The Coming of World War II

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

2. 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)

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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)

7. 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

8. 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)

9. 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

10. 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)

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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