The Rise of Fascism & Militarism in Italy, Germany & Japan;
& Prelude to War: American Policy of Neutrality

Benitio Mussolini:
"What is Fascism?" (1932)

1922-Mussolini & the Fascist Party came to power in Italy1932-Mussolini wrote a definition of Fascism for the Italian dictionaryRejection of Pacifism, Marxism & DemocracyLife=duty, struggle & conquestHumans=inherently unequalState=superior to the individualTerritorial Expansion=manifestation of a nations vitality

Raymond H. Geists letter to Moffat (1934)

Geist = U.S. Consul in BerlinMoffat=chief of the division of Western European AffairsLetter of Sept. 15, 1934Describes the newly established Nazi stateGermany is remilitarizingBuilding up its air force & mechanized divisionsThe German youth is glorifying military heroismPredicts war by the end of the decade

Nuremberg Laws (1935)

Proclaimed during the 1935 Nuremburg RallyLaws severely restricted the freedoms of German Jewsthe Jim Crow Laws in the American South= a model for segregationForbade Marriage & Sexual Relations between Germans & JewsStripped Citizenship from German-Jews

Haile Selassies Appeal to the League of Nations
(June 1936)

October 3, 1935, Mussolini launched an invasion of Ethiopia Haile Selassie I =Emperor of EthiopiaLeague had promised Ethiopia assistance against Italian aggressionOutlines Italian policy of targeting civiliansExposes Italian diplomatic treacheryExposes the Leagues goal of collective security as a shamArgues that, by its inaction, the League is establishing a deadly precedent of bowing before force ultimately, the League does nothingOther states like Germany & Japan are encourage to pursue expansionist aims

Hossbach Memorandum (BERLIN, November 10, 1937)

Since his seizure of power in 1933, Hitler demanded a fair but peaceful revision of the Versailles Treaty. Hitler exploited widespread international pacifism In 1937, Hitler held a secret meeting in Berlin with his top generalsGermanys Problem=lack of living spaceautarky, participation in the world economy and overseas colonies are rejected as possible solutions Goal of German Foreign Policy=Expansion at the expense of Germanys neighborsWar must come by 1943-1945, because Germanys enemies will have caught up with German rearmament

World Defense Spending

Hitler's Defiance of the Western Powers

German Expansion 1935-1939

Japanese Expansion

Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928

Named after the American secretary of state, Frank B. Kellogg & French Foreign minister Aristide BriandTreaty renounced war as a means of national policyInternational Disputes should be solved by peaceful meanshelped to formulate later international law especially notions of crimes against peace.
Pact lack an efficient enforcement mechanism

Message to the Nations of the World appealing for Peace by Disarmament and the end of Economic Chaos, (May 16, 1933)

To solve the global financial crisis, Franklin Roosevelt urges economic cooperation and an international agreement for disarmament.Considers Armaments to be unnecessaryProposes that all govts reduce their militariesUrges Govts to adopt transcend domestic needs & create lasting international economic reform

The Nye Report
(February 24, 1936)

In 1934, Senator Nye headed an investigation of the munitions industry. he charged the industry with corruption by connecting wartime profits of the banking & munitions industries to America's involvement in World War IMany Americans felt betrayedperhaps the war hadn't been an epic battle between the forces of good (democracy) and evil (autocracy)The report bolstered sentiments for isolationism

"Is Neutrality Possible?"
By Gerald Nye

World War I led to an unacceptable loss of life & caused grave economic consequencesThe U.S. should focus its energies at homeU.S. should avoid European entanglementsNeutrality is the preferred policy over collective securityMunitions manufacturers stir up animosities between Japan & the U.S. to ensure profitsMoney wasted on the military could be used for the publics benefitThe spread of Fascism can be checked by building up a better societal model in the United States

"Neutrality Act" of August 31, 1935

spurred by the growth of isolationism after WW1Goal=to ensure that the US would not become entangled again in foreign conflicts Prohibited Sale of arms to nations at warThe transport of arms on American vesselsAmericans from traveling on belligerent vesselsFurther amended in 1936, 1937 & 1939Allowed the President to decide when nations were at warThis provided a loophole that FDR carefully exploited to assist American allies from aggressor statesLegacyMade no distinction between Aggressor states & states being attackedthey limited the US government's ability to aid Britain vs. Nazi Germany

Address Delivered by President Roosevelt Before the Congress, January 3, 1936

PointsInternational tensions have steadily increased over the past 3 yearsBy contrast, Western Hemisphere enjoys a good neighbor policyThe U.S. must take note of the rise of aggression abroadThese states lack democratic channels for changeBellicose states have blocked disarmament effortsAlthough it reaffirms American isolation, FDRs speech is notable for its markedly pessimistic tone

Roosevelt's "Quarantine" Speech (October 5, 1937)

Hopes for global peace are undermined by aggressor statesfoundations of civilization are threatenedThe U.S. & the Western Hemisphere also in dangerComplete isolation from the world isnt possibleU.S. must reestablish international law & moralityWar is like a disease, it must be quarantined to protect the worldWith the speech, FDR sounds the alarm that American must now take notice of global problems

Depiction of U.S. Isolationism

America First Party

Est. September 1940Pressure group to keep the U.S. out of the warPeak membership=800,000April 23, 1941 Charles Lindbergh speech in New YorkU.S. shouldnt enter war unless it can winBritain nor the U.S. can defeat GermanyFall of the democracies in Europe can be blamed on the interventionists in those countries (effectively blames the victims)Britain is trying to lure the U.S. into the warFDR is leading the U.S. into war but the majority is against itU.S should follow the Monroe Doctrine & Washingtons advice to avoid entangling alliances

Lindberghs Des Moines Speech
(Sept. 11, 1941)

Propaganda has led the American public from isolation toward being on the verge of war3 groups are responsibleThe British The JewsThe Roosevelt AdministrationAccording to Lindbergh, these groups control the media & are brainwashing the publicLindberghs speech with its anti-Semitic connotations enraged many

Bibliography

Slide #1: Mussolini/Hitler: http://www.provincia.torino.it/cultura/rosanero/im/27.jpgRoosevelt: http://history.acusd.edu/cdr2/WW2Pics/04629.GIFLindbergh: http://staff.imsa.edu/socsci/jvictory/isolationism/lindbergh_amerfirst.jpgSlide #2Photo of Mussolini: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/haywardlad/famous/heads-mussolini.jpgSlide #3Photo of Hitler: http://www.digischrift.nl/lessen/adolfhitler1/index.3.jpgPhoto of Nuremberg Rally: http://history.acusd.edu/cdr2/WW2Pics/58806.jpgSlide #4Photo of Nazi Eugenic Test: http://cla.calpoly.edu/~lcall/eugenics.jpg Photo of Jew Only Bench: http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~rescuers/book/Pinkhof/yaari/sophpix/jewonly.gif Photo of Jewish Shop: http://mayoramber.esmartdesign.com/windowbig.jpg Slide #5Time Cover of Haile Selassie: http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1936/1101360106_400.jpgSlide #6Photo of German Troops: http://www.umkc.edu/lib/spec-col/ww2/1939/images/63-579.jpgSlide #7Defense Spending Chart: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5c/Graph_top7_def_expd_1930-38.pngSlide #8David Lowe Cartoon: http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/honsem/theses/mkravetz03/SpinelessBg.jpgSlide #9German Expansion: http://www.msubillings.edu/history/NaziExpansion.jpgSlide #10Japanese Expansion Before Pearl Harbor: http://www.shsu.edu/~his_sub/map--imperial%20japan.jpgSlide #11Kellogg-Briand: http://history.acusd.edu/cdr2/WW2Pics3/01115.jpgSlide #13The Nye Committee: http://history.acusd.edu/cdr2/WW2Pics/00811.jpgSlide #15Political Cartoon: http://www.beyondbelief72.com/hello/27/1105/1024/011140_parrish.jpgSlide #17Roosevelt: http://www.theconnection.org/photogallery/fdr/images/1.jpgSlide #18Political Cartoon: http://spartans.sstx.org/~wgoodman/WWIIisolationismcart.jpgSlide #19Lindbergh America First: http://staff.imsa.edu/socsci/jvictory/isolationism/lindbergh_amerfirst.jpgSlide #20Dr. Suess Cartoon: http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/pm/10602cs.jpg