Unit X Condensed

1920-45Foreign Affairs

ISOLATIONISM

• Never ratified Treaty of Versailles• Never joined League of Nations• BUT

• We WERE involved in international Finance and Reparations

Germany

• Could not make reparation payments• So how could Brits and French continue to buy

our stuff?

• The Young Plan: We scaled down debts based on ability to pay…everyone owed us money

• The Dawes Plan: U.S. loans to Germany then Germany used that $ for reparations to Bnrits and Fr. Who used it to pay debts to U.S.

The Washington Conference 1921

• 4-Power Treaty Brits, French, U.S. and Japan• All agreed to respect others’ Pacific holdings

• 5-Power Treaty: above + Italy 5-5-3-1.75

• 9-Power Treaty: above + China, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands agreed to respect territorial integrity of China

1928 The Kellogg-Briand Pact

• 63 nations agreed to settle disputes peacefully in an effort to outlaw war.

• Did NOT outlaw war in self-defense

• BUT Japan only gave verbal agreements• Also No enforcement mechinism

In the 20’s

• The U.S. stand on disarmament was an important contribution to world peace

New Map of Europe

• Germany stripped of its colonies and territory• Austria-• Hungary divided and stripped of territory

• New Nations: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia: all made up of land taken from Germany or Austria-Hungary

Latin America

• Under Harding and Coolidge, U.S. continued to intervene

• Dominican Republic and Nicaragua• Latin American resentment against the U.S.

increased

• Hoover: Good Neighbor Policy

Hoover’s Good Neighbor Policy

• Hoover toured Lantin America• Tried NOT to intervene

• BUT all came to nothing due to the Hawley-Smoot Tariff

• They could not pay us bnack if they could not sell their stuff here = more resentment

1930 Naval Disarmament Conference

• In London

• Attempt to freeze navel strength on 2nd and 3rd class ships for 5-Power Treaty countries

• France and Italy refused to sign. Both disliked their ratio

• France wantedf collective security

In the 30‘s

• Disarmament may have worked if the U.S. had agreed to joining a collective security force

In the Meantime

• The Depression was world-wide• The German Republic was in danger of

collapse. Hoover tried to save it

• Hoover issued a moratorium (stoppage) on reparation and debt payments

• Was supposed to be for only one year• But ended up being permanent

Totalitarianism

• Japanese aggression China, Pacific, Indochina

• Mussolini (Fascist) in Italy by 1922• Hitler (Nazi) in Germany by 1933• Stalin in USSR By 1933

China

• Chiang kai-shek: Chinese Nationalist• Tried to drive foreigners out and was trying to

defend against Japanese aggression AND was fighting Chinese communists led by Mao tse-tong (Zedong)

• Since the Japanese never declared war on China, the U.S. was able to send aid to China

China

• Russia sent troops to Manchuria (in self-defense)

• Violated Kellogg-Briand Pact

• 1932 Japan took Shanghai (the Rape of Shanghai)

• Violated 9-Power Treaty, Kellogg-Briand Pact, charter of the League of Nations

China asked the League for Help

• The League asked the U.S. to investigate• We did and sent a note to Japan: we refused

to recognize the legality of Japan’s territorial acquisition

• The League sent Japan a similar note• Japan dropped out of the League

1933 The U.S. Congress

• Voted to give the Philippines its independence 10 years (didn’t do it until 1946 due to the war)

• U.S. trade in the far East was not imperiled by the Japanese

Neutrality Acts

• No loans to nations outside of the W. Hemisphere who had not paid us back

• (Finland was the only country who had paid us back in full)

• No sale of weapons to nations at war• Nations had to cash and carry raw materials• (Japan buying scrap metal and oil from U.S. as

it never formally declared war on China)

Neutrality Acts

• Panay incident: U.S. ship on a Chinese river was bombed by a Japanese Plane in the middle of a clear day. Japan apologized calling it an accident.

• Neutrality Act: ordered American citizens out of countries at war and off of ships belonging to warring countries

Neutrality Acts

• DID restrict American freedom of the seas

• 1935 Pitman Neutrality Resolution: under no circumstances would the United States come to the aid of victims of aggression

• Ludlow Resolution (did not pass by one vote: unless actually attacked, the U.S. could not go to war without a popular referendum

In Germany

• Nuremberg Laws…to Genocide• The 1936 Berlin Olympics• The Master Race• Jesse Owens• The Holocaust 6-10 million liquidated most

Jews but also Jehovah Witnesses, Homosexuals, Political prisoners, Gypsies, mentally and physically handicapped

FDR in Latin America

• HIS Good Neighbor Policy in L.A. had real results

• At the Pan American Conference in 1933 in Montivideo FDR nullified the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine and Nullified the Platt Amendment

1936 Pan-Am. Conference in Peru

• The Declaration of Principles:• All Agreed to– Settle disputes Peacefully– No forced payment of debts– No intervention in each others’ affairs– No conquering of new territories

London Economic Conference

• Brits and others went off of the gold standard

• FDR refused to do the same but did lower the gold content in the U.S. dollar

The USSR

• The U.S. had not given formal diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union since the adoption of communism

• 1933: The Roosevelt-Litvinov Treaty:– The U.S. would formally recognize the USSR– If Russia would make arrangement to pay U.S.

back what it owed from WWI and stop calling for an overthrow of the U.S. government

Aggression

• 1935 Italy took Ethiopia• League protested• Italy dropped out

• 1935-36 Spanish Civil War• Fascist (Franco) ousted King Juan Carlos with

the help of Italy and Germany• Led to the Rome-Berlin Axis

More Aggression

• Ja[an all over China, Indochina, Pacific• 1938 Hitler annexed Austria• Then took the Sudetenland (part of

Czechoslovakia) Protest by Czechs

• The Munich Accords (1938)Hitler, France, England

The Munich Accords

• Britian’s PM, Neville Chamberlain’s Policy of Appeasement:

• The French and Brits would let Hitler keep Austria and the Sudetenland if he promised to stop.

• Hitler Promised• When the Brits and French went home, Hitler

took the rest of Czechoslovakia

1938 Pan-Am Conference Lima, Peru

• Declaration of Lima:• American countries pledged to band to gether

to oppose aggression

• Recognition of the need of a common Hemispheric cooperation

1939

• Italy took Albania• Hitler asked to build a road across the Polish

Corridore to connedt the 2 parts of Germany

• He also demanded the return of Danzig• Was a port city in the Polish Corridor that had

been run by the League since the Treaty of Versailles

Poland and the League both refused

• Poland was promised help from Brits and French

• It will be too little too late

Hitler and Stalin

• Signed a 10-year Nonaggression Treaty

• Hitler told stalin of his plans for Poland and invited Stalin to participate

The Blitzkrieg

• Sept 1939• Hitler claimed that Poles were committing

atrocities on Germans in the Polish corridor• Attacked so fast the Brits and French could not

get help to Poland on time

• Stalin attacked Poland from the East• Warsaw fell in 3 weeks

Then Sitzkrieg

• Hitler quiet through the rest of the fall and winter

• But Stalin was busy• Stalin demanded occupation of the Baltic

states: Estonia.Latvia, Lithuania, as well as Finland

• Finland held out alone for 3 months

The U.S. Congress

• Voted to send Finland $130 million in Non-Military Supplies!

• Remember…Finlad was the only country to have paid us back in full from WWI

Causes WWII

• U.S. foreign Policy• Discontent from Treaty of Versailles• Arms race• Failure of League of Nations to keep peace• Rise of totalitarian states• Economic rivalry

Act of Havana

• Pan American Conference• Worry that Hitler would take over colonies of

conquered European nations

• Act of Havana: forbade the transfer of colonies in the Western Hemisphere from one non-American nation to another

• U.S. marines occupied Greenland after Hitler took Denmark

Spring of 1940

• April 1940 Hitler occupied Norway and Denmark

• May 1940 Hitler demanded occupation of Netherlands and Belgium…they fought

• The Netherlands lasted for 5 days and lost ¼ of its army

Belgium

• Lasted 18 days with help from British and French

• Miracle at Dunkirk• Germans had pushed French, Brit, and Belgium

soldiers to the sea at the English Chanel• A call went out for help• 600 private craft rescued 90% of the men ut left

all weapons, supplies behind

The Fall of France

• France fell in 3 weeks• Terms of Armistice: Germany took 1 million

POWs and occupied 2/3 of France

• Other 1/3 ruled by Petain (French but Nazi sympathizer) was called the Vichy government

The Battle of Britain

• Germany began to bomb the snot out of Britain to prepare cor invasion

• U.S. ISOLATIONISM WAS DANGEROUS

Elections of 1936 &1940

• 1936 Dems: FDR v Rep Wendell Wilke• Third term was an issue

• 1940 Dems FDR v Rep. Dewey (interventionist)

The Burke-Wadsworth Act 1940

• First Peace-time military draft in U.S. History

• By now more interventionists• Formed Fight for Freedom Committees

• Isolationists: America First Committees• Cited Washington’s Farewell Address• FDR called them the Copperheads of 1941

After 1940 election

• FDR named two Republicans to the cabinet

• Secretary of the Navy: Knox• Secretary of War: Stimson

Brits were in trouble

• How to get help to Brits without violating Neutrality Acts

• 1940 The Lend-Lease Act(swap, trade, etc): we could help countries at war to provide for American security

• $ had to be approved by congress• Actions had to be sanctioned by army and navy

Lend-Lease Act

• Made sense to American public after Fireside chat…example…your neighbor’s house is on fire…shouldn’t you lend him your garden hose so the fire will not spres=ad to your house?

• We sent Brits 50 WWI American destroyers in exchang for the use of some of their naval bases

We used force

• To guarantee delivery of Lend-Lease supplies

The Atlantic Charter

• Churchill and FDR had secret meetings• Atlantic Charter: If the U.S. did get involved in

the war…regardless of HOW we became involved, taking out Hitler was our first priority

1941

• Battle of Britain continued• Battle of the Atlantic: Hitler threatened

Greece andYugoslavia

• We promised Lend-Lease aid but did not make it on time

1941

• Japan and Russia signed a 5-Year non aggression treaty

• June 1941 Hitler invaded Russia• In violation of the 1939 noaggression treaty• To Moscow then stopped by the Russian

winter

We promised Russia

• Lend-Lease aid• But had a tough time delivering• By late 1942 we will funnel aid to Russia from

a base in Iran

• Everyone knew…the winner of the war depended on Russia’s ability to hold out

• The Brits were down to 2 months of food

September 1941

• Japan joined the rome-Berlin Axis• Then we stopped selling them oil and scrap

metal…so did others

• Diplomatic talks…U.S. amd Japan in Wash D.C.• We wanted them out of China• They wanted us to help them get oil• Stalemate

December 7, 1941

• Pearl Harbor attacked• 19 ships sunk or seriously damaged• The entire Pacific Fleet• But most planes ok…Aircraft carriers were out to

sea at the time

• 2,403 Americans killed, 68 Hawaiians• More wounded• Did FDR know?

Congress: overwhelming vote for war

• Problem: Atlantic Charter• How to explain to American people why MOST

of our forces sent to Europe when Japan attacked us…

• Problem solved when Hitler declared war on U.S. two days later

Island-Hopping

• Was the strategy used against the Japanese in the Pacific

• MacArthur from Australia to Philippines to Japan

• Admiral Nimitz from Hawaii to Japan

Japanese victories in first few months

• By Spring of 1942 many of the ships damaged at Pearl Harbor were back in business

• Early American Victories• May 1942 Battle of Coral Sea• Then Midway• Guadalcanal

George MarshallU.S. Army Chief of Staff

• 1942 North Africa• German General Rommel and troops after

Suez Canal• Was called The Dessert Fox• Was defeated and surrendered in the spring of

1943 By then Russians had Lend Lease help and were pushing the Germans west toward Germany

Italy

• The Italians had ousted and killed Mussolini but then were occupied by the Germans

• Allies were fighting Germans in Italy

• Eisenhower was amassing soldiers and supplies in Southern England preparing for a massive invasion across the channel…D-Day

D-Day June 6, 1944

• Soldiers and weapons crossed the channel• Normandy• Invaded and freed France, Belgium and

continued east to Berlin

• Hitler fighting a 3-front war• Russia liberated Berlin in April of 1945

Hitler

• Was hiding out in an underground bunker with his brand new bride, Eva Braun

• The day after they married, she poisoned herself and he shot himself

• Hitler left instructions to burn their bodies• He left a note blaming the Jews for the war

and his generals for the loss of the war

V-E Day May 8, 1945

• Planned for May 7th but Harry Truman’s 61st Birthday on May 8

• FDR had died April 12th in Warm Springs, Georgia with his close personal friend, Lucy Rutherford, at his side

• Eleanor was heartbroken

Japan

• 1944 MacArthur returned to the Philippines

• March 1945 Iwo Jima• June Okinawa

• Japan and Kamikaze pilots• Hara-kari

In the meantime…

• The Manhattan Project• The building of 3 atomic (uranium and

plutonium) bombs and fuel• Cost $1 Billion

• Test july 16, 1945 at Alamogordo, NM• Code name…Trinity• Test was a success

The Potsdam Declaration

• Truman was meeting with Stalin and Brits at the Potsdam Conference when he got word of the successful test

• Sent an ultimatum to the Japanese• The Potsdam Declaration: Surrender

immediately and have a quick and easy occupation or face utter destruction

Potsdam Declaration

• Japan thought it was a bluff

• Truman had been told by military that even though the Japanese KNEW they had lost as they were out of fuel, they would fight to the last and continuing traditional warfare would cost an additional 1 million American lives

Hiroshima August 6, 1945

• B-29 Enola Gay Pilot: Tibbets• 66,000 died immediately• 69,000 died some days later

• No surrender

• August 9, 1945 Nagasaki…similar results

No TreatyUnconditional surrender

• Formal Japanese surrender ceremonies on the Missouri September 2, 1945

• Occupied by MacArthur and troops for 7 years• Hirohito could remain as emperor but was no

longer considered divine…died 1989• Women given suffrage, democracy taught in

schools, big electonics industry

At Home

• By 1944 11 million Americans in uniform• The biggest problem was manpower shortage• NOT THE MONEY

• Fair Employment Practices Committee: to end discrimination in industry and in government jobs

Federal Agencies to run the War

• The War Production Board: to establish priorities of raw materials

• Office of Mobilization: converted plants to war-time production (50 % converted)

• War Labor Board: to prevent strikes. Afl and CIO took no-strike pledges

• Office os Scientific Research: Bazooka, radar-controlled artillery, DDTs, Penicillin (syphillis)

And The OPA

• Office of Price Administration froze wages and prices during the war

• -------------------------------------------------------------

• WACs• The GI Bill• Taxes way up, War Bonds too

Civil Liberties

• Japanese Americans• 17% of Hawaii’s population• 1% of California’s (about 110,000 in Ca)• Also in Washington, oregon, Arizona• Although they were American citizens and

many were fighting against the Japanese security risk

1942• FDR sanctioned relocation of Japanese in U.S.• They were given 48 hours to take care of their

affairs, pack one suitcase, and board a train to internment camps

• Challenged in the Supreme Court• 1944 Korematsu v U.S. the Court upheld the

internment camps based on national security• 1990’s apology and compensation $20 grand

Smith Act 1940

• It was illegal to teach or advocate the overthrow of the government

• Overturned in 1957 in Yates v U.S.

War Conferences

• Casablanca• Cairo (re Korea)• Tehran• Yalta• Potsdam • Agreed to war crimes trials (Nuremberg trials)• All agreed to a new world organization:• The United Nations

The United Nations• To preserve world Peace and to safeguard

human rights• General Assembly• Security Council (could impose sanctions)– 5 permanent and additional rotating members)

• Secretariat• World Court (the Connelly Amendment)• Economic and Social Council: atomic Energy,

WHO, Unicef, International Monetary Fund, etc.

Conferences during the war determined:

• Japan 7-year occupation• Italy free without occupational forces.• Germany and Austria divided into zones

controlled and occupied by U.S., Brits, French and Russia…Russia bled reparations from folks in its sector

• Korea ...Russia occupied North, U.S. South• Was supposed to be only until free elections

Post War

• Eastern Europe occupied by Russia…was supposed to be temporary…until after free elections were held

• Elections took place in 1989• Result of Yalta Conference…called “Sell Out at

Yalta”• Poland, Czech, Hungary, Rumania, dtc.

The Brits

• Freed her colonies after the war

• Most French colonies had to fight for independence….Vietnam became our nightmare

Other Stuff

• Amelia Earhart disappeared over Pacific 1938• Harry Houdini• War of the World’s Broadcast 1938• Big Band era…Swing• Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping