The Road to War, 1931 1941 (revised)

THE ROAD TO WAR,1931-1941

Chapter 7

INTRODUCTION• The Second War World, far more than the first,

deserves to be called a global conflict.• Although the First World War involved operations in

Africa, the Middle East, and in East Asia, Europe ultimately remained the sole focus from start to finish.• Europe felt the war’s impact much more profoundly than

any other part of the globe.• However, the Second War World consisted of two

separate but interconnected conflicts of major proportions:• One in Europe and the Atlantic.• The other on the Asian mainland and in the Pacific.

INTRODUCTION• The First World War plainly began in 1914; yet, the

start of the second is not as easy to determine.• Did the conflict begin with the Japanese invasion of

Manchuria in September 1931?• Did the conflict begin when Japan launched prolonged

hostilities against China in July 1937?• Did the conflict begin with the German invasion of

Poland in September 1939?

ISOLATIONISM• Many Americans wanted to isolate the nation from

foreign troubles.• Between 1934 -1936, a Senate investigating committee

headed by Republican Gerald Nye of North Dakota held well-publicized hearings on America’s participation in the First World War.• The Nye Committee endorsed the claim that United

States had been duped into the war to preserve the profits of American bankers and arms makers, who had a huge financial stake in the Anglo-French victory.

• By 1935, public opinion exposed that Americans opposed involvement in foreign conflicts and feared being manipulated by “merchants of death.”

GERALD NYEINTERESTING

FACTSNye was first made famous by an early political cartoon of Dr. Seuss.As Chairman of the Public Lands Committee during the 1920s, Nye uncovered what later became known as the Teapot Dome scandal, which haunted Harding’s presidency.Although initially opposed to war, Nye would join the rest of the Senate and voting for a unanimous declaration of war on December 8, 1941.

ISOLATIONISM• To prevent the United States from being drawn into

another world war, Congress enacted neutrality legislation to halt any financial ties with countries at war.

• The Neutrality Acts of 1935-1936 mandated an arms embargo against belligerents, prohibited loans to them, and reduced travel by Americans on any vessel belonging to a nation at war.• The blockade prevented Germany from buying arms

from the United States, but the embargo had the same effect on Britain and France.

• Roosevelt appealed to Congress to revise the Neutrality Act because of its effect on Britain and France.

ISOLATIONISM• The Neutrality Act of 1937 broadened the acts of

1935-1936 by covering all trade with any belligerent, unless paid in cash and carried the products away on its own vessel.• This piece of legislation is commonly referred to as

“cash and carry.”• Additionally, it barred American vessels from carrying

war material to Allied ports in an effort to avoid German submarine attacks on American shipping such as those that had brought the United States into the First World War.

CIVIL WAR IN SPAIN• Four months after the Rhineland occupation, civil war

erupted in Spain.• In 1931, Revolutionaries had overthrown the Spanish

monarchy and had established a democratic republic.• Meanwhile, General Francisco Franco, a

Hitler/Mussolini sponsored fascist, led the “popular-front” Socialist-Communist coalition against Spain’s republican government.

• Republicans in Spain appealed to antifascist nations for assistance, but only the Soviet Union responded.• Both the United States and Britain adopted policies of

noninvolvement.

CIVIL WAR IN SPAIN• The Spanish Civil War initiated a major debate in

American foreign policy. • As the 1930s continued, some continued to advocate

neutrality and isolation (Isolationists), but others argued for a strong stand against fascist militarism and aggression (Interventionists).• Though Congress maintained a policy of

noninvolvement, Roosevelt called for international cooperation to “quarantine” aggressive nations.

JAPANESE AGGRESSION ON THE ASIAN MAINLAND

• On December, 12, 1937, Japanese planes attacked the American gunboat U.S.S. Panay while she was anchored in the Yangtze River outside Nanking.• The Japanese claimed to have not seen the American

flags painted on the deck of the Panay but their quick apology and indemnity payment defused a potential crisis.

• Although the United States and Japan were not yet at war, the attack and subsequent Allison incident in Nanking caused American opinion to turn against the Japanese.• On January 26, 1938, John Allison, the U.S. Ambassador

to Japan, was struck in the face by a Japanese soldier.

A CAUTIOUS APPROACH

• In the fall of 1940, the America First Committee was established to unite all groups (pro-Nazi and/or pro-isolationist) that opposed war.

• In contrast, the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies and the Fight for Freedom Committee were established to counteract the isolationists and push ahead for war.

• The interventionists were able to win over Congress through the passage of measures that strengthened the armed forces and established the first U.S. peacetime draft.

A CAUTIOUS APPROACH

• With Congress in agreement to offer aid to the Allies, Roosevelt agreed to provide Britain with fifty American destroyers for convoy duty.• In return, Britain granted 99-year leases for American

naval and air bases in British possessions in the West.• After winning reelection for an unprecedented third

term, Roosevelt was able to provide greater aid to Britain through the Lend-Lease Act.• Lend-Lease authorized the president to lend or lease

arms with all payments deferred until after the war.• The agreement had a greater symbolic importance

because it signified the start of closer cooperation between America and Great Britain.

A CAUTIOUS APPROACH

• Shortly after the 1940 reelection, navy planners drafted Plan Dog, which contended that America’s chief priority was the defeat of Germany.• The document stated that American intervention in the

European war was necessary to achieve this aim.• At the same time, it insisted that American forces would

have to assume a defensive stance against Japan in the Pacific.• Both Roosevelt and the Army accepted the navy’s

proposal.• By January 1941, a public opinion poll indicated that

seventy percent of Americans favored aid to Britain, even at the risk of war.

GROWING SUPPORT FOR BRITAIN

• In January 1941, American military and naval leaders met with their British counterparts in Washington to explore contingency plans in case the United States should enter the war.• These American-British Conversations (ABC) took

place in the greatest secrecy and lasted for two months.

• In August, Roosevelt and Churchill met in a secret rendezvous on the British battleship Prince of Wales, off the coast of Newfoundland.• There they drafted the Atlantic Charter, a joint

declaration of policy between a belligerent nation and a technically neutral nation.


• The charters idealistic terms: • Upheld the rights of all people to choose their own

government.• Affirms Anglo-American dedication to peace “after the

final destruction of the Nazi tyranny.”• And rejects any territorial conquest as a result of the

war.• The Atlantic Charter was symbolic of Anglo-American

solidarity and was a propaganda appeal to the conquered peoples of Europe, encouraging them not to lose hope.


• During July 1941, Roosevelt ordered U.S. naval and air units to patrol the Atlantic to warn Britain of the presence of German submarines.• AGAIN hardly an act of a neutral nation.

• In October, U-boats attacked two American destroyers, the U.S.S. Greer and the U.S.S. Reuben James.• The Greer suffered zero damage but the Reuben James was

sunk, which cost America 115 lives.• Roosevelt reacted by persuading Congress to authorize

the arming of U.S. merchant ships and allowing them to carry cargoes to Allied ports.• By the fall of 1941, America was a participant in the war,

although on a limited basis.

DETERIORATION IN AMERICAN-JAPANESE

RELATIONS• With Hitler mounting victories in Europe, the Japanese

sought to take full advantage of Southeast Asia.• Roosevelt responded to this aggression by imposing an

embargo on exports of aviation fuel and all grades of iron and steel scrap to Japan.

• On November 26, 1941, Secretary of State Cordell Hull presented the Japanese ambassador with a note demanding a complete withdrawal of all Japanese troops from French Indochina and China.• Roosevelt knew that Japan would be aggressive in their

response to the Hull note.• On this day, the Japanese began to plan the attack on

the United States at Pearl Harbor.

CORDELL HULL

INTERESTING FACTSBest known as the longest serving Secretary of State, Hull held the position for eleven years (1933-1944).Hull was informed of the attack on Pearl Harbor while discussing a truce with Japanese ambassadors, in frustrations he uttered, “scoundrels and p***-ants.”Hull is the recipient of the 1945 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in establishing the United Nations.

DETERIORATION IN AMERICAN-JAPANESE

RELATIONS• How does America become actively involved in the

Second World War when its government and citizens are opposed to such action?

• President Lincoln’s maneuver to resupply Fort Sumter provoked the South into firing the first shot in 1860.• This act was crucial to get the North into a fighting spirit.

• Roosevelt needed an incident, likewise, to give the U.S. the ability to get involved militarily. • Henry Stimson, the Secretary of War, wondered, “how

we should maneuver them [the Japanese] into the position of firing the first shot without allowing too much danger to ourselves.”

PREPARATIONS FOR WAR IN THE PACIFIC

• By far the strongest Allied naval force was the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.• In addition to its three carriers, Pearl Harbor held seven

battleships, seven heavy cruisers, and numerous smaller craft.

• If the Japanese could destroy this force, especially the carriers, then they would gain naval supremacy in the Pacific.

• Their plan called for the simultaneous attacks on the U.S. outposts of Wake Island and Guam and the British possessions of Malaya and Hong Kong.• Additional assaults on the Philippines, the Dutch East

Indies, and the British island of Burma would occur after.


• To deliver the blow against Pearl Harbor, Japanese planners provided a striking force of six carriers with a complement of 360 planes.• These consisted of high-level bombers, dive bombers,

torpedo bombers, and fighter planes.• The six carriers would be escorted by two battleships,

three cruisers, and eight destroyers.• Admiral Chuichi Nagumo had received the honor by

virtue of seniority although he opposed the attack as too reckless.• Indeed, Yamamoto’s plan contained extremely

dangerous elements.


• Admiral Yamamoto’s plan required the striking force to travel 3,500 miles without being discovered.• To avoid detection, the Japanese imposed absolute radio

silence.• Additionally, they adopted technical innovations that they

hoped would enhance their prospects for success.• Fearing their torpedoes might sink too low, the Japanese

borrowed a method developed by the British - the use of more buoyant wooden fins.

• They also attached fins to the armor-piercing naval gun shells, which they substituted for bombs.• The fins made the shells fall like bombs, but the shells could

pierce the armor of warships much more effectively than bombs.


• On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese striking force attacked Pearl Harbor.• Of the seven battleships on “Battleship Row” – four were sank

(the Arizona and Oklahoma were beyond salvage ) while the other three were severely damaged.

• Three destroyers were sank, 160 aircraft were destroyed and 128 others were disabled.

• 2,400 American personnel lost their lives.• Pearl Harbor was a disaster for Americans but it could have

been far worse.• Three carriers had left for other destinations, seven heavy

cruisers were also at sea.• The Japanese failed to destroy the Navy’s submarine base,

fuel storage tanks, and maintenance facilities.


• Japan had won a remarkable tactical victory but did not score the strategic triumph Yamamoto had gambled on.• Instead of convincing the American people of the futility

of war, the attack on Pearl Harbor united the government and the people in the determination to pursue the conflict to a victorious conclusion.

• Roosevelt went before a joint session of Congress on December 8, 1941, to deliver a grim but stirring speech.• He referred to the previous day as “a date which will live

in infamy” and called for a declaration of war.• The House responded 388 to 1 in favor, the Senate was

unanimous.

JEANNETTERANKIN

INTERESTING FACTSRankin, a Representative from Montana, is the first ever woman elected to the United States Congress.A lifelong pacifist, Rankin opposed entry into World War I in 1917 and opposed declaring war against Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor.“As a woman I can’t go to war and I refuse to send anyone else.”


• Japan’s assault on Pearl Harbor caught Hitler by surprise as much as it did the United States.• The Japanese asked Hitler to honor his pledge and he

complied without hesitation.• It is quite remarkable that Hitler honored his commitment.

• On December 11, both Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.• The three Axis Powers failed to foresee America’s ability

to mobilize swiftly and effectively in a united war effort.• America’s involvement, alongside Great Britain and the

Soviet Union, virtually assured that Germany would lose the war.

Education

The Road to War, 1931 1941 (revised)