World War 2

FDR and Foreign Relations

Isolationism Post World War I
After WWI, U.S. foreign policy focused on isolationism, meaning it prioritized domestic issues and only nearby regions like Canada and Latin America. This led to the U.S. not joining the League of Nations.

Disarmament Initiatives
After the war, there was a movement toward disarmament to avoid future arms races.

• Five-Power Naval Treaty (1921):

  • Authored by Secretary of State Charles Hughes.

  • Set limits for naval tonnage:

  • U.S. and Great Britain: Level 5

  • Japan: Level 3

  • France and Italy: Level 1.75

  • Japan rapidly grew to have the third-largest navy over 40-50 years.

  • Ten-Year Moratorium on Shipbuilding:

  • No new ships could be created or older ones replaced for ten years.

  • Any extra vessels had to be scrapped.

  • Agreement not to fortify in the Far East, especially regarding China.

  • This was a significant first step towards disarmament among nations, limited to naval forces.

• Nine-Power Pact (1922):

  • Added Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, and China to the Five-Power Naval Treaty.

  • All agreed to respect the Open Door Policy in China to prevent territorial conflicts and maintain stability after the revolutions.

  • Despite these efforts, naval races continued, though at a slower pace.

U.S. Neutrality Acts

• Neutrality Acts of 1935:

  • Aimed to keep the U.S. out of foreign wars by stopping the sale of goods, weapons, or supplies to belligerent nations.

  • The term 'belligerent' included both aggressors and victims, limiting support to nations like Britain even if attacked.

  • President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) opposed the acts but felt forced to comply because Southern Democrats supported them for isolationist reasons.

Germany Post-WWI and the Rise of the Nazi Party

• Weimar Republic and Paul von Hindenburg:

  • After WWI, Germany became the Weimar Republic, led by respected army veteran Hindenburg.

  • Economic recovery happened by 1925-1926, with Berlin being a cultural center in Europe.

• Impact of the Great Depression (1929):

  • The global economic crisis hit Germany hard, causing high unemployment and hyperinflation, which destabilized the Weimar Republic.

  • High unemployment and hunger led to revolutionary movements gaining support.

• Rise of the Nazi Party:

  • The National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) formed from disenfranchised veterans in Munich after WWI.

  • Their platform rejected the Treaty of Versailles and called for uniting Germany and Austria (Anschluss) while promoting anti-Semitic beliefs.

  • They presented themselves as nationalists, focusing on promoting the country’s interests over personal ones.

Key Events:

• 1936 Olympics:

  • Held in Germany, the government removed anti-Semitic propaganda before the event.

• Remilitarization of the Rhineland (1936):

  • Germany began to build a navy.

• Anglo-German Naval Agreement (1935):

  • Germany secretly built an air force in the Soviet Union.

• Annexation of Austria (1938):

  • Germany annexed Austria despite initial hesitations.

• Munich Conference (1938):

  • Germany met with France, Britain, and Italy to demand land in Czechoslovakia.

• Night of Broken Glass (Nov 9):

  • Following the murder of a Nazi official, anti-Jewish violence escalated.

• Stalin-Hitler Pact (1939):

  • Showed Stalin's support; Germany invaded Poland from the west, while Stalin entered from the east.

  • France and Britain declared war, marking the start of WW2 in September.

  • Germany sought to dominate in the east with Japan while managing the U.S. in the west.

U.S. Reactions to the War

• Neutrality Acts:

  • FDR opposed the acts, which initially banned arms sales to all nations in conflict in 1935.

  • It also urged Americans not to travel on ships bound for war zones.

  • In 1939, the U.S. lifted the ban on selling arms but required cash for transactions.

America First Movement

• Founded in 1940 by Kingman Brewster at Yale, not primarily seen as anti-fascist, with support from Alice Roosevelt.

The Phony War

• Marked the period of inactivity in the early stages of WWII.

Operation Barbarossa

• Introduced a brutal style of warfare.

Attack on Pearl Harbor:

• The U.S. became geared for war post-attack.

Atomic Bomb Creation (1945):

• Klaus Fuchs: Soviet spy, kept Stalin informed.

• David Greenglass: U.S. spy involved in the atomic bomb project.

• The bombings of Hiroshima (90-166K deaths) and Nagasaki followed the failure of Japan to surrender.

• These bombings, involving many civilian casualties, were argued to be necessary to avoid greater losses because invasion/blockades would have led to even more deaths.

Crimes Committed During the War:

• Japanese war efforts included acts of mass rape in territories like Nanking and lethal biological warfare in Unit 731 camps.