C35 - FDR and the Shadow of War 1933-1941 Flashcards
Charles Lindbergh
Famous pilot/aviator who was spokesperson for America First Committee which was against the US providing aid to Britain in the war.
isolationism
Foreign policy decisions that focus almost entirely on domestic issues (issues within the US like the Great Depression) and ignoring/not cooperating with other global nations.
Hitler-Stalin nonaggression pact
- agreement between Hitler and Stalin of Russia, that they would not attack each other. Stalin did this because his knew Hitler would keep attacking other Western nations and those nations would then attack Germany. Stalin then thought Russia would end up ruling most of Europe after other countries destroyed each other.
Nye committee
Senate committee led by Senator Nye, which was a force for pushing US Neutrality (staying out of the War) in the early stages of WWII.
Atlantic Charter
August 1941. Formally adopted by US and Britain and then endorsed by the Soviet Union (this was after Hitler attacked its former “ally”, the Soviet Union).
Said that it was illegal for countries to overtake other lands without consent of those people who lived there. Said that people could choose their own governments.
Called for a new League of Nations - where countries would work together toward peace.
Adolf Hitler
- Dictator of Germany. Ruthless and impulsive. Great orator (speaker). Failed artist from Austria.
Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies
Group that spread the message of its belief that US should get involved in WWII and defend Britain against Hitler/Nazis.
Francisco Franco
Fascist rebel who was able to overthrow the democratic republican government during Spanish Civil War. This happened partly because of US Neutrality laws that forbid the sale of guns/ammo to the Spanish government. They were left without the arms to protect themselves.
Spanish Civil War
1936-1939. Fascist dictator Franco ended up overthrowing the democratic/republican government that had existed.
Nazi party
Hitler’s political party.
London Economic Conference
- 66 Nations met in London to talk about ways to end the worldwide economic depression. FDR pulled the US reps out at the last minute because he was more intereted in only teh US economy and not the other nations of the world. This isolationist view made global problems worse and made it easier for evil dictators like Hitler to rise to power in their own countries.
“phony war”
Months following the fall of Poland to Germany. There was no fighting in Europe for a few months until Russia attacked Finland and Germany attacked Denmark and Norway in April 1940.
China incident
1937: Japan aggressively invaded China. Japan was allied with Germany and Italy..all run by ruthless dictators.
Joseph Stalin
Ruthless dictator of USSR (including Russia)
Benito Mussolini
Fascist and bad dictator who came to power in 1922 in Italy.
“cash and carry”
Terms set by the Neutrality Act of 1939. America would sell arms to foreign nations again, but only if they paid cash and used their own ships to deliver.
America First Committee
Group that formed to share it’s view (opposite of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies) that US should stay out of the War and not help Britain. They felt US should concentrate on defending its own boarders if Hitler conquered Britain and then came for the US.
Famous pilot Charles Lindbergh was America First Committee’s spokesperson.
lend-lease
Law passed by Congress in 1940/41 saying that the US would lend military equipment to countries like Britain who were defending themselves against aggressors like the Nazis. US did this because Britain was out of $ not able to buy more arms, etc. from the US. The US wanted to find a way to support Britain in defending itself.
Cordell Hull
FDRs Secretary of State who believed strongly in free trade with other countries, which meant lower tariffs on foreign goods. He believed that if US bought a country’s goods, that country would in return by US goods, which would be good for both eonomies.
Lowering Tariffs was a very big part of his plans.
totalitarianism
Hitler’s Germany is an example. Dictator-led political system in a country.
Wendell Willkie
1940 Presidential election - he was Republican challenger to Democrat FDR (who broke tradition and ran for a 3rd term).
FDR said he was running for a 3rd term because the US was in the middle of a crisis with WWII beginning in Europe. He felt his steady hand and continuity were needed.
“Quarantine” speech
1937 speech given by FDR in Chicago after he became alarmed by the aggression and brutality of Italy against Ethiopia and Japan against China.
FDR became less isolationist and started to see that the US might need to take a stand in some global problems. He said the US should “quarantine” aggressive dictators. Quarantine could happen through economic sanctions.
Winston Churchill
Leader of Britain during WWII. He met with Roosevelt many times to discuss problems caused by aggressive nations like Germany. In August, 1941, they met on a warship off Newfoundland to discuss/agree upon the Atlantic Charter.
Churchill was a great speaker and a great leader.
Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act
- Passed by Congress after urged by FDR and Secretary Hull. This lowered Tariffs and gave FDR power to lower them further for specific countries who were willing to do the same.
New era of cooperation between countries re: trade. Very beneficial to US economy.
reciprocity
Concept of having 2 countries both remove Tariff protections to trade more freely with each other.
Good Neighbor Policy
FDR’s efforts to focus on friendly relations with Western Hemisphere countries (Latin American nations, Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, etc.).
FDR focused on foreign relations wtih Western Hemisphere countries while being isolationist (distancing the US) from European and Asian countries.
“merchants of death”
named given to US companies that manufactured arms and ammunition to be used for war. There was a movement in the US to end all war and all US involvement, so some senators tried to hurt US companies involved in producing war-use products, by calling them merchants of death.
Neutrality Acts
Passed by Congress in 1930s as a way to try to keep US out of foreign wars that might start due to problems in Germany, USSR, Italy, Japan. This stay out of war at any cost approach was bad for the US and the World because it didn’t distinguish between innocent people and terrible dictators. Because US wouldn’t step in to help innocent people who were being hurt by dictators, in effect the US was propping up/making stronger the dictators.
Rome-Berlin axis
Coalition formed between Mussolini and Hitler.
Ethiopia
African nation that was attached in 1935 brutally by Italy’s Mussolini. Because no other country stepped in to help the Ethopians, Mussolini was further empowered.
Czechoslovakia (Suedetenland)
First Hitler invaded/conquered part of Czechoslovakia that was German-speaking (Suedentenland) Western powers had a meeting…they were assured by Hitler that this was the last piece of land that he was looking to take over. Western powers./nations, including US believed him. Later that year, Hitler took over all of Czechoslovakia.
Poland
Invaded by Hitler’s Nazis in 1939. This brought France and Britain into WWII as they had to defend their ally Poland.
France
June, 1940 - Attacked/conquered by Hitler. After the sudden fall of France to Germany, US and FDR became very alarmed that all democracies in Europe would fall to Germany and Russia. US began building its military and passed a Conscription law in 1940 to make registering for the draft (military service) mandatory for US male citizens.
Iceland
US military ships escorted ships that were carrying military equipment from US to Britain. US military had to escort these ships to defend against attacks from German submarines (U-boats)
Hawaii
Pearl Harbor attached in 12/7/1941, while Japanese negotiators were in DC, talking about problems between the US and Japan, including Japan’s invasion of China 4 years earlier (US was demanding that Japan move out of China). Another problem was the US embargo (law that forbid shipments) of much needed supplies in Japan.
Bad consequences of Treaty of Versailles (treaty at end of WW1)
US wanted so badly to be done with the war, and they were turning inward (becoming isolationist) and therefore didn’t care as much as needed about global issues. This made the environment easy for dictators to come to power and rule. Hitler, for example, blamed the Treaty of Versailles and other countries for Germany’s desperate economic problems. German people were desperate and therefore willing to follow the well-spoken orator, Hitler
December 7 - December 11, 1941
After Pearl Harbor attack by Japan, Japan’s allies (Germany and Italy, all led by ruthless dictators). declared war on the US and the US did so in return. US was officially part of WWII.
December 7, 1941
Pearl Harbor attacked by Japan. FDR called this “a day that will live on in infamy”
