Desire for Isolationism
• After WWI,
Americans wanted to
return to “Normal”
– Let Europe deal with
Europe
• Refused to support
Wilson & the League of
Nations
Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge
A Weak League of Nations
• Strength undercut when the U.S. refused
to join
– No control of major
conflicts
– No progress in disarmament
– No effective military force
Washington Disarmament Conference
• U.S., Britain, & Japan had all continued
building up their navies
• Goal: naval disarmament
• All major naval powers invited
• Met in Washington from 1921-1922
Five Power Treaty (1922)
• A battleship ratio was achieved:
US
5
Britain
5
Japan
3
France
1.67
Italy
1.67
• U.S. and Britain would stop fortifying
their Far East territories (including the
Philippines)
• Loophole: no restrictions on smaller ships
Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
• 15 nations agreed to outlaw aggression
and war as tools of foreign policy
• 62 nations eventually signed
• Problems  no means of actual
enforcement
• Gave Americans a
false sense of
security during the
1930’s
The Great Depression
• World wide effects
• Countries look for solutions
• Some turn toward FASCISM
– glorified the state and sought to expand
– Italy (Mussolini), Japan, & Germany (Hitler) all
turn to Fascism
Japan Invades Manchuria (1931)
• Japanese military
assumed control of
the government
• Invaded Manchuria
for resources
• League of Nations
condemned the
action
• Japan leaves the
League
Japan Invades Manchuria (1931)
Stimson Doctrine
• Issued in 1932
• US would not recognize
any territorial
acquisitions that were
achieved by force
• Japan was infuriated,
but there was no real
U.S. threat
Sec of State
Harry Stimson
The Good Neighbor Policy
• Groundwork
created by Hoover
– Removed U.S.
troops from Latin
America
• FDR fully develops
program
– a policy of nonintervention and
cooperation
The good neighbor
respects himself and the
rights of others.
• Renounces the
Roosevelt Corollary
Nye Committee Hearings (1934-36)
• Munitions manufacturers
blamed as “Merchants of
Death” for WWI
• Senate investigative
hearings begin
• Committee blames banks
& munitions manufactures
for the war
• Led to passage of several
Neutrality Acts
Senator Gerald P.
Nye
Neutrality Acts (1935, 1936, & 1937)
• Passed to keep the U.S. out
of new wars
• When the president
proclaimed a foreign war
Americans couldn’t :
– sail on belligerent nations’
ships
– Sell or transport munitions
to belligerents
– Make loans to a belligerent
• The U.S. refused to build
up the armed forces
Growing Fascist Aggression
• 1935:
• 1936:
Italy invades Ethiopia
Hitler begins to re-arm Germany
Hitler re-militarizes the
Rhineland
• 1937:
Japan invades China
Rape of Nanking
Panay Incident (1937)
• American ship Panay bombed and sunk by
Japanese
• Japan apologized, paid US an indemnity,
and promised no further attacks
• Results  Japanese interpreted US tone
as a license for further aggression
against US interests
• 1938:
German Anschluss with Austria
Rome-Berlin Axis Formed
Germany demands the Sudetenland
Munich Agreement
• Sept 1938 meeting
between Hitler, Italy,
Britain, & France
• Britain & France
appease Hitler by giving
him the Sudetenland
Now we have
“peace in our time!”
Herr Hitler is a
man we can do
business with.
• 1939:
Hitler invades the rest of
Czechoslovakia
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression
Pact signed
The Invasion of Poland
• September 1, 1939
Hitler invades
Poland using new
strategy of
Blitzkrieg
• September 3 France
& Britain declare
war on Germany
Neutrality Act of 1939
• FDR persuades Congress to aid European
democracies in a limited way:
– The US could sell weapons to the European
democracies on a “cash-and-carry” basis
– Proclaimed danger zones which US ships
and citizens could not enter
Beginnings of
War
• Phony War – 1st
7 months of
fighting
• June 1940:
Hitler invades
France
France Surrenders
• June 22, 1940
• Divided into 2
Battle of Britain
• Operation Sea Lion
• July 1940 – May 1941
• Hitler tries to invade
Great Britain
• Known as “The Blitz”
• German Luftwaffe
bombs Britain to
soften resistance
Now Britain Is
All Alone!
The London “Tube”:
Air Raid Shelters during the Blitz
Tripartite Pact (Sept 1940)
• Also known as
the Rome-BerlinTokyo Axis
Destroyers for Bases (1940)
• Sept 1940, Britain
close to surrender
• Needs ships to
fight Battle of
Atlantic against UBoats
• U.S. trades 50
WWI destroyers
for land bases
America First Committee
• Formed in September 1940
• Purpose was to pressure the government
to stay OUT of war
Lend-Lease Act (1941)
• The U.S. will lend
supplies to Allies in
return for leases on land
after the war
• America becomes the
“Arsenal of Democracy”
Great Britain.........................$31 billion
Soviet Union...........................$11 billion
France......................................$ 3 billion
China.......................................$1.5 billion
Other European.................$500 million
South America...................$400 million
The amount totaled: $48,601,365,000
What do I do in such a crisis?
I don't say... 'Neighbor, my
garden hose cost me $15; you
have to pay me $15 for it' …I
don't want $15 — I want my
garden hose back after the
fire is over."
Operation Barbarossa
• Hitler invades the Soviet Union in June
1941
• Soviet Union becomes an unlikely Allied
Power
The Atlantic Charter
• Roosevelt and Churchill sign
treaty outlining war goals
• Solidifies alliance
• Fashioned after Wilson’s 14
Points
• Called for collective
security, disarmament, selfdetermination, economic
cooperation, freedom of the
seas, & a new peace-keeping
organization