America Moves Towards War

The United States Musters Its Forces Moving Cautiously Away from Neutrality Sept. 1939, FDR persuaded Congress to pass a “Cash & Carry” provision Providing arms to other countries like France & Britain Help them defeat Hitler w/o having to actually enter the war Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1939

The Axis Threat By summer of 1940, France & Britain were under siege FDR started sending supplies to Britain to help with the war effort He called his aid: “All Aid Short of War”

The Tripartite Pact is signed by Germany, Italy & Japan – the countries become known as the Axis Powers The Axis Powers goal was to keep the United States out of the war The Axis Powers made a pact saying if the United States attacked any of them, the other countries would come to their defense creating a Two-Front/Ocean war for the United States

Building U.S. Defenses FDR asked Congress to increase spending for national defense Congress also passed the Selective Training & Service Act 1940: 1st peace time Draft in history!

FDR Runs for a Third Term FDR was the first president to run for a 3rd Term His Republican opponent was Wendell Willkie Both men promised to keep American out of the war FDR was re-elected with nearly 55% of the votes cast

“The Great Arsenal of Democracy” The Lend-Lease Plan Britain had no money to spend on defending their country FDR creates the Lend-Lease policy Isolationists did not support the policy but most of the American people supported the policy and Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act in March of 1941

Supporting Stalin June 1941 Hitler broke his agreement with Stalin not to invade the Soviet Union FDR started to send lend-lease supplies to the Soviet Union FDR said the reason he was sending supplies was because “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”

German Wolf Packs To prevent the lend-lease supplies from reaching Britain & the Soviet Union, Hitler used German submarines, U-Boats, to attack ships The attacks became known as wolf pack attacks In 1941, FDR granted the navy permission to attack any U-Boats in self-defense

FDR Plans for War The Atlantic Charter FDR and Churchill met secretly aboard the battleship USS Augusta to discuss plans Both countries signed a joint declaration of war aims called the Atlantic Charter The Atlantic Charter became the basis of a “A Declaration of the United Nations” later The Allied powers became nations that fought the Axis powers

Shoot on Sight After a U.S. destroyer was attacked by a German sub FDR told the navy to shoot the submarines on sight The attacks on American Navel & Merchant ships continued, and the Senate repealed the ban against arming merchant ships

Japan Attack the United States Japan’s Ambitions in the Pacific In July 1937, Hideki Tojo, chief of staff of Japan’s Kwantung Army, launched an invasion of China By 1941 only the U.S. and the Pacific Islands remained not under Japanese control in the Pacific Ocean The United States cut off trade with Japan including the goods Japan most needed (fuel)

Peace Talks are Questioned Tojo became the prime minister of Japan and told Emperor Hirohito he would attempt to preserve peace with the U.S. November 5, 1941, Tojo told the Japanese navy to prepare for an attack on the United States US broke Japan’s codes and knew a strike was coming, but didn’t know where

FDR sent out a ‘war warning’ to military commanders in Hawaii, Guam, and the Philippines The peace talks between Japan and the US lasted for a month December 6, 1941, FDR received a decoded message telling the Japanese to reject all American peace proposals

The Attack on Pearl Harbor Early on Dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese Pearl Harbor was the largest US navel base in the Pacific The attack was over by 9:30 that morning In less than two hours 2,403 people had died and 1,178 were wounded and the raid had sunk or destroyed 21 ships

Reaction to Pearl Harbor The next day FDR addressed Congress and they quickly approved the request for a declaration of war against Japan Three days later Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S.