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fas·​cism | \ ˈfa-ˌshi-zəm also ˈfa-ˌsi- \

often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

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a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible... See the full definition

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Japan invades Manchuria 1931 - Inter-war Period: Causes of WWII

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Isolationism refers to America's longstanding reluctance to become involved in European alliances and wars. Isolationists held the view that America's perspective on the world was different from that of European societies and that America could advance the cause of freedom and democracy by means other than war.

American isolationism did not mean disengagement from the world stage. Isolationists were not averse to the idea that the United States should be a world player and even further its territorial, ideological and economic interests, particularly in the Western Hemisphere.
The colonial period

The isolationist perspective dates to colonial days. The colonies were populated by many people who had fled from Europe, where there was religious persecution, economic privation and war. Their new homeland was looked upon as a place to make things better than the old ways. The sheer distance and rigors of the voyage from Europe tended to accentuate the remoteness of the New World from the Old. The roots of isolationism were well established years before independence, notwithstanding the alliance with France during the War for Independence.

Thomas Paine crystallized isolationist notions in his work Common Sense, which presents numerous arguments for shunning alliances. Paine's tract exerted so much political influence that the Continental Congress strove against striking an alliance with France and acquiesced only when it appeared probable that the war for independence could not be won without one.

George Washington in his Farewell Address placed the accent on isolationism in a manner that would be long remembered:

"The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities."

Washington was promulgating a perspective that was already venerable and accepted by many. The United States terminated its alliance with France, after which America's third president, Thomas Jefferson, admonished in his inaugural address, "peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none."
The 19th century
The United States remained politically isolated all through the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, an unusual feat in western history. Historians have attributed the fact to a geographical position at once separate and far removed from Europe.

During the 1800s, the United States spanned North America and commenced to piece together an empire in the Caribbean and the Pacific — without departing from the traditional perspective. It fought the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Spanish-American War without joining alliances or fighting in Europe.

The isolationist point of view was still viable in 1823 when President James Monroe gave voice to what would later be termed the Monroe Doctrine, "In the wars of the European powers, in matters relating to themselves, we have never taken part, nor does it comport with our policy, so to do."

Nevertheless, pressures were mounting abroad that would undercut and demolish that policy near the mid-20th century. The advent of German and Japanese expansionism would threaten and later nearly snuff out the contented aloofness enjoyed by the United States. The United States' occupation of the Philippines during the Spanish-American War thrust U.S. interests into the far western Pacific Ocean — Imperial Japan's sphere of interest. Such improved transportation and communication as steamships, undersea cable, and radio linked the two continents. The growth of shipping and foreign trade slowly enhanced America's world role.

There also were basic changes at home. The historic ascendancy of urban-based business, industry, and finance, and the sidelining of rural and small-town America — the bastion of isolationism — contributed to its eventual demise.

World War I

Germany's unfettered submarine warfare against American ships during World War I provoked the U.S. into abandoning the neutrality it had upheld for so many years. The country's resultant participation in World War I against the Central Powers marked its first major departure from isolationist policy. When the war ended, however, the United States was quick to leave behind its European commitment. Regardless of President Woodrow Wilson's efforts, the Senate repudiated the Treaty of Versailles that ended the war, and the United States failed to become a member of the League of Nations.

Indeed, isolationism would persist for a few more decades. During the 1920s, American foreign affairs took a back seat. In addition, America tended to insulate itself in terms of trade. Tariffs were imposed on foreign goods to shield U.S. manufacturers.

America turned its back on Europe by restricting the number of immigrants permitted into the country. Until World War I, millions of people, mostly from Europe, had come to America to seek their fortune and perhaps flee poverty and persecution. Britons and Irishmen, Germans and Jews constituted the biggest groups. In 1921 the relatively liberal policy ended and quotas were introduced. By 1929 only 150,000 immigrants per year were allowed in.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the preponderance of Americans remained opposed to enmeshment in Europe's alliances and wars. Isolationism was solid in hinterland and small-town America in the Midwest and Great Plains states, and among Republicans. It claimed numerous sympathizers among Irish- and German-Americans. William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska, Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, and George W. Norris of Nebraska were among western agrarian progressives who argued fervently against involvement. Assuming an us-versus-them stance, they castigated various eastern, urban elites for their engagement in European affairs.
World War II
The year 1940 signaled a final turning point for isolationism. German military successes in Europe and the Battle of Britain prompted nationwide American rethinking about its posture toward the war. If Germany and Italy established hegemony in Europe and Africa, and Japan swept East Asia, many believed that the Western Hemisphere might be next. Even if America managed to repel invasions, its way of life might wither if it were forced to become a garrison state. By the autumn of 1940, many Americans believed it was necessary to help defeat the Axis — even if it meant open hostilities.

Many others still backed the noninterventionist America First Committee in 1940 and 1941, but isolationists failed to derail the Roosevelt administration's plans to aid targets of Axis aggression with means short of war. Most Americans opposed any actual declaration of war on the Axis countries, but everything abruptly changed when Japan naval forces sneak-attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Germany and Italy declared war on the United States four days later. America galvanized itself for full-blown war against the Axis powers.
The demise of isolationism
The isolationist point of view did not completely disappear from American discourse, but never again did it figure prominently in American policies and affairs. Countervailing tendencies that would outlast the war were at work. During the war, the Roosevelt administration and other leaders inspired Americans to favor the establishment of the United Nations (1945), and following the war, the threat embodied by the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin dampened any comeback of isolationism.

The postwar world environment, in which the United States played a leading role, would change with the triumph of urban industry and finance, expanded education and information systems, advanced military technology, and leadership by internationalists. A few leaders would rise to speak of a return to America's traditional policies of nonintervention, but in reality, traditional American isolationism was obsolete.

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Isolationism refers to America's longstanding reluctance to become involved in European alliances and wars. Isolationists held the view that America's perspective on the world was different from that of European societies and that America could advance the cause of freedom and democracy by means other than war.

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1930 - Visits by Foreign Leaders - Department History - Office of the Historian

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Hoover Administration
When Herbert Hoover was elected to the presidency in 1928, Americans viewed him as a man who would further boost the nation's growing prosperity. During his term of office, however, came the onset of the Great Depression, and the ensuing struggle of the government to relieve Americans and recover the economy. Unfortunately for Hoover, his ideologies and legislation were not as effective in restoring prosperity to the nation.

The Fordney-McCumber Tariff, 1922:This tariff rose the rates on imported goods in the hopes that domestic manufacturing would prosper. The goal of this tariff was to push foreign competition out of the way of American markets and after an isolationist principle was introduced, the U.S. would become self sufficient.

"Rugged Individualism": American Individualism, 1922: The ideal quality which every American should possess, "rugged individualism" meant people who were self made individuals, who could handle the pressures given by a damaged society, and who would rise above them in order to succeed. These ideas were encompassed in Hoover's book.

Welfare capitalism: Hoover welcomed this idea and urged further movement in this direction. Hoover also believed that cutthroat capitalism was unnecessary. He believed that economic development demanded corporate cooperation in the areas of workers wages and production regulations.

Voluntarism: Hoover believed that a socially responsible economic order could only be brought about by the voluntary action of capitalist leaders and not through governmental persuasion. Hoover saw this as a way to accelerate the decade's trend towards corporate consolidation and cooperation.

Federal Reserve Board:The Federal Reserve Board tried to establish an easy credit policy. To accomplish this they increased the rate on federal reserve notes to decrease speculation; it also warned member banks not to loan money for the purpose of buying stocks. Their message went unheard, and the stock market crash of 1929 resulted.

Black Thursday: Black Thursday refers to Oct 29, 1929 when the great stock market crash occurred. The crash was caused by a number of ailments: the decline of agriculture, the unregulated trade within the process of buying stocks, and the panic which led to bank foreclosures all over the United States.

Causes of the Great Depression: The Great Depression was not solely caused by the stock market crash in Oct of 1929. On the contrary there were many other factors involved. The inflation in agriculture, the uncontrolled policies of the stock market, the overproduction of goods by industries, the loss of enthusiasm directed at the consumer products that were being produced and a loss of mirth in the economy created a no buying situation.

Depression as an International Event: Due to the devastating effects that the Depression had on the American way of life a spiral of depressions sprung up all over Europe. America could not keep up with international trading thus further deepening the problem. The areas hardest hit was England for it depended greatly on U.S. exports.

Trickle Down Theory: Applied by Herbert Hoover, the Trickle Down theory was an economic ideal which held the belief that the government should get involved in the economy by pumping money into it, and thus creating a surplus supply of money that would "trickle" down onto the rest of society.

Reconstruction Finance Corp., (RFC):Created under the presidency of Herbert Hoover, the RFC was designed to give out loans to banks, railroads, and monopolistic companies in order to pump money back into the economy during the years of the Depression.

Federal Home Loan Act: Under the presidential term of Hoover in 1931 the Federal Home Loan Act was created. Within the act a five man Home Loan Board was created and the creation of banks to handle home mortgages provided money to homeowners that needed loans.

National Credit Corporation: Created in 1931, the National Credit Corporation under the persuasion of Herbert Hoover got the largest banks in the country, at that time, to provide lending agencies that would be able to give banks, on the brink of foreclosure, money that could be used for loans.
Originally called Boulder Dam, it stands 726 feet high and 1244 feet wide. Located on the Colorado River in Arizona, Hoover Dam provides flood control, electricity, and irrigation for farms. As part of the New Deal it was constructed between 1931 to 1935 and began operations in 1936.

the Hawley-Smoot Tariff, 1930: Like the Fordney-McCumber Tariff, the Hawley-Smoot Tariff also rose protective tariffs on the United States. It pushed rates on imported goods to the highest point they've ever been. The isolationist principle also reflect the isolationist move the US was moving towards in the 1920s..

Emergency Committee for Employment: The Emergency Committee for Employment was created in 1930 under the presidency of Herbert Hoover. The goal for the committee was to coordinate efforts between other agencies in order to provide relief for the massive unemployed during the years of the Great Depression.

Farmers' Holiday Association: In 1931 farmers from the Midwest got together to discuss the methods they would use in order to stop the policies that devastated the agricultural economy. Out of the meeting came the decision to withhold grain and livestock from the economy.

Hoover Moratorium: The Hoover Moratorium was held in 1931 to discuss the payment of the allied war debts sustained during WWI. Though the issue was never reconciled due to the fact that Britain and other European Countries went off the gold standard before the plan could be implemented.

Bonus Army: The Bonus Army was a group of WWI veterans who were supposed to be given economic relief from the government due to their involvement in the war. However, in 1932 the deadline for the veterans was pushed back by the government to a latter date thus causing the group to march onto Washington to demand their money. Excessive force was used to disband these protesters, and because they were veterans and heroes of this country, Hoover's popularity plummeted because of it.

"Hooverville": "Hooverville" was a name given to any shanty town that manifested itself during the period when Herbert Hoover was president. The name was termed due to the cold, unfriendly disposition that Hoover took on the policy of helping out the poor. Hoover believed that giving economic aid to the poor would stifle the economy.

Clark Memorandum:The memorandum was called by the U.S. Representative J.Reuben Clark in Dec of 1928. The purpose of the meeting was to reinstate the principles of the Monroe Doctrine to the events that were happening in Latin America; it was contradictory to the ideals of the Roosevelt Corollary.

London Naval Conference: US, GB, Japan, France, and Italy convened in 1930 to come to a mutual agreement pertaining to the number of battleships that were in existence. The number of battleships was a great concern to these nations for they wanted to live in peace with one another, not in a war like situation.

Stimson Doctrine: Based on the principles of the Kellogg-Briand pact, the Hoover-Stimson doctrine was a collection of letters from the U.S. to China and Japan. These letters written on Jan 7, 1932, concluded that the U.S. did not formally recognize any change in territory if it was brought about by armed forces.

Mexico's naturalization of oil: The president of Mexico in 1938 was a man named Lazaro Cardenas. Cardenas nationalized many oil companies, from England and the United States, valued then at 450 million dollars. The conditions were that Mexico had to give fair compensation to the countries.

Ambassador Morrow: Turned into an ambassador for Mexico, Dwight D. Morrow also named Ambassador Morrow was a worker for J.P.Morgan and Company. The main issue that he focused on was the methods he could use to reconcile differences between the Mexican government and the Church.

Norris-La Guardia (anti-junction) Act, 1932: The Norris-La Guardia Act forbade the issuing of injunctions to maintain anti-union contracts of employment, the prevention to perform work, and the restraining of an act committed by either a group or of an individual striker.

Election of 1932: candidates, issues: The Republican candidate was Hoover and the Democratic one was Franklin D. Roosevelt. The issue was ending the Great Depression. Hoover's platform was to increase the government's role in the economy; Roosevelt's message was "Pay attention to the forgotten man at the bottom of the economy period." Roosevelt won.

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Hoover Administration When Herbert Hoover was elected to the presidency in 1928, Americans viewed him as a man who would further boost the nation's growing prosperity. During his term of office, however, came the onset of the Great Depression, and the ensuing struggle of the government to relieve Americans and recover the economy.

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The Japanese military occupation of Manchuria in late 1931 placed U.S. Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson in a difficult position. It was evident that appeals to the spirit of the Kellogg-Briand Pact had no impact on either the Chinese or the Japanese, and the secretary was further hampered by President Hoover 's clear indication that he would not support economic sanctions as a means to bring peace in the Far East.

On January 7, 1932, Secretary Stimson sent identic notes to China and Japan that incorporated a diplomatic approach used by earlier secretaries facing crises in the Far East. Later known as the Stimson Doctrine, or sometimes the Hoover-Stimson Doctrine, the notes read in part as follows:

[T]he American Government deems it to be its duty to notify both the Imperial Japanese Government and the Government of the Chinese Republic that it cannot admit the legality of any situation de facto nor does it intend to recognize any treaty or agreement entered into between those Governments, or agents thereof, which may impair the treaty rights of the United States or its citizens in China, including those which relate to the sovereignty, the independence, or the territorial and administrative integrity of the Republic of China, or to the international policy relative to China, commonly known as the open door policy....

Stimson had stated that the United States would not recognize any changes made in China that would curtail American treaty rights in the area and that the " open door" must be maintained. The Japanese, however, were not dissuaded by non-recognition and continued their aggression, confident that the U.S. would not take stronger action because of the strength of isolationist feeling there.

By early 1932, some American newspapers were critical of the secretary's tepid response to the Manchurian crisis, but many citizens felt that the doctrine's idealistic, but non-threatening, tone was exactly right. Most Americans were probably far more sympathetic to China, but did not want to provoke Japan. Memories of American losses in foreign war were still fresh.

See other foreign affairs issues during the Hoover administration.

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The Japanese military occupation of Manchuria in late 1931 placed U.S. Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson in a difficult position. It was evident that appeals to the spirit of the Kellogg-Briand Pact had no impact on either the Chinese or the Japanese, and the secretary was further hampered by President Hoover 's clear indication that he would not support economic sanctions as a means to bring peace in the Far East.

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Good Neighbor Policy, popular name for the Latin American policy pursued by the administration of the U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Suggested by the president's commitment "to the policy of the good neighbor" (first inaugural address, March 4, 1933), the approach marked a departure from traditional American interventionism. Through the diplomacy of Secretary of State Cordell Hull, the United States repudiated privileges abhorrent to Latin Americans. The United States renounced its right to unilaterally intervene in the internal affairs of other nations at the Montevideo Conference (December 1933); the Platt Amendment, which sanctioned U.S. intervention in Cuba, was abrogated (1934); and the U.S. Marines were withdrawn from Haiti (August 1934).

The policy's success was measured in part by the rapidity with which most Latin American states rallied to the Allies during World War II. After the war, however, U.S. anticommunist policies in Europe and Asia led to renewed distrust in the Americas and the gradual lapse of the Good Neighbor Policy.

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Good Neighbor Policy | United States history

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Good Neighbor Policy: Good Neighbor Policy, popular name for the Latin American policy pursued by the administration of the U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Suggested by the president's commitment "to the policy of the good neighbor" (first inaugural address, March 4, 1933), the approach marked a departure from

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Militarism is a belief or system where the military is exalted and its needs and considerations are given excessive importance or priority. Militarism was a powerful force in 19th and early 20th century Europe. While militarism alone did not start World War I, it fuelled a potent arms race and undermined the role of diplomacy as a means of resolving disputes.

Defining militarism

Militarism is a philosophy or system that emphasises the importance of military power. Alfred Vagts, a German historian who served in World War I, defined it as the "domination of the military man over the civilian, an undue preponderance of military demands, an emphasis on military considerations".

In militaristic nations, generals and admirals often act as de facto government ministers or officials, advising political leaders and influencing domestic policy. Not surprisingly, this leads to significant increases in defence and arms spending.

Late 19th and early 20th-century militarism fuelled an arms race that gave rise to new military technologies and increased defence spending. Militarism also shaped culture, the press and public opinion. Newspapers held up military leaders as heroes, painted rival nations as dangerous aggressors and regularly speculated about the possibility of war.

The other 'isms'

Militarism and two other 'isms', nationalism and imperialism, were all intrinsically connected. They were systems, ideologies or ways of thinking that reinforced and strengthened each other.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, military power was considered a measure of national and imperial strength. A powerful state needed a powerful military to protect its interests and support its policies. Strong armies and navies were needed to defend the homeland, to protect imperial and trade interests abroad and to deter threats.

War was avoided where possible - but it could also be used to advance a nation's political or economic interests. As the Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz famously wrote in 1832, war was "a continuation of policy by other means".

In the 19th century European mind, politics and military power became inseparable, much like politics and economic management have become inseparable in the modern world. Governments and leaders who failed to maintain armies and navies to protect the national interest were considered weak or incompetent.

Prussian militarism

The German-speaking Kingdom of Prussia is considered the wellspring of European militarism. Prior to the unification of Germany in 1871, Prussia was the most powerful of the German kingdoms. After unification, the German government and armed forces were based on the Prussian model and many German politicians and generals were Junkers (land-owning Prussian nobles).

The Prussian army was reformed and modernised in the 1850s by Field Marshal von Moltke the Elder. Under von Moltke's leadership, Prussia's army implemented new strategies, improved training for its officers, introduced advanced weaponry and adopted more efficient means of command and communication.

Prussia's crushing military defeat of France in 1871 proved its army as the most dangerous and effective military force in Europe. This victory also secured German unification, meaning that Prussian militarism and German nationalism became closely intertwined.

Prussian commanders, personnel and methodology became the nucleus of the new German imperial army. The German Kaiser was its supreme commander; he relied on a military council and chief of general staff, made up of Junker aristocrats and career officers. When it came to military matters, the Reichstag (Germany's elected civilian parliament) had no more than an advisory role.

Militarism elsewhere

Elsewhere in Europe, militarism was more restrained and less flagrant, yet it remained a potent political and cultural force.

British militarism was more subdued than its German counterpart but nevertheless still evidence. Military power was considered essential for maintaining Britain's imperial and trade interests. The Royal Navy, by far the world's largest naval force, was engaged in protecting shipping, trade routes and colonial ports. British land forces kept order and imposed imperial policies in India, Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

British attitudes to the military underwent a stark transformation during the 1800s. During the previous century, many Britons considered armies and navies a necessary evil. Their ranks were filled with the dregs of the lower classes, their officers were often failed aristocrats and neer-do-wells. These attitudes had changed by the mid-19th century, with soldiering seen more as a noble vocation, a selfless act of service to one's country. As in Germany, British soldiers were glorified and romanticised in the press and popular culture.

Whether serving in Crimea or the distant colonies, British officers were hailed as gentlemen and sterling leaders. Enlisted men were well-drilled, resolute and ready to make the ultimate sacrifice 'for King and Country'. The concept of soldiers as heroes was epitomised by Tennyson's 1854 poem The Charge of the Light Brigade and reflected in cheap 'derring-do' novels about foreign wars and battles, both real and imagined.

Military modernisation

Military victories, whether in colonial wars or major conflicts like the Crimean War (1853-56) or the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), only increased the prestige of European militaries and further intensified nationalism.

In contrast, a military defeat (such as Russia 's defeat by Japan in 1905) or even a costly victory (like Britain in the Boer War, 1899-1902) might expose problems and heighten calls for military reform or increased spending.

Virtually every major European nation engaged in some form of military reform and renewal in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In Germany, military expansion and modernisation were heartily endorsed by the newly crowned Kaiser, Wilhelm II, who wanted to claim his country's "place in the sun".

In Britain, the arms race was driven not by the monarchy but by public interest and the press. In 1884 the prominent newspaperman W. T. Stead published a series of articles suggesting that Britain was unprepared for war, particularly in its naval defences. Pressure groups like the British Navy League (formed 1894) agitated for more ships and personnel. By the early 1900s, the Navy League and the press were calling on the government to commission more Dreadnoughts (battleships). One popular slogan was "We want eight [Dreadnoughts] and we won't wait!"

The arms race

As a consequence, European military expenditure between 1900 and 1914 sky-rocketed. In 1870 the combined military spending of the six great powers (Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Italy) totalled the equivalent of £94 million. By 1914, it had quadrupled to £398 million.

German defence spending during this period increased by a massive 73 per cent, dwarfing the increases in France (10 per cent) and Britain (13 per cent). Between 1898 and 1912, the German government passed five different Fleet Acts to expand the country's naval power.

Russian defence spending also grew by more than one third. Russia's embarrassing defeat by the Japanese (1905) prompted the tsar to order a massive rearmament program. By the 1910s, around 45 per cent of Russian government spending was allocated to the armed forces, in comparison to just five per cent on education.

Military expansion

Every major European power, Britain excluded, introduced or increased conscription to expand their armies. Germany added 170,000 full-time soldiers to its army in 1913-14 while dramatically increasing its navy.

In 1898, the German government's fourth Fleet Act ordered the construction of 17 new vessels. Berlin also led the way in the construction of military submarines; by 1914 the German navy had 29 operational U-boats. This rapid growth in German naval power triggered a press frenzy and alarm in Britain. London responded to German naval expansion by commissioning 29 new ships for the Royal Navy.

The following table lists estimated defence and military spending in seven major nations between 1908 and 1913 (figures shown in United States dollars):

New technologies and weapons

This period saw significant changes to the quality of military weapons and equipment, as well as their quantity. This not only made these weapons more powerful and more deadly but they could be mass-produced at staggering levels. Sir Edward Grey, reflecting on his service as British foreign secretary in July 1914, said that:

"A great European war under modern conditions would be a catastrophe for which previous wars afforded no precedent. In old days, nations could collect only portions of their men and resources at a time and dribble them out by degrees. Under modern conditions, whole nations could be mobilised at once and their whole lifeblood and resources poured out in a torrent. Instead of a few hundreds of thousands of men meeting each other in war, millions would now meet - and modern weapons would multiply manifold the power of destruction. The financial strain and the expenditure of wealth would be incredible."

After studying the lessons of the Crimean War and other 19th century conflicts, military industrialists developed hundreds of improvements and rushed them to patent. The most significant changes improved the calibre, range, accuracy and portability of heavy artillery. During the American Civil War (1861-65), heavy artillery could fire up to 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) at best. By the early 1900s, this range had almost tripled.

Explosive shells were developed, giving single artillery rounds greater killing power wherever they landed. These advances allowed artillery shelling and bombardments to become standard practice along the Western Front during World War I.

First developed in 1881, machine guns also became smaller, lighter, more accurate, more reliable and much faster, some capable of firing up to 600 rounds per minute.

Small arms also improved significantly. The effective range of a rifle in the 1860s was around 400 metres. In contrast, the British issue Lee-Enfield .303 could hit a target more than two kilometres away.

Barbed wire, an invention of the 1860s, was also embraced by military strategists as an anti-personnel device. While historians often disagree on the reasons for the arms race, there is no doubt that the development of this new weaponry changed the face of modern warfare.

A historian's view:
"The belief in war as a test of national power and a proof of national superiority added a scientific base to the cult of patriotism... In Britain, a real effort was made to teach boys that success in war depended upon the patriotism and military spirit of the nation, and that preparation for war would strengthen 'manly virtue' and 'patriotic ardour'."
Zara Steiner

1. Militarism is the incorporation of military ideas, priorities and personnel into civilian government - and a belief that military power is essential for national strength.

2. Militarism was strongest in Germany, where the Kaiser relied heavily on his military commanders and the civilian legislature ( Reichstag) exerted little or no control over the military.

3. Militarists were also driven by experiences and failures in previous wars, such as the Crimean War, Boer War and Russo-Japanese War.

4. Militarism, combined with new weapons, emerging technologies and developments in industrial production, fuelled a European arms race in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

5. Influenced by nationalism and advice from military commanders, European governments ramped up military spending, purchasing new weaponry and increasing the size of armies and navies.

Title: "Militarism as a cause of World War I"
Authors: Jennifer Llewellyn, Steve Thompson
Publisher: Alpha History
URL: https://alphahistory.com/worldwar1/militarism/
Date published: September 21, 2020
Date accessed: January 31, 2021
Copyright: The content on this page may not be republished without our express permission. For more information on usage, please refer to our Terms of Use.

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Militarism is a belief or system where the military is exalted and its needs and considerations are given excessive importance or priority. Militarism was a powerful force in 19th and early 20th century Europe. While militarism alone did not start World War I, it fuelled a potent arms race and undermined the role of diplomacy as a means of resolving disputes.

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The Fourteen Points

In a speech to Congress in January 1918, Wilson laid out his idealistic vision for the world after World War I, which was at the time sometimes referred to as "the war to end all wars."

In addition to specific territorial settlements based on an Allied victory, Wilson's so-called Fourteen Points emphasized the need for national self-determination for Europe's different ethnic populations.

Wilson also proposed the founding of a "general association of nations" that would mediate international disputes and foster cooperation between different nations in the hopes of preventing war on such a large scale in the future. This organization eventually became known as the League of Nations.

When German leaders signed the armistice ending hostilities in World War I on November 11, 1918, they believed Wilson's vision would form the basis for any future peace treaty. This would not prove to be the case.

Paris Peace Conference

The Paris Peace Conference opened on January 18, 1919, a date that was significant in that it marked the anniversary of the coronation of German Emperor Wilhelm I, which took place in the Palace of Versailles at the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.

Prussian victory in that conflict had resulted in Germany's unification and its seizure of Alsace and Lorraine provinces from France. In 1919, France and its prime minister, Georges Clemenceau, had not forgotten the humiliating loss and intended to avenge it in the new peace agreement.

Treaty of Versailles Terms

The " Big Four" leaders of the victorious Western nations-Wilson of the United States, David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France and, to a lesser extent, Vittorio Orlando of Italy-dominated the peace negotiations in Paris. Germany and the other defeated powers-Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey-were not represented at the Paris Peace Conference. Also absent was Russia, which had fought as one of the Allied powers until 1917, when, following the Russian Revolution, the country's new Bolshevik government concluded a separate peace with Germany and withdrew from the conflict.

The Big Four themselves had competing objectives in Paris: Clemenceau's main goal was to protect France from yet another attack by Germany. He sought heavy reparations from Germany as a way of limiting German economic recovery after the war and minimizing this possibility.

Lloyd George, on the other hand, saw the rebuilding of Germany as a priority in order to reestablish the nation as a strong trading partner for Great Britain. For his part, Orlando wanted to expand Italy's influence and shape it into a major power that could hold its own alongside the other great nations.

Wilson opposed Italian territorial demands, as well as previously existing arrangements regarding territory between the other Allies; instead, he wanted to create a new world order along the lines of his Fourteen Points. The other leaders saw Wilson as too naive and idealistic, and his principles were difficult to translate into policy.

In the end, the European Allies imposed harsh peace terms on Germany, forcing the nation to surrender around 10 percent of its territory and all of its overseas possessions. Other key provisions of the Treaty of Versailles called for the demilitarization and occupation of the Rhineland, limited Germany's army and navy, forbade it to maintain an air force, and required it to conduct war crimes trials against Kaiser Wilhelm II and other leaders for their aggression.

Most importantly, Article 231 of the treaty, better known as the " war guilt clause," forced Germany to accept full responsibility for starting World War I and pay enormous reparations for Allied war losses.

How Did the Treaty of Versailles Lead to World War II?

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, exactly five years after the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo, sparking the outbreak of the war. Though the treaty included a covenant creating the League of Nations, an international organization aimed at preserving peace, the harsh terms imposed on Germany helped ensure that peace would not last for long.

Germans were furious about the treaty, seeing it as a diktat, or dictated peace; they bitterly resented the sole blame of war being placed at their feet. The nation's burden of reparations eventually topped 132 billion gold Reichsmarks, the equivalent of some $33 billion, a sum so great that no one expected Germany to be able to pay in full; in fact, economists like John Maynard Keynes predicted the European economy would collapse if it did.

Keynes was not the only prominent critic of the Treaty of Versailles: The French military leader Ferdinand Foch refused to attend the signing ceremony, as he thought the treaty didn't do enough to secure against a future German threat, while the U.S. Congress failed to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, and later concluded a separate peace with Germany. The United States would never join the short-lived League of Nations.

November Criminals

In the years following the Treaty of Versailles, many ordinary Germans believed they had been betrayed by the "November Criminals," those leaders who signed the treaty and formed the post-war government.

Radical right-wing political forces-especially the National Socialist Workers' Party, or the Nazis-would gain support in the 1920s and '30s by promising to reverse the humiliation of the Versailles Treaty.

With the onset of the Great Depression after 1929, economic unrest destabilized the already vulnerable Weimar Republic government in Germany, setting the stage for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's fateful rise to power in 1933.

Sources

The Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles. U.S. Department of State: Office of the Historian.
"The Treaty of Versailles: An Uneasy Peace," WBUR.org (excerpt from Michael Neiberg, The Treaty of Versailles: A Concise History), August 13, 2017.
Treaty of Versailles. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The Treaty of Versailles, 1919. Chateau de Versailles.

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Treaty of Versailles: Definition, Terms, Dates & WWI - HISTORY

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The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 and set harsh terms for Germany's surrender to Allied powers after World War I, setting the stage for World War II.

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Introduction

In the 1930s, the United States Government enacted a series of laws designed to prevent the United States from being embroiled in a foreign war by clearly stating the terms of U.S. neutrality. Although many Americans had rallied to join President Woodrow Wilson's crusade to make the world "safe for democracy" in 1917, by the 1930s critics argued that U.S. involvement in the First World War had been driven by bankers and munitions traders with business interests in Europe. These findings fueled a growing "isolationist" movement that argued the United States should steer clear of future wars and remain neutral by avoiding financial deals with countries at war.

First Neutrality Act

By the mid-1930s, events in Europe and Asia indicated that a new world war might soon erupt and the U.S. Congress took action to enforce U.S. neutrality. On August 31, 1935, Congress passed the first Neutrality Act prohibiting the export of "arms, ammunition, and implements of war" from the United States to foreign nations at war and requiring arms manufacturers in the United States to apply for an export license. American citizens traveling in war zones were also advised that they did so at their own risk. President Franklin D. Roosevelt originally opposed the legislation, but relented in the face of strong Congressional and public opinion. On February 29, 1936, Congress renewed the Act until May of 1937 and prohibited Americans from extending any loans to belligerent nations.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Neutrality Act of 1937

The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and the rising tide of fascism in Europe increased support for extending and expanding the Neutrality Act of 1937. Under this law, U.S.citizens were forbidden from traveling on belligerent ships, and American merchant ships were prevented from transporting arms to belligerents even if those arms were produced outside of the United States. The Act gave the President the authority to bar all belligerent ships from U.S. waters, and to extend the export embargo to any additional "articles or materials." Finally, civil wars would also fall under the terms of the Act.

The Neutrality Act of 1937 did contain one important concession to Roosevelt: belligerent nations were allowed, at the discretion of the President, to acquire any items except arms from the United States, so long as they immediately paid for such items and carried them on non-American ships-the so-called "cash-and-carry" provision. Since vital raw materials such as oil were not considered "implements of war," the "cash-and-carry" clause would be quite valuable to whatever nation could make use of it. Roosevelt had engineered its inclusion as a deliberate way to assist Great Britain and France in any war against the Axis Powers, since he realized that they were the only countries that had both the hard currency and ships to make use of "cash-and-carry." Unlike the rest of the Act, which was permanent, this provision was set to expire after two years.

Neutrality Act of 1939

Following Germany's occupation of Czechoslovakia in March of 1939, Roosevelt suffered a humiliating defeat when Congress rebuffed his attempt to renew "cash-and-carry" and expand it to include arms sales. President Roosevelt persisted and as war spread in Europe, his chances of expanding "cash-and-carry" increased. After a fierce debate in Congress, in November of 1939, a final Neutrality Act passed. This Act lifted the arms embargo and put all trade with belligerent nations under the terms of "cash-and-carry." The ban on loans remained in effect, and American ships were barred from transporting goods to belligerent ports.

In October of 1941, after the United States had committed itself to aiding the Allies through Lend-Lease, Roosevelt gradually sought to repeal certain portions of the Act. On October 17, 1941, the House of Representatives revoked section VI, which forbade the arming of U.S. merchant ships, by a wide margin. Following a series of deadly U-boat attacks against U.S. Navy and merchant ships, the Senate passed another bill in November that also repealed legislation banning American ships from entering belligerent ports or "combat zones."

Overall, the Neutrality Acts represented a compromise whereby the United States Government accommodated the isolationist sentiment of the American public, but still retained some ability to interact with the world. In the end, the terms of the Neutrality Acts became irrelevant once the United States joined the Allies in the fight against Nazi Germany and Japan in December 1941.

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Milestones: 1921-1936 - Office of the Historian

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The Meaning and Significance of Roosevelt’s Quarantine Speech

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The Quarantine Speech reflected Roosevelt’s desire to shift from America’s traditional policy of non-interference in wars. But why is this speech called the Quarantine Speech? Historyplex answers this question, along with telling you the purpose and significance of the Quarantine Speech.

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Neville Chamberlain was British prime minister as England entered World War II and was known for his policy of 'appeasement' toward Adolf Hitler. Learn about the hard choices he faced on Biography.com.

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Contents

1. Germany's Aggression in Europe Stokes Fears of War

2. Hitler and Stalin Rethink their Positions

3. The Germans and Soviets Make a Deal

On August 23, 1939-shortly before World War II (1939-45) broke out in Europe-enemies Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years. With Europe on the brink of another major war, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) viewed the pact as a way to keep his nation on peaceful terms with Germany, while giving him time to build up the Soviet military. German chancellor Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) used the pact to make sure Germany was able to invade Poland unopposed. The pact also contained a secret agreement in which the Soviets and Germans agreed how they would later divide up Eastern Europe. The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact fell apart in June 1941, when Nazi forces invaded the Soviet Union.

Germany's Aggression in Europe Stokes Fears of War

On March 15, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, breaking the agreement it had signed with Great Britain and France the year before in Munich, Germany. The invasion jolted British and French leaders and convinced them that Adolf Hitler, the German chancellor, could not be trusted to honor his agreements and was likely to keep committing aggressions until stopped by force or a massive deterrent.

Did you know? Hitler disliked the photograph taken when the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact was signed in the Kremlin because it showed Stalin with a cigarette in his hand. Hitler felt the cigarette was unsuited to the historic occasion and had it airbrushed from the photo when it was published in Germany.

In the previous year, Hitler had annexed Austria and had taken the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia; in March 1939, his tanks rolled into the rest of Czechoslovakia. It appeared that he was determined to undo the international order set up by the Treaty of Versailles, the 1919 peace settlement that ended World War I (1914-18). (The treaty, which required Germany to make numerous concessions and reparations, was highly unpopular with Hitler and his Nazi Party.) It also seemed that Hitler was planning to strike next against its neighbor Poland. To block him, France and Britain pledged on March 31, 1939, to guarantee Poland's security and independence. The British and French also stepped up diplomatic engagement with the Soviet Union, trying to draw it closer by trade and other agreements to make Hitler see he would also have to face Joseph Stalin if he invaded Poland. But Hitler already knew the Soviets would not stand by if he tried to occupy Poland-an act that would extend the border of Germany right up to the Soviet Union. He also knew France and the Soviets had concluded a defense alliance several years earlier-a treaty that gave Stalin an additional reason to fight Germany if it ventured into Poland and triggered France's pledge.

It was clear during the tense spring and summer of 1939 that little, if anything, could be taken for granted. In May, Germany and Italy signed a major treaty of alliance, and Hitler's representatives had begun conducting important trade talks with the Soviets. Just two years prior, however, as Laurence Rees notes in "War of the Century: When Hitler Fought Stalin," Hitler had called the Soviet Union "the greatest danger for the culture and civilization of mankind which has ever threatened it since the collapse of the ... ancient world."

Hitler and Stalin Rethink their Positions

Through the spring and summer of 1939, Hitler stepped up his demands on the Polish government in Warsaw, and pushed for allowing Germany to reclaim the port city of Danzig (a former German city internationalized by the Treaty of Versailles). Hitler also wanted to put a stop to the alleged mistreatment of Germans living in the western regions of Poland. At the same time, he advanced his plans for attacking Poland in August 1939 if his demands were not met. However, Hitler's fervor for a war with Poland made his generals nervous. They knew Stalin's purges of his military commanders in 1937 and 1938 had seriously weakened the Soviet army, but the Germans were leery of a campaign that could easily lead to the nightmare faced in World War I-a two-front war, in which they would be fighting Russians troops in the east and French and British troops in the west.

To avoid such a scenario, Hitler had cautiously begun exploring the possibility of a thaw in relations with Stalin. Several brief diplomatic exchanges in May 1939 fizzled by the next month. But in July, as tensions continued building across Europe and all major powers were feverishly casting about for potential allies, Hitler's foreign minister dropped hints to Moscow that if Hitler invaded Poland, the Soviet Union might be permitted some Polish territory. This caught Stalin's attention. On August 20, Hitler sent a personal message to the Soviet premier: War with Poland was imminent. If Hitler sent his foreign minister to Moscow for a vitally important discussion, would Stalin receive him? Stalin said yes.

The Germans and Soviets Make a Deal

On August 22, 1939, German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893-1946) flew from Berlin to Moscow. He was soon inside the Kremlin, face-to-face with Stalin and Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov (1890-1986), who had been working with von Ribbentrop to negotiate an agreement. (The Soviet minister is also the namesake for the incendiary device known as a Molotov cocktail.) Ribbentrop carried a proposal from Hitler that both countries commit to a nonaggression pact that would last 100 years. Stalin replied that 10 years would be sufficient. The proposal also stipulated that neither country would aid any third party that attacked either signatory. Finally, the proposal contained a secret protocol specifying the spheres of influence in Eastern Europe both parties would accept after Hitler conquered Poland. The Soviet Union would acquire the eastern half of Poland, along with Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.

During the Kremlin meeting, Ribbentrop several times telephoned Hitler, who was nervously awaiting news at his country estate in Bavaria. Finally, in the early hours of August 23, Ribbentrop called to say that everything had been settled. As Ian Kershaw notes in "Hitler: 1936-1945: Nemesis," the German chancellor was ecstatic. He congratulated his foreign minister and said the pact "will hit like a bombshell." It neutralized the French-Soviet treaty, which would reassure Hitler's generals, and cleared the way for Germany's attack on Poland.

Aftermath

The public part of the Moscow agreement was announced with great fanfare on August 25, 1939, the day Hitler had planned to launch his "blitzkrieg" (quick, surprise attacks) strike east into Poland. Earlier this same day, however, Great Britain and France, knowing the Nazi-Soviet agreement was pending, reacted by formalizing their pledge to Poland in a treaty declaring each would fight in Poland's defense if it were attacked.

Hitler was incensed by this counterthrust but quickly cancelled his order for the invasion. Then, in a wild gamble that France and Great Britain would not meet their treaty obligations to Poland, and knowing he had nothing to fear from the Soviet army, Hitler ordered his troops to strike east into Poland on September 1, 1939. Two days later, on September 3, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. World War II had begun. And less than two years after that, Hitler scrapped his pact with Stalin and sent some 3 million Nazi soldiers pouring into the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.

Four years later, with no hope of a German victory in World War II, Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945. On May 8, the Allies accepted Nazi Germany's surrender.

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On August 23, 1939-shortly before World War II (1939-45) broke out in Europe-enemies Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years.

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(f) The term "citizen" shall include any individual owing allegiance to the United States, a partnership, company, or association composed in whole or in part of citizens of the United States, and any corporation organized and existing under the laws of the United States as defined in subsection (a) of this section.

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Operation Sea Lion was the German plan for the invasion of Britain in World War II (1939-1945) and was planned for sometime in late 1940, after the Fall of France.

With the German victory over Poland in the opening campaigns of World War II, leaders in Berlin commenced planning for fighting in the west against France and Britain. These plans called for the capture of ports along the English Channel followed by efforts to force Britain's surrender. How this was to be accomplished quickly became a matter of debate among the German military's senior leadership. This saw Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, commander of the Kriegsmarine, and Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring of the Luftwaffe both argue against a seaborne invasion and lobby for various types of blockades aimed at crippling the British economy. Conversely, the army leadership advocated for landings in East Anglia, which would see 100,000 men put ashore.

Raeder countered this by arguing that it would take a year to assemble the shipping required and that the British Home Fleet would need to be neutralized. Göring continued to argue that such a cross-channel effort could only be made as "final act of an already victorious war against Britain." Despite these misgivings, in the summer of 1940, shortly after Germany's stunning conquest of France, Adolf Hitler turned his attention to the possibility of an invasion of Britain. Somewhat surprised that London had rebuffed peace overtures, he issued Directive No. 16 on July 16 which stated, "As England, in spite of the hopelessness of her military position, has so far shown herself unwilling to come to any compromise, I have decided to begin to prepare for, and if necessary to carry out, an invasion of England...and if necessary the island will be occupied."

For this to succeed, Hitler laid out four conditions that had to be met to ensure success. Similar to those identified by German military planners in late 1939, they included elimination of the Royal Air Force to ensure air superiority, clearing of the English Channel of mines and the laying of German mines, the emplacing of artillery along the English Channel, and preventing the Royal Navy from interfering with the landings. Though pushed by Hitler, neither Raeder or Göring actively supported the invasion plan. Having taken serious losses to the surface fleet during the invasion of Norway, Raeder came to actively oppose the effort as the Kriegsmarine lacked the warships to either defeat the Home Fleet or support a crossing of the Channel.

Dubbed Operation Sea Lion, planning moved forward under the guidance of Chief of the General Staff General Fritz Halder. Though Hitler had originally desired to invade on August 16, it was soon realized that this date was unrealistic. Meeting with planners on July 31, Hitler was informed that most desired to postpone the operation until May 1941. As this would remove the political threat of the operation, Hitler refused this request but agreed to push Sea Lion back until September 16. In the early stages, the invasion plan for Sea Lion called for landings on a 200-mile front from Lyme Regis east to Ramsgate.

This would have seen Field Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb's Army Group C cross from Cherbourg and land at Lyme Regis while Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group A sailed from Le Havre and the Calais area to land the southeast. Possessing a small and depleted surface fleet, Raeder opposed this broad front approach as he felt it could not be defended from the Royal Navy. As Göring began intense attacks against the RAF in August, which developed into the Battle of Britain, Halder vehemently attacked his naval counterpart, feeling that a narrow invasion front would lead to heavy casualties.

Bowing to Raeder's arguments, Hitler agreed to narrow the scope of the invasion on August 13 with the westernmost landings to be made at Worthing. As such, only Army Group A would take part in the initial landings. Composed of the 9th and 16th Armies, von Rundstedt's command would cross the Channel and establish a front from the Thames Estuary to Portsmouth. Pausing, they would build up their forces before conducting a pincer attack against London. This taken, German forces would advance north to around the 52nd parallel. Hitler assumed that Britain would surrender by the time his troops reached this line.

As the invasion plan continued to be in flux, Raeder was plagued by a lack of purpose-built landing craft. To remedy this situation, the Kriegsmarine gathered around 2,400 barges from around Europe. Though a large number, they were still insufficient for the invasion and could only be used in relatively calm seas. As these were gathered in the Channel ports, Raeder continued to be concerned that his naval forces would be insufficient to combat the Royal Navy's Home Fleet. To further support the invasion, a myriad of heavy guns were emplaced along the Straits of Dover.

Aware of German invasion preparations, the British began defensive planning. Though a large number of men were available, much of the British Army's heavy equipment had been lost during the Dunkirk Evacuation. Appointed Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces in late May, General Sir Edmund Ironside was tasked with overseeing the island's defense. Lacking sufficient mobile forces, he elected to construct a system of static defensive lines around southern Britain, which were backed by the heavier General Headquarters Anti-tank Line. These lines were to be supported by a small mobile reserve.

On September 3, with British Spitfires and Hurricanes still controlling the skies over southern Britain, Sea Lion was again postponed, first to September 21 and then, eleven days later, to September 27. On September 15, Göring launched massive raids against Britain in an attempt to crush Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding's Fighter Command. Defeated, the Luftwaffe took heavy losses. Summoning Göring and von Rundstedt on September 17, Hitler indefinitely postponed Operation Sea Lion citing the Luftwaffe's failure to obtain air superiority and a general lack of coordination between the branches of the German military.

Turning his attention eastward to the Soviet Union and planning for Operation Barbarossa, Hitler never returned to the invasion of Britain and the invasion barges were ultimately dispersed. In the years after the war, many officers and historians have debated whether Operation Sea Lion could have succeeded. Most have concluded that it likely would have failed due to the strength of the Royal Navy and the Kriegsmarine's inability to prevent it from interfering with the landings and subsequent re-supply of those troops already ashore.

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Operation Sea Lion: Germany's Plan to Invade Britain in WWII

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Operation Sea Lion was the German plan for the invasion of Britain in World War II (1939-1945) and was planned for sometime in late 1940, after the Fall of France. With the German victory over Poland in the opening campaigns of World War II, leaders in Berlin commenced planning for fighting in the west against France and Britain.

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The Lend-Lease Act of 1941 stated that the U.S. government could lend or lease (rather than sell) war supplies to any nation deemed "vital to the defense of the United States." Under this policy, the United States was able to supply military aid to its foreign allies during World War II, while still remaining officially neutral in the conflict. Most importantly, passage of the Lend-Lease Act enabled a struggling Great Britain to continue fighting against Germany virtually on its own until the United States entered World War II late in 1941.
WATCH: World War II Documentaries on HISTORY Vault
Neutrality in Wartime

In the decades following World War I, many Americans remained extremely wary of becoming involved in another costly international conflict. Even as fascist regimes like Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler took aggressive action in Europe the 1930s, isolationist members of Congress pushed through a series of laws limiting how the United States could respond.

But after Germany invaded Poland in 1939, and full-scale war broke out again in Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that while the United States would remain neutral by law, it was impossible "that every American remain neutral in thought as well."

Before passage of the Neutrality Act of 1939, Roosevelt persuaded Congress to allow the sale of military supplies to allies like France and Britain on a "cash-and-carry" basis: They had to pay cash for American-made supplies, and then transport the supplies on their own ships.
WATCH VIDEO: The Lend-Lease Act
Great Britain Asks for Help

But by the summer of 1940, France and much of northern Europe had fallen to the Nazis, and Britain was fighting virtually alone against Germany on land, at sea and in the air. The London Blitz and other German offenses had taken a serious toll on British morale and military strength.

After the new British prime minister, Winston Churchill, appealed personally to Roosevelt for help, the U.S. president agreed to exchange more than 50 outdated American destroyers for 99-year leases on British bases in the Caribbean and Newfoundland, which would be used as U.S. air and naval bases.

That December, with Britain's currency and gold reserves dwindling, Churchill warned Roosevelt that his country would not be able to pay cash for military supplies or shipping much longer. Though he had recently been re-elected on a platform promising to keep America out of World War II, Roosevelt wanted to support Great Britain against Germany.

After hearing Churchill's appeal, he began working to convince Congress (and the American public) that providing more direct aid to Britain was in the nation's own interest.

Arsenal of Democracy

In December 1940, Roosevelt introduced a new policy initiative whereby the United States would lend, rather than sell, military supplies to Great Britain for use in the fight against Germany. Payment for the supplies would be deferred, and could come in any form Roosevelt deemed satisfactory.

"We must be the great arsenal of democracy," Roosevelt declared in one of his signature " fireside chats " on December 29, 1940. "For us, this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war."

Lend-Lease Policy

Lend-Lease, as Roosevelt's plan became known, ran into strong opposition among isolationist members of Congress, as well as those who believed the policy gave the president himself too much power. During the debate over the bill, which continued for two months, Roosevelt's administration and supporters in Congress argued convincingly that providing aid to allies like Great Britain was a military necessity for the United States.

"We are buying...not lending. We are buying our own security while we prepare," Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "By our delay during the past six years, while Germany was preparing, we find ourselves unprepared and unarmed, facing a thoroughly prepared and armed potential enemy."

Finally, in March 1941, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act (subtitled "An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States") and Roosevelt signed it into law.

Impact of the Lend-Lease Act

Roosevelt quickly took advantage of his authority under the new law, ordering large quantities of U.S. food and war materials to be shipped to Britain from U.S. ports through the new Office of Lend-Lease Administration.

The supplies dispersed under the Lend-Lease Act ranged from tanks, aircraft, ships, weapons and road building supplies to clothing, chemicals and food. By the end of 1941, the lend-lease policy was extended to include other U.S. allies, including France, China and the Soviet Union.

Through the end of World War II the United States would use it to provide a total of some $50 billion in aid (equal to $690 billion in 2020 dollars) to more than 30 nations around the globe, from the Free French movement led by Charles de Gaulle and the governments-in-exile of Poland, the Netherlands and Norway to Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru.

For Roosevelt, Lend-Lease was not motivated primarily by altruism or generosity, but was intended to serve the interest of the United States by helping to defeat Nazi Germany without entering the war outright-at least not until the nation was prepared for it, both militarily and in terms of public opinion.

Through Lend-Lease, the United States also succeeded in becoming the "arsenal of democracy" during World War II, thus securing its preeminent place in the international economic and political order once the war drew to a close.

Ukraine Lend-Lease Act

In 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act. Much like Roosevelt's 1941 program, this act allowed the U.S. government to lend or lease a wide range of military equipment to Ukraine and other Eastern European countries.

Resulting from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the current Lend-Lease Act exempted the Biden administration from provisions of law that govern the loan or lease of military equipment to foreign countries. The act was designed to expire in 2023.

Sources

Lend-Lease Act, 1941. OurDocuments.gov.
Mark Seidl, "The Lend-Lease Program, 1941-45." Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Lend-Lease and Military Aid to the Allies in the Early Years of World War II. Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State.
Biden Signs Lend-Lease Act to Supply More Security Assistance to Ukraine. U.S. Department of Defense.

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The Lend-Lease Act of 1941 stated that the U.S. government could lend or lease (rather than sell) war supplies to any nation deemed "vital to the defense of the United States." Under this policy, the United States was able to supply military aid to its foreign allies during World War II, while still remaining officially neutral in the conflict.

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Chiang Kai-shek, soldier and statesman, head of the Nationalist government in China from 1928 to 1949 and subsequently head of the Chinese Nationalist government in exile on Taiwan. Learn more about Chiang Kai-shek’s life and accomplishments in this article.

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United States Navy in World War II - Wikipedia

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The United States Navy grew rapidly during World War II from 1941-45, and played the central role in the war against Japan. It assisted the British Royal Navy in the naval war against Germany and Italy. The largest amphibious invasion of all time was the invasion of France in June 1944.

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Japan and the Path to War

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise, but Japan and the United States had been edging toward war for decades.

The United States was particularly unhappy with Japan's increasingly belligerent attitude toward China. The Japanese government believed that the only way to solve its economic and demographic problems was to expand into its neighbor's territory and take over its import market.

To this end, Japan declared war on China in 1937, resulting in the Nanking Massacre and other atrocities.

American officials responded to this aggression with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes. They reasoned that without access to money and goods, and especially essential supplies like oil, Japan would have to rein in its expansionism.

Instead, the sanctions made the Japanese more determined to stand their ground. During months of negotiations between Tokyo and Washington, D.C., neither side would budge. It seemed that war was all but inevitable.

Where Is Pearl Harbor?

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is located near the center of the Pacific Ocean, roughly 2,000 miles from the U.S. mainland and about 4,000 miles from Japan. No one believed that the Japanese would start a war with an attack on the distant islands of Hawaii.

Additionally, American intelligence officials were confident that any Japanese attack would take place in one of the (relatively) nearby European colonies in the South Pacific: the Dutch East Indies, Singapore or Indochina.

Because American military leaders were not expecting an attack so close to home, the naval facilities at Pearl Harbor were relatively undefended. Almost the entire Pacific Fleet was moored around Ford Island in the harbor, and hundreds of airplanes were squeezed onto adjacent airfields.

To the Japanese, Pearl Harbor was an irresistibly easy target.

USS Arizona

The Japanese plan was simple: Destroy the Pacific Fleet. That way, the Americans would not be able to fight back as Japan's armed forces spread across the South Pacific. On December 7, after months of planning and practice, the Japanese launched their attack.

At about 8 a.m., Japanese planes filled the sky over Pearl Harbor. Bombs and bullets rained onto the vessels moored below. At 8:10, a 1,800-pound bomb smashed through the deck of the battleship USS Arizona and landed in her forward ammunition magazine. The ship exploded and sank with more than 1,000 men trapped inside.

Next, torpedoes pierced the shell of the battleship USS Oklahoma. With 400 sailors aboard, the Oklahoma lost her balance, rolled onto her side and slipped underwater.

Less than two hours later, the surprise attack was over, and every battleship in Pearl Harbor- USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS California, USS West Virginia, USS Utah, USS Maryland, USS Pennsylvania, USS Tennessee and USS Nevada-had sustained significant damage. (All but USS Arizona and USS Utah were eventually salvaged and repaired.)

Impact of the Pearl Harbor Attack

In all, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor crippled or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and more than 300 airplanes. Dry docks and airfields were likewise destroyed. Most importantly, more than 2,000 people died.

But the Japanese had failed to cripple the Pacific Fleet. By the 1940s, battleships were no longer the most important naval vessel: Aircraft carriers were, and as it happened, all of the Pacific Fleet's carriers were away from the base on December 7. (Some had returned to the mainland and others were delivering planes to troops on Midway and Wake Islands.)

Moreover, the Pearl Harbor assault had left the base's most vital onshore facilities-oil storage depots, repair shops, shipyards and submarine docks-intact. As a result, the U.S. Navy was able to rebound relatively quickly from the attack.

How Many People Died in Pearl Harbor?

The attack on Pearl Harbor killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including sailors, soldiers and civilians. Additionally, 1,178 people were wounded. 129 Japanese soldiers were killed.

Half of the dead at Pearl Harbor were on the USS Arizona. Today the sunken battleship serves as a memorial to all Americans who died in the attack.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress on December 8, the day after the crushing attack on Pearl Harbor.

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date which will live in infamy-the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

He went on to say, "No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again."

America Enters World War II

After the Pearl Harbor attack, and for the first time during years of discussion and debate, the American people were united in their determination to go to war.

The Japanese had wanted to goad the United States into an agreement to lift the economic sanctions against them; instead, they had pushed their adversary into a global conflict that ultimately resulted in Japan's first occupation by a foreign power.

Did you know? The single vote against Congress's declaration of war against Japan came from Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana. Rankin was a pacifist who had also voted against the American entrance into World War I. "As a woman," she said, "I can't go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else."

On December 8, Congress approved Roosevelt's declaration of war on Japan. Three days later, Japan's allies Germany and Italy declared war against the United States.

For the second time, Congress reciprocated, declaring war on the European powers. More than two years after the start of World War II, the United States had entered the conflict.

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Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, that was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. The day after the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.