America Moves Toward War
Ch. 16-4
Cautiously Moving
• Roosevelt wanted to help France and
Great Britain fight against Hitler in order to
keep the U.S. out of war.
• Therefore, FDR passed a “cash-and-carry”
provision that allowed warring nations to
buy arms as long as they paid cash and
transported them on their own ships.
• The U.S. had sent 500,000 rifles, 80,000
machine guns, and 50 destroyers.
The AXIS Powers
• Germany, Italy, and Japan signed a mutual
defense treaty and became known as the
Axis Powers.
• This meant that if the U.S. declared War
on any of the Axis Powers, it would have a
two-ocean war, with fighting in the Pacific
and Atlantic (Japan and Europe).
• During this time, FDR ran for a third term
and won. He broke George Washington’s
tradition of a two-term presidency.
FDR’s Plan
• FDR warned that if Britain fell to Germany
then the AXIS Powers would conquer the
world.
• Lend Lease Plan- the president would
lend or lease arms and other supplies to
any country whose defense was vital to
the U.S.
Supporting Stalin
• Hitler broke his agreement with Stalin and
invaded the Soviet Union. Therefore, FDR
began sending lend-lease supplies to the
Soviet Union.
• “If Hitler invaded Hell” the British would be
prepared to work with the devil himself.
(Winston Churchill)
German Wolf Packs
• To prevent delivery f lend-lease shipments,
Hitler deployed hundreds of submarines to
attack ships.
• FDR allowed the navy permission to attack
the U-boats in self defense.
Atlantic Charter
• The Atlantic Charter became the basis for
“A Declaration of the United Nations.”
• The term “United Nations” express the
common purpose of the Allies or those
nations that fought the Axis Powers.
Hideki Tojo
• Hideki Tojo wanted to unite
Asia by taking the French,
Dutch, and British colonies in
Asia.
• The British were too busy
fighting Hitler to stop Japan’s
expansion.
• Japan took over Indochina
(Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia),
and the U.S. protested by
cutting off trade with Japan.
• They stopped trading oil to
fuel its war.
Peace Talks with Japan
• Tojo promised Japan’s emperor, Hirochito, that
he would keep the peace with the Americans.
• On Nov. 5, 1941, Tojo ordered the Japanese
navy to prepare for an attack on the U.S.
• The U.S. broke Japan’s secret communication
codes and learned that Japan was preparing for
a strike, but did not know when or where.
• The U.S. and Japan’s peace talks went on for a
month and on Dec 6, 1941, FDR received a
decoded message that said that Japan would
reject all American peace proposals.
December 7, 1941
• For 1 ½ hours, 180 warplanes attacked Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii.
• Japan killed 2,403 Americans and wounded
1,178.
• The next day FDR addressed Congress with his
famous infamy speech: “Yesterday December 7,
1941, a date which will live in infamy…”
• Congress then approved FDR’s declaration of
war against Japan.
• Three days later, Germany and Italy declared
war on the U.S.