America Moves Toward War Ch. 16, Section 4 America Moves Toward War

The United States Musters Its Forces In September of 1939, Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass a “cash and carry” provision that allowed other nations to buy U.S. arms as long as they paid in cash. They also had to transport them with their own ships Roosevelt believed this would be a great benefit France and Britain could get the aid they needed U.S. was able to stay out of the war Isolationists wanted to completely stay out of the war, so they attacked Roosevelt The Neutrality Act was passed a few short weeks later

The Axis Threat By the time this had come to be, it was too late France had fallen by summer of 1940 and Britain was under siege Roosevelt wanted to help but still wanted to stay out of war “All aid short of war” Sent Britain 500,000 rifles and 80,000 machine guns Winston Churchill declared that this was the a “decidedly unneutral act” Germany, Italy and Japan signed mutual defense treaty Tripartite Pact

Tripartite Pact Aimed to keep the United States out of war Each nation of the Axis Powers, would come to the defense of the others If United States declared war on Germany, it would have to face Italy and Japan A two ocean war

Building U.S. Defenses Roosevelt asked Congress to increase spending for national defense The idea of isolationism changed because of Nazi victories Congress boosted the spending and enforced the first peacetime military draft Selective Training and Service Act 16 million men between 21 and 35 were registered 1 million were to be drafted only for a year and could only serve in the Western Hemisphere

Roosevelt Runs for a Third Term Roosevelt decided to run for reelection again Isolationists were mad when Roosevelet’s opponent, Republican Wendell Wilkie, supported giving aid to Britain Both candidates said they would keep the U.S. out of war Since there was not much difference between the two men, most people stuck with what they knew As a result, Roosevelt won with 55% of the votes

“The Great Arsenal of Democracy” After victory, Roosevelt told people it would be impossible to negotiate with Hitler If Britain fell, the Axis powers would be left unchallenged to conquer the world “All Americans would be living at the point of a gun” U.S. had to help defeat the Axis threat by turning itself into “great arsenal of democracy”

The Lend-Lease Plan Late 1940: Britain had no more cash to spend in the arsenal of democracy Roosevelt suggested lend-lease policy President would lend or lease arms and other supplies to countries whose defense was vital to U.S.” Compared it to a lending garden hose to a neighbor whose house was on fire It was the only sensible thing to do to prevent the spread of the fire Isolationists again argued against it However, support elsewhere helped Congress pass it Known as the Lend-Lease Act

Supporting Stalin Britain was not the only country to receive aid through lend-lease Hitler broke pact with Stalin and invaded Soviet Union “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” Roosevelt sent aid to Soviet Union, despite some Americans being against it “If Hitler invaded Hell, Britain would work with the devil himself”

German Wolf Packs To provide aid to Britain and the Soviet Union, lines had to be kept open across the Atlantic Ocean Hitler wanted to prevent this, so he deployed U-Boats (German Submarines) to attack any incoming ships Wolf Pack Attack: During the night, groups of up to 40 submarines patrolled areas in the North Atlantic These attacks were able to sink as many as 350,000 shipments in a single month In September of 1941, Roosevelt was able to get permission for U.S. warships to attack German U-Boats 1943: Submarine menace was contained to electronic detection techniques (radar) and by airborne antisubmarine patrols

FDR Plans For War Roosevelt was a popular President, but his foreign policy was constantly attacked Roosevelt proposed an extension on the term of those who had been drafted Roosevelt began planning for the war that was imminent

The Atlantic Charter Roosevelt and Churchill met secretly aboard a battleship Churchill wanted a military commitment from Roosevelt He and Roosevelt joined together to declare their war aims Called Atlantic Charter Countries pledged to: collective security, disarmament, self-determination, economic cooperation and freedom of seas. Atlantic Charter became basis for “A Declaration of the United Nations” United Nations was a term Roosevelt suggested to express the purpose of the Allies 26 nations signed the declaration “four-fifths of the human race”

Shoot On Sight After a German submarine attack on a US ship, Roosevelt ordered Navy commanders to respond Two weeks later, an American merchant ship was sunk off the coast of Greenland. Another two ships were attacked as well. These attacks in total killed over 111 sailors The Senate had no choice but to repeal the ban against letting merchant ships be armed

Japan Attacks the United States Japan was able to expand after Germany had conquered much of Europe Hideki Tojo, who was the chief of staff of Japan’s army, launched an invasion into China Many colonial lands were unprotected and Japanese leaders knew this At this time, only the United States remained in Japan’s way

Japan Attacks The United States Japan began a push southward in July of 1941 by taking over French military bases in Indochina U.S. protested this by completely cutting off trade with Japan Japan could not live without one of the goods, which was oil Leaders declared that U.S. needed to be persuaded or seize oil fields in Dutch East Indies. That would mean war

Peace Talks Are Questioned Tojo met with the emperor Hirohito Tojo said that the Japanese government would attempt to preserve peace with Americans, while at the same time telling his Navy to prepare for an attack on the U.S. U.S. was able to crack the codes Japan used and had learned about the attack but they were unsure where it would be In late November, Roosevelt sent out a “War warning” to military commanders in places like Hawaii, Guam and the Phillipines “If war could not be avoided, the U.S. desires that Japan commit the first overt act”

The Attack on Pearl Harbor On December 6, 1941, Roosevelt received a decoded message that instructed Japan’s peace envoy to reject all peace proposals from the U.S. Early on December 7, 1941, A Japanese dive bomber plane entered over Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor was the largest U.S. Naval base in the Pacific The bomber plane was followed by over 180 Japanese warplanes that launched from six aircraft carriers The Japanese were able to attack for over an hour and a half The last plane left around 930

The Attack On Pearl Harbor Less than two hours after they had started, over 2403 Americans had been killed and over 1178 more were injured 21 ships had been sunk or damaged and this included 8 battleships 300 aircraft were severely damaged or destroyed The total losses were more than the damage done in WWI Three aircraft carriers were able to survive

Reaction To Pearl Harbor A day after the attack, Roosevelt gave his famous line: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the Japanese launched an unprovoked and dastardly attack.” Congress swiftly approved his request to declare war on Japan Germany and Italy followed suit and declared war on the U.S. three days later Former supporters of isolationism now wholeheartedly supported the American effort.