2.  Essential Question  Essential Question:  What factors led the United States to shift from isolation in the 1920s & 1930s to an active war participant by 1941?

3. American Isolationism & Foreign Policy in the 1920s & 1930s

4. Foreign Policy in the 1920s & 1930s  After WWI, the U.S. assumed a selective isolationist foreign policy  Americans wanted to maintain the economic boom of the 1920s & were desperate for an answer to the depression in the 1930s  But, the U.S. did play an active role in attempts at international disarmament & economic stability

5. Foreign Policy: Economic Policy  In the 1920s, the most divisive international issue was war debts:  European nations owed the U.S. $10 billion; Attempts to reclaim these debts led to anti-American sentiment in Europe  The U.S. Foreign Debt Commission canceled a large portion of these debts, but insisted that some of the money be repaid  When Germany could not repay $33 billion in reparations, the U.S. negotiated the Dawes Plan  The Dawes Plan helped stabilize the German economy, allowed Germany to repay the Allies, and helped France & England repay their debts to the United States

6. European Debts to the U.S. Hyper-inflation in Germany by 1923

7. Foreign Policy: Economic Policy  But the Great Depression made post-war recovery in Europe difficult in the 1930s: Hawley-Smoot Tariff  The Hawley-Smoot Tariff in 1930 limited European attempts to sell their goods in the U.S.  The U.S. was unable to provide loans, leaving Germany unable to repay reparations & Europe unable to repay its war debts

8. Foreign Policy: International Peace  The USA never joined the League of Nations, but did play a role in attempts to avoid future wars: Washington Disarmament Conference  At the Washington Disarmament Conference in 1921, world leaders agreed to disarmament, free trade, & collective security  The USA, England, Japan, Italy, & France signed the Five-Power Treaty to limit construction of battleships & aircraft carriers  England, USA, Japan, France signed the Four-Power Treaty agreeing to collective security  The Nine-Power Treaty reaffirmed the Chinese Open-Door Policy  But, neither the Nine- or Four-Power Acts had provisions to enforce these agreements Kellogg-Briand Pact  In 1928, almost every nation, including the USA, signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as a tool of foreign policy

9. Foreign Policy: International Peace  These agreements did not last:  Japan needed raw materials to continue its industrial expansion  Japan began to create an Asian empire by attacking Manchuria in 1931 & China in 1937  In both occasions, the League of Nations reprimanded Japan but chose no punitive measures

10. Totalitarian Regimes: Hideki Tojo & Emperor Hirohito

11. Japan Invades Manchuria

13. The Japanese Invasion of China, 1937

14. In 1937, Japanese pilots bombed the USS Panay, a U.S. gunboat stationed in China, killing 3 Americans. The U.S. accepted Japan's apology & promise against future attacks Unlike the USS Maine or Lusitania, few Americans called for war against Japan

15. Totalitarian Regimes: Benito Mussolini

17. Totalitarian Regimes: Hitler

21. The “Problem” of the Sudetenland

22. Czechoslovakia Becomes Part of the Third Reich: 1939

23. The Munich Pact “Peace in our time”

24. Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis

25. Foreign Policy: International Peace  In the 1930s, FDR & Congress were too preoccupied with the Great Depression to adequately plan for new world conflicts involving totalitarian dictators  The rising threat of war in Europe & Asia strengthened Americans’ desire to avoid involvement in another world war

26. Foreign Policy: Citizen Attitudes  In the 1920s & 1930s, most Americans wanted to avoid another “meaningless war”  Munitions makers & bankers were labeled “merchants of death” & were blamed for American involvement in WWI  Passivism swept across college campuses; Students staged “walk-outs” & anti-war rallies

27. Veterans of FUTURE Wars

28. The Neutrality Acts  The “merchants of death” charges were led by North Dakota Senator Gerald Nye from 1934 to 1936: Nye Committee  Reaction to the Nye Committee report led to popular support to avoid making the same mistakes that led America to enter WW1  Congress passed 3 neutrality acts to avoid future wars  The Neutrality Act of 1935 banned arms sales to nations at war & warned citizens not to sail on belligerent ships  The Neutrality Act of 1936 banned loans to any warring nation  The Neutrality Act of 1937 made the 1935 & 1936 acts permanent

29. U. S. Neutrality Acts: 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939

30. The Clouds of War (3.37)

31. The Road Towards American Intervention

32. From Neutrality to Undeclared War  As Europe headed toward war, FDR openly expressed his favor for intervention & took steps to ready the U.S. for war  In 1937, FDR unsuccessfully tried to convince world leaders to “quarantine the aggressors”  But…FDR was able to get $1 billion from Congress to expand the U.S. navy  Everything changed in 1939 with the Nazi-Soviet Pact & the German invasion of Poland

33. The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, 1939 Foreign Ministers von Ribbentrop & Molotov

35. Poland Attacked: Sept. 1, 1939 Blitzkrieg [“Lightening War”]

36. German Troops March into Warsaw

40. The War Comes to Europe (9.11)

41. From Neutrality to Undeclared War cash & carry policy  When WW2 began in 1939, Congress imposed a cash & carry policy to aid the Allies:  The U.S. would trade with the Allies but would not offer loans (till attempting to avoid more “merchants of death” in the banking industry)  The U.S. would not deliver American products to Europe ( Still attempting to avoid losing American lives at sea by German submarines )  In addition, FDR traded 50 old destroyers with England for 8 naval bases in Western Europe  “The destroyer-for-bases deal is the most important action in the reinforcement of our national defense that has been taken since the Louisiana Purchase” —FDR

42. From Neutrality to Undeclared War Isolationists  Were appalled by this departure from neutrality & FDR’s involvement of the U.S. in foreign war  Their “fortress of America” idea argued that Germany was not a threat to the U.S. Interventionists Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies  Groups like the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies called for unlimited aid to England  They argued that the events in Europe did impact the security of U.S.

43. From Neutrality to Undeclared War  By 1940, “interventionists” had the majority of American public sentiment on their side:  in 1940, Congress appropriated $10 billion for preparedness  FDR called for America’s first ever peacetime draft  In the election of 1940, FDR was overwhelmingly elected for an unprecedented 3 rd term

45. From Neutrality to Undeclared War  By 1940, England remained the only active opposition to Hitler but was running out of money Lend-Lease Act  FDR called for a Lend-Lease Act:  U.S. can sell or lend war supplies to Allied nations  Congress put $7 billion to allow England full access to U.S. arms U.S. Cash and Carry Program

46. Lend-Lease Supply Totals

47. Lend-Lease Supply Routes

48. From Neutrality to Undeclared War  England desperately needed help escorting U.S.-made supplies through the u-boat infested Atlantic  FDR allowed for U.S. patrols in the western half of the Atlantic  German attacks on U.S. ships in 1941 led to an undeclared naval war between USA & Germany U.S. Cash and Carry Program

49. From Neutrality to Undeclared War Atlantic Charter  In 1941, FDR & Churchill met to secretly draft the Atlantic Charter:  The U.S. & Britain discussed a military strategy if the USA were to enter the war  They discussed post-war goals of free trade & disarmament  In 1941, Germany broke the Nazi-Soviet Pact & invaded Russia

50. The Atlantic Charter Fashioned after Wilson’s 14 Points. Calls for League of Nations type organization.

52. From Neutrality to Undeclared War  FDR brought U.S. to the brink of war & opened himself to criticism:  In Sept 1941, polls showed 80% of Americans supported remaining neutral in WW2  FDR had to wait for the Axis to make a decisive move…which Japan delivered on Dec 7, 1941

53. Pearl Harbor

54. Showdown in the Pacific  Japan took full advantage of the European war to expand in Asia:  Attacked coastal China  Seized French & Dutch colonies in East Indies & Indochina Tripartite Pact  Signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany & Italy in 1940  FDR retaliated against Japan with fuel, iron, & oil sanctions

55. The Greater East Asia-Prosperity Company Rich in Tin, Oil, Rubber

56. Showdown in the Pacific  In 1941, the U.S. & Japan were unable to diplomatically resolve their differences ( U.S. wanted the Japanese removed from China ), so the USA:  Froze all Japanese assets in USA  Banned all oil sales to Japan  Tojo sent an envoy to negotiate for a resolution ( Japan wanted an end to sanctions & a free hand to China )…but secretly ordered an attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor  This was really a stall tactic intended to hide Japanese military preparations for an attack on Pearl Harbor

57. Pearl Harbor

58. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

59. Pearl Harbor from the Cockpit of a Japanese Pilot

60. Pearl Harbor - Dec. 7, 1941 A date which will live in infamy!

61. USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor

62. The U.S. Enters World War 2 (3.49)

63. On Dec 7, 1941, the U.S. naval fleet in the Pacific was crippled by the attack; 8 battleships were sunk & 2,400 Americans were killed

64. Showdown in the Pacific  After Pearl Harbor:  Congress declared war against Japan on Dec 8, 1941  Italy & Germany declared war on the U.S. on Dec 11, 1941  American public opinion was now fully behind the war effort to defeat the fascist threat in Europe & to seek revenge against Japan  The U.S. now faced a possible 2-ocean war, but Germany was still seen as the primary danger

65. President Roosevelt Signs the US Declaration of War

66. Compare & contrast the factors that drove the U.S. to war in 1917 & 1941 World War 1 World War World War 1 World War 2