The State of the Union

As no blog post has been written regarding the State of the Union on Tuesday, I thought that I might take the opportunity to. But first at little background on the State of the Union. This annual address, delivered by the current President, details the state of the country and is commonly used to outline the Commander-in-Chief's agenda for the coming year. On Tuesday, Obama's speech was divided into three distinct sections; the economy, the conclusion of military operations and a domestic initiatives.

A short but sweet summary of the hour long affair:
The President's main points concerning the economy involved increasing the minimum wage and called for Congress to end the sequestration cuts. In regards to domestic initiatives, Obama mentioned the number of students in debt trouble and pushed for immigration reform. Finally, he commented on the end of US military action Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the support from Congress for the continued talks with Iran.

Some food for thought:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sotu
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/full-text-of-obamas-2014-state-of-the-union-address/2014/01/28/e0c93358-887f-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html

Thoughts?

10 Interesting Things about FDR

I came across this interesting article about FDR today. Thought it would serve as a nice break from studying.

http://news.yahoo.com/10-interesting-facts-young-franklin-d-roosevelt-112809936.html

P.S. Happy Birthday FDR!

Chapter 38 Timeline/Notes

Hey guys, I made a chart with all the events listed on the last page of chapter 38 to help me keep track of the order of events of WWII. Feel free to use it while you study. In some places I summarized the event, in other places I just copied the sentences pertaining to the event directly out of the book. Happy studying!

Click here to access the chart on Google drive.

Source: The American Pageant (Bailey, Kennedy, and Cohen)

Antisemitism in America

America in the 1930's was not a halcyon for diversity. Jim Crow was living high and mighty in the South. "New Immigrants" were constantly marginalized and kept out of American public schools. It seemed that, along with America's rampant racism at the time, the US was closing it's shores to the rest of the world. With isolationism dominating legislation and popular opinion, the United States was slowly erecting a wall to block out the world.

As Hitler declared war against democracy and diversity, Britain, France picked up their guns. The US, though, was not quite as responsive. The Neutrality Acts kept the US out of the war for quite a while. Even as news was leaking about the atrocities in the concentration camps in Auschwitz and Treblinka, the US remained adamant about staying out of the war.

While it's easy to be a moral absolutist and claim that Hitler was the only wrong-doer in World War II, it's important to explore all aspects of the war. It turns out that antisemitism was not only extremely prevalent in Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia; it was also highly prevalent in the United States.

It seems odd (or at least a little ironic) that the first man to make the trans-Atlantic flight from Roosevelt Field in New York to Le Bourget Field in France was the pioneer and figurehead of "America First," a committee devoted to isolationism. Charles Lindbergh was a superstar of 1930 and 1940's America. He was a conservative, WASPy, all-American. And, in accordance with his desire to keep America out of the fight against Hitler, he was a raging anti-Semite.

When I say "raging," I don't mean to compare him to Henry Ford, who is perhaps, about as infamous in the Jewish community as Hitler himself. Ford published fervently in his own news publication, The Dearborn Independent that the Jews were out to "control the world." He spread his distrust of Jewish bankers as cheap and untrustworthy into the popular media. One time, I had a conversation with my grandmother who lived in the 30's and 40's. She said that she, her friends, her entire family and her entire community refused to buy anything Ford-related. This boycott of Ford materials by the Jewish community lasted well into the 80's.

Lindbergh, a national hero, was known for his questionable beliefs. Lindbergh was an ardent defender of eugenics (the founding ideology of a "pure" race that justifies the racial purification that inspired the Holocaust) and white supremacy. Lindbergh's beliefs led many historians and contemporaries to suspect him of being a Nazi sympathizer. Lindbergh also believed that Kristallnacht, a night in which Nazi soldiers smashed the windows the Jewish shops, was an unjustified response to a reasonable "Jewish problem." He later claimed that "[Countries] must limit to a reasonable amount the Jewish influence."

Some historians argue that Lindbergh's advocacy for "America First" was a secret desire to usher in a Nazi victory in Europe. His belief in the superiority of the white race and his antisemitism certainly point towards such a disposition.

Perhaps, though, one of the worst and most lamentable cases of antisemitism in the US is that of Breckinridge Long, who worked as a government officer in charge of immigration quotas. Long, who was a known and established anti-Semite, was the former ambassador of Mussolini's Italy. Long was charged with helping Europe's Jews (as the US was aware of the Holocaust, but refused to intervene so as to preserve the Neutrality Acts). Instead, Long erected various bureaucratic obstacles to keep Jews from entering the US. It is estimated that without Long's influence, 200,000 Jews could have been saved.

History is the story of people - not of nations. While it's important to understand the political and economic history of the world, the social history unlocks incredible amounts of information about a time period, elucidating facts and realities that maps simply cannot convey. And, while it's easy to say the US was blameless in this war, we had our fair share of questionable and morally objectionable follies. At least, in the end, we can learn from our mistakes and make the future better.

The Atomic Bomb: Good or Bad?

 

    The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki opened the eyes of many to the great and terrible  power that was able to be utilized by the major countries at the time. Since then, there has been a great deal of speculation concerning President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bombs. Naturally, there were two opposing sides: those who believed in the use of the atomic bomb and those who did not. Reasons supporting the bombing includes exacting revenge for the attack on Pearl Harbor, the atomic bomb was a decisive way to end the war, which in turn saved lives, and the United States needed to display something that would show the Japanese they could not win. Opposition to the President’s decision includes that the bombings were quite immoral, the United States could have offered a demonstration of the nuclear power they possessed, and that Japan was on the verge of surrendering due to the pressure of the B-29s thus making the atomic bomb unnecessary.

    A feeling that resided in the hearts of  Americans during the war was vengeance for Pearl Harbor. Thousands of soldiers lost their lives that day and it is easy to understand that the families of those who lost their lives felt that the Japanese had crossed a line. As a result, many individuals saw the bombings as punishment for Japan’s actions which they had inflicted upon themselves. Also, the bombings provided a decisive victory in the Pacific for the United States, saving lives. Immediately after the bombs were dropped, Japan surrendered. Estimates show that if America had decided to invade Japan, the amount of lives lost would have exceeded the casualties of the atomic bombing. People saw this as saving lives because the war was quickly dealt with instead of allowing it to continue and take the lives of more soldiers. The Japanese had also shown that they were not going to quit; wave after wave of kamikazes would be thrown at American ships and their belief in death before surrender made them extremely hard to subdue. Therefore, the United States had no choice but to demonstrate their desire to end the war and show the Japanese there was no possible way to win, which the atomic bomb was perfect for.

    There were also a great amount of people who felt strong opposition to the use of the atomic bombs. The most popular evidence for this claim is that the bombs were completely immoral, as they leveled the two cities and left the survivors to die from radiation poisoning. Gruesome stories about people having their flesh melted together, living the rest of their lives in pain due to cancer, and watching their loved ones be incinerated in front of them are unfortunately quite common. Many people felt it was wrong to subject the Japanese to this kind of treatment despite their actions at Pearl Harbor. Once the atomic bombs had been perfected, the United States also considered giving the Japanese a demonstration of the bomb so that they could choose to surrender. However, this plan was deemed impractical and quickly rejected, but if the Japanese had seen the bomb tested on somewhere besides their home, the probability of them surrendering then would have been very high. After the war, Japanese commanders were interviewed and told journalists that their surrender would have been inevitable if the B-29 firebombs continued to drop, therefore making the atomic bomb an unnecessary military decision.

    After considering all (or at least some of) the evidence from both sides, which argument do you find to be most valid?

WWII Battles in the Pacific: Leapfrogging the Way to Victory

Battle of Bataan: (April-May 1942)  General MacArthur held off Japanese invaders of Bataan in the Philippines.  It was a horrible situation where Filipino and American troops starved, hoping for reinforcements.  Finally, America had to surrender.  Thus came the infamous Bataan Death March, where thousands of captured American and Filipino troops walked to prisoner of war camps.  Japan now had control of Philippines.

Coral Sea Battle: (May 1942) This battle was the first in history to completely carried out by carrier-based aircraft.  This was a big victory for the United States, and a huge loss for Japan.  It brought an end to Japan's winning streak.

Battle of Midway: (June 3-6, 1942) This battle, like that of the Coral Sea, was also all carried out by aircraft.  Japan gave up after losing four vital carriers.  Midway was a pivotal victory.  It drastically slowed down Japan's conquest eastward.

Battle of Guadalcanal (August - February 1942): American forces invade Guadalcanal Island.  After several sea battles, Japan evacuates the island.

The United States continued island hopping.  This strategy included skipping over heavily fortified islands, and then starving them out by taking the surrounding islands proceeding with heavy bombing of the enemy bases.  This strategy was quite successful.

Another important victory was the capture of the Marianas.  This included the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" where American "Hellcat" fighter planes shot down nearly 250 Japanese aircraft.  It also included the morbid suicides on Saipan.  The citizens of Saipan were told by the Japanese military that they should commit suicide, because the Americans would shoot them anyways.  This was not the truth.  By August 1944 America had control of the Marianas.  By November 1944, the constant bombing of Japan began.

The Progression of the Neutrality Acts

I have been having a lot of trouble distinguishing between the different Neutrality Acts, and what each one entailed.  In this post, I will try to distinguish between some of them and show their progression.

Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937: These stated that if the president were to officially recognize a foreign war, then a few rules would go into effect.  Americans would not be able to sail on belligerent ship, sell or transport munitions to belligerent countries, or lend to belligerent countries.  As I have recently learned, a belligerent country is one engaged in a war that is recognized by law.  This is all before WWII has really broken out, so the Neutrality Acts are all just speculating.  We were trying to prevent getting dragged into a war like WWI.

Neutrality Act of 1939: This states European democracies can buy war materials, but only on the cash-and-carry basis.  The democracies have to pay in cash, and do the transporting themselves.  At this point, we can see how the US is obviously showing support (in a legal respect) to the democracies, unlike the previous Neutrality Acts, which did not apply to any specific countries.

Once Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941, "neutrality" was thrown out the window.  The US declared war with both Japan and Germany y December 11, 1941.

World War 1 vs World War 2

This post is going to be very short but I want to propose a question.

In the 20th century to wars plagued our planet. The First World War and the Second World War. Both these conflicts can be seen as the greatest conflicts in human history. But the question I propose is which was a more catastrophic disaster? What do you guys think?

Hirohito: One of the Most Evil Men in History

Through this Unit we talk a lot about Japan because like Germany we fought a war on two fronts the pacific front with Japan and the Eastern or European front with the Nazi's. What we do not dive into is what Japan was doing before our involvement with them. I feel it is necessary to look at Japan because there are many things that occurred during this time period that our written out of history books that I feel should be addressed. The Empire of Japan was created in 1868 after the Meiji Restoration which brought Japan out of its so called Feudal society into its modern more advanced form. However its final emperor a man named Hirohito by many is seen as one of the most controversial figures of all time. He ascended to power around 1926 and became an important force in the modernization of Japan. At the time of his ascension to power Japan had the 9th largest economy. When he passed away it was the third. His influence on Japan truly made it one of the world's greatest power to this day and definitely modernized the nation. However the things that he did during his reign are considered by many including me as some of the greatest atrocities that mankind has ever seen. For example, during the second Sino-Japanese War Hirohito's army killed countless numbers of Chinese, Indonesian and Koreans. All Chinese prisoners were sentenced to death and another 10 million were forced into slavery. Many people were shot beheaded, stabbed, burned and impaled. Even worse many under his power froze to death and in Indonesia and Vietnam almost 2 million people died. He also instigated the Rape of Nanking occurred. over 300,000 died and many were sexually abused. Some accounts suggest that fathers were forced to rape their daughter and then killed themselves. All in all, Hirohito did things that were awful and by no means justified. The worst part of it all is after the war when the Allies assumed victory and many were tried for War Crimes Hirohito went free and was able to rule Japan well into the 80's when he died of Cancer. Many attribute this to the idea that America needed a buffer state because even though they were allies they were not the closest with the USSR. Hirohito policy has made Japan today a very powerful country but if you only go back a few years you will see a not so beautiful past.

World War II Profile: Chiune Sugihara

WWII Profile: Chiune Sugihara

During WWII, there were countless brave people who risked their own safety to fight against the oppression of others. This is the story of a man who used what little power he had to fight against injustice and save as many Jewish people as he could from Nazi persecution.

Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat. For part of the war, he served as the Vice Consul for the Japanese empire in Lithuania. As a consul, Sugihara was given a long list of criteria that people had to meet if they were to obtain a visa – part of it was that they had to have a large amount of money. Issuing visas was not his main job – he was supposed to be spying on the Soviet Union for the Japanese. However, many Jewish people began to ask him for refuge in Japan. Sugihara knew that if he only handed out visas to the small number of people who met the Japanese criteria, he would have to turn down lots of people. Furthermore, he knew that the people who he had to turn down were likely to die. To Sugihara, this was not ok. He disobeyed the orders of his superiors and issued thousands of visas to Jewish people so that they could move to Japan. For more than a month in 1940, he would sit in his office all day and handwrite the necessary certification for visas.

When Sugihara had to leave Lithuania, he and his wife, Yukiko Kikuchi, spent the entire night before they had to leave feverishly writing these visas. As he boarded his train, he released a stack of blank (but signed) visas into the crowd of people around him, so that more people could be saved. It is estimated that Sugihara saved 6000 people (possibly more, due to the fact that some of the visas he issued were family visas). Some accounts claim that he helped around 10,000 people, of which 6,000 survived.

Sugihara issued these visas from mid July through the beginning of September 1940. In June 1914, Lithuania was taken over by Nazi Germany at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa (Lithuania had been taken over by the Soviet Union in 1940). The Nazis immediately began murdering Jewish Lithuanians. Estimates say that the Nazis killed around 93% of Lithuania’s prewar Jewish population of 210,000. Thanks to Sugihara’s quick actions and sketchy/cunning deals with the Russian, thousands of Jewish Lithuanians were able to sneak there way through Russia and into Japan. Based on the number of Jewish the Nazis killed in Lithuania, there is a large chance that had Sugihara never intervened, these people would have been murdered. When the people with “Sugihara visas” went to Japan, they ran into some trouble because the visas issued were meant to be temporary, but eventually they were allowed to stay and joined the small Jewish community of Kobe.

A transit visa issued by Sugihara

Sugihara knew that his heroic actions would not be without cost. While working in Lithuania, he wondered what the repercussions from higher up officials would be, but apparently they did not realize he had been releasing so many visas. Later, he lived in Romani, and he and his family were in a Soviet POW camp from 1944 till 1946. When they returned to Japan in 1947, Sugihara was asked to resign due to his actions in Lithuania.

Hitler was able to mobilize such a terrifying killing machine by using propaganda to make his Nazis believe that Jewish people were less than human. But even within the Axis powers’ governments, a man had the ability to save his empathy and humanity, and ultimately he saved thousands of people. I believe it must have been extremely hard for him to act on his principles while working for a country allied with such a hateful group. What do you guys think of the actions of Sugihara and people like him? What makes someone able to act so heroically in the face of the Nazi takeover?

Sources:

http://listverse.com/2008/11/06/10-people-who-saved-jews-during-world-war-two/

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/sugihara.html

http://remember.org/imagine/sugihara.html

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005444

An Official End to Neutrality

            By the time Hitler controlled most of Central Europe, America realized that neutrality simply would not be an option.  There was a fear that if Germany controlled Britain, it would gain an enormous amount of manufacturing power.  This would be an extreme threat to the safety and sovereignty of the United States.  In September 1940, a conscription law was passed.  Hence began a “peacetime” draft.              

            In November 1938, the Kristallnacht began in Germany.  This marked the beginning of the Holocaust, as thirty thousand Jews were sent to concentration camps.  An estimated 11 million people were murdered in the Holocaust, 6 million of whom were Jewish.  Gypsies, homosexuals, social misfits, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Nazi political enemies and many others who did not fit Hitler’s idea of the “Aryan race” were also murdered in the Holocaust. 

            During 1942, Roosevelt began the War Refugee Board, which mainly focused on rescuing Hungarian Jews from deportation to Auschwitz, a German concentration camp.  The United States in all saved about 150,000 German and Austrian Jews.

            In August 1940, Hitler began attacking Britain by air.  The strong English air force caused him to delay his planned invasion.  Back in the United States, people started taking sides.  Propaganda groups such as the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies (the name explains it all) promoted, well, aiding the allies.  They would gain support for the issue by saying we were doing everything we could to protect ourselves, with out actually going to war.  Hence arrives the “short of war” strategy.  On the other side were the isolationists, equally equipped with ambitious propaganda groups such as the America First Committee, which fervently preached to avoid being dragged into war.  One of the isolationists’ biggest supporters was Charles Lindbergh, who ironically had bridged the Americas with Europe ten years earlier.  So, by this point, a few were still preaching neutrality, but their support was thinning.

            Roosevelt triumphed in the election of 1940, becoming the first president to ever win for three terms.  He ran promising not to send American men into the war – a promise that would come back to haunt him.  Roosevelt started off his third term with the Lend Lease Bill, which allowed the United States to provide weapons to democracies fighting against Germany.  And thus, neutrality was shattered.  There were no doubt still supporters of the idea, but a neutral America could no longer be a reality.  We would end up sending more than $50 billion worth of fighting supplies and equipment to Europe.  It was also helpful in ramping up production so the United States would be ready when it actually decided to join the war.

            In June 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, and reached Moscow.  This instigated Roosevelt and Churchill to write the Atlantic Charter, which was eight points that summarized the sort of democratic world that would be emplaced at the end of the war. (Obviously, this required the democracies win).  In it was support for self-determination and a new, better League of Nations.

            As far as actual fighting goes, America was not yet in a war with Germany, but this was tested when Germans attacked the Greer, US military ship.  Roosevelt then pushed for a “shoot-on-sight” policy for American vessels that see German ships.  By 1941, the point the Neutrality Acts were officially annulled – Roosevelt appeared to be truly preparing for war.

            Regarding problems in the East, when Roosevelt refused to end his embargo on Japan, the Nazi allied country decided to bomb Pearl Harbor.  The United States government was expecting some sort of attack, just not something as radical as an attack on Hawaii.  The offensive managed to badly damage the US naval fleet there, but not completely destroy it.  Japan’s plan was to attack the United States with a strong offensive, and then build up its own defensive lines in the Pacific.  It would buy this time while the United States was preparing for war.  America did declare war Japan, and neutrality became a thing of the past.  By this point, any outspoken isolationist would be condemned by fellow Americans. 

            I hope this give a thorough summary of the end of neutrality.  Here’s a question to ponder:  Should the United States have ended neutrality earlier, or was it good that it waited?  On one hand, we waited while Germany murdered innocent people in Europe.  Yet, on the other, we didn't want to send American men to risk their lives fighting in Europe.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The above video is Hitler's declaration of war speech.

     Franklin D. Roosevelt did not have a clean track record regarding his actions toward the Germans by any means. His "all aid short of war" policy was only short of war because Hitler chose not to declare it. America occupied Iceland and Greenland in order to secure joint British-American naval convoys, which carried war materiel. By analogy, if Hitler had invaded South America or the Caribbean Islands, the U.S. would have undoubtedly declared war on Germany. It was only because of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of Soviet Russia, that Hitler decided not to cross the line with the Americans, so as to avoid a two-front war.

     Hitler and Mussolini declared war on the U.S. after the Pearl Harbor bombing because they knew Japan could not subsist in a long term war with the U.S. In the past, the U.S. had acted the same way regarding Great Britain. Furthermore, the European Axis powers hoped to increase collaboration with Japan, as the two regions were rather detached before Pearl Harbor, and acted more like neutrals than allies. This is substantiated by the Japanese decision not to attack Russia on its Eastern front as Germany was invading from the West.  (Some additional information: The Tripartite Pact did not require Italy and Germany to declare war on the U.S., for Japan was not attacked but was rather the attacker.)

     Although I do not concur with Hitler's beliefs, I believe he was the more honest, and by far the more efficient politician. It is a fact that Hitler kept his promise to quickly bring prosperity to Germany. Meanwhile, Roosevelt's America lingered in economic depression. Hitler's magnetizing rhetoric united Germany, while Americans were on the fence about the war, and their views were often misaligned with their president's. Hitler acted on his promise to obtain lebensraum for the Aryan race. Most unfortunately, der Fuhrer also attempted to eradicate Europe's Jews during the Holocaust. Roosevelt, on the other hand, had to deal with a bovine governmental system and a public uneducated about the many facets of the war. Therefore, he resorted to unscrupulous yet necessary use of surreptitious language to coax Americans toward his will. Ultimately, however, the victors wrote the history books. Had America succumbed to the Axis during the Second World War, FDR would have be painted in a contrasting, decidedly negative light.

The role of radios in WWII

World War II marked the first time in world history that media was being mass distributed and, many times, electronically produced. With the advent of electronically distributed media, it became easier to directly manipulate the content that people were consuming. All countries involved in WWII used radio propaganda.

Fire Side Chats

During his entire presidency (1933 to 1945), FDR conducted “fireside chats” via radio. In the US in 1940, 82.8 percent of households owned a radio (according to the US census). We already got a glimpse at how he used this to inform the public about his plans to combat the Great Depression and assure the public that better times were coming. He continued using the connectivity of radios during WWII to communicate directly with the people. The fireside chats made the public very trusting of FDR, who had great communication skills and a soothing voice. 

Check out a recording of the FDR fireside chat broadcasted two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor:

Music

The widespread use of radios provided the perfect platform for music propaganda. Songs had been used as propaganda for a long time before World War II, but with radios in every house and local disk jockeys playing ‘Top 40’ hits, it became easier for songs to be mass broadcasted without a change in lyrics. In the US, songs like “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” were incredibly popular. Here are some lyrics from “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition”:

“Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we'll all stay free

Praise the Lord and swing into position
Can't afford to be a politician
Praise the Lord, we're all between perdition
And the deep blue sea”

The lyrics of this song reflect the idea that America had joined the war to fight for FDR’s four freedoms. This song calls on Americans to forget about whether they agree with the war politically and focus only on helping the war effort. The song likens not helping the war effort to being sinful.

The Nazi’s also commissioned propaganda songs to be made in English. These songs aimed mainly to make Americans blame Jewish people for the war. I wasn’t able to find any evidence that these songs had much of an effect on American public opinion (if anyone wants to challenge me on that feel free to look and let me know) but nonetheless these songs were broadcasted in Germany, Britain, and the US via radio.

Nazi propaganda broadcasters in Allied countries

Nazis used radios for internal propaganda. There were also a number of broadcasters in both England and the US who were spreading Nazi propaganda. Some of the most famous ones were William Joyce, an Irish-American broadcaster who came to be known as “Lord Haw-Haw.” Joyce had been living in England, but due to his reputation as a fascist, the British authorities had been tipped to detain him at the start of the war and so he fled to Germany. He spent the war creating pro-Nazi propaganda that was broadcasted in England through radios. After the war, he was executed on charges of treason by the United Kingdom.

Mildred Gillars, aka “Axis Sally,” was an American broadcaster who worked for Nazi Germany during WWII. She was living in Germany when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred, during which time she stated her loyalty to her home country. However, this meant she would not be able to find work in Germany and would probably face prison time, so she signed a contract expressing her loyalty to Germany and worked as a radio broadcaster. Many of her listeners were American troops and their families. Her programs were used to spread fear in American troops by casting doubt on the abilities of the US government officials, and to spread fear in the families of the military by focusing specifically on horrible wounds and deaths sustained by American troops.  After the war, Gillars was tracked down by a US attorney and charged with treason. She served time and jail and paid a $10,000 fine.

These cross-national propaganda machines used during World War II were direct results of the technology of radios. Radios were the cool new technology of the time, and it was easy to talk to the people directly.

Today, what form of communication does the public use most often? Could social media site like Facebook and Twitter be used as propaganda machines? Is radio still an effective method of communicating with the public, or have social media sites and apps completely blown radio's use in communicating information out of the water? Let me know what you guys think.

America’s Neutrality Entering World War II

            Yesterday, I blogged about America’s isolationism during the Great Depression/pre World War II.    For this post, I will focus on neutrality.  As I see it, America’s “neutrality” entering World War II was simply a continuance of this isolationist attitude.  Though, being a democratic, isolationist world power while tyrannical dictatorships started to pop up proved to be an extremely difficult task.

            America’s first step toward being a neutral nation while tensions rise in Europe was quite logical.  We began with The Neutrality Acts (first introduced in 1935, later revised).    They said that if the president formally recognized a foreign war, certain measure would be emplaced.  The biggest was sailing, trading munitions, or making loans to the countries at war would be illegal.  The idea was to keep the United States out of another terrible disaster like World War I. (spoiler alert: it would fail) Many historians argue that this neutrality, though, was quite foolish, as, while America failed to care about anything beyond its borders, dictatorships started forming in Europe. 

            The first example would be the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), in which fascist rebel leader Francisco Franco overthrew the Loyalist powers in Spain.  This was with the aid of Hitler and Mussolini.  For the most part, the United States stayed out of this fighting, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln Brigade.   This was a volunteer troop of about three thousand men and women who went to fight against Franco.  Roosevelt, using the existing Neutrality Acts, placed an arms embargo on not only the rebels but also the loyalists.  He would regret placing an embargo on the rebels later.  It is important to note that, at the time, if Roosevelt had asked for any more involvement in the Spanish Civil War from the Americans, he would receive strong retaliation.  The Americans were not ready to deal with Europe’s problems.

            Over in China, things weren’t looking too good either.  In 1937, Japan invaded the country.  In Roosevelt’s famous Quarantine Speech, the president urged for a trade embargo on Japan.  This received backlash from isolationists, as they didn’t want to mess with the already fragile relationship with Japan.  The thought was to keep doing what we are doing, so we avoid war.  Eventually the fighting became more personal when Japan sank the Panay in 1937, an American gunboat.  Yet, Japan apologized and quickly paid for damages.  They weren’t ready to fight us either, and essentially economic neutrality was kept.

            Meanwhile, back in Europe, Hitler was planning his conquest of Europe.  As Germany took the Rhineland and threw the Treaty of Versailles the window, England and France continued appeasement.  (Think of Mr. Stewart’s cookie analogy:  Germany was like a child asking his mom for a cookie before dinner.  Europe, the mom, gave Germany the cookie, or Rhineland rather, because she didn’t want to fight.) 

            In August 1939, the Hitler-Stalin pact was signed, which was essentially a nonaggression treaty with Hitler.  The Soviet Union wanted to secure its own safety.  Though, now Hitler was free to go focus on the west, as he didn’t have to fear a stab in the back from his neighbor to the east.  By this point, war, in my opinion, was inevitable.

            On September 1, 1939 Hitler invaded Poland, and Britain and France kept their promise as they declared war on Germany.  And for the United States?  Well, neutrality.  Roosevelt even issued a revised Neutrality Act of 1939, which allowed the democracies to buy war materials from America using cash-and-carry.  (Goods shipped on other countries’ ships, and they must pay in cash)  The act also established parts of the seas where it would be illegal for American ships to enter.  This actually hurt China, as there were no trade routes between them and us as Japan created dangerous seas for American merchants. 

            “Neutral,” while it was the term America decided to use, would not accurately describe our country’s actions entering World War II.  We were no doubt biased in helping democracies.  Roosevelt wanted to keep an image of favoring England and France without going into war.

            Here is a question to ponder:  Was it better for America to remain neutral as World War II began, or did this hurt us in the end?  On one hand, we didn’t want to be dragged into war.  On the other hand, it gave more time for Japan and Nazi Germany to build its regime.  What’s your opinion?

Great Depression/Pre World War II Isolationism

With the massive economic downturn of the Great Depression, many Americans looked inward as they attempted to solve their own problems.  The general feeling among Americans was that we have our own problems.  Why should we pay any attention to problems looming anywhere outside our borders?  Hence, isolationism thrives.

            The London Economic Conference of 1933, which consisted of sixty-six nations, looked to solve the economic crash on a global scale.  When the countries demanded the US maintain a stronger grip on the value of the dollar, Roosevelt made the brash to decision to not comply.  He didn’t want to sacrifice his own powers in dealing with the depression at home, for the sake of the global depression.  Though, this backfired, as Roosevelt found that this individualistic attitude plunged the entire world even deeper into depression.

            Isolationist attitude extended to Asia when Congress passed the Tydings-Mcduffie Act (1934).  This act would give independence to the Philippines by 1946. In the mean time, there would be a slow process releasing the United States influence on the islands. 

            Within out own landmass (North and South America), America essentially became more isolationist.  At the Seventh Pan-American Conference of 1933, the United States promoted non-intervention with the Latin American sovereign countries.  The idea was if we stopped intervening in Latin American affairs, we could create strong partners with some of the Latin American countries.  Cuba was released from the Platt Amendment, which had essentially said we had the power to intervene in their government if we ever felt they were a threat.  The Good Neighbor policy formally promoted United states nonintervention in Latin America.  It proved extremely successful as we strengthened ties with Latin America, and, for the first time, Latin Americans truly began to respect the United States.

            Though, this isolationist attitude was not seen in everything the United States did.  There are also strong exceptions.  In 1933, the United States formally recognized the Soviet Union, despite our history of strong anti-communist sentiment.  Roosevelt was influenced to do this in hopes that Soviet Russia could be a strong trade partner and a friendly ally if there were ever to be, say, a war against Germany or Japan.

            Ironically, during this period of isolationism, tariffs were actually decreased.  The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934, designed to increase global trade, lowered the outrageously high Hawley-Smoot tariffs.  It also provided more power for the government to quickly adjust tariffs, without the approval of the Senate.  Overall, the Reciprocal Trade Agreements were quite successful in increasing foreign trade and improving relations all over the world, especially in Latin America.  As the United States lowered its tariff firewalls, other countries began to also.  This was a big step toward taking the world of the depression.  Congress, despite reducing tariffs, felt little sympathy for foreign debtors.  The Johnson Debt Default Act (1934) prevented other nations already in debt from borrowing any more money. 

            As Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy teamed up in the Rome-Berlin Axis, the United States remained its calm, feeling the vast Atlantic provided some sort of protection.  (Whether it actually did, it debatable.) 

            I hope this provides a good overview of the Great Depression/pre-war isolationism in the United States in the early 1930’s.  Here is a question to ponder:  Was the United States isolationism justified, or did only bring ruin to an economically depressed world preparing to enter into another world war?