The Road to WWII

American Isolationism• Following WWI,

Americans began to overwhelmingly support isolationism, or avoiding involvement in international disputes

• This isolationist ideal was the driving force behind the US not joining the League of Nations

The Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)• The pact was an

international agreement, signed by nearly every free nation in the world, that essentially banned war

• The signing nations agreed to limit the size of their navies & other offensive weapons

• There was, however, no way to enforce the pact, so it wasn’t very effective

Europe Refuses to Pay• In 1934, all European

nations in Europe (except Finland) who had WWI-related war debts to the US announced that they were broke (due to the Great Depression) and would not repay what they owed

• This encouraged Americans to become even more isolationist

The Nye Committee• Congress created a special

committee in 1934 to investigate the role that weapons manufacturers had in involving the US in WWI

• The Nye Committee’s report implied that certain businesses had profited from the war, leading many American’s to believe that they had been tricked into entering WWI

• Again, this encouraged American support of isolationism

The Neutrality Acts• In 1935, Congress passed the first

Neutrality Act, making it illegal for the US to sell weapons to any nation at war

• In 1937, Congress expanded the Neutrality Act to require any non-military supplies sold to nations at war to be paid for in cash and transported on their own ships

• In 1939, after WWII had started, the Act was amended to allow arms sales to Britain, but still under “cash & carry” terms

Roosevelt’s Internationalism

• FDR wasn’t an isolationist• He supported the idea that

trade between nations increases prosperity for all and decreases the chances of war, an idea not supported by the American public

• For political reasons, FDR had to be careful not to push Americans too hard on getting involved in foreign affairs

The Quarantine Speech• October 1937• FDR called for a

“quarantine” (political and economic sanctions) against any “aggressor” nations who disregard international law or attack their neighbors unprovoked

• The speech angered many American isolationists because it called for US involvement in the foreign affairs of others

US and European Jews• 1933 – 39: 350,000

Jews fled Germany, most seeking to flee Europe altogether

• Many applied for visas to emigrate to the US, but were denied due to US immigration quotas and strong American nativism

Germany Violates the Treaty of Versailles

• Under the Nazis, Germany began to rebuild its military, both by increasing its size and by developing new weaponry

• In 1936, the German Wermacht (army) reoccupied the demilitarized zone along the Rhine River

• France & Britain, while disturbed by Hitler’s moves, took no action to stop them

Why No Action?• France was politically

unstable and too weak to face Germany alone

• France believed their Maginot Line could protect them from any German advances

• France & Britain both believed that Stalin was a greater threat than Hitler, so a strong Germany might be useful as a shield against the Soviets

Why No Action?• Britain, protected by water,

wanted to avoid a war at all costs

• Britain regretted making the terms of the Treaty of Versailles so unfair

• American isolationism and passage of the Neutrality Acts led Britain to doubt that they would get any support from the US if they went to war

The Spanish Civil War• Political divisions in

Spain led to a civil war from 1936 to 1939

• Hitler used the fighting as an opportunity to test German military weaponry and tactics by aiding Francisco Franco’s fascist forces throughout the conflict

The Anschluss• In 1938, Hitler, with the

help of Austrian Nazis, annexed his native country of Austria to Germany

• Hitler’s new goals were to create a state that included all German speaking peoples and then to provide them with “lebensraum” (living room) by taking land from the “inferior” Slavs of Eastern Europe

Czechoslovakia• Later in 1938, Hitler

demanded that Czechoslovakia surrender the Sudetenland (German territory taken to help create Czechoslovakia after WWI)

• The Czechs refused and called on Britain and France to back them up

The Munich Conference• Britain and France, after

receiving promises that Hitler would engage in no further aggression if the Sudetenland was surrendered, decided on a policy of appeasement (letting an enemy have what they want in order to avoid war) and agreed to support Germany’s claim

• The Czechs were left with little option but to give in

Peace for Our Time• Britain and France agreed

to allow Hitler to take the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia; Hitler, in turn, promised that he would engage in no further territorial aggression in Europe

• British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned home declaring to the British public that “I believe it is peace for our time” (it wasn’t!)

Appeasement Fails• In March 1939, Hitler

broke his promise and invaded Czechoslovakia, quickly conquering the nation

• Believing they were next, Poland panicked and sought guarantees of protection from England in France

The Nazi-Soviet Pact• In August 1939, Germany and the

Soviet Union stunned Europe by announcing they had signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression pact (not an alliance, just an agreement not to fight one another)

• The two countries had also secretly agreed to jointly invade Poland and split the country between them

• This removed the Soviet Union as a potential ally for Britain and France if a war with Germany broke out

The Invasion of Poland• September 1, 1939• German forces invaded

from the west, while Soviets invaded from the east

• By the end of September, Poland had been conquered

• At the same time, the Soviets also moved against Finland and the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia)

Blitzkrieg• During the invasion of

Poland, the Germans debuted a new military tactic which they had perfected in the Spanish Civil War

• Blitzkrieg, or "Lightning War,” German tactic of striking with tremendous speed and force, with the intention of knocking out your enemy before they can react to your attack

Poland Falls• After the attack, Britain

and France, honoring their pledge to defend Poland, finally declared war against Germany

• From September 1939 to April 1940 (a period called the “Phony War”), no fighting took place as both sides prepared for the war to come

Germany’s Next Moves• To secure their northern

border, Germany invaded both Norway and Denmark, winning easy victories in April of 1940

• By late spring, Germany was able to turn its attention west and invaded Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands in preparation for an attack against France

The Miracle at Dunkirk• Allied forces had moved into

Belgium to meet the German advance, but quickly found themselves cut-off and surrounded

• Allied forces raced to reach the port of Dunkirk on the English Channel, their only means of escaping defeat & capture

• The British were able to safely evacuate over 300,000 men to England by using every available ship in Great Britain, but were forced to abandon all of their heavy equipment

The Fall of France• The evacuation of Allied

troops across the English Channel left France undefended

• Germany captured Paris on June 13th and the French government formally surrendered on June 22nd, 1940

The Axis Powers• In September 1940, a new mega-

alliance was created with the signing of the Tripartite Pact

• The pact formally joined Italy, Germany, and Japan in a military alliance

• Each power expected to control its own sphere of interest – Germany would dominate Europe and Russia, Italy would dominate the Mediterranean and Africa, while Japan would have sway in East Asia and the Pacific

Destroyers for Bases Deal

• Spring 1940: FDR agreed to trade 50 surplus US Navy destroyers to Britain (who needed them to protect shipping) in exchange for allowing the US to build naval bases in British-controlled territories

Isolationism Debate• The Destroyers for Bases Deal

opened a new debate over what role, if any, America should have in the war

• Some people wanted the US to take an active role in the war (Ex. Fight for Freedom Committee)

• Some wanted the US to increase aid to the Allies but not get involved in the fighting (Ex. Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies)

• Some opposed ANY involvement in the war (Ex. America First Committee)

FDR’s “Four Freedoms” Speech

• January 1941• Roosevelt argued that

the US & Britain were natural allies because they both stood for:

• Freedom of speech• Freedom of worship• Freedom from want• Freedom from fear

Lend-Lease Act• March 1941• US declared that it would

lend or lease weapons (since it couldn’t sell them due to the Neutrality Acts) to nations considered “vital to the defense of the US”

• US went on to send $40 billion in weapons to the Allies over the course of WWII

Hemispheric Defense Zone• To help protect British

shipping, FDR declared the entire Western Atlantic to be part of the Western Hemisphere and thereby under the protection of the US per the Monroe Doctrine

• FDR then ordered the US Navy to patrol this part of the Atlantic, leading to several deadly encounters between US destroyers and German U-boats

Winston Churchill• 1874 – 1965 (life)• 1940-45 & 1951-55 (British Prime

Minister)• Although Britain now stood alone

against Germany, they remained defiant, with Churchill vowing “… we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender”

The Battle of Britain• To be able to invade Britain, Germany

would first need to destroy the Royal Air Force (RAF) and soften beachhead defenses through aerial bombing

• From June to October of 1940, an air battle was waged between the RAF and the Luftwaffe (German Air Force)

• Despite being outnumbered, the British managed to win the air battle, forcing Hitler to abandon his plans to invade Britain

• “Never in the field of human conflict have so many owed so much to so few.” - Churchill

“The Blitz”• Sept. 1940 – May 1941• Sustained bombing campaign by

Germany against major British cities, targeting British civilians

• London was bombed 57 nights in a row

• 43,000 civilians killed• German objective was to instill

fear in the British people in hopes that they would sue for peace; instead the British grew more determined to win the war

• British retaliated with fire-bombing raids on German cities

The Atlantic Charter• August 1941• FDR met with British Prime

Minister Winston Churchill to lay out a post-war plan for economic prosperity

• Many question whether or not this is where FDR promised Churchill that he would find a way to get the American people to support the US entering the war

The Axis in the Mediterranean• In The Balkans, Italian and German

forces seized control of most of the peninsula by late 1941, but still had to deal with partisan uprisings, especially in Greece & Yugoslavia, throughout the war

• In North Africa, Axis forces fought mostly British troops in back-and-forth battles throughout most of 1940, 1941, & 1942; Germany’s inability to decisively win on the “Southern Front” of the war would prove costly

Operation Barbarossa• In June 1941, Germany broke the

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and attacked the Soviet Union

• Stalin was not prepared for the German attack and the Wehrmacht (German Army) had made deep advances into Soviet territory by December

• Soviet forces resorted to a “scorched earth” campaign, burning everything of use to the Germans as they retreated across the Ukraine

• Finally, the harsh Russian winter stalled the Germans, buying the Soviets time to regroup and stop the German advances

Siege of Leningrad• Sept. 1941 – Jan. 1944• Hitler was obsessed with capturing

the Soviet city of Leningrad due both to its symbolical importance as the “City of Lenin” (Lenin had led the Bolshevik Revolution) and its military importance as a naval port on the North Sea

• 1.5 million Soviets died during the siege, mostly from starvation and disease; the population resorted to eating sawdust, boiled leather, rats, pets, horses, and, eventually, each other!

Battle of Stalingrad• July 1942 – February 1943• Bloodiest battle in history• 1.5 million killed• Vicious urban warfare as the

Germans and Soviets fought street by street, building by building for control of the city

• Soviets eventually encircled the German army, which was forced to surrender en masse

• 500,000 Germans captured, but few of them survived being imprisoned in the brutal Soviet gulags (prison camps)

Japan Takes Advantage• 1940 - 41: As war raged

in Europe, Japan occupied French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, & Cambodia) and positioned itself to threaten British colonies and the US-controlled Philippines

US Embargo of Japan• In response, US cut off

Japan’s access to critical war materials such as steel and oil (both of which Japan bought almost entirely from America) to put pressure on Japan to make peace with China and Britain

• Japan considered this an act of war and began to plan an attack on US military facilities in Hawaii and the Philippines

Pearl Harbor• December 7, 1941• Japan launched a surprise

attack against US naval base in Hawaii

• 4 battleships destroyed, 4 more seriously damaged, but Japan failed to destroy US aircraft carriers

• Support vessels and facilities suffered massive damage

• 2403 Americans killed, 1178 wounded

• Japanese lost only 29 aircraft and 65 men

US Declares War• Dec. 8, 1941: US and

Britain declared war against Japan

• Dec. 11, 1941: Germany and Italy declared war against the US, believing that by helping Japan against the US, Japan would help them against the Soviets