A Little Talking

The International Scene which led to Pearl Harbor

Naval Conferences

• Washington Naval Conference 1921-1922

• Geneva Conference 1925

• London Naval Conference 1930

• US- 11• Japanese- 125• French- 119• Italians- 82• British- 74

Ship Building in 1920’s

Blame For WWII

LEFTIST• America was concerned

with economy- not security• USA is responsible for the

breakdown of the international system

• Kellog-Briand was B.S.

CONSERVATIVES• USA adhered to all

conferences• Europe and Japan caused

problems• Uncontrollable things

happened• Outlawing war was a noble

effort

Appeasement

• Initial reaction to dictators- Give in to demands• During the 30’s Versailles Treaty was destroyed– Hitler withdrew from League of Nations– Signed a ten-year non-aggression pact with Poland– 1935- Germany began a draft– 1936 Hitler reoccupied Rhineland– Munich conference 1938

Most Americans did not care about Hitler or Mussolini

NeutralityNEUTRALITY ACT 1936

• Roosevelt wanted to stop sale of minerals to aggressors

• Congress passed general embargo on trading in arms and war materials with all parties in a war.

NEUTRALITY ACT 1937• "cash and carry”:

• President could permit the sale of materials and supplies to belligerents in Europe as long as the recipients arranged for the transport and paid immediately in cash,

Violating the treatyMarch 7th 1936-

German troops entered the Rhineland, a region in western Germany.

*Treaty with Italy in 1936

An “axis” between Rome and Berlin, the capitals of Germany and Italy…This became known as the Axis Powers

Later Japan would join

March 1938

Nazi Germany invades Austria

The Germans were often presented with flowers and cheering crowds

Britain and France protested the action, but did nothing

Months later Germany demands Sudetenland, an industrial region in Czechoslovakia, a heavily German populated area

AppeasementBritish Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain meets with Hitler to resolve the issue (the Munich Agreement)

Chamberlain uses appeasement with Hitler

Appeasement giving in to a competitor's demands in order to keep peace

Returned to England declaring we would have “peace in our time”

No one told the Czechs

September 1938

England, France, Germany, and Italy meet

Munich Agreement - was an agreement permitting Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

Although France was bound by a treaty to defend Czechoslovakia, they agreed to give the Sudetenland to Hitler. No one consulted Czechoslovakia.

Night of Broken GlassKristallnacht

November 9, 1938

Implementing of Anti-Jewish Law

91 Jews were murdered and 25,000 to 30,000 were arrested and placed in concentration camps

Rising tension

1939- Italy invades and occupies Albania

1939- Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact

Nonaggression pact between

Germany and the Soviet Union

The U.S. stays neutral

NeutralityNeutrality Acts

1935 banned the U.S. from providing weapons to nations at war

1936 banned loans to nations at war

1937 permitted trading with fighting nations in nonmilitary goods as long as they paid cash and transported their own cargo

this was called “cash and carry”

Lend Lease Plan-1941or

“The Arsenal of Democracy”

• Rather than give money FDR gave supplies, tanks, aircraft and ammunition to the war effort in Europe without sacrificing US neutrality at that time

Lend-Lease Act

March 1941- authorizing the President to aid any nation whose defense he believed was vital to American security

F.D.R. immediately begin to send aid to England

Atlantic Charter 1941

• FDR met with Churchill (Britain) to discuss post war plans

• FDR promised Churchill he would supply US ships to escort British shipping

• Result: German wolfpack (Sub unit nickname) went on rampage

USA began escorting all merchant ships across the Atlantic

Attitude about War

• 1940 USA began building warships rapidly---but stockpiles would not be high until 1945-made them vulnerable to attack

• 1941: 80 percent of Americans want to stay out of the war!

Road to WWII EventsEurope

Spanish Civil War – 1936-1939

Violating the Treaty of VersaillesGerman troops enter the Rhineland March 7, 1936

Rome Berlin Axis Treaty – 1936 (Japan would join later)

Germany invades Austria March 1938

Germany invades Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia September 1938

Allies Appease (Appeasement giving in to a competitor's demands in order

to keep peace)

Italy invades Albania 1939

Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact 1939 (Non-aggression pact between Germany & USSR

Road to WWII EventsPacificJapan in the 1920s economic recession

layoffs

strikes

political discontent

Japan in the 1930s population boom

Japan lacked natural resources to facilitate rising population

Expansion was the answer

Japanese expansion

Manchuria 1931

Prime Minister assassinated by Japanese Naval officers

Japan’s military takes control of government

Allies Appease (Appeasement giving in to a competitor's demands in order to keep

peace)

Sino-Japanese War 1937

Raping of Nanking 1937

Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact 1939 (Non-aggression pact between Germany & USSR

Whose Fault was Pearl Harbor?

USA Actions

• 100 Million to China

• FDR and a 2-Front Navy

• Petroleum as leverage to stop Japanese expansion

• Japanese refusal to remove themselves from China

Nomora- Hull Agreement

• Cordell Hull oferred Japan a few options

1. Respect territorial integrity of China2. Japanese must not interfere in internal affairs of China3. Must keep the door open4. Must respect USA territory in the Phillipines

Japanese Actions

• April 1941 sign an agreement with Soviets

• Knew from intelligence reports that the USA Navy would not be ready until 1942

• July 23-25 Japan moved south to IndoChina

Oil Embargo

• Left Japan with 1 year supply of oil

• Japanese Choices– Give up Southern expansion strategy– Defy USA and go to War

• Oct. 16 New leader in Japan- General Tojo

Pearl Harbor •  USA Intercepted the code about Pearl

Harbor

Pearl Harbor Continued

It was a Sunday morning - U.S. military was taken off guard

Impact/Damage on U.S.• o 2,400 U.S. military and civilians lost their lives• o 1,178 U.S. military and civilians wounded• o 18 ships and 350 planes sunk or damaged

Pearl Harbor Continued

• Japan viewed it as a stunning victory

• December 8, 1941, U.S. declares war on Japan

• December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declare war on U.S.