America Moves Towards War

1
America Moves Towards War

• Axis Power
• Lend Lease
• Atlantic Charter
• Allies
• Hideki Tojo
• 1940 Election
• Pearl Harbor

2
FDRs Support for the War

• Roosevelt was willing to help France and England
• The country wanted to stay isolated
• FDR created a cash and carry program
• We would sell arms but only if they paid in cash
  and picked them up themselves (1939)

3
Axis Powers

• Tripartite Treaty
• Germany, Italy, and Japan
• If war was declared by U.S. it would face a two
  ocean war.
• U.S. began building defenses
• 1940 Selective Service Act
• 16 million men age 21-35 registered
• Drafted 1 million men at a time for 1 year at a
  time
• Poor Army, fat and untrained

4
Election of 1940

• FDR ran for a third term
• Refused to actually say he was a candidate until
  he was nominated
• Ran against Wendell Wilkie
• FDR won with 55 of the vote
• Led FDR to strengthen aid to Europe

5
Lend Lease

• FDR would lend European allies supplies that
  would either be returned at the end of the war or
  replaced.
• Saw this as lending a garden hose to a neighbor
  if his house was burning
• Roosevelt believed that, given the chance, Hitler
  would attack US
• Saw this as a measure to try and defeat Hitler

6
Lend Lease cont.

• FDR wanted the US to be the Arsenal of
  Democracy
• Also gave aid to Soviets
• Hitler invaded USSR in1941 ending the N-A pact
  of 39
• If Hitler invaded Hell, the British would be
  prepared to work with the devil himself
• -Winston Churchill

7
Atlantic Charter

• Atlantic Charter
• Agreement between FDR and Churchill became the
  basis for A Declaration of the United Nations
  (Essentially created the Allies)
• Dec. of UN signed by 26 nations

8
FDR at home

• FDR was keeping the US war prepared on a
  shoestring
• Extension of the draft barely passed the house
• Couldnt ask for a dec. of war but wasnt doing
  anything to prevent one
• There had been some naval confrontations between
  U-boats and US ships

9
What about Japan?

• Most of the focus was on Hitler
• French, Dutch, and British were fighting for
  their homeland
• Left pacific colonies unprotected
• Japan began expanding into East Asia
• 1937 Japan invaded Manchuria in China
• 1941 invaded French Indochina (Vietnam)
• U.S. protested invasions by cutting off oil to
  Japan

10
Tojo

• Japan was ruled by Emperor Hirohito
• Hideki Tojo was the Army Chief of Staff
• Held most of the power
• Peace talks began between US and Japan in 1941
  but broke down

11
Pearl Harbor

• November 1941, Tojo told Navy to prepare for
  attack
• U.S. had broken Japanese code and knew an attack
  was planned
• Expected it last week of November
• December 6, 1941 Japanese ambassador told to
  reject any US peace plan

12
Pearl Harbor cont.

• US sent warnings to Pacific bases
• Philippines
• Panama Canal
• Pearl Harbor
• Attack came at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 _at_755
  am
• Battleships were lined up perfectly to be
  destroyed by bombs and torpedoes

13
Pearl Harbor cont.

• 180 planes from 6 carriers
• Less than 2 hrs. 2,403 Americans were wounded
  1,178 killed
• Larger scale damage than the navy incurred in all
  of WWI

14
WAR!!

• FDR asked Congress for a declaration of war on
  Dec. 8
• Called Dec. 7th A day of infamy
• Germany, honoring the Tripartite Pact of 1941,
  declared war on US Dec. 11, 1941

15
New Kind of War

• Past battles had focused on using battleships
• Most were destroyed at PH
• Aircraft carriers had pulled out of PH prior to
  the attack
• Dawn of depending on navel airplanes
• I fear all we have done is awoken a sleeping
  giant and filled it with a terrible resolve
• -Admiral Yamamoto