Chapter 25: Diplomacy and World War II 1929-1945 Flashcards
Stimson Doctrine
The U.S.’s response to Japanese violation of the Open Door Policy
~Declared that the U.S. would honor its treaty obligations under the Nine-Power Treaty (1922) by refusing to recognize the legitimacy of any regime like “Manchuko” that had been established by force
~Endorsed by League of Nations
Good-Neighbor Policy
Roosevelt’s attempt to gain the good favors of Latin America by taking a non-interventionist foreign policy
~Attempted in Cuba, Mexico and resulted in the Pan-American Conferences
Pan-American Conference (1933)
~1933: Held in Montevideo, Uruguay; the U.S. pledged never again to submit future disputes to arbitration and also warned that if a European power such as Germany tried to “commit acts of aggression against us” the Western Hemisphere would band together and work together against them
London Economic Conference (1933)
An economic conference called by the League of Nations
~Roosevelt feared that the conferences’ efforts to stabilized currencies would hurt his own plans for recovery and withdrew his support
Tydings-McDuffie Act (1934)
Provided for the independence of the Philippines by 1946
~Also led to the gradual removal of U.S. military presence from the islands
Fascism
The idea that people should glorify their nation and their race through an aggressive show of force
~Became the dominant theology in European dictatorships in the 1930s
Benito Mussolini
Leader of Italy’s Fascist Party and leader of the new Italian regime
~Attracted dissatisfied war veterans, nationalists, and those afraid of rising communism
~Called him Il Duce (The Leader)
Adolf Hitler
Leader of Germany’s Nazi Party (equivalent to Italy’s Fascist Party)
~Gained the support of disgruntled German workers
~Promoted Anti Semitic feelings by promoting fascist ideologies
~He and his group of “brown shirts” gained control of the German legislature in 1933
Nye Committee
A committee headed by Senator Gerald Nye of North Dakota
~Searched for the reason why the United States entered WWI
~Settled that the reason for U.S. participation in the world war was to serve the greed of bankers and arms manufacturers
Neutrality Act of 1935
Authorized the president to prohibit the all arms shipments and to forbid U.S. citizens to travel on the ships of belligerent nations
Neutrality Act of 1936
Forbade the extension of loans and credits to belligerents
Neutrality Act of 1937
Forbade the shipment of arms to the opposing sides in the Civil War of Spain
Spanish Civil War
A war between the forces of fascism and republicanism
~U.S. sympathized with the “Loyalists” (republicanism forces)
~Could do nothing due to the Neutrality Acts
~Fascist forces won
America First Committee
Created by isolationist Americans after the start of WWII
~Alarmed by Roosevelt’s Pro-British policies
~Engaged speakers like Charles Lindbergh to advocate against American involvement in WWII
Invasion of Ethiopia (1935)
In a bid to prove fascism’s military might, Mussolini ordered Italian troops to invade Ethiopia
~League of Nations and the U.S. objected, but did nothing
~After a year of fighting, Italy conquered Ethiopia
Invasion of China (1937)
Full-scale war between Japan and China erupted in 1937 when Japan invaded its weaker neighbor in China
~A U.S. gunboat in China the Panay was bombed and sunk by Japanese planes
~Japan’s apology for the sinking was quickly accepted by the U.S. government
Sudetenland (1938)
Hitler insisted that Germany had a right to take over a strip of land in Czechoslovakia, the Sudetenland, where most people were German-speaking
~Roosevelt encouraged British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, and French President Edouard Dalaclier to meet with Hitler and Mussolini in Munich
~British and French leaders agreed to allow Hitler to take the Sudetenland unopposed
Appeasement
The events of the Invasion of Ethiopia, the Invasion of China, and Sudetenland that showed how unprepared the democracies were to challenge fascist aggression
“Quarantine Speech” (1937)
Roosevelt proposing that the democracies act together to “quarantine” the aggressor
~Public reaction to the speech was overwhelmingly negative
~Roosevelt dropped the idea as it was politically unwise
Blitzkrieg
Translates directly lightning warfare
~Used overwhelmingly by Germans
~Took down Poland with this method
Invasion of Poland (1939)
German tanks and planes began a full scale invasion of Poland
~Keeping their pledge Britain and France declared war against Germany
~Soon after, they were at war with the Axis allies, Italy and Japan
“Cash and Carry”/Neutrality Act of 1939
A less restrictive Neutrality Act passed by Congress
~Provided that a belligerent could buy U.S. arms if it used its own ships and paid cash
~Technically “cash and carry” was neutral but in practice it strongly favored Britain
Selective Service Act (1940)
Provided for the registration of all American men between the ages of 21 and 35 and for the training of 1.2 million troops in just one year
~A peacetime draft that isolationists opposed
~Popular opinion was shifted away from strict neutrality
Destroyers-for-Bases (1940)
Britain received 50 older, but still serviceable, U.S. destroyers in exchange for giving the U.S. the right to build military bases on British Islands on the Caribbean
~A trade made because Roosevelt could not sell U.S. destroyers to the British outright without alarming the isolationists
Wendell Wilkie
Republican nominee for the Election of 1940
~A lawyer and utility executive with a magnetic personality
~Criticized the New Deal, but agreed with Roosevelt on foreign policy involving Britain
~Had never ran for political office
“Four Freedoms”
A speech given by Roosevelt that proposed lending money to Britain for the purchase of U.S. war materials
~Justification for the policy was that the U.S. needed to defend the “Four Freedoms”
~He said the United States must stand behind those nations that were committed to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear
Lend-Lease Act (1941)
Roosevelt proposed ending the “cash and carry” requirement of the Neutrality Act and permitting Britain to obtain all the U.S. arms it needed on credit
~”Lending a neighbor a garden hose to put out a fire”
Atlantic Charter (1941)
A document signed between Roosevelt and British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill
~Affirmed what the two countries’ peace objectives would be when the war ended
~Agreed that the general principles for a sound peaceful world would include self determination for all people, no territorial expansion, and free trade
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
~The surprise attack lasted less than two hours 2400 Americans wounded and 20 warships sank or damaged
~American people were stunned and American officials somewhat expected the attack
~Americans declared war on the Japanese and the Italians and Germans declared war on the U.S.
War Production Board (WPB)
Established to manage war industries during WWII
Office of War Mobilization (OWM)
Established in WWII to set production priorities and controlled raw materials
Office of Price Administration (OPA)
Regulated almost every aspect of civilians’ lives by freezing prices, wages, and rents and rationing such commodities as meat, sugar, gasoline, and auto tires
Smith-Connally Anti Strike Act (1943)
Empowered the government the government to take over war-related businesses whose operations were threatened by a strike
~Passed over Roosevelt’s veto
~In 1944 Roosevelt had occasion to use this law when he ordered the army to operate the nation’s railroads for a brief period
“Double V”
Slogan for civil rights leaders
~V for victory over fascism abroad and V for victory of equality at home
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
Another civil rights organization formed 1942 to work more militantly for African American interests
Braceros
Mexican farm workers
~A 1942 agreement which allowed braceros to enter the U.S. in the harvest season without going through formal immigration procedures
~Provided for a huge influx of Mexican immigrants into Los Angeles and led to the Zoot Riots and white resentment
Internment
What happened to many Japanese Americans during WWII
~The government made thousands of Japanese Americans leave their homes and reside in the internment camp barracks
~Similar to concentration camps—> no one died
Korematsu v. United States (1944)
The Supreme Court upheld the U.S. government’s internment policy as justified in war time
Office of War Information
A group who spread the government’s war propaganda
~Controlled news about troop movements and battles
Thomas Dewey
Republican nominee for president in the Election of 1944
~Ex governor of New York who had a strong record of prosecuting corruption and racketeering
Stalingrad (1942)
The end of the “high tide” of German military victories
~Soviet victory over a German victory
D-Day
British, Canadian, and U.S. forces under the command of General Eisenhower secured several beach heads on the Normandy coast
~Led to the Allies’ ability to liberate Paris, and cross the German border with a push for Berlin
Battle of the Bulge
The German’s frantic counter attack against the Allies after D-Day
~Only minutely set back, Allied forces soon reorganized and resumed their advance
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
The general who led Allied forces at D-Day and future president
The Holocaust
The Nazi’s program of genocide against the Jews and others
~Through a horrifying extent of concentration camps
~As many as 6 million Jewish civilians had been systematically murdered by Nazi Germany
“Island Hopping”
A strategy adopted by naval commanders
~Where they bypassed strongly held Japanese islands and isolated them with naval and air power
~Allowed Allied forces to move rapidly towards Japan
Battle of Midway
A decisive battle where the interception and decoding of Japanese messages enabled U.S. forces to destroy four Japanese carriers and 300 planes
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The largest naval battle in history and prepared the way for U.S. reoccupation of the Philippines
~Japanese navy was virtually destroyed
Kamikaze
Japanese pilots who made suicide attacks on U.S. ships
~Inflicted major damage
Battle of Okinawa
Where the U.S. finally succeeded in taking Okinawa, Japan
~U.S. forces suffered 50000 casualties and killed 100000 Japanese
Manhattan Project
The project to develop splitting of the atom
~Directed by the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer
~Employed over 100000 people and spent over $2 billion
~Successfully built the Atomic Bomb or A-Bomb
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The two Japanese cities where two A-Bombs were dropped by the U.S.
~About 250000 Japanese died either immediately or after a prolonged period of suffering
Casablanca (1943)
The first wartime conference that only involved two of the Big Three
~Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to invade Sicily and to demand “unconditional surrender” from the Axis powers
Tehran (1943)
The Big Three-Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin-met for the first time in this Iranian city
~Agreed that the British and Americans would begin their drive to liberate France in the Spring of 1944
~The Soviets would invade Germany and eventually join the war against Japan
Yalta (1945)
The Big Three-Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin-met again in this city in the USSR
~After the European victory. They agreed that:
1. Germany would be divided into occupied zones
2. There would be free elections in the liberated countries of Eastern Europe
3. The Soviets would enter the war with Japan
4. The Soviets would control the Southern half of Sakhalin Island, the Kurile Islands, and Manchuria
5. A new world peace organization would be created at a conference in San Francisco
~Their agreement in Yalta would prove long term significance
Potsdam (1945)
The final meeting about the war of the Big Three
~Only Stalin remained as the original Big Three, Truman was new, as was Attlee
~They agreed:
1. To issue a warning to Japan to surrender unconditionally
2. To hold war crime trials of Nazi leaders
United Nations
A peacekeeping organization put in immediately after WWII
