The Coming of World War II

The Coming of World War II The role of American public opinion in the shaping of American foreign policy.

I. U.S. Foreign Policy: 1920’s and 1930’s • Retreat from internationalism to traditional isolationism • Rejection of League of Nations membership • Desire to be engaged economically with the world • Washington Conference on Naval Disarmament (1921) • Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)

II. Remaining European Debt to the United States • Two types of debt owed to the U.S. • European argument for forgiveness of this debt • American defense of repayment • Debt finally renegotiated and cut by 50% • Debt remains $22 billion including interest payable over 62 years

III. Early Signs of War in the 1930’s • Origins of the tension and war between Japan and China—the battle over Manchuria • European economic problems weakened the popularity of democratic governments in Europe • Roosevelt ignores these developments at first, but all that began to change in 1937

IV. Intensified American Isolationism • The Nye Commission (1934-1937) • Historical arguments justifying isolationism • Congressional neutrality acts (1934-1937) • The Johnson Act (1934) • FDR’s “Good Neighbor Policy” in Latin America

IV. Intensified American Isolationism (cont.) • Japanese attack on U.S. gunboat in China (1937) • Ludlow amendment proposed (1938) • FDR’s indecision • CDAAA organized (1940) • “America First” movement (1940) • FDR’s “Quarantine Speech” (1937)

V. The 1930’s: A Volatile World • “Have-Not” nations • Japan • The Soviet Union • Growing Soviet aggression • Soviet recognition in 1933 • Italy and Ethiopia • Spanish Civil War

VI. The Early Aggression of Adolf Hitler • Violation of the Treaty of Versailles • Reoccupation of the Rhineland (1936) • The “Anschluss” (1938) • Crisis in Czechoslovakia (1938-1939) -- “Sudetenland” • Non-Aggression Pact with the USSR • Invasion of Poland (September 1, 1939)

VII. U.S. Reaction to Hitler’s Aggression • Isolationism at its peak in the late 1930’s • Neutrality in action but not thought • “Cash and Carry” weapons • German “blitzkrieg” • Europe after the fall of France in June of 1940 • US assumptions regarding the war in Europe

VII. U.S. Reaction to Hitler’s Aggression (cont.) • US military build-up and provisions for Britain • “Destroyers for bases” deal (Sept., 1940) • The Lend-Lease Act (March, 1941) • Lend-Lease Aid to the Soviets (June, 1941)

VII. U.S. Reaction to Hitler’s Aggression (cont.) • American “neutrality patrols” • The Atlantic Charter (August, 1941) • The “Greer” incident (September, 1941) • Undeclared naval war with the Germans in the Atlantic ocean

VIII. Japanese Aggression in the Far East • Continuing war between Japan and China • Japanese need for oil • US restrictions on oil exports to Japan • Japan began to look around southeast Asia for oil

VIII. Japanese Aggression in the Far East (cont.) • Japan invades northern Indochina (Summer of 1940) • Tripartite Pact (Sept., 1940) • Invasion of southern Indochina (July, 1941) • The threat to US national security and the US response • Japanese strategy to deal with the US

IX. The Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor • A “Surprise” Attack • The significance of the aircraft carrier • “Tora, Tora, Tora!” (December 7, 1941) • The “limited” goals of the Admiral Yamamoto • The problem created by the attack for the Japanese • Conspiracy theory • Congressional resolution for war

The Coming of World War II