The Road to Pearl Harbor 3-6

Marco Polo Bridge Incident (1937)

Clash between China and Japan → used as excuse for full invasion of China.

Rape of Nanking

Mass killing and brutality by Japanese soldiers in China → shocked the world.

Quarantine Speech (1937)

Roosevelt's idea to isolate aggressive nations to prevent war.

Munich Pact (1938)

Britain and France allowed Hitler to take the Sudetenland to avoid war (appeasement).

Nonaggression Pact (1939)

Agreement between Germany and Soviet Union not to attack each other.

Neutrality Act of 1939

Allowed selling weapons to Allies on a cash-and-carry basis.

Blitzkrieg ("Lightning War")

Fast, powerful German military strategy.

Battle of Dunkirk (1940)

Rescue of ~350,000 Allied soldiers from France.

Operation Sea Lion

Hitler's plan to invade Britain.

America First Committee

Group that wanted the U.S. to stay out of war.

Destroyer Deal (1940)

U.S. gave ships to Britain in exchange for military bases.

Lend-Lease Act (1941)

U.S. provided weapons to Allies without immediate payment.

Four Freedoms Speech

FDR's vision of basic rights: speech, religion, freedom from want, freedom from fear.

Atlantic Charter (1941)

Agreement between U.S. and Britain on war goals and peace principles.

Economic Sanctions / Embargo

U.S. stopped selling oil and materials to Japan to limit expansion.

MAGIC

U.S. code-breaking system used to read Japanese messages.

United States Pacific Fleet

Main American naval force in the Pacific.

Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941)

Surprise Japanese attack on U.S. naval base in Hawaii.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)

U.S. president pushing for stronger action against aggressors.

Chiang Kai-shek

Chinese leader fighting against Japan.

Jeannette Rankin

Only member of Congress who voted against entering WWII.

Winston Churchill

British Prime Minister who led Britain during WWII.

Charles Lindbergh

Famous pilot and isolationist leader.

Robert Taft

Senator who opposed Lend-Lease.

Adolf Hitler

Leader of Nazi Germany expanding territory aggressively.

Neville Chamberlain

British Prime Minister who supported appeasement ("peace in our time").

Joseph Stalin

Leader of the Soviet Union who made a deal with Hitler.