Download The London Economic Conference- Encompassing 66

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The London Economic Conference- Encompassing 66 nations and taking place in 1933
 The major goal was to stabilize the international exchange-rate.
 Sec. of State Cordell Hull was the first US delegate sent to the Conference.
 FDR withdrew us from the Conference b/c he did not want the nation to be tied down at
the expense of cooperating with other nations. This killed the Conference.
 Effects: led to a distrust of the US and a general feeling of nationalism all over the world.
The world was pushed into a deeper depression, which made it easier for future dictators.
The public wanted to get rid of the Philippines to save $, get rid of Philippine competition in
the sugarcane industry, and get rid of competition from low-wage Filipino workers.
 The Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934 would give independence to the Philippines after a
12-year period of economical and political tutelage. The US kept naval bases there.
 This was more like freedom from owning the Philippines than giving them freedom.
FDR recognized the Soviet Union in 1933. Anti-Communists and Catholics hated it. FDR
wanted to trade with the Russians and keep them as an ally against Japan and Germany.
The Good Neighbor Policy- the US would be friendly towards its American Buddies
 We showed the world that we no longer wanted to be a world power, just a regional one.
 The use of troops in LA only gained resentment for the US and there were fewer
investments to protect with the Great Depression in effect.
 The US renounced armed intervention at the 7th Pan-American Conference in 1933
 This policy was tested in Mexico, where they took over Yankee oil fields. FDR decided
not to intervene, and the fields were returned with a loss of financial stake.
 Effect: LA liked the US and idolized FDR as a “traveling salesman for peace.”
The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934 by Secretary of State Cordell Hull
 This would lower the trade barriers between countries as an amendment to the HawleySmoot Tariff. It started the low tariff policies of New Dealers.
 FDR was empowered to lower tariff rates by 50% if the other nation would reciprocate.
 This would happen without approval by Congress, which made it so that the reduction
would happen quicker and no raising amendments could be tacked on.
 Hull was able to negotiate this with 21 countries by 1939.
 Effect: killed the policy of a protective tariff for all time and boosted international trade.
World Events
 Communist USSR led the way w/Joseph Stalin as its leader, followed by Italy with
Benito Mussolini its Fascist leader, and then Germany with Hitler.
 Hitler was the most dangerous because of his tremendous power and impulsiveness.
 The Rome-Berlin Axis (1936)- the alliance b/t Germany and Italy.
 Japan was similar to Germany and Italy because they were all have-nots, hated the Treaty
of Versailles, and they needed space in which their millions of people could live.
 1934- Japan killed the Washington Naval Treaty and walked out of a disarmament
conference. They began to construct lots of big battleships.
 Mussolini took over Ethiopia, and the League decided not to embargo oil and to take no
action instead. This sealed the fate of the League.
 All of this made the U.S. become more isolationist.
The Johnson Debt Default Act of 1934 prevented the debtor nations to borrow more US $$.
Many wanted there to be an amendment so that Congress couldn’t declare war unless an
invasion or a popular referendum called for it.
The Veterans of Future Wars, a group of Princeton students, called for pensions to be paid to
future soldiers while they were still alive.
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Congress Legislates Neutrality
 Senator Gerald Nye of ND was appointed to see what role bankers and arms
manufacturers played in bringing the US into WWI.
 b/c of sensationalism, many were made to believe that people caused the war to make $
 The new reasoning was that if the profitability was taken out of the business then the US
would not be pushed into any new wars by greedy arms manufacturers.
 The Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, & 1937
 When the Pres. proclaimed the existence of a foreign war, Americans couldn’t sail on
belligerent ships, could sell or transport munitions to belligerents, and no making
loans to belligerents.
 This would kill freedom of the seas, but would only keep the nation out of a war like
WWI. These acts were outdated. Americans also failed to see that the decision for
peace did not lie in their own hands. The nation’s fate now lay in the hands of
dictators. By not helping victims of attack, evil aggressors now had the upper hand.
The Spanish Civil War and other US Blunders
 Fascist General Francisco Franco (aided by Italy and Germany) tried to overthrow the
loyalist gov’t (aided by Russia). The US helped neither side due to the Neutrality Acts.
 This boosted the confidence of other dictators and gave them another ally.
 The US let its navy decline for fear that big fleets cause wars and to give taxpayers relief.
They eventually prepared in 1938 by issuing a billion $ naval construction act, but this
was not enough and came too late.
Appeasing Japan and Germany
 1937- the Japanese attacked Beijing at the Marco Polo Bridge. Curtain Raiser for WWI.
 FDR decided not to proclaim this a war so that China could be supplied. Japan also
gained lots of munitions from the US.
 The Quarantine Speech- issued in the autumn of 1937 in Chicago
 FDR called for positive endeavors to isolate the aggressors, mainly by embargo.
 This set off lots of protest from isolationists, who shunned FDR and got him to use
less direct means to curb the dictators.
 The Panay (1937)
 The American gunboat, Panay, was sunk by Japanese, killing 2 and wounding 30.
 The Japanese issued and apology and an indemnity, the situation calmed.
 Japanese abused Americans in Japan through embarrassing slappings and strippings.
 Hitler disobeyed the Treaty of Versailles by building up his military and entering the
DMZ in the Rhineland. He also began to persecute Jews.
 Hitler soon occupied Austria and was making demands for the Sudentenland.
 The Munich Conference- September 1939
 The western European democracies, who were not ready for war, tried to appease
Hitler by taking the Sudentenland from Czechoslovakia and giving it to him.
Hitler’s Belligerency and US Neutrality
 France and GB were trying to sign a mutual defense treaty with Russia, when on August
23, 1939, Germany and Russia signed a non-aggression pact.
 Stalin’s goal was to have the rest of Europe kill each other so that he could reign supreme
 Hitler was now free to attack Western Europe. On Sept. 1, 1939, Hitler overran Poland
demanding all the land taken from him after WWI. Russia swept in to claim some land.
 FDR quickly issued neutrality, and the public was determined to stay out.
 The Neutrality Act of 1939 let the US sell arms to democracies on a cash-and-carry basis
 FDR was now able to declare danger zones in which US merchant ships couldn’t enter.
 The US recession was now over due to the employment brought by WWII.
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The Aftermath of the Fall of France.
 “Phony War”- the time after Germany invaded Poland and where GB and France chilled.
 Germany moved troops away from Poland to invade France while the Russians attacked
Finland, who was given $30 million for nonmilitary supplies to get a buffer territory.
 1940- Hitler took Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, and then France in June.
 PM Winston Churchill emerged as a leader of Great Britain.
 If Hitler too Europe, he would have the slave labor and resources of all Western Europe.
This fear inspired Americans to begin a tremendous war effort.
 Congress appropriated $37 billion to make large airfleets and a 2-ocean navy.
 A conscription law was passed on Sept. 6, 1940, the US first peacetime draft.
 The Havana Conference of 1940 declared that all of America would uphold the Monroe
Doctrine and assure that orphaned colonies would not fall into the wrong hands.
Bolstering Britain with the Destroyer Deal
 The US clearly supported GB after the fall of France.
 The Battle of Britain went on for several months (Aug 1940), before a scheduled German
invasion in Sept. 1940. B/c of the RAF’s strong defense, the invasion never happened.
 The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies made pro-Brit. Propaganda
 The America First Committee said that the US should stay out of the war. They were led
by Col. Charles A. Lindbergh.
 Britain was in need of ships to defend itself from German subs. On Sept. 2, 1940, the US
gave them 50 old destroyers in exchange for 8 valuable defensive base sites for 99 yrs.
 This was very questionable, and many said that it violated US neutrality. Many also
hated it because FDR didn’t go thru Congress to do this
The Election of 1940
 FDR (D) v. Wendell Willkie ®
 The front runners for the ® were Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio (son of ex-pres) and lawyer
Thomas Dewey of NY, but the convention was swept off its feet by Willkie’s charisma.
 Willkie was a former (D) who was a total novice in politics.
 The Republicans assailed the contradicting New Deal and the dictatorship of FDR. He
did support FDR’s interventionist policies in Europe in his over 500 speeches.
 Both candidates wanted to stay out of war and bolster defenses.
 FDR wins 27,307,819 to 22,321,018 and 449 to 82.
The Lend-Lease Law (#1776)- “An Act to Further Promote the Defense of the United States”
 GB was nearing the end of its money supply, so FDR decided to lend arms to its allies.
 Senator Taft was opposed to this, and he made a metaphor to chewing gum.
 Senator Burton Wheeler called it the new AAA.
 This was a economic declaration of war upon the dictators of Europe.
 This killed any pretense of neutrality. The people knew that this could lead to war, but
they would rather give weapons now than fight alone later.
 This also prepared factories for all out war production.
The Robin Moor was destroyed by a German sub on May 21, 1941. FIRST SINKING.
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Hitler’s Assault on the Soviet Union Spawns the Atlantic Charter.
 Stalin and Hitler didn’t trust each other.
 Stalin balked at the German control over the Balkans, so Hitler invaded Russia to get oil.
 June 22, 1941- Hitler begins his assault on Russia. This was good because the 2 allies
could now weaken each other. This assault made Russia change sides.
 FDR eventually uses the Lend-Lease Law to give Russia over $11 billion.
 An early Russian winter stops the invading troops from reaching Moscow.
 The Atlantic Conference- Wilson and FDR meet to discuss common problems
 The Atlantic Charter- approved by the US, GB, and Russia
 Outlined goals for the world at war’s end. Similar to the 14 Pts., but more specific.
 No imperialistic annexations
 Self-determination
 Self-government and regaining of gov’ts lost to dictators.
 Disarmament
 A permanent system of general security
US Destroyers and Hitler’s U-Boats Clash
 The US was in danger of being convoyed into war by losing ships defending lend-lease
shipments. FDR made the decision to do this in July 1941, but only as far as Iceland.
 When the Greer was attacked in Sept. 1941, FDR issued a shoot-on-sight order.
 Both the Kearney and the Reuben James lost men in battle with subs.
 Nov. 1941- the US voids the Neutrality Act of 1939. Merchant ships can now be armed.
Pearl Harbor- December 7, 1941; “A day that will live in infamy”
 Japan depended on US supplies for their fight, but FDR held off on an embargo because
he didn’t want the Japanese to attack the Dutch East Indies and take their oil.
 In late 1940, FDR began the embargo. In mid-1941, FDR froze Japanese assets and
embargoed more war materials.
 In Nov. and early Dec. 1941, the State Dept. told Japan to leave China, and then the US
would resume limited trade. Japan did not like this, so they turned their attack to us.
 The US wouldn’t attack first. We also thought that the attack was gonna come in the Far
East due to information on Japanese ship movements.
 Black Sunday/Pearl Harbor
 Japanese diplomats prolonged negotiations with Washington while the attack was
planned. Japanese bombers attacked without warning from distant aircraft carriers.
 3000 lives were lost and the battleship fleet was immobilized.
 Effect: got rid of isolationist opposition and put support behind the war.
Congress declares war on Dec. 8, 1941 with only one nay vote.
Axis declares war on Dec. 11, 1941.