Download WWI-WWII

WWI-WWII
Rohit Lal, Hailey Parker, Rachel Bouvier, Spenser Stites
Pre-war America
• After split in Republican Party due to Roosevelt and Taft’s
“outbreak” over Republican nomination in Chicago,
Democrats, who haven’t had office since 1897, had an
excellent chance to win with their new reformist leader,
Woodrow Wilson
• Wilson wins the election of 1912 as a result of Roosevelt’s
split; has less votes than Taft/Roosevelt combined
Woodrow Wilson
• Nominated for governor by New Jersey political bosses
because he was respectable
• Once he became governor, his incredible leadership power
made him immediately popular, people spoke of making him
president
• Promoted “New Freedom” which favored small enterprise,
entrepreneurship, and free functioning of unregulated and
unmonopolized markets. Focused on economic reform to fix
social issues
Wilson in Office
• Even before arriving in office, Wilson already knew what he
wanted to do
• Focused on an all out assault on “the triple wall of privilege”:
the tariff, the banks, and the trusts
• First focused on tariff by passing the Underwood Tariff Bill to
reduce tariff rates substantially. Reduced import fees
drastically
Wilson in Office
• The recent 16th Amendment allowed Congress to pass a
graduated income tax, which, by 1917, generated more
revenue than tariffs.
• Wilson next focused on the inadequate banking system still
based on the Civil War era National Banking Act
• Wilson, in 1913, signed the Federal Reserve Act which
revolutionized the banking system by enacting a series of
government controlled banks called “Federal Reserves” which
existed to fix any possible issues which come up by increasing
money in circulation
Wilson in Office
• Finally Wilson focused on taming the trusts. Wilson’s work
against trusts started with the Federal Trade Commission Act
of 1914 which empowered a commission to randomly search
various commerce based companies such as meatpackers
• Wilson also passed the the Clayton Anti-Trust Act which
extended the Sherman Act’s list of acts deemed “trustworthy.”
Wilson’s Progressivism
• Wilson also focused on progressivism like the last few
presidents had been. Influenced by the Populists, he made
credit available to farmers at low interest rates through the
Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916
• The Warehouse Act of 1916 authorized loans on the staple
crops, also influenced by the Populists
• Wilson knew that, in order to win the election of 1916, he
needed to be the “Progressive Candidate.”
Wilson’s Foreign Policy
• Wilson hated both Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” ideology and Taft’s
“Dollar Diplomacy.” He immediately proclaimed that the
government would no longer provide Latin America and China
with special support
• He also repealed the Panama Canal Tolls Act which had
previously exempted America from shipping tolls in the Canal
• Wilson’s attempts at neutrality was threatened as he was
forced to send American troops to Haiti when American
property there was threatened by Haitian revolutionaries
Meanwhile…
• Revolutions in Mexico were taking place as well
• Wilson tried to keep us out, but was forced into it when a
group of American sailors was arrested in Mexico.
• Even though they immediately apologized, Wilson was
determined to eliminate the Mexican leader.
• Recklessly ordering the navy to attack Vera Cruz, Wilson was
saved from war when Huerta collapsed due to pressure from
Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Ruined relationship with Mexico
for a long time.
Shots Fired in Europe
• Meanwhile, while Wilson was focused on taming the
dominant trusts, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne
of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated by a Serbian patriot.
• The result was a huge chain reaction, starting with Russia
backing Serbia, and Germany attacking France through
Belgium. The English, scared that the assault on Belgium
opened them up to an invasion from Germany, was forced to
back up France
Shots Fired in Europe
• Almost overnight, Europe was locked into a huge war, pitting
the Central Powers: Germany Austria-Hungary, and later
Turkey and Bulgaria, against the Allies: France, Britain, Russia,
and later Japan and Italy
• Americans were extremely thankful that they were out of
Europe and separated by an ocean.
• Wilson, whose wife had also recently died, issued neutrality
and called for Americans to stay neutral in thought.
American Thoughts on War
• Most Americans were anti-German, due to their autocratic
styles
• They were against Kaiser Wilhelm II’s bellicose invasion
through the neutral state of Belgium.
• Many Germans and Austrians in America sabotaged industry
work and fought against America.
• Even though most Americans were pro-Ally, they almost all
wanted to stay out of the horrid war.
American Recession
• When Europe first broke into fighting , America was broke
• America was free to trade with both sides of the war, and
would have if not for English blockades on Atlantic German
ports
• American trade with the desperate English and French helped
boost us out of recession
• Germans were angry about getting the short end of the stick
from supposedly America, so they sent deadly U-Boats , or
submarines, at American ships
American Neutrality Threatened
• German U-boats succeeded in angering the Americans.
• The ship ignored previous rules of naval warfare by sinking
ships without warning
• The Lusitania, a British passenger ship carrying 1200 people
and 128 Americans, was sunk, leaving all of them dead. After
the Lusitania was sunk by Germans, Americans started
considering fighting back, but Wilson stood by neutrality,
instead settling with a deal made with Germany which forced
them to stop sinking innocent ships without warning
Election of 1916
• Teddy Roosevelt was again nominated by the Progressives, but
refused to run for president due to his pure hatred of Wilson
• The Republicans nominated Supreme Court Justice Charles
Evans. Had a bad habit of flipping his views based on the views
of the people he was speaking to
• The Democrats nominated Wilson again, who fought on an
anti-war campaign.
• Wilson won the election barely, with the electoral college
votes tallying 277/254
Americans Forced to Fight
• On January 31, 1917, the Germans declared they would sink
all ships, including American ones, in the war zone.
• Germans couldn’t afford to have to make the distinction
between combatants and noncombatants
• Americans also intercepted the Zimmerman note, a note
written by German foreign secretary Andrew Zimmerman,
proposing a secret Mexican-German Alliance in hopes of
taking back Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona
Americans Forced to Fight
• One last reason America was hesitant to fight was Russia
• Americans didn’t want to fight alongside Russia, as fighting for
democracy alongside the czars of Russia would be hypocritical
• When the Bolsheviks overthrew the cruel czars, America felt
more comfortable fighting with the Allies
• Americans finally forced to declare war on April 6, 1917
Neutrality Overthrown
• American people were still very anti-war even though Wilson
felt it was necessary
• This resulted in a lot of pro-war propaganda by the
government and by a man named George Creel
• Creel organized closed to 150,000 people, half of which who
were sent around the nation delivering speeches about the
war, to generate support for the war
• Extremely successful
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
• Wilson organized 14 points which he delivered enthusiastically
to Congress
• The first 5, the most relevant, involved abolition of secret
treaties, freedom of the seas, removal of economic barriers
post-war, armament reductions, and colonial readjustment
• Wilson’s last point foreshadowed his planned League of
Nations, an international organization for peace
American Factories
• Americans were, even though notified heavily, not fully
prepared for war
• Shipbuilding factories and other attempts at growing the
American army, relatively small compared to the other powers
of the war, grew extremely relevant
• American labor unions also effected the war drastically
• While AF of L, the largest labor union of the time, supported
the war, others didn’t, and acted extremely radically
American Workers
• In 1919, the greatest strike in American history rocked the
steel industry
• Over 250,000 American steelworkers went on strike in hopes
of forcing employers to recognize the right of workers to
organize and bargain as a group
• Steel companies resisted and hired cheap labor, African
Americans, to replace the workers
• After the strike collapsed, the union movement was ruined for
decades
Suffrage Fights
• Women were also ferociously active during the war time
• Many progressive-era women were pacifists, and thus, antiwar by nature
• The women were seemingly successful as Wilson proclaimed
suffrage for women a “vitally necessary war measure.”
• In 1920, women were given the right to vote through the 19th
Amendment
War Economy at Home
• Families at home were encouraged to help the war effort by
partaking in “heatless Mondays, lightless nights, and gasless
Sundays” to preserve fuel
• Herbert Hoover, the leader of the Food Administration and the
war effort at home, preferred to take an approach asking for
voluntary aid rather than forcing Americans to help
War Censorship
• The war also prompted a time of extreme government
censorship
• Random German-Americans were occasionally beaten
• The Espionage Act of 1917, and the Sedition Act of 1918, were
used to justify picking out Socialist Americans and prosecuting
them
• In the case of Schenck v. United States, the Supreme Court
affirmed the legality of these acts by arguing that freedom of
speech could be revoked when the speech posed a threat to
the nation
Bulking up our army
• Wilson was very anti-draft, and was extremely hesitant to
submit to one but did eventually send a bill proposing one
through Congress when he realized it was necessary.
• The draft was extremely effective in bulking up America in
time for fights
• For the first time in American history, women served in the
war.
• African Americans were also accepted to fight, but only in
segregated units under white leaders
Fighting in France
• The Germans predicted accurately how unready America was
for war
• They knew how small our military was, and that if we were
able to make one, it would take forever to get it to Europe
• Once American troops made it to France, they helped fight
back German invasions
• American troops also fought in Belgium, Italy, and Russia, in
order to keep these states from falling to Germany
• Germany’s invasion into France was a huge threat, as it was 40
miles from Paris, the capital. American soldiers, having finally
arrived, were able to help the French hold off the Germans.
Victory in Sight
• With the help of the Americans, Europe was able to hold
down the seemingly unstoppable German Juggernaut
• Even though the Americans did help fight on the battlefield,
the main role of Wilson was to be a moral leader for the world
• Germans were ready to surrender as blockades led to food
shortages and their allies were limiting
• On November 11th, 1918, the Germans officially surrendered
• The Americans main role was sending supplies, such as oil,
food, and ammunition to the Allies in need, as well as fighting
alongside the Allies as a secondary
The Paris Peace Conference
• Wilson’s decision to go to Paris angered Republicans and
neglected to include a single Republican Senator in his peace
delegation, even though Congress was mainly Republican
• Henry Cabot Lodge was put on the team by angry Republicans,
and he and Wilson were immediate enemies
• A treaty needed to be decided upon quickly, as Bolshevik
Russia was leaking communism into the rest of Europe and
was causing Europeans to break out into anarchy
• Wilson’s ultimate goal was a world peace group known as the
League of Nations
Territorial Issues
• An issue that came with making peace was the issue of
territories
• Wilson’s 14 points were very anti-colonization, but lots of
conquered territory is to come out of any war, especially one
as large as this one
• Territories on the borders of France and Germany were highly
contested, as well as Middle Eastern state that had managed
to get involved in the war
• Wilson’s self-determination ideals angered other leaders.
Leaders weren’t able to keep territories that were “rightfully”
theirs due to Wilson’s attempts at compromise
The Finished Result
• The finished Treaty of Versailles was sent to the Germans in
June of 1919
• Germans were outraged at the sanctions placed on them as a
result of their failures, and Hitler would soon meet the
demands of the German people, whether or not it obeyed the
treaty.
• When Wilson returned, views were very split on the treaty
• Some thought it too harsh, while others thought it not harsh
enough. Regardless, Wilson’s treaty dealings lowered his
popularity amongst the people drastically
League of Nations Issues
• Wilson’s propositions were immediately shot down by
Republicans
• While most of Senate, Republican or Democrat, agreed that
the League of Nations was a good idea, it was simply too hard
to come up with an agreement on the terms of the proposal
• The main issue was that the League of Nations forced the US
into a binding agreement that, if any other country committed
an act of aggression, the US would help fight against the
aggressor. This pact took away Congress’ power to declare war
• The League of Nations eventually failed to pass, as Wilson was
too stubborn to let the League of Nations pass with the edits
and told all the Democrats in Congress to vote no, and Lodge
was too stubborn to let it pass without
The Election of 1920
• Senator Warren G. Harding was nominated by the Republicans
with Calvin Coolidge
• Governor James M. Cox of Ohio is nominated by the
Democrats with Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• Eugene V Debs nominated by Socialist Party
• Harding easily wins the election, Debs wins most votes ever
for Socialist leader
Prejudice in America
• The Red Scare began in America around 1919-1920, and many
labor strikes were viewed as Russian anarchy
• Communists were arrested by General A. Mitchell Palmer, saw
red too easily
• Two men arrested for murder, are electrocuted due to their
race, religion, and history as draft dodgers. Expressed
prejudice in court systems
• A new KKK spawned, against Catholicism, blacks, and
Communism, and Judaism. They committed many violent acts
against these groups of people, which influenced Americans
greatly
Immigration Restrictions
• Immigrants coming from war-torn countries, close to 400,000
a year
• The Emergency Quota Act of 1921, which halted immigration
from Europe
• Replaced by the Immigration Act of 1924, which made quotas
country by country to freeze the current racial composition of
America
• Completely cut off Japanese, and exempted Canada and most
of Latin America
Prohibition
• Last motion of progressive movement, passed in 1919 under
the 18th Amendment
• Didn’t actually ban possession of alcohol, just purchasing or
selling of alcohol
• Actually increased alcoholism, liquor bootlegging
• Not a complete failure as it discouraged absenteeism and
increased bank savings
• Caused lots of crime/gangs
• Al Capone, a murderous liquor dealer, ran a huge gang in
Chicago and later Brooklyn
• Gangsters moved to prostitution, gambling, and narcotics
• Prohibition ended in 1933
Evolution Issues
• Teachers are getting yelled at for teaching evolution around
the country
• Famous case called Scopes Trial, where teacher named John T.
Scopes is indicted in Tennessee for teaching evolution
• Fights between theology and biology prove to go nowhere,
but Fundamentalists look foolish for the absurd trial
Cars
• As prosperity roared in the 20s, people bought more and
more cars until it became a necessity to own one
• The car, once a luxury reserved for the wealthy, was now
owned by everyone
• Henry Ford’s Model T was put introduced in 1908, but was too
expensive for an average citizen
• By 1920, most workers were able to own one, and in 1929, 26
million cars were registered in the US
Airplanes
• Cars brought along a big push for gasoline, and gasoline
allowed for more advanced transportation technologies
• While the first airplane was flown in 1903, five years before
the Model T was released, the technology was able to take off
in the 20s when oil became very commonplace
• Charles A. Lindbergh flew his plane, The Spirit of St. Louis,
across the Atlantic, from NY to Paris
• By the 1930s and 40s, travel on air became common for many
Americans, and safe enough as well
Radio
• Even faster than airplanes were radio waves. Radio waves first
were used for communication in 1890, but weren’t used avidly
until WW1 when radio was necessary for long-range
communication
• Radio knitted the nation together through captivating shows
and important news broadcasts
Movies
• Hollywood first came into existence in 1903, when the first
movie, The Great Train Robbery, was released
• In 1915, a movie which glorified the KKK of the Reconstruction
days was released, known as, The Birth of a Nation.
• These two movies, two of the first major story movies, are
classic movies
Lifestyle Changes
• A major lifestyle change was shown through women
• A sexual freedom came about
• Women cut their hair, wore one-piece bathing suits and
dresses
• Dr. Sigmund Freud argued that sexual repression caused
emotional ills, and that this sexual freedom was doing a good
for society
• Racial pride emerges
• Marcus Garvey found UNIA to promote blacks to resettle their
African homelands
Foreshadowing the Depression
• Even during the boom of the 20s, banks were failing daily
• Speculation ran wild
• Debt skyrockets under Wilson from 1.2 million in 1914 to 24
million in 1921
• Burdensome wartime taxes still an issue on many
President Harding
• Harding, like Ulysses S. Grant, couldn’t tell when people were
being dishonest
• His gang of friends that he appointed, called the Ohio Gang,
was very corrupt
• Harding, as a friend of theirs, didn’t want to disappoint them
• Harding was a good guy, but a bad president
• Harding appointed 4 of the 9 Supreme Court Justices
• Most of them were bad choices except for ex-president Taft
who helped keep the rest in line
• The Supreme Court killed landmark labor laws, child-labor
laws, and stripped women of their special protection in the
workplace
• Corporations had the power to expand under Harding’s lax
rules and ignoring of anti-trust laws
Foreign Issues
• Disarmament Conference of 1921-1922: Invitations to all the
Naval Powers, except Bolshevik Russia who the US refused to
officially recognize as a government
• Secretary Hughes proposed that England/America/Japan scale
down their navies at a 5:5:3 ratio respectively.
• The Five-Power Naval Treaty of 1922 embodied Hughes’ ideas
on ship ratios
• Pact between Japan, France, Britain, and the US made to
preserve the status quo of the pacific. Known as the FourPower Treaty
Tariffs
• In 1922, Congress passed the comprehensive FordneyMcCumber Tariff boosted the average tariff rate from 27% to
39%
• Harding was much more friendly to tariff increases than
reductions, authorizing 32 upward changes on various
commodities
• The high tariff resulted in high European tariffs lowering global
trade
• The whole circle of raising tariffs to compete internationally
helped Hitler get to power
Scandals
• The loose morality of the Harding Era manifested itself quickly
through many scandals
• In 1923, Colonel Charles R. Forbes, was caught stealing money
from the government, close to $200 million stolen by him and
accomplices
• Teapot Dome Scandal, involved the president receiving a bribe
to help transfer invaluable oil to the wrong hands for money
• The president dies to pneumonia and thrombosis before the
scandals could catch up to him
Calvin Coolidge
• Takes over upon Harding’s death
• Extremely shy, gave boring speeches
• Slowly gave the Harding regime a badly needed moral
fumigation
• His honesty helped get rid of the dishonesty of Harding and
the scandals of his time
Election of 1924
•
•
•
•
Calvin Coolidge nominated by the Republicans
La Follette for the Progressive Party
John W. Davis for the Democrats
Coolidge and the Republicans easily win the election, with 250
electoral votes over Davis
Foreign Policy Under Coolidge
• Senate wanted to remain isolationist, in contrast to Coolidge
who wanted to purse naval disarmament further
• Ended up not getting much done
• Sent military expedition to Mexico when Mexico began to take
its own oil resources back
• Coolidge defused the crisis skillfully
• Many countries in debt to us from WW1, America focused on
getting it back
• Germany, in huge amounts of debt, allowed its currency to
inflate drastically
• Dawes Plan of 1924, rescheduled German reparation
payments and opened the way for American loans to Germany
Election of 1928
• Coolidge bows out, Herbert Hoover succeeds him for the
Republicans
• Governor of New York Alfred E. Smith nominated for the
Democrats
• Hoover wins in a landslide, and Congress also remains
Republican
President Herbert Hoover
• President Hoover was previously a successful mining engineer
and later businessman
• He had never been in public office before in his life, and was
bad at taking criticism
• He did, however, have great integrity and humanitarianism
which benefitted him in foreign policy as well as public
speaking
Hoover in Office
• Prosperity comes back, people have money in their pockets
for a little in the late 20s
• Soaring stocks
• Riches benefitting everyone except farmers
• The Agricultural Marketing Act, passed by Congress in June
1929, was designed to help farmers help themselves by
setting up a large farm board with money to loan to farmers as
they needed
• Hawley-Smoot Tariff passed in order to help farmers, but went
through so many changes in Congress while people went
through it, it ended up being the largest protective tariff in our
nation’s peacetime history
Black Tuesday and the Crash
• When Hoover was first elected into office, the economy
seemed very bright
• However in October of 1929, a great crash came triggered
partially by the British increase in interest rates
• On October 29, 1929, 16.4 million stocks sold in a panic, Wall
Street is ruined
• By the end of 1929, stockholders lost 40 BILLION dollars, and
foreclosures are everywhere
Causes?
• One major cause is overproduction in both farm and factory
• Too much supply results in no demand, and low costs,
meaning the farmers and factory workers aren’t getting paid
what they need
• International trade ruined by extremely high protective tariffs
like the Hawley-Smoot Tariff
• The Dust Bowl also ruined tons of farms in the Midwest, which
spawned from a bad drought
Hoover’s Plans
• Initially, he believed in rugged individualism, which was the
idea that every man is for himself, and it is not the job of the
government to provide welfare for struggling people
• However, when he realized that this wouldn’t work, he
developed a plan to help combat the Depression by assisting
railroads, banks, rural credit corporations and other large
companies in the hopes that if the top of financial pyramid
was healthy, the rest would become healthy
• Known as “Trickle Down Economics”
• Hoover was unfairly criticized for his theories. Critics
complained that his ideas only kept us in the depression,
however instead, Hoover’s philosophies saved us from even
worse crashes and paved the way for FDR’s New Deal
Execution of Plans
• In line with trickle down economics, Hoover received 2.25
billion dollars to spend on these projects
• He dammed the Colorado River, which created a huge man
made lake used for electricity, irrigation, and flood control
• Hoover also created the RFC, which provided indirect relief to
big companies by priming loans. Widespread benefit, but
made slightly too late to be perfect
Great Depression Effects
Worldwide
• Japan, across the world, took our depression as an
opportunity to go on the aggressive by jumping into
Manchuria and overrunning the province
• The League of Nations was handicapped in fighting back,
especially without America
• After Japan bombs Shanghai, America makes informal
boycotts of Japanese goods, mainly various knickknacks
• No one wanted to fight yet during the Great Depression
• Hoover also issued the Good Neighbor Policy to Latin America
• His pact provided for complete withdrawal of American
platoons by 1934
Election of 1932
• During the campaign, the Democrats appealed to the common
man and exuded confidence. They took the theme song of
"Happy Days are Here Again" and one of his buzzwords was
"confidence,“ while the Republicans used slogans like “The
Worst is Past” and “It might have been Worse”
• Franklin D. Roosevelt won against Hoover in a landslide of 472
votes to 59 notes in the electoral vote
• Until this election, African American voters had been
Republican. Now, it seems that Democratic party has appealed
to these people, as most switched parties in this election
• During Hoover’s lame duck period, unemployment was at 25%
Roosevelt’s Three R’s
• Relief- To aid with food and shelter
• Recovery- To get out of the Great Depression
• Reform- To ensure that the Depression would never happen
again
The New Deal
• FDR’s plan for fighting the Great Depression
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)- Built dams for flood control
and hydroelectric power in the Tennessee valley, created
projects to combat erosion and deforestation
• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)- Established state and
federal parks projects, planting trees to combat erosion
• Works Progress Administration (WPA)- Built roads, bridges,
buildings, even provided money for art projects
• Federal Relief Administration (FERA)- sought relief in the form
of the dole (government hand-outs)
• Home Owner’s Loan Corporation (HOLC)- refinanced people's
home loans at lower interest rates
The New Deal
• Emergency Banking Act- To help cut the panic in banks, FDR
quickly issued a "bank holiday" which closed banks for one
week
• Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act- set up the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC). It insured people's money in the
bankup to $5,000. There was no need to fear losing one's
money in the banks anymore
• FDR took the nation’s dollar off the gold standard in order to
create some inflation. By 1934, he reverted the nation back to
the gold standard
• Works Progress Administration (WPA)- $11 billion was spent
building public facilities like bridges, public buildings, and
roads
Nat. Recovery Admin. (NRA)
• Set codes of "fair competition“ and set maximum work hours
and minimum wages
• Labor unions were given the right to organize and collectively
bargain. Antiunion yellow-dog contracts were forbidden; childlabor was curbed
• The NRA soon fell to unpopularity. Businesses hate running
themselves in any way other than what's best for them (not
with artificial restrictions)
• Fell in 1935 when the Schnechtner case ruled that the NRA
was unconstitutional
• Led to the Public Works Admin. (PWA), which sought to build
public works and infrastructure.
The New Deal on the Farm
• Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)- tried to help farmers by
creating "artificial scarcity." It paid farmers to not farm,
therefore reducing the supply. The Act was declared
unconstitutional in 1936
• Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act- paid farmers to
plant crops that preserved and reinvigorated the soil, like
soybeans
• Second Agricultural Adjustment Act- Farmers were
encouraged to plant less acreage in exchange for payments.
Also paid farmers to not farm
The Dust Bowl of 1933
• Caused by drought, wind, and dry-farming techniques
• Affected mostly Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas
• Resettlement Administration- tried to resettle farmers onto
better soil
• The CCC planted 200 million trees
• Bureau of Indian Affairs- Tried to change the policies of the
old Dawes Act (1887). It had tried to end tribes and the old
ways of the Indians—to force Indians to become "white.”
Once again worsened relations with Native Americans
Election of 1936
• The Republicans nominated Alfred M. Landon, governor of
Kansas, as candidate for president
• Some Democrats joined Republicans to form the American
Liberty League. It didn't like the "socialist" direction the New
Deal was taking America
• FDR was still very popular nonetheless, winning the election
with 523 to 8 in the electoral vote
FDR escalates things quickly…
• The London Conference was held in order to organize a
coordinated international attack on the global depression as
well as stabilize the values of various nations currencies and
exchange rates
• FDR was afraid that this agenda would tie his hands so in an
effort not to jeopardize domestic recovery for the sake of
international recovery he has the US withdraw from the
negotiations
• Due to this withdrawal an extreme trend toward nationalism
began, this played nicely into the hands of DICTATORS
FDR’s Trade Efforts
• In order to create good relations FDR creates the GOOD
NEIGHBOR POLICY
• This was meant to renounce armed intervention, thus
resulting in the removal of he marines from Haiti, a more
relaxed hold on Panama and the release of Cuba from the
Platt Amendment
• The Reciprocal trade agreements act of 1934 was put in place
based off the notion that trade was a “two way street”. These
acts aimed at relief and recovery. This movement towards
trade was headed by Sec of State Hull
Dictators
•
•
•
•
USSR-Joseph Stalin (communism)
Italy-Benito Mussolini (fascist)
Germany-Adolf Hitler (NAZI)
Hitler posed the largest threat out of these men, and
like Japan, was able to feed off of the country’s
resentment of the Treaty of Versailles
• 1941-In response to doctorial power the US passes
the Atlantic Charter which states that no territorial
changes contrary to inhabitants wishes can be made,
people should choose their own government, and
disarmament and peace security
Isolationism
• Due to the prevalent domestic issues during this time (stock market
crash, debt, etc) , the citizens of American chose to look inward
rather than outward and began to head down a path of isolationism.
• The Hawley-Smoot Tariff further endorsed this behavior by making
the topic of trade moot. Although this treaty took the eyes off of
what was going on outside of the American Bubble, FDR did realize
that it was forestalling economic recovery. Eventually it worked out
so that individual nations could negotiate tariff rates (Reciprocal
Trade Agreement)
• As tensions grew in Europe and Asia the US sunk deeper into its
isolated pit. The creation of the Johnson Debt Default Act fostered
this ideal by preventing nations from borrowing further from the US
• During the civil war in Spain the US refused to aid its military in fear
of involvement
• In an effort to maintain good relations FDR declared the GOOD
NEIGHBOR POLICY. This was the first step to us intervention, even
though it did pull troops out of central America and he Caribbean.
• When Britain became under attack of Hitler the American mindset
finally began to change.
Neutrality
• Congress became eager to create legislation that would keep
the nation out of war, the solutions to this appeared to be the
Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, an 1937
• The conditions of these were no American on belligerent
ships, the prohibition of selling/transporting munitions to
belligerents as well as the prohibition of loans to belligerents
• Due to the Neutrality act, the US was unable to supply Britain
and France necessary weaponry once they had entered the
war against Hitler and the Soviets
• CASH-AND-CARRY- the acts were revised under this basis
Japan
• In 1934 Japan ended the Washington Naval Treaty and began to
build up its military.
• In 1937 Japan invaded China
• In response to this FDR was insistent upon the fact that this was “not
officially a war” thus not calling for the neutrality acts to be invoked,
allowing the Japanese to continue to buy weapons from the US
• Japanese sank the American Panay in China but quickly apologized
and paid the reparations, allowing FDR to continue with his course
of non involvement.
• 1940- Washington finally imposed an embargo on supplies to Japan
• 1941-US froze all Japanese assets in US, Negotiations began
between he US and Japan, the US demanded that Japan withdraw
from China
• FDR had “cracked the code” and found that Japan did plan to attack
but assumed it would be on the Philippines
• The attack came while negotiations were still in progress, Pearl
Harbor was destroyed with 3000 casualties and much destruction of
munitions.
• WAR
Spain
• From 1936-1939 the Spanish Civil War ensued
• Headed by General Francisco Franco and was aided by Hitler
and Mussolini
• The US stuck to its isolationism tendencies and watched as
Franco strangled the republic of Spain
• Still insistent upon not getting involved, the US refused to help
them build up their military
Germany
• In 1935 Hitler began to build up the military and began his prosecution
of the Jewish and other “”undesirables”.
• Eventually Hitler began his conquest towards world power by taking
Austria, this made Britain and France eager to appease Hitler. In !938
Britain and France offered Hitler the Sudetenland in exchange for him to
cease his advances
• Or nah
• In 1939 Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia
• This same year the Nazi-Soviet pact was made, this meant that they
would not attack each other and also allowed Hitler to invade Poland
• WAR (Britain and France declare war on Germany)
• Hitler then attacks Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and
France
• In Response to American Aid germany torpedoed the americna
merchant ship Robin Moor
• 1941- Germany attacked the Soviet Union
• Hitler is stopped at the gates of Moscow
Britain and France
• Britain and France began trying to appease Hitler early on
• Eventually they were forced to enter the war
• 1940- France was forced to surrender to Germany but luckily
the British were able to salvage the majority of their army
• After France collapsed the US became worried that Britain
would be next, the idea of entering the war now becoming
very real
• In response FDR called for build of military, congress passed a
conscription law (1st peace-time draft), and at the Havana
Conference the Us agreed to join Latin America and uphold
the Monroe Doctrine
• 1940-Hitler began to launch attacks against Britain, radio
broadcasts caused American sympathy, slowly pulling them
out of isolationism.
Election of 1940
• Republican – Wendell L. Willkie: condemned FDR’s
alleged dictatorship & the costly New Deal Programs
• Democrat – FDR: Shattered the 2 term tradition,
Believed experience was needed in troubled times
• FRD WINS AGAIN
Bystander to Belligerent
• Committee to Defend American by Aiding the Allies produced
propaganda that appealed to both interventionist and isolationist
• American First Committee thought that the US should focus more so
on how to defend their own shores
• 1940- FDR agreed to give Britain 50 old modeled destroyers that
were left over from WWI, in exchange the British promised 8 bases
to the US for 99 years
• “Send guns not sons”
• The lend-lease bill sent a limitless supply of arms to the victims of
aggression and in return the war would stay across the ocean,
weapons were to be returned at the wars close.
• When Germany invades the Soviet Union the US aides them
• 1941-after the destruction of ships carrying aid to Britain congress
voted to end the Neutrality Act of 1939
• After the attack on Pearl Harbor the US was done playing nice, war
had officially begun.
The Thirst is Real
• After the attack on pearl harbor the American people
were jarred out of their isolationist mind sets an thirsty for
revenge on Japan.
• FDR held off immediate attacks on Japan, stating that
Germany should be their primary focus.
• Although the American People were not overly pleased
with the decision to place revenge on Japan below
handling the problem with Germany, their thirst for
revenge would have to hold off.
The Plan
• The primary goal the the US was to not allow Britain to
fall into the hands of Germany while still putting enough
effort into keeping Japan at bay
• This plan called for time, time to prepare for war. They
needed to organize large scale military, ship their
munitions to the other half of the globe, doing all of this
while still aiding their allies.
Nationalism and Distrust
• After the attack on Pearl Harbor the unity within the
country was at a high.
• With exception to the Japanese-Americans the American
people were rather civil to one another. The Japanese
Americans were sent to internment camps as a
precautionary measure. Major trust issue had developed
between Americans and Japanese-Americans. The
camps were not only to prevent spies but also to protect,
the American people were angry, and could take it out on
a nearby Japanese American
• In the Korematsu vs. US court case the internment
camps were upheld.
Economy
• When the war began the new deal came to and end. Jobs
were now primarily war jobs.
• The war was actually helpful to the economy of the US, wartime economy bring in money and stimulating the economy.
• People began working in ship building instead of cars.
• Critical items had to be rationed so that consumption would
stay low, not that industry had other focuses.
• Wage ceilings were set in an effort to lower prices
• Labor unions vowed not to strike during the war (not all agreed
to this  Congress was forced to pass the Smith-Connally
Anti-Stike Act which gave the government the power to seize
and run industries that were suffering due to strikes. This
resulted in the government taking over the coal mines and
railways for a short period of time
• By the time that the war ended the GNP had nearly doubled as
well as corporate profits and disposable income
• The new importance placed on war time production is was truly
pulled the US out of the depression
Come Together
• During this time men that could be at war, were at war.
Even women where away to fight.
• Due to this lacking of people the industries needed
workers, the Bracero Program was the solution to this.
What this program did was bring workers from Mexico in
to harvest the crops.
• Women also took a role in the industry field during this
time, building planes, shells, and tanks.
• ROSIE
• The war proved not only to be helpful for the economy
but also for new citizens, and women searching for roles
to play in society.
• When the war ended he BABY BOOM began
The South
• Before the war the south had been in economic pain so
as the economy started to boom FDR started sending
money to the south in defense contracts
• African Americans began to migrate out of the south
toward the north and the west
African Americans
• During this time the African Americans poured out of the south.
• They prepared a March on Washington to ask or defense jobs
which worked to their benefit when FDR reacted by banning
discrimination in defense industries
• The units that blacks were allowed to serve in within the
military were segregated, they were given menial positions and
(insert word for not as nice) materials.
• The war effort did allow African Americans to take large leaps
towards equality, their organizations had increased
membership (NAACP and CORE)
• Another life changing technological advancement for the
blacks was the mechanical cotton picker, this allowed them to
leave their previous jobs and move into the industries
Bring it on Japan
• The Japanese began their conquest for power by taking
islands such as Guam , Wake Island, The Philippines, Hong
Kong, British Malaya, Burma, DEIs and a large majority of
coastal china
• At the Battle of the Coral sea both parties suffered large losses
• Adm. Chester Nimitz sent a US fleet to Midway island after
intercepting messages and this proved to be a wise call. At the
battle of midway the US surprised the Japanese, creating a
turning point in the war
• “Island Hopping” became a fun pass-time during the war, the
military going from island to island and building bases
• The island hopping started with the victories at Guadalcanal
and reached to New Guinea, working back towards the
Philippines
• Slowly the US gained control of island after island, but the
fights were long, hard, and costly.
D-Day
• On June 6, 1944, the Allied Powers stormed the French beach
of Normandy to take back France from Germany
• The invasion, one of the most famous moments in war history,
was huge in weakening the German Juggernaut
• Huge preparations for the invasion, 3 leaders, Churchill,
Roosevelt, Stalin meet and plan for a week
• Invasion was successful, France was liberated
• Hitler’s days as European God are numbered
War Comes to Close
• After the retaking of France, Hitler quickly fell
• He killed himself on April 30, 1945
• With Germany dealt with, everything was sent to Japan to
fight
• Things were grim for Japan, but they refused to surrender
• Roosevelt dies of a massive hemorrhage, Harry S. Truman is to
take over
• As Japan never surrendered, America was forced to go all out
on the Japanese
• Americans dropped two atomic bombs on Japan
• The first on August 6, 1945 on Hiroshima, and the second on
Nagasaki on August 9, 1645
• Japan officially surrendered and the war was over
Tensions with Russia
• Even though Russia fought with us in the war, tensions grew as
Russia wanted to spread Communism
• American deals to help European nations generally ignored
Russia, as we did not want to strengthen them to the point
where they are comfortable with going aggressive