Ch. 24.4: America Moves Toward War

Neutrality Erodes… Poland is invaded September 1, September 8, 1939 FDR calls for revision of the Neutrality Act to allow “cash-and-carry” 1940 – Japan, Germany, and Italy announce alliance of Axis Powers. Summer 1940 – France falls & Britain under siege Congress approves $37 billion for military build-up 9/2/ U.S. gives 50 destroyers for naval bases in a swap with UK 9/6/1940 – U.S. Conscription law approved

FDR v. Wendell Wilkie (1940)

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ELECTION OF 1940: March 1941 FDR BREAKS WITH TWO-TERM TRADITION

A Slumbering Giant Stirs… 3/1941 – Lend-Lease Act passed 6/1941 –Germany attacks “friend” USSR, as a result FDR extends Lend-Lease to USSR Mid US freezes Japanese Assets 7/1941 – US Navy accompanies convoys to UK 8/1941 – Atlantic Charter (US, UK -later USSR) US Destroyers Kearney and Reuben James sunk by U-boats and several merchant ships

G.I. Roundtable Series

Atlantic Charter Alliance between the Allies, which becomes the basis for the “United Nations.” Term “Allies” refers to US and UK, and later the USSR.

Atlantic Charter AUGUST 14, 1941 …First, their countries seek no aggrandizement, territorial or other; Second, they desire to see no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned; Third, they respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them; Fourth, they will endeavor, with due respect for their existing obligations, to further the enjoyment by all States, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world which are needed for their economic prosperity; Fifth, they desire to bring about the fullest collaboration between all nations in the economic field with the object of securing, for all, improved labor standards, economic advancement and social security; Sixth, after the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, they hope to see established a peace which will afford to all nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries, and which will afford assurance that all the men in all lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want; Seventh, such a peace should enable all men to traverse the high seas and oceans without hindrance; Eighth, they believe that all of the nations of the world, for realistic as well as spiritual reasons must come to the abandonment of the use of force. … Franklin D. Roosevelt Winston S. Churchill

Increasing tension with Japan Japan invades Manchuria in 1931 and China 1937 Japan infamously destroys Chinese city of Nanking Fall 1941 – US cuts off oil to Japan after Japan invades French Indochina 11/ Hideki Tojo prepares Japan for war with US Navy Intelligence has intelligence that Japan will strike, but does not know where 12/7/1941 – Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor 12/11/1941 – Italy and Germany declare war on US WHY DID THE U.S. WAIT TO BE ATTACKED???

The U.S.S. West Virginia, Pearl Harbor The stricken U.S.S. West Virginia was one of the eight battleships caught in the surprise Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i, on December 7, In this photograph, sailors on a launch attempt to rescue a crew member from the water as oil burns around the sinking ship. (U.S. Army) The U.S.S. West Virginia, Pearl Harbor Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Site: Pearl Harbor Remembered

President Roosevelt’s December 8, 1941 Address to Congress, calling for a Declaration against Imperial Japan

America at War: FDR’s STRATEGY: 1. Attack Germany first: save USSR and UK 2. Attack Japan second: give ground in Pacific PROBLEM: Will America arm itself (and its Allies) in time? CONCERN: Were totalitarian warriors better than citizen-soldiers?

He CAN'T Forget Pearl Harbor--Can You? This World War II poster encourages support for the U.S. war effort by pointing to one soldier's disabilities that resulted from Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. (Library of Congress) He CAN'T Forget Pearl Harbor--Can You? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.