Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Shadow of War

I. The London Conference

a. London Economic Conference of 1933

i. Hoped to organize a coordinated international attack on the global depression. They wanted to do this by:

1. Stabilizing each nation’s currencies

2. Stabilize the rates at which they could be exchanged

ii. This was essential to the revival of world trade

b. America’s Response to the London Conference

i. Roosevelt at first agreed to send an American delegation to the conference, including Secretary of State Cordell Hull. But the president soon began to have second thoughts about the conference’s agenda and announced America’s withdrawal from the negotiations

ii. He preferred to solve America’s economic problems without other countries being involved

iii. The delegates of the conference adjourned without having accomplished anything

iv. The conference could’ve helped the world economically, but America’s attitude of every-man-for-himself didn’t give it a chance and plunged the world even deeper into an economic crisis

v. All of this played into the hands of the dictators

II. Freedom For the Filipinos and Recognition For the Russians

a. Philippine Islands

i. Why Freedom for the Philippine Islands?

1. Americans were paying taxes to support the islands

2. Americans wanted to exclude Filipinos from low-paying jobs (being that they were a U.S. territory, they could go to the U.S. easier than most)

3. American sugar produces wanted to eliminate Philippine competition

ii. Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934

1. Gave independence to the Philippines after a 12-year period

2. The U.S. agreed to give up its army bases, but not naval bases

iii. Results of Neglecting the Philippines

1. Cutting off the island from the U.S. threatened the Philippines economically

2. It also boosted Japans confidence because Americans were being so isolationist

b. Soviet Union

i. Recognized them in 1933 over protests of:

1. Anti-communist conservatives

2. Roman Catholics (against the Kremlin’s antireligious policies)

ii. Why Give the Soviet Union Recognition?

1. Wanted to trade with them

2. Wanted to have the Soviet Union on friendly terms with the U.S. so that they could counter the power of Germany and Japan

III. Becoming A Good Neighbor

a. Roosevelt and Foreign Relations

i. Said that “I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the Good Neighbor”:

1. Noninvolvement in Europe

2. Withdrawal from Asia

3. A more positive role in Latin America

ii. This suggested that the U.S. was willing to be merely a regional power, and not a world power

b. Why Was There A Change In Policy?

i. Interventions had not paid off

ii. The Great Depression stopped U.S. investment into Latin American and Caribbean countries

iii. There was less money, so less reason to intervene in these countries

c. Nonintervention

i. With dictators seizing powers in Europe and Asia, Roosevelt wanted to keep the Latin Americans on his side to help defend the Western Hemisphere

ii. To do this, Roosevelt formally declared nonintervention and renounced the (Teddy) Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine so as not to embitter these nations

iii. The U.S. did the following actions:

1. Withdrew marines from Haiti by 1934

2. Released Cuba from the Platt Amendment in 1934 (U.S. retained Guantanamo)

3. Roosevelt relaxed his grip on Panama in 1936

4. Roosevelt refused to intervene in Mexico even when their government seized American oil properties (amid protest) in 1938

d. Results of the Good Neighbor Policy

i. No other U.S. president has ever been held in such high esteem in Latin America

ii. His policy worked well, but hurt some U.S. bondholders

IV. Secretary Hull’s Reciprocal Trade Agreements

a. Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934

i. Hull believed that trading was a 2-way street; if tariff barriers stopped foreign trade, it would soon lead to a physical war

ii. Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934

1. Lowered tariffs

2. Designed to boost American trade

3. Roosevelt could lower rates as much as 50% if the other country would do the same. This could become effective without the approval of the Senate. This did away with logrolling and pressure from lobbyists

b. Results of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act

i. Hull negotiated pacts with 21 countries by 1939

ii. U.S. foreign trade increased

iii. It boosted relations with Latin America

iv. Promoted peace

v. It reversed the high-protective tariff policy that had persisted since Civil War days

vi. It paved the way for the American-led free-trade international economic system that took shape after WWII, a period that had the most robust growth of international trade in history

V. Storm-Cellar Isolationism

a. Results of the Great Depression In Regards To Leaders In Europe

i. Joseph Stalin led the Soviet Union

ii. Benito Mussolini seized power in 1922

iii. Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany in 1933

b. Adolf Hitler

i. Was a frustrated painter

ii. After Hitler joining the Nationalist Socialist Workers Party, or Nazis, he tried came to power and built up his following by promising to:

1. Stabilize the country

2. Rebuild the economy

3. Restore the empire

iii. By 1933, the Nazi party had the largest group in the Reichstag (German parliament). As a result, Hitler became chancellor = prime minister

iv. Von Hindenburg was the President. Soon after Hitler was elected chancellor, the Reichstag building was set on fire. Afraid that political parties are trying to overthrow the government, Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to declare emergency orders and outlaw all political parties and freedom of speech

v. The following year, Hindenburg died. Hitler took over the position of President and called his position Fuhrer and established the Third Reich

c. Japan

i. Also resented the Treaty of Versailles for a lack of land gains

ii. Also needed additional land space for its crowded nation

iii. 1934 – terminated the Washington Naval Treaty

iv. 1935 – walked out on a multipower naval disarmament conference in London; quit the League of Nations

v. 1940 – signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, making them allies

d. Italy

i. 1935 – attacked Ethiopia for glory and empire

ii. The League of Nations could’ve forced Italy to stop if they had embargoed oil, but they didn’t for fear of war

e. American Isolationism Continues

i. Didn’t like the dictator’s actions, but Americans believed that their seas would protect them

ii. Believed that WWI was a colossal blunder

iii. Remembered the ungrateful and defaulting debtors

1. Johnson Debt Default Act of 1934 –

a. Prevented debt-dodging nations from borrowing further in the U.S.

b. If attacked again by aggressors, these countries wouldn’t receive help

iv. Too involved in getting out of the Great Depression

v. There was a strong support for a constitutional amendment that forbid a declaration of war by Congress except in case of an invasion, unless there was a popular referendum

VI. Congress Legislates Neutrality

a. Merchants of Death

i. A Senate investigation led by Gerald Nye of ND in 1934

ii. Was to investigate the evidence over America’s entry into WWI

iii. Believed that bankers and arms manufacturers got the U.S. in the war for greed

b. Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937

i. Was originally spurred by the Italian invasion of Ethiopia

ii. Acts proclaimed that when the President declared the existence of a foreign war, certain restrictions would automatically go into effect:

1. No American could legally sail on a belligerent’s ship

2. The sale or transport of munitions to a belligerent

3. Make loans to belligerents

iii. This marked the end of the policy of freedom of the seas, for which America had fought many times

iv. The acts were tailored to keep the U.S. out of a war like WWI

c. Results of Isolationist Thinking

i. America falsely believed that the decision for peace or war lay in its own hands

ii. They failed to recognize that they had enormous power to shape international events

iii. America would make no distinction between aggressors and victims, causing the dictators to have more power

iv. In staying out of armed conflicts, the democracies encouraged dictators to take the road that led to WWII

v. America declined to build up its armed forces to a point where it could deter the aggressors

vi. America let its navy decline because they believed that large navies caused wars; it also tried to spare the taxpayer

vii. When President Roosevelt called for preparedness, he was branded a warmonger

VII. America Dooms Loyalist Spain

a. Spanish Civil War

i. Spanish rebels, headed by fascist General Francisco Franco, rebelled against the republican government

ii. He was aided by Hitler and Mussolini, while the existing government was supported on a smaller scale by the Soviets (this helped American-Soviet relations)

iii. Congress amended existing neutrality laws to apply an arms embargo to both the Loyalist government and the rebels

VIII. Appeasing Japan and Germany

a. Japan

i. China Incident (1937) –

1. Chinese and Japanese troops clashed at Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing (Peking)

2. This led to an invasion of China

3. The U.S. remained neutral

ii. Quarantine Speech (Autumn 1937) –

1. President Roosvelt’s speech about Italian and Japanese aggressions

2. He called for “positive endeavors” to “quarantine” the aggressors (probably by economic embargos)

iii. Panay Incident (December 1937) –

1. Japanese pilots sunk the Panay, an American gunboat. 2 killed and 30 wounded

2. This could’ve provoked war, but Japan quickly made apologies and payments

b. Germany

i. League of Nations (1933) –

1. Hitler withdrew Germany in this year

ii. Nuremberg Laws (1935) –

1. Stripped Jews of their rights and forbid marriage between Jews and non-Jews

iii. Treaty of Versailles Violations (1935 & 1936) –

1. Hitler introduced compulsory military service

2. Occupied the demilitarized Rhineland

iv. Rome-Berlin Axis (1936) –

1. Germany allied themselves with Italy

v. Austrian Anschluss (March 1938) –

1. Germany bloodlessly occupies Austria

2. The Allies hoped this would be Hitler’s last claimed territory

vi. Sudetenland Crisis (Summer 1938) –

1. Confident from the recent gains and inaction by the allies, Hitter demands the German-inhabited Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia

vii. Munich Conference (September 1938) –

1. The leaders of Britain and France met with Hitler in Munich, Germany

2. They were unprepared for war; had the depression going on; and didn’t want more losses of life; they betrayed Czechoslovakia by appeasing Germany – giving them the Sudetenland

viii. Kristallnacht (November 1938) –

1. The Nazis destroyed many of the Jewish shops, synagogues, and homes in Germany and Austria. The event occurred because a Jewish person murdered a German diplomat to France

ix. Annexation of Czechoslovakia (March 1939) –

1. Hitler bloodlessly annexes all of Czechoslovakia

IX. Hitler’s Belligerency and U.S. Neutrality

a. Germany

i. German Negotiations With France and Britain (Summer 1939) –

1. Hoped to get a mutual defense treaty to stop Hitler

ii. Nazi-Soviet Pact (August 1939) –

1. The Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler

2. This meant that Hitler could not have war on Western Europe and not have to worry about a second front with the Soviets

3. Stalin hoped that Hitler and the Western democracies would kill each other off, leaving him with Europe

iii. Poland (September 1, 1939) –

1. Hitler thinks Germans are being oppressed in eastern Poland (the area was taken away from Germany after WWI)

2. He sent mechanized units into the area on this date

3. Britain and France, who had allied themselves with Poland, honored their commitment and declared war

4. Poland fell in 3 weeks; before troops could be sent

b. President Roosevelt and Neutrality

i. Proclaimed neutrality

ii. Americans were anti-Nazi and anti-Hitler and wanted democracies to win. However, they didn’t want to send any troops

c. Neutrality Act of 1939

i. Provided that European democracies might buy American war supplies, but only if they transported them after paying in cash

ii. This avoided:

1. American loans

2. War debts

3. Torpedoing of American ships

iii. Roosevelt also was authorized with the ability to proclaim danger zones into which American merchant ships would be forbidden to enter

d. Results of the Neutrality Act of 1939

i. China was being blockaded by Japan, so they couldn’t send ships to America. This hurt their trade

ii. As the British and French navies controlled the Atlantic, the European aggressors could not send their ships to buy America’s materials

iii. It improved the U.S.’s economy and unemployment rate

X. The Fall of France

a. Phony War (October 1939-April 1940)

i. Between the time in which Poland fell and Germany made its next move was known as the Phony War

ii. People were in disbelief that another war was occurring so soon

b. Fall of Finland

i. During the Phony War period, the Soviets attacked Finland in order to have a buffer zone from the West

ii. America granted them $30 million for nonmilitary supplies, but the Soviets defeated them after fierce resistance

c. Invasion of Denmark and Norway (April 1940)

i. Annex Romania

ii. Denmark falls in one day

iii. Norway quickly surrenders

d. Invasion of Netherlands and Belgium (May 1940)

i. Belgium and the Netherlands fall in about 5 days

e. Invasion of France (May 19, 1940)

i. Germany takes France by surprise, using a huge blitzkrieg (mobilized, quick attack)

ii. The same day, 340,000 British, French, and Belgium troops were trapped by German troops at Dunkirk, where largest rescue operation ever took place

iii. France falls on June 20^th. A pro-Nazi government is set up in France, called Vichy France

f. Result of France’s Collapse

i. Shocked Americans into taking action. If Britain was defeated, Hitler would have at his disposal the workshops, shipyards, and slave labor of Western Europe. This posed a threat to American security

ii. Roosevelt called on Congress to:

1. Build up the airforce

2. Build a two-ocean navy

3. Passed a draft law – 1.2 million troops and 800,000 reserves

iii. In a year, Congress appropriated $37 billion for defense:

1. More than the cost of WWI

2. 5x larger than the New Deal budget

iv. Havana Conference of 1940

1. Decided on what to do with the Netherlands’ Denmark’s, and France’s colonies

2. The U.S. and 20 Latin American nations agreed to keep Germany out of those former colonies

XI. Bolstering Britain With the Destroyer Deal

a. Battle of Britain

i. Now that only Britain stood inbetween Hitler and world domination, people in America began to question the wisdom of neutrality

ii. August 1940 – Hitler launched air attacks against Britain to prepare for an invasion in September

iii. The air attacks lasted for months, as Britain stubbornly was able to keep Germany from gaining air supremacy

b. What Does the U.S. Do?

i. Interventionists –

1. Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies –

a. A propaganda group that appealed for direct or indirect support of Britain

b. They were sympathetic to the air raids that were being broadcast from Britain to America

ii. Isolationists –

1. America First Committee –

a. America should concentrate what strength it had to defend its own shores

b. Biggest supporter was Charles A. Lindbergh

c. Destroyers For Bases

i. Germany was threatening to starve them out because of attacks on shipping

ii. September 1940 – Roosevelt agreed to transfer to Great Britain 50 old-model destroyers left over from WWI. In return, the British promised to hand over to the U.S. 8 valuable defensive base sites from Newfoundland to South America for 49 years

iii. This act was highly questionable because:

1. It disposed of government property

2. It was done through an executive agreement, which doesn’t need the Senate’s consent (unlike a treaty)

iv. Criticisms arose from isolationists. Some approved of the transfer, but didn’t like Roosevelt’s secretiveness (but Roosevelt wanted a quick transfer)

v. At this point, after Hitler’s aggressions, most Americans favored giving Britain help even if it meant getting involved in a physical conflict

XII. FDR Shatters the Two-Term Tradition

a. Republican Nomination

i. Between:

1. Robert A. Taft (OH) – Senator and son of the ex-president

2. Thomas E. Dewey (NY) – lawyer

3. Wendell L. Willkie (IN) – lawyer and head of a huge public utilities corporation. Had a magnetic personality, was trustworthy, and homespun

ii. Platform:

1. Condemned Roosevelt’s dictatorship

2. Condemned the costly New Deal

iii. Campaign:

1. Delivered over 500 speeches

2. Widened the gap between interventionists and isolationists (objected to Roosevelt’s methods of interventionism, although he believed in the necessity of it)

3. Was similar to Roosevelt in that he promised to strengthen the nation’s defenses and promised to stay out of the war

b. Democratic Nomination

i. Contemplated retirement, but thought his experience would come in handy during this crisis, while a newcomer could be bad for the country

ii. Roosevelt was unanimously nominated

c. Results of the Election of 1940

i. Roosevelt won:

1. 27.3 million-22.3 million

2. 449-82

ii. Democratic majorities remained in the House and Senate

d. Why Did Roosevelt Win?

i. Voters felt that should war come, the experienced leader was needed; Willkie had never held public office

ii. One should not change leaders in the middle of a crisis

XIII. Congress Passes the Lend-Lease Law

a. Lend-Lease Act of 1941

i. Bill #1776

ii. Entitled “An Act Further to Promote the Defense of the United States”

iii. Roosevelt came up with the concept of instead of lending money that might not be repaid, lending or leasing American arms that could be returned after the war was the way to go. Underlying concept was “Send guns, not sons”

iv. It would send a limitless supply of arms to the victims of aggression, who in turn would finish the job and keep the war on their side of the Atlantic. America would be the “Arsenal of democracy”

v. Also allowed for cash and carry, in which British and French ships could come into the U.S.’s ports and buy anything that they could carry

b. Critics of the Lend-Lease Act

i. Were isolationists and anti-Roosevelt Republicans (argued it put the U.S. on the side of the Allies)

ii. Believed that we were giving a blank check to Britain

XIV. Hitler’s Assault on the Soviet Union and the Atlantic Charter

a. Why Assault the Soviet Union?

i. Hitler and Stalin never trusted each other

ii. Stalin balked at German control of the Balkans

iii. Hitler needed the oil fields and other resources of the Soviet Union

iv. He assumed that his army would defeat the Soviet Union’s in a matter of weeks

b. Attacking the Soviets

i. Hitler launched an attack on the Soviets in June 1941

ii. Roosevelt gave some military supplies to the Soviets, extending the Lend-Lease Act to them as well as the British all in the name of American defense

iii. He gave the first installment, $1 billion out of $11 billion, under the Lend-Lease Act

iv. The Soviet winter stalled the German advance

c. Atlantic Conference

i. Held in 1941 on a battleship off the coast of Newfoundland

ii. Was between President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill

iii. This was the first of a series of conferences between the two men for the discussion of common problems, including Japan

d. Atlantic Charter

i. Came from the Atlantic Conference

ii. It was formally accepted by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin

iii. It outlined the aspirations for a better world at war’s end, including:

1. Affirmed the right of a people to choose their own form of government (self-determination) and to regain the governments abolished by the dictators

2. Declared for disarmament and a peace of security, pending a new League of Nations

iv. The charter was gratifying to subject populations, like the Poles, who were ground under the Germans

v. It was condemned in the U.S. by isolationists because “neutral” America had conferred with belligerent Britain

XV. U.S. Destroyers and Hitler’s U-boat Clash

a. Lending Arms To Britain

i. British ships would be sunk by German wolf-packs (groups of submarines)

ii. In order to get the ship’s freight to England, they had to be escorted by U.S. warships. If the decision was made to convoy freight ships, this could end in war. Congress considered this and still passed the Lend-Lease Act

iii. Although Hitler’s orders were to strike at American warships only in self-defense, there were incidents

iv. July 1941 –

1. Roosevelt decided to convoy as far as Iceland, then Britain would have to supply the convoy

v. September 1941 –

1. The U.S. destroyer Greer was trailing a German U-boat, which fired on the ship with no damage

2. Roosevelt declared a shoot-on-sight policy, basically declaring naval war against Germany

vi. October 1941 –

1. Escorting destroyer Kearny lost 11 men while engaged with U-boats

2. The destroyer Reuben James was sunk off the coast of Iceland, losing more than 100 men

vii. November 1941 –

1. Enraged, Congress revoked the Neutrality Act of 1939. This allowed:

a. Merchant ships to be armed

b. Merchant ships to enter the combat zones with supplies for Britain

XVI. Pearl Harbor

a. Events Leading To Pearl Harbor– December 7, 1941

i. China Incident (1937)

1. Was costly and took up resources

2. Its military was dependent on shipments of steel, scrap iron, oil, and aviation gasoline from the U.S.

3. Roosevelt refused to put an embargo on Japan for fear they would take the oil-rich, but defense-poor Dutch East Indies

ii. American Embargo (1940)

1. Roosevelt launched the first embargo against Japan

2. Japan needed oil – they could either obey the Americans or attack oil-rich supplies in Southeast Asia)

iii. Japan Seizes Indochina (mid-1941)

1. Japan focused their attention on SE Asia and seized Indochina (the Vichy government in France helped them)

2. As a result, Roosevelt froze Japanese financial assets in the United States and cut off all trade with Japan

3. Over the next several months, leaders of both nations still looked for ways in which to avoid war

iv. Japanese Plans For Aggression (November 1941)

1. It was learned through U.S. decoding Japanese codes, that Japan was planning further aggression in the Pacific

2. Japan thought that if they eliminated the Pacific fleet, they would be able to take over whatever they wanted quite easily in the Pacific Ocean

3. According to Japanese ship movements, Roosevelt believed the Philippines would be attacked first

b. Pearl Harbor – December 7^th, 1941 – A date that will live in infamy

i. At 7:00am on December 7^th, a Hawaiian radar operator was told to ignore a plip on the radar screen

ii. Shortly thereafter, 180 Japanese planes attacked the Pacific fleet and an airfield. In less than 2 hours:

1. 2,400 Americans KIA; 1,200 WIA

2. 300 planes

3. 21 ships damaged (all 8 battleships were sunk or immobilized)

iii. However, the Japanese were not successful:

1. Their main goal was to destroy 3 aircraft carriers, none of which were in the port at the time. 2 were at sea and 1 in CA for repairs

2. All but 2 naval vessels were repaired within 1 year

3. Many new ships were being built

iv. On December 8, 1941, Congress declared war on Japan. 82-0 Senate; House 388 to 1

v. On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S.

XVII. America Enters the War

a. Who Was On the Two Sides?

i. Axis – Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland, Romania, and Finland

ii. Grand Alliance – US, Soviet Union, Free French, Great Britain and its empire, and 56 other nations

b. How Were Americans Drawn Into the War?

i. Attack on Pearl Harbor

ii. Needed to help Britain by sending aid so it didn’t collapse; they were the only ally against Germany after the fall of France

iii. Wanted to halt Japan’s aggression in the Far East because it menaced American trade and security

iv. To keep Japan from expanding, the U.S. cut off vital Japanese supplies with embargoes, so Japan had to do something about that and began seizing areas with natural resources