Chapter 16 Section 4
America Moves Toward War
Moving Away from Neutrality
• Sept 1939-FDR
revises Neutrality
Acts
• Asks Congress for a
“cash and carry”
provision- allow
nations to buy
weapons from the US
as long as they paid
in cash and shipped
them themselves
Moving Away from Neutrality
• Providing arms would
help France and
Britain to defeat Hitler
and hopefully keep
the US out of war
• Isolationists argued
the opposite
• Congress passes
cash and carry in
1939
The Axis Threat
• Cash and carry
looked like too little
too late
• BY summer of ’40
France had fallen and
Britain was under
siege by the Luftwaffe
The Axis Threat
• September 1940Japan, Germany and
Italy signed a mutual
defense treaty-The
tripartite Pact
• These three nations
became known as the
Axis Powers
The Axis Threat
• Tripartite Pact aimed
at keeping the US out
of the war
• If the US were to
declare war on one of
the Axis nations, it
would face a 2 ocean
war
The Axis Threat
• In response, FDR
provided the British
with “all aid short of
war”
• 1940 sent 500,000
rifles, 80,000 machine
guns, 50 destroyers
• A “decidedly
unneutral act”
Building America’s Defenses
• FDR asks Congress
to increase spending
for national defense
• Due to isolationism,
US was militarily
weak
• 18 nations had larger
armies than the US
– Weak navy
– Small airforce
Building America’s Defenses
• Congress boosts
defense spending in
1940
• Passed 1st peacetime
military draft
• 16 million men
registered-1 million of
which were drafted
FDR Reelected
• FDR decides to run
for 3rd term in office
• Both candidates
wanted to support
Britain
• Both promised to
keep the US out of
war
• With very little
difference, FDR wins
election
The Great Arsenal of Democracy
• FDR says there is no
hope of negotiation with
Hitler
• Warned that of Britain
fell, Axis would be
unchallenged to
conquer the world
• America would be
“living at the point of a
gun”
• America had to become
“the great arsenal of
democracy
The Lend-Lease Plan
• By late 1940-Britain
had no more cash to
spend on American
weapons
• FDR proposed to lend
or lease weapons to
any country whose
defense was vital to
the US.
The Lend-Lease Plan
• Isolationists argued
bitterly against lendlease
• Congress passes
Lend-Lease Act in
1941
• Not only Britain
received lend-lease
aid
Nazi Invasion of the Soviet
Union
• June 22, 1941- Nazis
invade Soviet Union
with 3 million troops
• Hitler predicted
victory in 6 weeks
• Soviets resisted
fiercely
Nazi Invasion of the Soviet
Union
• Soviets pulled back
burning everything
the Nazis could usescorched earth policy
• Russian winter set in
• German invasion
slowed to a halt
• FDR began send
lend-lease supplies to
the Soviets
German Wolf Packs
• For lend-lease, supply
lines had to be kept
open across Atlantic
• Hitler deployed
hundreds of
submarines to stop
shipments
• Wolf Packs (groups of
15-20 subs) searched
shipping lanes for
cargo
German Wolf Packs
• April-May 1941-Germans
sink 1.2 million tons of
British shipping
• June 1941-FDR orders
US navy to protect
shipments as far east as
Iceland
• American ships had
permission to attack
German subs in selfdefense
Planning for War-Atlantic Charter
• Congress extends
draft another 18
months
• FDR & Churchill met
secretly off coast of
Newfoundland
• Created a declaration
of principles call the
Atlantic Charter
Atlantic Charter
• Spelled out causes for
which WWII was foughtbefore the US ever
entered it
• 1. Seek no territorial
expansion
• 2. No territorial changes
w/out consent of
inhabitants
• 3. Respect right of
people to choose their
own form of govmt.
• 4. Promote free trade
• 5. Encourage
international cooperation
• 6. Freedom from want
and fear
• 7. Disarmament of
aggressors
• 8. Establish a permanent
system of general
security
Atlantic Charter
• Atlantic charter
expresses common
purpose of the Allies
• Allies- nations
joined together to
fight the Axis-26
nations
Shooting Begins
• Sept 4, 1941-German
U-Boat fires at USS
Greer
• FDR announces that
US ships fire at
German ships on
sight
Shooting Begins
• 2 weeks later the Pink
Star-a US merchant
ship was sunk with
enough supplies to
feed more than
3.5million British
laborers for a week
• Mid October US
destroyer Kearny
sunk
Japan’s Ambitions
• Japanese
expansionists wanted
a vast colonial empire
• Invaded Manchuria in
1931 and China in
1937
• Japan’s ambitions
brought them into
conflict with other
colonial powers
Japan’s Ambitions
• France, the Netherlands,
Britain and the United
States had colonies in
Asia
• By 1941-France and the
Netherlands had fallen to
Germany
• Britain was too busy
fighting Hitler to fight off
Japanese
• Only the US was in the
way
Japan’s Ambitions
• Japanese begin
pushing south of
China in July of 1941
• Took French military
bases in Indochina
• US protested this
action by cutting off
trade with the
Japanese
Japan’s Ambitions
• US cuts off oil to Japan
• With no oil, Japan could
be defeated without its
enemies ever attacking
• New Japanese Prime
Minister-Hideki Tojo
– Said he would make one
last attempt at peace with
Americans
– If this failed, Japan would
go to war
Japan’s Ambitions
• November 5, 1941Tojo’s peace envoy
flew to Washington
for talks
• On the same dayTojo orders Japanese
navy to prepare for an
attack on the US
Japan’s Ambitions
• US had broken
Japan’s secret
communication codes
• Knew Japan was
preparing for an
attack
• Didn’t know where or
when it would come
• Peace talks went on
for a month
Japan’s Ambitions
• December 6, 1941Japanese peace
envoy ordered to
reject all American
peace proposals
• “This means war”
– FDR
Attack on Pearl Harbor
• December 7, 1941more than 180
Japanese warplanes
launched from 6
carriers attacked US
naval base at Pearl
Harbor
• 90 minutes-Japanese
planes barely
disturbed by
American guns
Attack on Pearl Harbor
• Attack a stunning
victory for Japan
• US navy all but
crippled
• Japanese lost only 29
planes
Attack on Pearl Harbor
• US losses
– 18 ships sunk or badly
damaged
– 350 planes destroyed
or badly damaged
– 2,400 people died
– 1,178 wounded
More losses than the US
Navy lost in all WWI
Attack on Pearl Harbor
• December 8, 1941US declares war on
Japan
• December 11, 1941Germany and Italy
declare war on the
US