This is part of the series of lectures on American foreign policies in the 1st half of the 20th century.

6. Nazi Germany Expansion

9. Trying to Stay Out of the Good
War
• Wars in Korea (1950-53),
Vietnam (1961-75), and Iraq
(2003-present)— were
supported by 75% of surveyed
Americans
• Summer 1940 79% of surveyed
Americans declared they would
vote "no" to a referendum on
American entry into war.

10. Neutrality Acts - 1935
• Goal: Protect US from events which
pressured US to enter WW1
• Requirements:
1.arms embargo against both victim and
aggressor in armed conflict;
2. warning American citizens that traveling
on ships of warring nations is at own risk.

11. Neutrality Act of 1939
1. Prohibited from transporting any
passengers or articles to belligerents
2. U.S. citizens forbidden from traveling
on ships of belligerent nations.
3. Cash and Carry Policy
- people in a fight could purchase only
non-military goods from the US,
- had to pay cash &
- carry goods away on their own
vessels.

12. Why do you think
FDR/Congress added the cash
and carry stipulation?

13. From Neutrality to Undeclared War
• When WW II began in 1939, FDR extends
Cash and Carry to military goods to help
allies.
• Responded with all-out aid to the Allies but
did not call for war
• In addition, FDR traded 50 old destroyers
with England for 8 naval bases in Western
Europe
“The destroyer-for-bases deal is the most
important action in the reinforcement of
our national defense that has been taken
since the Louisiana Purchase”
—FDR

14. From Neutrality to Undeclared War
Isolationists
• Appalled by this
departure from
neutrality & FDR’s
involvement of the
US in a foreign war
• “Fortress of America”
idea
• Germany was not a
threat to the US
Interventionists
• Groups like the
Committee to DefendCommittee to Defend
America by Aiding theAmerica by Aiding the
AlliesAllies called for
unlimited aid to
England
• Events in Europe did
impact US security
St. Louis Dispatch
headline:
“Dictator Roosevelt
Commits Act of War”
“The future of western
civilization is being
decided upon the
battlefield of Europe”
CDAAA chair, W. A.
White

16. From Neutrality to Undeclared War
• By 1940, England remained the only active
opposition to Hitler but was bankrupt &
couldn’t pay cash for weapons,
• FDR called for a Lend-Lease ActLend-Lease Act:
– US can sell or lend war supplies to G.B on
promise it will return or pay U.S. back after
war
– Congress put $7 billion to allow England full
access to US arms
US Cash and Carry Program

17. Lend-Lease Supply Routes

18. From Neutrality to Undeclared War
• England desperately needed help escorting
these supplies through the u-boat infested
Atlantic
– FDR allowed for US patrols in the western half
of the Atlantic to reveal the location of
German subs
– German attacks on US ships led to an
undeclared naval war in 1941 & allowed US
ships to fully deliver war supplies to Allies
US Cash and Carry Program

19. Roosevelt’sFour Freedom’s
Speech
January 6, 1941

20. "In the future days, which we seek to make secure,
we look forward to a world founded upon four
essential human freedoms.

21. " The first is freedom of speech and expression—
everywhere in the world.”

22. “The second is freedom of every person to worship
God in his own way—everywhere in the world.”

23. “The third is freedom from want which will secure to
every nation a healthy peacetime life for its
inhabitants—everywhere in the world.”

24. “The fourth is freedom from fear—which means a
world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point
that no nation will be in a position to commit an act
of physical aggression against any neighbor —
anywhere in the world.”

25. Reception of theSpeech
• Received heavy criticism from anti-war
contingents and many pro-liberty
advocates within Congress
• Only a vengeance for an aggression would
have been a good reason for war

26. AmericaEmbargoesJapan
• FDR wanted to weaken Japan
– Restricted strategic materials to Japan
• 80% of Japan’s oil came from the U.S.
• Congress passes the Export Control Act
– Japan allied itself with Germany & Italy
• Lend-Lease aid to China
– FDR froze Japanese assets
– Force Japan out of China
– Japanese negotiate, but prepare for war

33. FDR asks Congress to declare war on Japan:
Near unanimous vote supporting war

36. Japan Continuation &
Conclusion
• A huge invasion force stood ready to
attack Japan.
• The United States had developed a
frightfully destructive new weapon.
• The top-secret Manhattan Project had
begun in 1942.

37. Japan: To surrender
unconditionally or face "utter
destruction."
• Truman decided to use the new weapon
on two Japanese cities.
• On August 6, an A-bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima, and on August 9, a second
bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. About
250,000 Japanese died, either
immediately or after a prolonged period of
suffering