APUSH Notes 3/27

Meanwhile in Europe…

-            Nazi forces invade the Rhineland 1936

-            Nazi forces invade Austria (Anchluss) 1938

-            Hitler was trying to “unify” all German speaking countries, and in doing so violated the Treaty of Versailles.

-            Following the Munich Conference where Britain and France agree to give Hitler the Sudetenland, he invades the rest of Czechoslovakia in October 1938… appeasement fails!

-            By 1936 the Fascist overthrow elected government in Spain and Mussolini invades Albania…

The Neutrality Acts

-            The 1^st Neutrality Act (1935) “The President can restrict trade and travel to war zones.”

-            Isolationist groups begin pressuring the government led by the America First Committee

-            The 2^nd Neutrality Act (1936) “No loans will be made to any nation at war. And, no aid will be given to either side in Spanish Civil War.”

The “Good Neighbor” Policy

-            Designed to disavow the imperialist past…

-            While it is not usually considered to be a pre-war issue, it was obvious to many that fascist-style right wing governments were developing in South America.

The 1937-1938 Neutrality Acts

-            By late 1937 into 1938 Congress begins to change the acts and there is a shift taking place in foreign policy…

-            The main provision was a change in what was called “cash and carry” as now the US would sell non-military items. How does this resemble WWI?

The Formation of the Axis Alliance

-            Mussolini and Hitler

-            Prime Minister Tojo

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact 1939

-            This was incredibly surprising because the Soviet Union and the Nazis despised each other

-            This was more of a way to distract each other because Nazi Germany invades Soviet Union later on

September 1, 1939 The Invasion of Poland

-            The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany invades Poland and goes to war with Britain

The 1939 “Neutrality” Act

-            Cash and Carry provision allows military materials and only to Britain and France

-            FDR and Congress agree to allow loans to the “Democracies”

Sept. 1940 Destroyer for Bases Deal

The 1940 Selective Act

-            Drafted men even though we weren’t at war.

The “Lend-Lease” Act (1941)

-            The US gave billions upon billions of dollars of credit to Britain and the Soviet Union because Hitler turned on them.

-            The USSR became a weird ally to the French and British

Nazi U-boat attacks against the US commence in the fall of 1941

-            To protect American shipping FDR/Congress authorized first the arming of US ships and then US navy escorts…

The Atlantic Charter August 1941

-            This meeting between FDR and Churchill clearly revealed recognition that the US would soon enter the war.

-            Importantly the charter reflected a view of the post war world including a United Nations.