Class Notes for March 10

The American Response (to the German invasion of Poland)

• The Americans sat by as Hitler completed his conquest of Poland and in this "blitzkreig" (lightning war) overran Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France
• Britain barely managed to evacuate its troops from the French town of Dunkirk

President Roosevelt declares neutrality on the same day Britain and France declared war on Germany.
From 1939-1941, Roosevelt tried to mobilize American public opinion against the Neutrality Acts

• In late 1939, Congress lifted the ban on selling arms to belligerents and substituted a Cash and Carry policy, in which Britain and France benefited.
• Congress enacted the first peacetime draft in U.S. history in 1940.

Britain subjected to daily German air raids in the Battle of Britain in late 1940. At first, Germany concentrated on military bases, but they soon shifted to bombing London and other cities
September 1940, Roosevelt transferred 50 WWI vintage naval destroyers to Britain in exchange for the right to build U.S. naval bases on 8 British sites in the western hemisphere, Newfoundland, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Trinidad, Jamaica...Destroyers for Bases trade
Some Americans were strongly opposed to Roosevelt's pro-Allied policies. Among them were the America First Committee organized by General Robert E. Wood of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and Charles Lindbergh
Strong anti-semitism in U.S. led to Congress defeating a bill to boost immigration quotas in order to allow for the entry of 20,000 Jewish children otherwise headed for Hitler's concentration camps

• U.S. went further and adopted a restrictive refugee policy that didn't permit an even legal quota of Jewish immigrants from East Europe during WWII.

Other Americans rallied in support of helping the Allies when Britain was nearly out of money, U.S. revised the Neutrality Act so that it could loan or lend lease rather than sell munitions to the Allies. The Lend-Lease Act passed Congress in March 1941
Hitler surprised his ally Joseph Stalin by attacking the Soviet Union
Roosevelt - maintaining non-belligerency - took steps to coordinate a military strategy with Britain

• Roosevelt agreed to Europe-First strategy and sent U.S. troops to Greenland and Iceland to relieve British troops stationed there

In August 1941, Roosevelt met with Churchill on a naval ship off the coast of Newfoundland to work toward a formal alliance. They issued the 8 Point Atlantic Charter:

• Disavowed territorial expansion
• Endorsed free trade and self-determination
• Pledged post-war creation of a new world organization to ensure general security (the United Nations)
• Roosevelt agreed to have the U.S. naval convoy American goods as far as Iceland
• Soon, in undeclared naval war, German submarines were attacking U.S. ships

When Germany sunk the U.S.S. Reuben James, Congress repealed the Neutrality Acts
The U.S. formally entered the was when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. Congress declared was on December 8. On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S.
Turning points in the war:

• Stalingrad in the East - in the Soviet Union, the Russians and winter weather finally defeated Hitler's army
• Normandy in the West - "D-Day" invasion, the U.S. engaged in moving equipment to Britain, launched an attack across the English Channel, forcing Germany's surrender
• Midway in the Pacific - an island near Hawaii, Japan tried to destroy U.S. aircraft carriers, instead, WE sunk them, the end of Japan's offensive capability in the Pacific

Hitler committed suicide in April 1945 and Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, which ends the war in Europe, but not in the Pacific
Nuremburg War Crimes Trials

• German officials were put on trial for "crimes against humanity"
• The court didn't accpet the excuse that the troops/people were just doing what they were told/ordered to do
• Individuals are responsible for their own actions

Windtalkers

• U.S. used Navajo Indians to provide secure radio communications that the Japanese couldn't translate

There were 2 strategies used in the Pacific War

• The army under General MacArthur wanted to push continuously from Australia, through New Guinea, and on to Japan
• The navy under Admiral Nimitz favored island hopping campaign across the Pacific that bypasses islands that weren't essential to attacking Japan