A.P.
Chapter
35: “Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Shadow of War”
~
1933 – 1941 ~
I.
The
1.
The
1933 London Conference of the summer of 1933 was composed of 66 nations
that came together to try to make a worldwide solution to the Great
Depression.
i.
U.S.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt at first agreed to send Secretary of
State Cordell Hull but withdrew that agreement and scolded the other
nations for trying to stabilize currencies.
ii.
As
a result, the conference adjourned accomplishing nothing, furthermore
strengthening extreme nationalism.
II.
Freedom
for (from?) the Filipinos and Recognition for the Russians
1.
With
hard times, Americans were eager to do away with their liabilities to the Philippine
Islands, and American sugar producers wanted to get rid of the Filipino sugar
makers due to competition.
2.
In
1934, Congress passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act, stating that the
i.
Army
bases were relinquished but naval bases were kept.
3.
Americans
were freeing themselves of a liability, creeping into further isolationism,
while militarists in
4.
In
1933, FDR finally formally recognized the
III.
Becoming
a Good Neighbor
1.
In
terms of its relations with
2.
In
1933, FDR renounced armed intervention in
i.
However,
he resisted and worked out a peaceful deal.
ii.
His
“good neighbor” policy was a great success, improving the
IV.
Secretary
Hull’s Reciprocal Trade Agreement
1.
Secretary
of State Hull believed that trade was a two-way street, and he had a part in
Congress’s passing of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act in 1934, which
activated low-tariff policies while aiming at relief and recovery by lifting
American trade.
i.
This
act whittled down the most objectionable schedules of the Hawley-Soot
law by amending them, lowering rates by as much as half, provided that the
other country would do the same for the
2.
The
Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act reversed the traditional high-tariff policy
that had damaged America before and paved the way for the American-led
free-trade international economic system that was implemented after World
War II.
V.
Impulses
Toward Storm-Center Isolationism
1.
After
World War I, many dictatorships sprang up, including Joseph Stalin
of the Soviet Union, Benito Mussolini of Italy, and Adolph Hitler
of Germany.
i.
Of
the three, Hitler was the most dangerous, because he was a great orator and
persuader who led the German people to believe his “big lie,” making them think
that he could lead the country back to greatness and out of this time of
poverty and depression.
2.
In
1936, Nazi Hitler and Fascist Mussolini allied themselves in the Rome-Berlin
Axis.
3.
Japan
slowly began gaining strength, refusing to cooperate with the world and quickly
arming itself by ending the Washington Naval Treaty in 1934 and walking
out of the London Conference.
4.
In
1935, Mussolini attacked Ethiopia, conquering it, but the League of Nations
failed to take effective action against the aggressors.
5.
America
continued to hide behind the shell of isolationism, believing that everything
would stay good if the U.S. wasn’t drawn into any international embroilments.
i.
The
1934 Johnson Debt Default Act forbade any countries that still owed the
U.S. money from borrowing any more cash.
6.
In
1936, a group of Princeton University students began to agitate for a bonus to
be paid to the Veterans of Future Wars (VFWs) while the perspective
front-liners were still alive.
VI.
Congress
Legislates Neutrality
1.
The
1934 Nye Committee was formed to investigate whether or not munitions
manufacturers were pro-war for the sole purpose of making more money and
profits, as the press blamed such producers for dragging America into the First
World War.
2.
To
prevent America from being sucked into war, Congress passed Neutrality Acts in
1935-37, acts which stated that when the president proclaimed the existence of
a foreign war, certain restrictions would automatically go into effect: no
American could legally sail on a belligerent ship or sell or transport
munitions to a belligerent, or make loans to a belligerent.
i.
The
flaw with these acts was that they were designed to prevent America from being
pulled into a war like World War I, but World War II would prove to be
different.
VII.
America
Dooms Loyalist Spain
1.
During
the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), Spanish rebels led by the Fascist
General Francisco Franco rose up against the leftist-leaning republican
government.
i.
In
order to stay out of the war, the U.S. put an embargo on both the loyalist
government, which was supported by the USSR, and the rebels, which were aided
by Hitler and Mussolini.
ii.
The
U.S. just stood by while Franco smothered the democratic government, letting a
fellow democracy die just to stay out of war, and it also failed to build up
its fleet, since most people believed that huge fleets led to huge wars.
a.
It
was not until 1938 that Congress passed a billion-dollar naval construction
act, but then it was too little too late.
VIII.
Appeasing
Japan and Germany
1.
In
1937, Japan essentially invaded China, but FDR didn’t call this combat “a war,”
thus allowing the Chinese to still get arms from the U.S., and in Chicago of
that year, he merely verbally chastised the aggressors, calling for “a
quarantine” of Japan (through economic embargoes, perhaps); this was his famous
“Quarantine Speech.”
i.
However,
this speech angered many isolationists, and FDR backed down a little from any
more direct actions.
2.
In
December 1937, the Japanese bombed and sank the American gunboat, the Panay,
but then made the necessary apologies, “saving” America from entering into war
against it.
i.
To
vent their frustration, the Japanese resorted to humiliating White civilians in
China through slappings and strippings.
3.
Meanwhile,
Hitler was growing bolder and bolder after being allowed to introduce mandatory
military service in Germany, take over the German Rhineland, persecute and
exterminate about six million Jews, and occupy Austria—all because the European
powers were appeasing him.
i.
They
hoped that each conquest of Germany would be the last.
4.
However,
Hitler didn’t stop, and at the September 9138 Munich Conference, the
Allies agreed to let Hitler have Sudetenland of neighboring
Czechoslovakia, but six months later, in 1939, Hitler pulled the last straw and
took over all of Czechoslovakia.
IX.
Hitler’s
Belligerency and U.S. Neutrality
1.
On
August 23, 1939, the USSR shocked the world by signing a nonaggression treaty
with Germany.
i.
Now,
it seemed that Germany could engulf all of Europe, especially without having to
worry about fight a two-front war in case war occurred.
2.
In
1939, Hitler invaded Poland, and France and Britain finally declared war
against Germany, but America refused to enter the war, its citizens not wanting
to be “suckers” again.
i.
They
were anti-Hitler and anti-Nazi and wanted Britain and France to win, but they
would not permit themselves to be dragged into fighting and bloodshed.
3.
European
powers needed American supplies, but the previous Neutrality Acts forbade the
sale of arms to nations in war, so a new Neutrality Act of 1939 allowed
European nations to buy war materials, but only on a “cash-and-carry” basis,
which meant that they’d have to provide their own ships and pay for the arms in
cash.
i.
Since
the British and French controlled the seas, the Germans couldn’t buy arms from
America—as it was intended.
X.
Aftermath
of the Fall of France
1.
After
the fall of Poland, Hitler positioned his forces to attack France, leading to a
lull in the war (so that men could move) that was pierced only by the Soviet
Union’s attack and conquering of Finland, despite $30 million from the U.S.
(for nonmilitary reasons).
2.
Then,
in 1940, the “phony war” ended when Hitler overran Denmark and Norway, and then
took over the Netherlands and Belgium.
i.
Blitzing
without stop or mercy, he then forced a paralyzing blow toward France, which
was forced to surrender by late June of that year.
ii.
The
fall of France was shocking, because now, all that stood between Hitler and the
world was Britain: if the English lost, Hitler would have all of Europe to
operate, and he might take over the Americas as well.
3.
Finally,
Roosevelt moved and called for the nation to massively build up its armed
forces, with expenses totaling more than $37 million, and he also had Congress
pass the first peacetime draft in U.S. history on September 6, 1940.
i.
1.2
million troops and 800,000 reserves would be trained.
4.
At
the Havana Conference, the U.S. warned Germany that it could not take
over orphan colonies in the Americas, as such action wouldn’t be tolerated.
XI.
Bolstering
Britain with the Destroyer Deal (1940)
1.
Now,
with Britain the only power fighting against Germany, FDR had to decide whether
to remain totally neutral or to help Britain.
i.
Hitler
launched air attacks against the British in August 1940 and prepared an
invasion scheduled to start a month later, but the tenacious defense of the
British Royal Air Force stopped that.
2.
Those
who supported helping Britain formed the Committee to Defend America by
Aiding the Allies, while those for isolationism (including Charles A.
Lindbergh) were in the America First Committee, and both groups
campaigned and advertised for their respective positions.
3.
Britain
was in dire need for destroyers, and on September 2, 1940, FDR boldly moved to
transfer 50 old-model, four-funnel destroyers left over from WWI, and in
return, the British promised to give the U.S. eight valuable defensive base
sites stretching from Newfoundland to South America.
i.
These
would stay in American ownership for 99 years.
ii.
Obviously,
this caused controversy, but FDR had begun to stop playing the silly old games
of isolationism and was slowly starting to step out into the spotlight.
XII.
FDR
Shatters the Two-Term Tradition (1940)
1.
At
first, it was thought that Robert A. Taft of Ohio or Thomas E. Dewey
would be the Republican candidate, but a colorful and magnetic newcomer who
went from a nobody to a candidate in a matter of weeks, Wendell L. Willkie,
became the Republican against Democratic candidate…Franklin D. Roosevelt, who
waited until the last moment to challenge the two-term tradition.
i.
Democrats
felt that FDR was the only man qualified to be president, especially in so
grave of a situation as was going on.
2.
Willkie
and FDR weren’t really different in the realm of foreign affairs, but Willkie
hit hard with his attacks on the third term
3.
Still,
FDR won because voters felt that, should war come, FDR was the best man to lead
America.
XIII.
Congress
Passes the Landmark Lend-Lease Law
1.
Britain
was running out of money, but Roosevelt didn’t want all the hassles that came
with calling back debts, so he came up with the idea of a lend-lease program in
which the arms and ships, etc… that the U.S. lent to the nations that needed
them would be returned when they were no longer needed.
i.
Senator
Taft retorted that in this case, though, the U.S. wouldn’t want them back
because it would be like lending chewing gum that was chewed, then taking it
back.
2.
The
lend-lease bill was argued over heatedly in Congress, but it passed, and by
war’s end, America had sent about $50 billion worth of arms and equipment.
i.
The
lend-lease act was basically the abandonment of the neutrality policy, and
Hitler recognized this.
ii.
Before,
German submarines had avoided attacking U.S. ships, but after the passage, they
started to fire upon U.S. ships as well, such as the May 21, 1941 torpedoing of
the Robin Moor.
XIV.
Hitler’s
Assault on the Soviet Union Spawns the Atlantic Charter
1.
On
June 22, 1941, Hitler attacked Russia, because ever since the signing of the
nonaggression pact, neither Stalin nor Hitler had trusted each other, and both
had been plotting to double-cross each other.
i.
Hitler
assumed his invincible troops would crush the inferior Soviet soldiers, but the
valor of the Red army, U.S. aid to the USSR (through lend-lease), and an early
and bitter winter stranded the German force at Moscow and shifted the tide
against Germany.
2.
The
Atlantic Conference was held in August 1941, and the resort was the
eight-point Atlantic Charter, which was suggestive of Woodrow Wilson’s
Fourteen Points.
i.
There
would be no territorial changes contrary to the wishes of the natives.
ii.
The
charter also affirmed the right for people to choose their rulers (i.e. no
dictators).
iii.
It
declared disarmament and a peace of security, as well as a new League of
Nations.
3.
Critics
charged that “neutral America” was interfering, ignoring that America was no
longer neutral.
XV.
U.S.
Destroyers and Hitler’s U-Boats Clash
1.
To
ensure that arms sent to Britain would reach there, FDR finally agreed that a
convoy would have to escort them, but only as far as Iceland, as Britain would
take over from there.
2.
There
were clashes, as U.S. destroyers like the Greer, the Kearny, and
the Reuben James were attacked by the Germans.
3.
By
mid-November 1941, Congress annulled the now-useless Neutrality Act of 1939.
XVI.
Heading
for the Surprise Assault at Pearl Harbor
1.
Japan
was still embroiled in war with China, but win America suddenly imposed
embargoes on key supplies on Japan in 1940, the imperialistic nation had now
choice but to either back off of China or attack the U.S.; they chose the
latter, obviously.
2.
The
American had broken the Japanese code and knew that they would declare war
soon, but the U.S. could not attack, so based on what the Japanese supposedly
planned, most Americans thought that the Japanese would attack British
Malaya or the Philippines.
3.
However,
the paralyzing blow struck Pearl Harbor, as on December 7, 1941,
Japanese air bombers suddenly attacked the naval base located there (where
almost the entire U.S. fleet was located), wiping out many battleships and
killing or wounding 3000 men.
4.
The
next day, the one after “a date which will live in infamy” (FDR), the U.S.
declared war on Japan, and on December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war
on the U.S.
XVII.
America’s
Transformation from Bystander to Belligerent
1.
Up
until the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, most Americans still wanted to stay
out of war, but afterwards the event sparked such passion that in completely
inflamed Americans into wanting to go into war.
2.
This
had been long in coming, as the U.S. had wanted to stay out of war but had
still supported Britain more and more, and the U.S. had been against the
Japanese aggression but had failed to take a firm stand on either side.
3.
Finally,
people decided that appeasement didn’t work against “iron wolves,” and that
only full war was needed to keep the world safe for democracy and against
anarchy and dictatorship.
