Chapter 25

Was the depression worldwide?

Yes

What did the Great Depression do to Europe?

Cause near financial disaster

What did Germany do on its reparations installments from WWI?

Default on the payments

What were most European countries unable to do to the US?

Keep up the payments on their debts

What did President Hoover agree to do with war debts in 1931?

A brief moratorium

What did President Hoover pledge American participation in?

An international economic conference to be held in London in 1933

Solving the American domestic economic crisis seemed more important to Roosevelt in 1933 than…

International economic cooperation; actions signaled a decision to go it alone in foreign policy

How did Roosevelt alter some of the foreign policy decisions of previous administrations?

He recognized the Soviet government

Why did America not recognize the Soviet government in the past?

The new regime failed to accept the debts of the Tsar's government; more importantly, Americans feared communism and believed that recognition meant approval

Why did Roosevelt decide to recognize the Soviet government?

He hoped to gain a market for surplus American grain

Although the expanded trade bonanza never materialized, the Soviet Union agreed to pay…

The old debts and to extend rights to American citizens living in the Soviet Union

Who led the Roosevelt administration?

Secretary of State Cordell Hull

What policy did the Roosevelt administration reverse in South America?

He extended the Good Neighbor Policy and completely removed American forces from Haiti and Nicaragua, pledging that no country in the hemisphere would intervene in the "internal or external affairs" of any other

Why did pressures mount to resume the policy of military intervention in South America?

Many of the Latin American economies were in disarray because of the Depression

What was the US response in Cuba, where a revolution threatened American investments of more than a billion dollars?

Roosevelt dispatched special envoys instead of troops to work out a conciliatory agreement with the revolutionary government

When a coup led by Fulgencio Batista overthrew the revolutionary government, what did the US do?

Recognize the Batista government but also offered a large loan and agreed to abrogate the Platt Amendment in return for rights to a naval base

Trade Agreements Act of 1934

Gave the president power to lower tariff rates by as much as 50% and took the tariff away from the pressure of special-interest groups in Congress

What did the Roosevelt administration do with the Trade Agreements Act?

They negotiated a series of agreements to improve trade; by 1935, half of cotton exports and a large proportion of other products were going to Latin America

Did the increased trade between the US and Latin America solve the economic problems for either?

No

When Mexico nationalized the property of a number of American oil companies, what did the State Department do instead of intervening as many businessmen urged?

They patiently worked out an agreement that included some compensation for the companies

What did Hitler become the leader of?

The National Socialist Party of the German Workers (Nazi, short for National)

What was Hitler sentenced to prison for?

Leading an unsuccessful coup

While in jail, what book did Hitler write?

Mein Kampf (My Struggle)

What did Mein Kampf detail?

Hitler's theories of racial purity, his hopes for Germany, and his venomous hatred of Jews

What did the Reichstag (parliament) do once Hitler became chancellor of Germany?

Suspend the constitution, making Hitler Führer (leader) and dictator

What did Hitler's regime concentrate?

Political and economic power in a centralized state

What did Hitler intend to do to Europe?

Conquer it

What did Hitler intend to make the German Third Reich (empire)?

The center of civilization

What did Hitler do that violated the Versailles Treaty of 1919?

Announce a program of German rearmament

What was Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini doing?

Building a powerful military force and threatening to invade Ethiopia

What did Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota do?

Reveal that many American businessmen had close relations with the war department; producing war materials had made large profits

Were many college students and adults against war?

Yes; college students demonstrated and protested, and many young people joined peace societies such as the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

What did Italy do to Ethiopia after rejecting the League of Nations' offer to mediate the difficulties?

Invade and used dive bombers and machine guns to make quick work of the small and poorly equipped Ethiopian army

Neutrality Act of 1935

Authorized the president to prohibit all arms shipments to nations at war and to advise all US citizens not to travel on belligerents' ships except at their own risk

Neither Britain nor the US wanted to stop shipments of…

Oil to Italy or to commit its own soldiers to fight

Did the embargo on arms impact Italy?

It had little impact

Mussolini had joined forces with Germany to form…

The Rome-Berlin Axis

What did General Francisco Franco of Spain, supported by the Catholic Church and large landowners, do?

Revolt against the republican government

What countries aided Franco?

Germany and Italy, sending planes and other weapons, while the Soviet Union came to the support of the Spanish Republican Loyalists

What was the Abraham Lincoln Brigade?

People who came to Spain to fight against fascism (Franco and allies); it consisted of about 3,000 people

How was the Neutrality Act extended in 1936?

The Neutrality Act technically did not apply to civil wars, but the State Department imposed a moral embargo

What happened when an American businessman disregarded the extended Neutrality Act and attempted to send 400 used airplane engines to the Loyalists?

Roosevelt asked Congress to extend the arms embargo act to Spain

What did another Neutrality Act make it illegal to do?

Travel on belligerents' ships and extended the embargo on arms; it also made even nonmilitary items available to belligerents only on a cash-and-carry basis

Did Roosevelt want to keep the US out of the European conflagration?

Yes; he did not view war as a test of one's manhood and moved reluctantly

What did Hitler annex?

Austria and occupied the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia, as a result of the Munich Conference

Why did little protest occur in the US when Hitler annexed Austria and occupied the Sudetenland?

Newspapers avoided intense coverage of the well-documented stories; many Americans did not learn of the Holocaust until near the end of the war

What happened to the notion that compromises could potentially be worked out and that Europe could settle its own problems, on August 23, 1939?

It was destroyed

What pact was formed on August 23, 1939?

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

What happened a week after the Nazi-Soviet Pact was created?

Hitler's army attacked Poland, marking the official beginning of WWII

Response to Hitler's invasion of Poland

Britain and France honored their treaties and came to Poland's defense

What did Roosevelt ask for following the start of WWII?

A repeal of the embargo section of the Neutrality Act

What did Roosevelt ask for approval of following the start of WWII?

Approval for the sale of arms on a cash-and-carry basis to France and Britain

How would the US help the countries struggling against Hitler, but not at the risk of entering the war or even at the threat of disrupting the civilian economy?

Authorize funds for a top-secret project to build an American bomb before Germany (Manhattan Project)

What did Albert Einstein and other distinguished scientists warn the president?

German researchers were at work on an atomic bomb

How long did the war in Poland last?

Not long; it ended quickly

Why were the Poles overwhelmed in a month?

Germany attacked from the west and the Soviet Union from the east

What did American ambassador to Great Britain Joseph Kennedy urge the US to do?

Take the lead in negotiating a peace settlement that would recognize the German and Russian occupation of Poland

What was the response to Joseph Kennedy?

Britain, France, and Roosevelt were not interested in such a solution

How did the interlude, sometimes called the "phony war," dramatically end on April 9, 1940?

Germany attacked Norway and Denmark with a furious air and sea assault

German Blitzkrieg ("lightning war")

Used armored vehicles supported by massive air strikes

The Blitzkrieg swept through…

Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands

What happened the week after the Blitzkrieg swept through Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands?

Germans stormed into France

What was the Maginot Line?

A series of fortifications designed to repulse a German invasion

How helpful was the Maginot Line?

It was useless, as German mechanized forces swept around the end of the line and attacked from the rear

Did France surrender to Germany?

Yes, in June

What did the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies and America First argue?

The US should forget about England and concentrate on defending America

Roosevelt approved the shipment to Britain of 50 overage destroyers; in return the US received…

The right to establish naval and air bases on British territory from Newfoundland to Bermuda and British Guiana

Selective Service Act

Provided for the first peacetime draft in the history of the United States

Who was the Democrat in the election of 1940?

Roosevelt, seeking a 3rd term

Who was the running mate for Roosevelt's 3rd term?

Liberal farm economist Henry Wallace of Iowa

Who did the Republicans nominate?

Wendell Willkie of Indiana, who was energetic, attractive, and the most persuasive and exciting Republican since Theodore Roosevelt

Did Wendell Willkie approve of…?

Most of the New Deal legislation and supported aid to Great Britain

Who did Willkie appeal to?

Many people who distrusted or disliked Roosevelt

Outcome of the election of 1940

Roosevelt wins 27 million to 22 million with 38 of 48 states

"Lend-Lease"

A scheme for sending aid to Britain without demanding payment

What did Roosevelt compare Lend-Lease to?

Lending a garden hose to a neighbor whose house was on fire

What did Senator Robert Taft of Ohio compare Lend-Lease to?

Lending chewing gum to a friend; once it had been used, you didn't want it back

Lend-Lease Act of 1941

Destroyed the fiction of neutrality

What was one of Hitler's biggest blunders of the war?

Attacking the Soviet Union, for now his armies had to fight on two fronts

What did Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union make Russia?

America's friend and ally; Roosevelt extended Lend-Lease aid to Russia, which shocked many Americans

What was the American war against Germany in the Atlantic?

Roosevelt issued a "shoot on sight" order; a German sub sank an American destroyer

Did many Americans oppose the undeclared war in the Atlantic against Germany?

Yes

Japan was intent on becoming a major world power yet desperately needing…

Natural resources, especially oil; willing to risk war to get those resources

What did Japan invade in 1931?

Manchuria

What did Japan launch an all-out assault on in 1937?

China

Japanese leaders assumed that at some point the US would go to war if Japan tried to take…

The Philippines, but the Japanese attempted to delay the moment as long as possible by diplomatic means

How did the US exert economic pressure on Japan?

Gave the required six months' notice regarding cancellation of the 1911 commercial agreement and forbade shipment of airplane fuel and scrap metal to Japan, while adding other items to the embargo

Why did the US only allow oil to be shipped to Japan in spring of 1941?

They hoped that the threat of the important resource would lead to negotiations and avert a crisis

What happened at Pearl Harbor?

Japanese airplanes launched from aircraft carriers attacked the US fleet, destroying or disabling 19 ships and 150 planes, and killed 2,335 soldiers and sailors and 68 civilians

What happened the same day as Pearl Harbor?

Japan launched attacks on the Philippines, Guam, and the Midway Islands, as well as on the British colonies of Hong Kong and Malaya

What happened the day following the attack on Pearl Harbor?

Congress declared war on Japan

What did the attack on Pearl Harbor do to the American people?

United the country as nothing else could have; even isolationists and "America First" advocates quickly rallied behind the war effort

Shortly after Pearl Harbor, what board did Roosevelt create?

The War Production Board (WPB)

What did Donald Nelson, executive vice president of Sears, Roebuck, do with the WPB?

Mobilize the nation's resources for an all-out war effort

What did the WPB offer businesses?

Cost-plus contracts, guaranteeing a fixed and generous profit

How did FDR gain the cooperation of businessmen with key positions?

Appointed many business executives to key positions, some of whom served for a dollar a year

How did FDR gain the cooperation of businessmen through antitrust?

He abandoned antitrust actions in all industries that were remotely war-related

Did Roosevelt's pro-business policies anger some of his supporters?

Yes

Did Roosevelt's pro-business policies work?

Yes; industrial production and net corporate profits nearly doubled, with farmers also profiting

What did the war years do to farming?

Accelerate the mechanization of the farm