The Road to War

Chapter 17

ISOLATIONISM•Over 100,000+ died during WWI•US wanted out of world affairs & wanted no “entangling alliances” that would drag the US into the war during 1920s-30s

•Wanted to stay out of organizations that may get us into war—like the League of Nations & World Court

PROMOTING PEACE• Disarmament: US worked with other nations to negotiate

reduction of military & Pacific security through the Washington Conference.

• Wanted to reduce naval power of US, GB, & Japan specifically• US/GB =, Japan 60% of US, Fr/It 50% of Japan• “Naval Holiday” not build ships for a specific time period

• Kellogg Briand Pact: a pact that outlawed war, except in self-defense

• 62 nations agreed• no way to enforce such actions though

• “As effective to keep down war as a carpet would be to smother an earthquake.”

Neutrality Acts of the 1930s• The US no longer will give out any loans to warring countries—had

done so for WWI and nations were not repaying their loans• August 1935:Congress passed the first Neutrality Act prohibiting the

export of “arms, ammunition, and implements of war” from the United States to foreign nations at war

• February 1936:Congress renewed the Act until May 1937 and prohibited Americans from extending any loans to belligerent nations

• Neutrality Act of 1937: U.S. citizens were forbidden from traveling on enemy ships, and American merchant ships were prevented from transporting arms to warring nations even if those arms were produced outside of the US

CASH & CARRY• nations were allowed, at the discretion of the President, to acquire any items

(except arms) from the US, as long as they immediately paid for such items & carried them on non-American ships

• raw materials such as oil were not considered weapons/arms, so the “cash-and-carry” clause would be quite valuable to whatever nation could make use of it

• Roosevelt made this in a deliberate way to assist GB & Fr in any war against the Axis Powers

• November 1939, a final Neutrality Act passed--lifted the arms embargo & put all trade with warring nations under the terms of “cash-and-carry.”

• The ban on loans remained in effect, and American ships were barred from transporting goods to enemy ports

Debt & Reparations•European nations felt that US should cancel their debts from war time loans ($10 billion to mostly GB, Fr, Italy)• US lowered interest rates & cancelled a part of the debt• Euro countries forced to collect reparations from Germany

($32 billion)•Germans complained that their reparations was too much• Took out loans from GB• Printed paper money…which caused MASSIVE inflation

Dawes Plan• 1924-30: provided loans &

gave Germany more time to make reparations payments

• Pres. Hoover even stopped payments during Depression

US ALLIES

GERMANY

$2.6 BILL IN WAR DEBT PAYMENTS

$2.5 BILL IN LOANS

$2.0 BILL IN REPARATIONS

PAYMENTS

Good Neighbor Policy• “In the field of world policy I would dedicate this nation to the policy of

the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself & because he does so, respects the rights of others.”

--Franklin D. Roosevelt

•Cancelled the Platt Amendment (out of Cuban affairs)•Agreed to stay out of issues in Panama, pull mil from Haiti

Good Neighbor Policy, cont.

•US bus. Invested BIG time (banana, coffee, sugar) which helped countries with rds/rr/ports, etc• Became known as “banana republics”

•Held much economic power, which led to political power

•US was going to pull back on all political power throughout Latin America directly

Mussolini in Italy• Many Italians were upset b/c vets couldn’t find jobs• Italian Communist party urged peasants to take over land &

factories• Mussolini created the Fascist Party in 1921• Fascist vs. Communists= bordering on civil war within Italy• Mussolini led the army known as the Blackshirts into Rome in 1922• Supported by nationalists that wanted to strengthen Italy &

business people that opposed Socialists/Communists• Mussolini pledged to make Italy an Imperial power

Fascism• Military dominated government should control all aspects of

society

• Invoke a threat• establish secret

prisons• develop paramilitary

force• keep surveillance on

citizens• infiltrate citizen’s

groups

• detaining citizens for no reason

• target individuals• restrict the press• label dissent as treason• follow rule of law• disarm citizens

Traits of Fascism:

Stalin• Stalin took over after Lenin died after a brief power struggle• Turned SU into a totalitarian state: country where the govt has

complete control• Made all private farms into state run farms• Established forced labor camps• Food production down, famine up• Red Army: Stalin was paranoid & used to stop all perceived threats &

opposition• No exact number, but could be as many as 30 million killed by

Stalin’s policies

Rise of Hitler• German WWI vet (survived gas attack) that was looking for

someone to blame for his country’s problems• Felt that it was the govt’s fault & not the military• Blamed Jews/Communists/intellectuals for everything

• Joined a radical organization (Nazi) & plotted to overthrow the govt

• Plot failed, arrested—sent to prison in 1923• Planned revenge against those that has betrayed him• Wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggles)

HITLER, cont•His new govt that he began when he took over Germany was known as Third Reich (3rd Empire)• No Jews or Non-Nazis were allowed to be in the govt• Made military service mandatory• Outlawed strikes• Brownshirts: squashed all political opposition

•Used industry to rearm the nation, violating the Treaty of Versailles

•1936: began to take over countries to expand German territory

HITLER, cont.• Anti-Semitism: extreme hatred of Jews; became official govt

policy of Nazi Germany• Nuremberg Laws: deprive Jews of German citizenship &

destroyed their property• Kristallnacht: “Night of Broken Glass” Nov. 9,1938

• Nazi burned down Jewish synagogues & businesses• Many Jews fled Germany to neighboring areas

• Many of the most educ came to the US

Franco (Spain)• Spain passed a Constitution that limited power of military & Catholic

Church, universal suffrage, etc. but not everyone agreed with those changes

• The Fascist Party (led by Franco) took over govt w/ help from Germany & Italy

• The Loyalist had little help from the Soviet Union; the US didn’t help b/c we were hoping to stay isolated

• The Popular Front was an international organization that stood up to Fascist w/ the Loyalists (incl. some Americans)

• Many Loyalists were bitter over the Western nations NOT helping them to defeat the Fascist party

Japanese Militarism• Military continued to grow, wanted to reduce reliance on

foreign imports & expand control is East Asia & Pacific• Wanted to have control of their own iron, oil, rubber, and

timber supply• Invaded Manchuria & violated the Washington

Conference pledge, began to rapidly increase their Navy• 1937: Japan vs. China

• League of Nation & US condemned Japanese actions but didn’t do anything to stop it

Preparation for War•Axis Powers: Germany/Italy/Japan (later)•Munich Conference: European ldrs meet to try to negotiate a peace treaty in Sept. 1938• Appeasement: give into demands to avoid larger conflict

—gave Germans Sudetenland to try to make Hitler happy• Only made him hungrier for more land instead of making

him happy & encouraged him to rearm

War Begins….•GB/Fr announced they would attack Ger. if they attacked Poland—and asked the SU to join them

•Unknown to GB/Fr, Stalin (SU) signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler—they would NOT attack each other, & would split Poland

•Allied Powers: GB & Fr…declared war on Germany when they moved into Poland

•Lend-Lease Act: The Allies had little $ for war materials, so US passed this act for non-Axis nations ONLY

Germany’s Offense• Blitzkreig (lightning war) vs. Poland got the Allies mobilized• Germany attacked the Maginot Line (border of Fr/Ger) while

they had moved to help Poland• Germany able to defeat France easily, and almost trapped

Allied troops (barely escaped across the English Channel)• Vichy, Fr: becomes a “puppet govt” for Germany

• secret organization w/in France known as the Resistance continued to oppose Germany

Great Britain fights back…

• Now standing alone vs. the Axis powers now that France has fallen• New election puts Winston Churchill in power as Prime Minister—he

had warned not to give in to Hitler at all• Royal Air Force (RAF) doing all they can to attack Germany non stop

from the air• Joins with the US in the Atlantic Charter: a joint agreement not to

expand their territory, let other nations choose their own govt, to continue free trade, etc

• Soon to be gaining another ally, as Germany invades SU too (violating their non-aggression pact)

• SU not successful, they weren’t prepared for Germany coming at them

Japan is on the move too!

• Expanded into Asia, so US stopped all shipments of tools, gas, oil, steel, etc

• Hideki Tojo begins to secretly plan an attack on the US, but kept having “peace talks” with the US trying to fix the embargo

• The US was able to decipher the Japanese code, & figured out an attack was coming—but didn’t know when or where

• We soon would find out….our Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Attack on Pearl Harbor!!• Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941 @ 8am

• Most of our Pacific Fleet was housed there• 20 warships destroyed, many others heavily damaged• 200+ aircraft destroyed (including 100 that were sitting

out on runways)• 2400 Americans killed (1103 trapped/killed on the USS

Arizona alone)• The US declared war on Japan the next day

http://youtu.be/3VqQAf74fsE

Advantages & Disadvantages of Both Sides

ALLIES*Adv:

*Adv:

*Adv:

*Disadv:

*Disadv:

AXIS*Adv:

*Adv:

*Adv:

*Adv:

*Adv:

*Disadv:

Advantages & Disadvantages of Both Sides

ALLIES*Adv: US prod. capabilities

*Adv: SU lg military

*Adv: GB/SU hadn’t been beaten

*Disadv: faced long war on multiple fronts

*Disadv: enemy held strong ctrl of areas in Pacific & Euro

AXIS*Adv: better prepared for war

*Adv: firm ctrl over invaded areas

*Adv: rearmed since the 1930s

*Adv: had airflds, barracks, training ctrs

*Adv: econ had prepared

*Disadv: had to defend multiple fronts

Mobilization in the US• Factories switch from peace time prod to war time goods• Unions agree NOT to strike, just like during WWI• 1940=22,000 factory workers in arms prod….1943=486,000!• 1940-1945: No cars produced, factories switched to planes, jeeps,

tanks, guns, landing craft, subs, aircraft carriers, warships, and merchant ships

• Unemployment rate 1940=14.6%.....1944=1.2%• Urbanization (AGAIN!)—many small farmers/sharecroppers headed

to the factories & shipyards to get more $• Even though many workers left, farms still were able to increase prod

enough to supply America & the Allies to a certain extent (10% approx—GB/SU)

Mobilization in the US• WPB: War Production Board—help convert factories to wartime prod

& oversee building of new ones• OWM: Office of War Mobilization—coordinate all govt agencies in

war effort• Production/Distribution of goods; encourage recycling & rationing

• OPA: Office of Price Administration—set max prices on goods• Start rationing of scarce items: gas, tires, coffee, sugar, meat, butter, canned

goods• Froze wages & prices to stabilize economy

• # of Americans paying income taxes increased to pay for war• Sold war bonds to pay for war & help keep inflation down

Size of Military• Selective Training & Service Act—all men 21-35 had to

register• Local draft boards look at each man to see who should be

drafted (family, health, religion, etc)• Before the war, the US had 5% of the total trained military

(12 million) that it would need for WWII• 2/3 were drafted, rest were volunteers• 300,000 women: auxiliary units to free men up for active

duty (behind the scenes)—nurses, drivers, pilots, etc

The Homefront• Stars in windows: blue (in war), gold (died in war)• Media encouraged to help keep up morale—new movies, songs, etc• Radio broadcasted news & entertainment/shows

• Office of War Info controlled what info the public got in the US• Radio shows changed their topics & got rid of sound effects that might panic people

• Propaganda

The Homefront• Victory Gardens: grow own vegetables to can/preserve so that the canned

goods can be sent overseas to US/Allied troops• Restrictions on West Coast: BLACKOUTS…cover windows, lower lights

• Avoid Japan seeing large cities to know where to bomb

• Practice air raid drills• Rosie the Riveter: women that stepped into the workforce in traditionally male

jobs• No dresses….overalls & bandanas instead• Increased 6 million from 1940-44• Anything from reporter to factory worker to truck driver• Still pd less• AA/women over 40 were less likely to get a job

The Homefront• Equal treatment: minorities were getting more opportunities,

but still facing discrimination• Higher paying jobs: many still would only hire as janitors &

such, not in positions of advancement• military advancements in rank—but still in segregated units,

no combat• Fair Employment Practices Committee: set up to make sure =

applicants were considered, regardless of race• Hard to enforce though