect US lend-lease ships from Uboats, so FDR ordered

navy to escort them • the Greer (fired on in 1941), the Kearny (crippled), the Reuben James

(sunk)– Congress now allows merchant ships to arm themselves

– with 100 AM lives lost, Hitler knows that war with the US is now inevitable

The USS Reuben James was the first US warship sunk by a U-boat. U-Boat

Surprise Assault on Pearl Harbor• Japan stuck in costly war w/China that it wasn’t winning

– Dependent on huge shipments of steel, oil from US• Embargo - no sale of fuel or metal to Japan in response to their

aggression in Asia– Also froze all Japanese assets in US & imposed total embargo w/Japan in response to

their taking of Indochina• Panama Canal closed• Japan believes they are being forced into war b/c FDR insists they leave

China– They refuse to withdraw and start planning an attack– US had broken their secret code but expected attack somewhere in Southeast Asia

• As a democracy, we couldn’t attack first

Surprise Assault on Pearl Harbor• Where would the attack occur? (FDR

believes it will be by Philippines or Malaysia)

• Pearl Harbor attacked (1941): Sunday, Dec. 7, 7:55a.m.– 2403 casualties (USS Arizona - half of

casualties)– awakened a sleeping giant! – lasted less that 2 hrs.– 18 ships sunk or damaged & approx.

200 planes bombed• Declaration of War : “a date that will live

in infamy”– Jeanette Rankin voted against it

(again!!!)– Dec 11 – US, Italy, GER declared war

on each other

From Bystander to Belligerent• Before Pearl Harbor, majority of Americans wanted

to keep US out of war– after, US united in defeating Axis Powers

• Culmination of chain of events that led to war– Aid to Britain to prevent German victory– Embargo on Japan to prevent expansion– Americans had realized that appeasement didn’t work;

only full war was able to defeat Axis