Roosevelt's Foreign Policy

IV. Roosevelt's Foreign Policy
A. Additional Attempts at Naval Disarmament

29 Dec 1934 - Japan denounced Treaty of 1922 limiting its tonnage to less than Britain and US.
When Britain and the US refused under the terms of the 5-Power Treaty, to permit Japan to increase its ships to a level equal to their own; Japan withdrew from it by Dec 1936.

Good Neighbor Policy

Background
a. 1933 - Herbert Hoover set the stage for a new direction in the relationship between the US and Latin America by withdrawing marines from Nicaragua.
b. At his first inauguration, he announced a partial repudiation of the Roosevelt Corollary
Good Neighbor Policy in Action
a. 26 Dec 1933 - 7th Pan American Conference unanimously agreed that "No state has the right to intervene in the internal affairs of another."
(1) Although previously attempted at Pan American conferences under Hoover, the US representative had effectively blocked its passage.
(2) 28 Dec - Roosevelt announced that the US opposed armed intervention
b. Cuban Relationship Altered - 29 May 1934 - a new agreement, signed with the Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista , abrogated the Platt Amendment
(1) The US retained its rights to the naval lease at Guantanamo Bay.
(2) The new agreement could not be canceled without the consent of both parties.
c. Haiti - 6 Aug 1934 - US troops were withdrawn, where they had been since 1915.
d. Canal Zone - Panama
(1) Hay-Buneau-Varilla Treaty (1903) was altered, giving Panama certain commercial rights of sovereignty over the Canal Zone, permitting increased payments to Panama, pledging joint action against any aggressive act against canal security and expanding canal facilities.
(2) US Senate did not ratify the alteration until 25 July 1939.
e. Mexico
(1) 8 Mar 1935 - Mexico seized the property of US oil firms and the US insisted on fair compensation for the companies.
(2) Instead of armed intervention, the US and Mexico reached a financial agreement in 1941, allowing Mexico to pay some compensation to US oil firms.
(3) In return for most of Mexico's demands, US received a secure Southern border

Recognition of the Soviet Union - 16 Nov 1933
a. Roosevelt, wanting to increase trade to aid the American economic depression, officially recognized communist Soviet Union.
b. Soviets agreed not in interfere in the internal affairs of the US (i.e., to abstain from propaganda) and to allow religious freedom for Americans in the Soviet Union and a fair trial for Americans accused of crimes in the Soviet Union.
c. But increased trade did not materialize because no loans were made to the USSR.
London Economic Conference
a. 66 nations met in London 12 June - 27 July 1933 to discuss currency stability.
b. Because the US had gone off the gold standard and the conference supported the gold standard, FDR did not support Conference recommendations
c. Roosevelt preferred to discuss better trade relations as a solution instead.
Tydings-McDuffie Act - 24 March 1934
a. The Philippines were granted independence in ten years, once the Philippine legislature ratified the agreement which they did on 1 May
b. The first president of the Philippines. Manuel Quezon y Malina elected on 17 Sept. was inaugurated on 15 Nov 1935.
c. Because of Japanese occupation, independence was delayed until 4 July 1946.
Persia became known as Iran in 1935
King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne on 11 Dec 1936, choosing to marry the twice-divorced American, Wallis Warfield Simpson .
Ethiopia 1935
a. Italy, defeated by Ethiopia earlier, sought revenge and invaded the African nation.
b. When Emperor Haile Selassie appealed to the League of Nations who proclaimed Italy as the aggressor, Italy withdrew from the League of Nations.
c. Britain and France attempted to soothe Benito Mussolini with the Hoare-Laval Pact , which granted to Italy control of a large portion of Ethiopia.
Nicaragua 1936
a. Anastasio Somoza seized power, proclaiming himself president in 1937.
b. Indicating that he is pro-American, although Roosevelt was told that he was nothing but a dictator, replied: "He may be an S.O.B., but he's our S.O.B."
Spain
a. 17 July 1936 - Spanish troops in Morocco proclaimed a revolution against the government in Madrid, now controlled by a leftist Popular Front.
b. The leader of the conservative elements in Spain was Gen Francisco Franco
c. This full-scale civil war served as a proving ground for the European nations, positioning themselves for possible war again.
Berlin Olympics 1936
a. Germany hosted the Olympics, hoping to vindicate Nazi beliefs in Aryan superiority, but was embarassed when a black American, Jesse Owens , won several gold medals.
b. When Hitler snubbed the American athlete, the Olympic Committee ruled that if Hitler could not honor each winner, he could not honor any.
Hemispheric Solidarity -- Nations in the western hemisphere met to deal with the rise of fascist (and totalitarian) regimes in Europe.
a. Buenos Aires Conference - Dec 1936
(1) If a nation outside the Western hemisphere attacked a nation in the hemisphere, it would be perceived as an attack on all the nations in the hemisphere.
(2) 21 nations affirmed this principle of mutual consultation, to consult one another if war was threatened.
b. Declaration of Lima - Dec 1938
(1) At the 8th International American Conference, the absolute sovereignty of the American states was affirmed.
(2) It determined to resist foreign intervention or any threatening activities.
Reciprocal Trade Agreement 12 June 1934
a. Trade Agreement Act, passed for 3 years, authorized the President to reduce by up to 50% a tariff on any nation's goods who reduced their tariffs against US goods without Congressional approval on a case by case basis.
b. The act was extended later to June 1940 under the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act.
c. By 1939, 21 nations were involved in tariff reducing pacts with the US under this act.

Background
a. Nineteen Twenties
(1) The US shunned any type of collective security agreement as was required in the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.
(2) The US was not strictly isolationist, but attempted to participate in world events of their choosing, like the Washington Naval Disarmament Conference in 1922 which produced the Five Power Treaty, and Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928.
(3) When the US economy collapsed in 1929, an anti-business mood gripped the public, increasingly searching for reasons for US participation in WW I.
(4) Road To War America l9l4-1917 (1935) by Walter Millis was a bestseller.
(a) Its thesis - certain factors had worked to pull the US into WW I.
(b) Among the factors: British propaganda, purchase of US munitions by European allies, Wilson's favoritism for the British, although they violated US neutrality.
b. European Scene
(1) FDR's rise to power paralleled Adolph Hitler's rise as German Chancellor
(a) 1930 - Hitler's Nationalist Socialist Party (Nazis ) emerged as the majority party in Germany winning 107 seats in the German Reichstag.
(b) 1933 - Weimar Republic collapsed and President Hindenberg appointed Hitler as Chancellor of Germany.
(c) After the Reichstag burned, German communists were blamed.
(d) Using German distaste for the Treaty of Versailles, armistice signed by the "Nov criminals" and German economic collapse blamed on the huge reparations demanded by the allies, Hitler emerged as strong man, dictator.
(e) 1934 - Hitler combined the office of Chancellor and President to create the office of Fuhrer (leader), slowly consolidating power by outlawing freedom of the press, labor unions and all political parties except the Nazis.
(2) Likewise in Italy, the Fascist movement which began a revolution in 1922 culminated in the rise of Benito Mussolini as Fascist dictator of Italy.
(3) In Spain, the conservative leader battling the leftist Popular Front was Gen Francisco Franco who won and remained neutral in WW II.
Early Congressional Actions
a. Nye Committee - Beginning 12 April 1934
(1) The anti-Business climate caused Senator Gerald P. Nye (ND) to investigate armament sales and manufacture during WW I, revealing that huge profits had been made by American financiers and munitions manufacturers
(2) The Committee's investigation continued into 1936, confirming the view that wars were fought to profit a small minority, but evidence was inconclusive in determining if the covert efforts of these same groups had aided in the US entry into WW I on the allied side.
(3) This investigation set the stage for the rise of isolationist sentiment in the US
b. Johnson Debt Default Act - 13 April 1934 - Banned loans to foreign governments in default to the US on their WW I debt (Finland was the only nation not in default).
c. 29 Jan 1935 - US Senate 52-36 rejected a treaty to allow US participation in the world court, an action of which both aggressors Italy and Germany took note.
d. Ludlow Amendment - high point of isolationist sentiment
(1) After some debate in the House, an amendment offered by Rep. Louis Ludlow (IN) was narrowly defeated by a vote of 202-200 in the 75th Congress.
(2) If passed, the US Congress could not have declared war without a nationwide public referendum, unless the US or one of its possessions were directly attacked.
(3) It showed the depth of isolationist sentiment among the American public.
e. Neutrality Acts - 1935-39
(1) First Neutrality Act - 31 Aug 1935 - Feb 1936
(a) President had to embargo munitions to all belligerents in a war.
(b) US citizens could travel on belligerent vessels or into war zones only at their own risk.
(c) It created a federal agency to okay arms exportation to any nation
(d) It was first used in Oct 1935 when Italy attacked Ethiopia.
(2) Second Neutrality Act - Feb 1936 - 1 May 1937 - extended the first act
(a) It added a prohibition against extending loans or credit to belligerents
(b) 6 Jan 1937 - it was extended to include "civil wars" (Spain's had begun)
i) 7 Aug - US stated that it would not interfere in Spain's civil war
ii) 1 Apr 1939 - the US recognized the new government of Spain.
(3) Third Neutrality Act - 1 May 1937 - extended the provisions of 1st 2 acts.
(a) It expanded the embargo, listing commodities limited to a cash-and-carry system, effectively limiting US ships from carrying goods into war zones.
(b) But the wording of the act permitted the President to delay implementing it, when fighting was renewed by Japan against China July 1937.
i) President had to recognize an armed conflict existed before the embargo was valid.
ii) The US shipped much aid to China before Roosevelt officially declared the embargo on 14 Sept 1937
(c) Unfortunately, the embargo applied only to armaments, and not to raw materials which could produce munitions, allowing Japan to continue to purchase from US sources such items as scrap iron, copper, and oil.
(4) Fourth Neutrality Act - 4 Nov 1939
(a) After Germany invaded Poland, Congress in special session repealed the arms embargo
(b) It allowed belligerent nations to purchase munitions on the same cash-and carry basis, which obviously favored the sea power, Britain.

Isolationist Sentiment Measured
a. Chicago Quarantine Speech - 5 Oct 1937 - FDR's trial balloon on collective security
(1) "When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread, the community approves and joins in a quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health of the community against the spread of the disease .... Most important of all, the will for peace must express itself to the end that nations that may be tempted to violate their agreements and the rights of others will desist from such a course. ... There must be positive endeavors to preserve peace ... Therefore, America actively engages in the search for peace."
(2) FDR had moved ahead of public opinion polls that revealed a growing fear that the US might be moving toward entanglement in another European war.
(3) 21 Mar 1938 - ex-president Hoover took issue with FDR, speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations, arguing against US involvement in collective security arrangements.
b. USS Panay Incident - 12 Dec 1937
(1) Japan, at war with China, attacked a river gunboat, the USS Panay , on the Yangtze River, killing two US citizens.
(2) Although the US government immediately protested Japanese actions, instead of demanding action against Japan, US public opinion demanded to know what the Panay was doing, escorting 3 Esso oil tankers to China in a war zone.
(3) 14 Dec - Japan officially apologized for the attack, agreed to pay damages and promised to avoid such attacks in the future.
(4) The incident demonstrated that the US public was reluctant to risk any actions which might involve the US in another war.
FDR began private correspondence with Winston Churchill, promising to aid Britain in whatever capacity he legally could.
1938 State of the Union Address - FDR noted a need for adequate strength in self defense.

V. Steps to War in Europe
A. European Actions Which Led to War

Early Prepatory Steps of Hitler's Germany
a. Oct 1933 - Germany withdrew from the Geneva Disarmament Conference and League of Nations, causing the conference to collapse the next year without German participation.
b. Jan 1934 - Germany signed a non-aggression pact with Poland.
c. Mar 1934 - Universal conscription raised an army of 550,000 and a substantial air force
(1) Britain, France and Italy condemned German actions in the League of Nations but did not back up their words, effectively killing the Treaty of Versailles.
(2) Britain permitted Germany to have a navy 1/3 the size of Britain's.
d. 7 Mar 1936 - German reoccupation of the Rhineland went unchallenged.
e. 17 Nov - Anti-Comintern Pact (anti-communist) -- Germany, Japan, Italy.
f. 13 Mar 1938 - Germany annexed Austria after forcing Austrian Chancellor, Kurtum Schuschnigg, to abdicate, before Germany sent in troops to "restore order."
Czech Crisis and Munich Agreement- 30 Sept 1938
a. Hitler announced plans to annex the Sudentenland, containing 3 million Germans, which had been taken from Germany after WWI and given to Czechoslovakia.
b. 27 Sept - FDR sent personal notes to France, Britain, Germany and Czechoslovakia, asking that a peaceful solution be sought.
c. French PM Edouardo Dalacher, British PM Neville Chamberlain and Chancellor Adolph Hitler in Munich decided the future of Czechoslovakia (absent).
(1) It was agreed that the desired territory, Sudentenland and all vital Czech fortresses, would be annexed by Germany.
(2) Hitler guaranteed certain rights to the Czech minorities located in the territory, and stated that he desired no further European territory.
d. Chamberlain returned to Britain, declaring peace in our time , but British Foreign Minister, Anthony Eden, resigned in protest.
e. 3 Oct - American public opinion favored the agreement.
f. 14 March 1939 - Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia which voided the agreement
Additional Actions of Italy 1939
a. 7 Apr - Italy invasion of Albania across the Adriatic Sea went unchallenged.
b. 14 Apr - FDR asked Mussolini and Hitler for a ten-year guarantee of peace in Europe and the Middle East but both ignored FDR.
5-Year Non-Aggression Pact with Russia 23 Aug 1939
a. Hitler entered into a with Stalin, who, unsure of Western support, hoped to gain time to prepare for an expected future German attack.
b. It included commercial provisions as well, allowing Germany to get food and other supplies, if Germany was blockaded by sea again as had occurred during WW I.
c. 24 Aug 1939 - The pact became public knowledge, although its secret parts permitted the Soviets to take the part of Poland that Germany did not plan to take.
d. Once public, this agreement with a communist nation temporarily softened relations between Germany and Japan, who saw it as a violation of the Anti-Comintern Pact.
German Invasion of Poland 1 Sept 1939 -- formal start of WW II
a. Mar 1939 - Having annexed Memel, Germany invaded Poland after claiming that it attacked Germany first.
b. On the eve of WW II, military experts considered Poland to be the best army in Europe, but its strength lay in its mounted cavalry, no match for German armored divisions.
c. Because France and Britain had indicated that they would back Poland if war with Germany began and gave Germany an ultimatum to withdraw or face war, Germany immediately sued for peace with both.
d. 3 Sept 1939 - After ignoring the ultimatum to stop invading Poland, both France and Britain declared war on Germany, while Belgium immediately declared its neutrality.
e. Germany swiftly marched on Warsaw and by 17 Sept demanded the full surrender of Poland while the Soviet Union invaded Eastern Poland.
(1) The Polish government went into exile in London.
(2) 27 Sept - Warsaw fell to Germany's military superiority.
(3) 28 Sept 1939 - Germany and the USSR divided Poland into two parts.
f. US refused to recognize the division of Poland, and continued to maintain diplomatic relations with the former government-in-exile.
g. Because of the lull in fighting in the winter of 1939-40, this war was dubbed by the world press, the phony war
(1) The only fighting was between the Soviet Union and Finland.
(2) Although the Finnish army put up stiff resistance, they were defeated and annexed by the Soviets on 12 March 1940.
(3) Hitler noted that the Finns inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviet military, which led him to attack the Soviet Union later.
German Defensive Measures
a. 3 Sept - Hitler's determination to fight on one front only was demonstrated after the British Liner, the Athenia had been sunk by German U-boats (28 Americans were killed), after which Hitler ordered his navy to sink no passenger steamers, even when under escort.
b. 18 Mar 1940 - Hitler and Mussolini allied against Britain and France

American public opinion was divided after the Germans invaded Poland.
a. 2.5% favored immediate American entrance into the war.
b. 14.7% favored US intervention if Britain and France were threatened by German defeat.
c. 37.5% favored American neutrality trading on a "cash and carry" basis.
Additional Actions by FDR
a. 3 Sept - During his "fireside chat," FDR stated that the US would remain neutral, which was officially declared 5 Sept, and partially limited travel to Europe.
b. 5 Sept - FDR ordered the reconditioning of 40 destroyers, beginning a neutrality patrol around the Western Hemisphere.
c. 8 Sept - A limited national emergency was declared.
d. 27 Sept - A special session of Congress considered repealing the arms embargo of the third Neutrality Act
(1) A public committee immediately formed to aid FDR in achieving a repeal
(2) Non-Partisan Committee for Peace through the Revision of the Neutrality Law was led by editor of the KS Emporia Gazette, Republican Wm Allen White .
Declaration of Panama - 3 Oct 1939
a. At the inter-American conference in Panama City, a South American safety (or "chastity") belt was established by announcing zones in the Western Hemisphere, South of Canada completely around Latin America from 300-1000 miles out to sea.
b. Belligerent nations were warned to refrain from naval activity in these zones, although the warning was often ignored.
c. A 21 nation neutrality patrol began around the hemisphere.

Invasion of Norway and Denmark - 9 April
a. The rapid invasion of the northern Scandinavian nations revealed how ill-prepared Europe was for war -- Copenhagen fell within twelve hours.
b. A British-French force attempted to aid Norway, but was withdrawn by 2 May.
c. 9 May - Britain occupied Iceland to prevent its fall to Germany.
d. 9 June - The king of Norway ended the fighting against Germany.
e. 11 June - Denmark also succumbed to Germany.
Invasion of the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium - 10 May
a. Neville Chamberlain's government collapsed after Germany invaded these nations, elevating to PM, Winston Churchill, who had warned of German war preparations
b. 14-15 May - The Dutch government fled in exile to London while its army surrendered.
c. 27 - 28 May - King Leopold III of Belgium surrendered.
d. 26 May - 4 June - Allied forces remove 338,226 British and French troops at Dunkirk using 861 vessels (Operation Dynamo)
e. June - Churchill's famous radio speech encouraged British resistance to Germany.
Invasion of France - 5 June
a. Germany again invaded France by going through neutral Belgium, which rendered useless France's great defensive line built along its common boundary with Germany.
b. 10 June - Italy officially declared war on both Britain and France.
c. 14 June - German troops entered Paris and French Premier Paul Reynaud resigned.
(1) 17 June - Marshall Henri-Philippe Petain headed up the government of France, which sued for peace with Germany.
(2) 18 June - A French government-in-exile in London, led by Gen Charles de Gaulle, the French National Committee, pledged continued resistance to Germany.
(3) 22 June - Germany signed an armistice with the temporary French government.
d. 2 July - Petain established a pro-Nazi puppet government at Vichy , and was granted near dictatorial powers by 10 July.
e. Britain remained the only major Western European power to oppose Hitler
Tripartite Pact - Sept 1940 - Germany, Italy and Japan
a. Although miffed at Germany for its non-Aggression pact with Stalin, initial, almost immediate successes of Germany in Europe rekindled interest in Japan for better relations with Berlin.
b. Art. III specifically aimed at the US - Ger, It, Japan agree "to assist one another with all political, economic and military means if one of the three contracting powers is attacked by a power at present not involved in the European war or in the Chinese-Japanese conflict."
c. Art. V specifically excluded the Soviet Union.

FDR formed a coalition government by adding two interventionist to his cabinet.
a. Henry L. Stimson (1867-1950), New York Republican - Secretary of War.
b. Frank Knox (IL) - Republican, Secretary of the Navy.
Alien Registration Act - 28 June - required the registration and finger printing of all aliens in the US and made it unlawful to belong to an organization advocating overthrowing US government
Declaration of Havana - 30 July - To insure that European colonies in the Western Hemisphere would not be taken over by Germany, if the mother country fell to Germany, affected colonies would be administered by other Western hemisphere nations.
First Peace Time Draft - 16 Sept
a. Burke-Wadsworth (Selective Training and Service ) Act -- Congress called for registering all men aged 18-35, and authorized training of 1,200,000 over a 1-year period with 800,000 reserve forces.
b. 16 Oct - The first registration began - 16,400,000 registered.
c. 29 Oct - The first draft numbers were selected (#158 was first).
Actions Involving Canada
a. 18 Aug - Although technically a belligerent nation as part of the British Common-wealth, Canada at a meeting in Ogdensburg NY, concluded a joint defense agreement with the US, and established a Permanent Joint Board on Defense.
b. Canadian pilots trained in Florida.
c. Arms sent to Britain were delivered to Canada's border where Canada took them.
Destroyers for Bases Deal (Defense Agreement) - 3 Sept - The US transferred 50 overage destroyers to the British, in exchange for 99-year leases on naval and air bases in British possessions in the Western Hemisphere: Newfoundland, West Indies, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Antiqua and British Guiana.
Pittman Resolution permitted the US arms sales to Latin America.

Groups favoring limited support for the British to insure victory
a. Fight For Freedom, Inc. - April - Chaired by Ohio Episcopal Bishop Henry W. Hobson, formed a group to do more than was contemplated by the White committee.
b. Committee To Defend America By Aiding the Allies - May - Chaired by William Allen White , favored aid to the Allies short of American combat forces.
c. Friends of Democracy, a minor NY organization in 1939, stressed that fascism was a greater threat than communism.
Non-Interventionists: America First Committee - July
a. This organization, formed by Sears executive Gen. Robert Wood, peaked at 800,000 members including Henry Ford, Alice Roosevelt Longsworth and Charles Lindbergh .
b. Lindbergh made several speeches for the committee which stressed:
(1) Impossibility of a German attack across the Atlantic;
(2) Excessive wealth of nations like Britain had been acquired at the expense of poorer European nations like Germany;
(3) German-dominated post-war Europe was not detrimental to our hemisphere
c. Unfortunately, Lindbergh used Nazi themes, like the existence of a Jewish press conspiracy, and the public linked the organization to Naziism and it lost popularity.
Election of 1940
a. Bi-Elections of 1938 - Republicans gained in Congress for the first time since 1928, with 7 Senate seats (23-69, 4 to others) and 70 House seats (164-261, 4 to others).
b. Candidates
(1) Democrats in Chicago nominated FDR for an unprecedented third term, although he had stated publicly he had no desire for another term, but Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace (IA) replaced Garner for Vice-President.
(2) Republicans in Philadelphia nominated Wendell L. Willkie (IN), corporate lawyer, who had never held public office for President and Sen Charles McNary (OR) Vice-President.
c. Campaign
(1) Unfortunately both Willkie and FDR supported building up America's defenses and aiding the Allies, short of combat troops, thus providing no referendum on this issue.
(2) Republicans attacked the New Deal administration, but favored most of its reforms, while the Democrats stood on FDR's record.
d. Results
(1) FDR won 449 electoral (27,244,160 popular) votes to Willkie's 82 electoral (10 states) (22,305,198 popular) votes.
(2) Democrats lost three Senate seats (66-28, 2 to others) but gained 7 seats in the House (268-162, 5 to others), maintaining control of both Houses of Congress.

Lend-Lease HR 1776 - "An Act to Further Promote the Defense of the US"
a. 17 Dec 1940 - In a fireside chat, FDR proposed what became known as "Lend-Lease" illustrated by his garden hose analogy .
(1) "Suppose my neighbor's house catches fire, and I have a length of garden hose four or five hundred feet away. If he can take my garden hose and connect it up to his hydrant, I may help him to put out the fire. Now what do I do? I don't say to him before that operation, 'Neighbor, my garden hose cost me $15. You have to pay me $15 for it.' What is the transaction that goes on? I don't want $15 - I want my garden hose back after the fire is over."
(2) FDR proposed that the US "get away from the dollar sign....We will say to England, we will give you the guns and ships you need, provided that when the war is over you will return in kind the guns and ships that we have loaned you."
b. 29 Dec - A poll revealed that 39% believed that the US had made a mistake participating in WW I, down from 64% in 1937.
c. 6 Jan 1941 - State of the Union Address
(1) FDR recommended Lend-Lease to Congress and urged its passage.
(2) He also enunciated his Four Freedoms Speech - Freedom of speech and expression, of worship, from want, from fear
d. 11 Mar - Congress approved Lend-Lease with an initial appropriation of $7 billion, just in time for Britain who had exhausted its credit by purchasing war materials.
e. Any nation which the President considered threatened and vital to the defense of the US could receive arms and other supplies or equipment by sale, transfer, exchange or lease
f. The program was terminated in Sept 1946 after expending $50.6 billion.
Secret Talks - 27 Jan -29 March 1941
a. The US and Britain conducted talks in Washington D.C. involving high level military personnel and planned a war strategy - ABC Plan -- In the event of war with both Germany and Japan, the Allies would concentrate on defeating Germany first.
b. Later talks between Roosevelt and Churchill were planned.
Occupation of Countries - 1941
a. 9 April - The US occupied Greenland as a result of a joint agreement between the US and the Danish government which permitted the US to defend Greenland against invasion in exchange for permission to construct defensive military installations in Greenland later.
b. 7 July - US Marines occupied Iceland to keep the Germans from using it as a strike base against the Western hemisphere (to withdraw at the end of the war).
c. Dutch Guiana bauxite mines were taken over by the US.
18 Aug - The Selective Service Bill was extended for 18 months by a vote of 203-202
FDR held a secret meeting with Churchill at Placentia Bay to plan war strategy
a. Atlantic Charter was formulated and announced on 14 Aug 1941.
b. The eight principles provided a purpose for fighting the war including
(1) a renunciation of all aggression;
(2) self-determination of peoples;
(3) equal access to raw materials;
(4) guarantees for freedom from want and fear;
(5) freedom of the seas;
(6) disarmament of aggressor nations.
c. By 24 Sept, several anti-Axis nations, including the Soviets, China, Belgium, Norway, Luxembourg, Czechoslovakia, The Netherlands, Poland, Yugoslavia and nine Latin American countries, endorsed the plan, which became a blueprint for the UN
Actions in the Atlantic - 1941
a. 11 Sept - FDR issued a "shoot-on-sight" order for all Axis ships in the neutral zone after a confrontation between a German submarine and the USS Greer .
b. 16 Sept - The US began convoy operations to Iceland.
c. 17 Oct - The destroyer, USS Kearney , was damaged off the coast of Iceland.
d. 30 Oct - USS Reuben James , sunk off Iceland with the loss of 100 lives, was the first American warship sunk in the war.
e. 17 Nov - After continued conflicts between US unarmed merchant ships and German U-boats, Congress approved a further revision of the 4th Neutrality Act, to permit the arming of merchant vessels and the carrying of cargoes to the ports of belligerents.

Battle of Britain - 10 July - 31 Oct 1940
a. Having conquered France and nations to the North, Hitler launched an air attack against Britain to soften them up in preparation for a German invasion across the channel.
b. The British lost 915 aircraft and Germany according to their records lost 1,733 aircraft.
c. The climax occurred on 15 Sept when 56 German aircraft were destroyed.
German Violation of Non-Aggression Pact with USSR 22 June 1941
a. Hitler offered the British a higher role in his reconstructed world if they surrendered, because, after all, the British Isles were settled earlier by Germanic tribes.
b. Britain's failure to surrender caused Hitler to make a critical assumption, that the British anticipated either Soviet or American help.
(1) To counter the US, Hitler encouraged Japan to move against Britain's holdings in the Far East to divert US attention away from Europe.
(2) To counter possible Soviet aid, Hitler invading the USSR along a 2000-mile stretch between the Ukraine and the Arctic.
(a) Because the Tripartite Pact excluded the Soviets, Japan and Italy did not declare war.
(b) Hitler declared that superior Germans did not need the help of half-lacquered monkeys to defeat the Russians.
(c) So certain of victory, he did not allow his army to take winter gear into the USSR, for fear German soldiers might expect to winter there.
c. 24 June 1941 - The US provided immediate aid to the USSR under Lend-Lease.
d. Germans advanced rapidly into the interior of the Soviet Union.
(1) By mid-Aug, they had taken most of the Ukraine.
(2) By mid-Sept, they had reached Leningrad.
(3) By mid-Nov, they had reached the outskirts of Moscow.
e. Once he was almost certain that Japan would not attack in the West, Stalin moved several hundred thousand troops against Germany.
f. 25 Nov - the Germans inside the Soviet Union were almost entirely surrounded and the turning point of the European war , the Battle of Stalingrad , began.
(1) Germany was forced to evacuate Soviet soil, and lost 530,000 soldiers
(2) For the first time in the war, Germany was on the defensive.

Day of Infamy -

Background
a. US-Japanese Relations Deteriorated
(1) Japanese aggression against French Indochina in Sept 1940 resulted in an Oct US embargo of scrap iron and steel to any nation outside the Western hemisphere except Britain.
(2) With Japan's occupation of Indochina in the summer of 1941, FDR froze all Japanese credits in the US, nationalized forces in the Philippines under Gen Douglas MacArthur's command and warned Japan against further aggressive actions in the East.
(3) Mid-Oct - Gen Hideki Tojo became PM, hardening Japanese attitudes
(4) Japan was less than cooperative with Germany, which urged them to attack British and Dutch installations in the East, avoiding confronting the US at all costs.
b. By Oct 1941 signs appeared that Japan might attack an US Pacific possession
(1) 3 Nov - US Ambassador to Japan, Joseph Grew, warned of a possible attack on US positions, but the general consensus suggested the Philippines, not Hawaii.
(2) 7 Nov - Secretary of State Cordell Hull repeated the warning to FDR.
On Sunday 7 Dec 1941 at 7:55 A.M. Honolulu time, Japanese bombers launched a sneak attack upon the US base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, hoping to cripple the US navy.
a. Japan sank 4 US battleships (AZ , CA , UT , OK ) and seriously damaged 2 (WV, NV ).
b. 19 ships were sunk or disabled, 170 planes were lost and 2,403 civilian and military personnel were killed and 1,178 were wounded.
c. Japan launched simultaneous attacks on the Philippines, Wake Island, Guam, Midway Islands and on British forces at Hong Kong and in the Malay Peninsula.
d. Not only did the attack catch the US off guard, but it also surprised Japan's allies
e. That evening Japan announced that it had officially declared war on the US
f. Admiral Husband Kimmel, commander at Pearl Harbor, was replaced by Chester Nimitz , commander of the US Pacific fleet stationed there.
American Entry Into the War
a. 8 Dec - FDR asked Congress to declare war on Japan.
(1) Senate - 82-0.
(2) House - 388-1, lone dissenter vote, Jeannette Rankin (MT) (Republican), who had voted no to war in WW I, making her the only person to vote against both
b. 11 Dec - Under the terms of the Tripartite Pact, Germany and Italy declared war on the US, which reciprocated by declaring war on them, without debating the issue in Congress, unanimously except for one voting present in each case (Rankin).
c. 19 Dec - Military conscription was extended to all men aged 20-44.