The American Pageant

Chapter 34: The Shadow of War

Totalitarian Governments

• Fascism- A political philosophy that advocates a strong, centralized, nationalistic government headed by a powerful dictator (ITALY and SPAIN)

• Nazism- the political philosophy- based on extreme nationalism, racism, and militaristic expansionism- that Adolf Hitler put into practice in Germany from 1933 to 1945. (GERMANY)

• Communism- one-party government and state ownership of property. (SOVIET UNION)

London Economic Conference:

• FDR proves that foreign policy is a secondary concern for his administration compared to economic recovery at home.

• An international agreement to stabilize the currency would mean that FDR couldn’t use many of the inflationary policies that were part of the New Deal

• FDR essentially pulls the American delegation from the conference, destroying any chance for a worldwide response to the Great Depression and weakening the possibility of international cooperation against future threats.

FDR’s Foreign Policy

• Formal recognition of Soviet Union in 1933• Good Neighbor Policy

– Actions seemed to show FDR’s desire to be a regional, rather than a world, power

– Desire for a unified Western Hemisphere against potential threats

– U.S. withdrawal from Haiti, relaxing of the Platt Amendment in Cuba

– Test of the policy in Mexico proved FDR was willing to even hurt American investments to foster goodwill between Latin American countries and the U.S.

Isolationism

• Gerald Nye’s Senate Committee– Investigated evidence regarding U.S. entry

into World War I.– Said it was not German submarines, but

actually a plot by American bankers and arms manufacturers that got us into WWI.

– Led to isolationist sentiment and the fear of a large standing army.

Isolationism: neutrality legislation

• Neutrality acts of 1935, 1936, 1937– When the President proclaims the existence of a

foreign war, restrictions automatically go into effect.– No American can sail on a belligerent ship or sell of

transport munitions to a belligerent or make loans to a belligerent.

– SPECIFICALLY to keep us out of a conflict like World War I.

– Third Neutrality Act bans arms sales and loans to nations involved in civil wars.

Aggressors: Japan, Italy, Germany

• Japan led by Emperor Hirohito

– Terminates Washington Naval Treaty in 1934.

– Accelerated construction of battleships in 1935.

– Japan invades and captures the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. The region was rich in natural resources the Japanese desperately needed.

– The League of Nations report on the matter condemned Japan, and Japan quits the League of Nations in response.

Germany

• Adolf Hitler (Der Fuhrer)

• Remilitarizes Germany (1935)

• Marches into Rhineland (1936)

• Anschluss (1938)

• Munich Agreement (1938)- Gives Hitler the Sudetenland.

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

Spanish Civil War

• 1936-1939• Republican Loyalist government of Spain vs. the

Spanish rebels under the leadership of fascist Francisco Franco, aided by Hitler and Mussolini

• Even though FDR got Congress to pass an arms embargo against both sides of the conflict, three thousand Americans defy American neutrality and fight as volunteers for the Loyalists in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

Appeasement

• The poster child for appeasement is Neville Chamberlain.

• Appeasement is giving up principles to keep peace with an aggressor.

• Signs away the Sudetenland to Hitler in 1938 to keep “peace in our time.”

• Step after step, Hitler was testing the European powers, and as he knew, Chamberlain and Daladier (the leader of France) lacked the backbone to take action against him.

Italy

• Led by Benito Mussolini (IL Duce)• Attacks Ethiopia in 1935.• Where is the League of Nations in all this?

– Sitting on its hands.– Could’ve stopped Mussolini with an oil

embargo, but didn’t want to risk conflict.– Could’ve stopped Hitler early on, but didn’t.– Could’ve taken real action against Japan, but

didn’t.

Blitzkrieg (Lightning War)

• Hitler’s new style of warfare.

• Three phases– Artillery and bombers attack key military

points.– Mobilized units such as tanks go in and break

defenses and encircle enemy infantry.– Infantry goes in for mop up duty.

Germany

• So much for peace in our time.• Germany invades Czechoslovakia in March 1939.• Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (1939)• Invades Poland (September 1, 1939) official start

of World War II.• Overruns Norway and Denmark in April 1940, the

Netherlands and Belgium in May 1940, and by late June, France has surrendered.

• Battle of Britain begins in 1940 and Hitler is repelled.

• June 1941- Hitler invades the Soviet Union.

Rearmament

• Neutrality Act of 1939- European democracies can buy American war materials, but only on a “cash and carry” basis.

• September 6, 1940- Congress passes first peacetime conscription law. 1.2 million troops and 800,000 reserves to be trained each year.

Helping Britain

• Destroyer Deal (1940)- Britain receives 50 World War I destroyers in return for eight naval bases.

• Lend-Lease (March 1941)- Lending or leasing American arms to European democracies and they will be returned after the war. Sent about $50 billion worth of material by 1945.

• Viewed by Hitler as an unofficial declaration of war.

Atlantic Charter

• After Hitler invades the Soviet Union, Lend-Lease is extended to the Soviets.

• August 1941- Churchill and FDR meet off the coast of Newfoundland.– Opposed imperialistic annexations.– Self-determination– Declared for disarmament and a peace of

security pending a new League of Nations.

Panay Incident

• Japanese pilots sink an American gunboat, the Panay, off the coast of China

• The government in Tokyo apologized and paid the United States for the incident, but the relationship continued to deteriorate as treatment of American civilians in China worsened

Japanese-American Relations

• In July 1941, the Japanese begin to take French military bases in Indochina.

• In response, the U.S. cuts off trade with Japan, including an embargo on OIL.

• Without oil, Japan could not fuel its war machine.

• At this point, from Japan’s perspective, war is inevitable.

Pearl Harbor

• December 7, 1941- “A date which will live in infamy.”

• We knew the Japanese had chosen war, but the question was where would it happen.

• FDR thought the Philippines were a likely target.

• 3,000 casualties, many aircraft destroyed, all eight battleships sunk or crippled. Three aircraft carriers were not at the harbor.

War

• Declare war on Japan on December 8, 1941.

• Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S. on December 11, 1941.

• Isolationism is dead, war has begun.