Chapter 27: America And The World, 1921-1945

Washington Disarmament Conference

Dec 7, 1921

American delegation, led by Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, the primary objective of the conference was to restrain Japanese naval expansion in the waters of the west Pacific, especially with regard to fortifications on strategically valuable islands. Their secondary objectives were intended to ultimately limit Japanese expansion, but also to alleviate concerns over possible antagonism with the British. They were: first, to eliminate Anglo-American tension by abrogating the Anglo-Japane

Kellogg-Briand Pact

Dec 7, 1928

Renounced was as an instrument of national policy, British added the "except in self defense" resolution

All Quiet On The Western Front

Dec 7, 1929

a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.

Hawley-Smoot Tariff

Dec 7, 1930

A raising of the high American Tariff first imposed in 1922

FDR's Good Neighbor Policy

Dec 7, 1933

meant that the United States would keep its eye on Latin America in a more peaceful tone. Avoiding military intervention, the United States shifted to other methods to maintain its influence in Latin America: Pan-Americanism, support for strong local leaders, the training of national guards, economic and cultural penetration, Export-Import Bank loans, financial supervision, and political subversion.

Hitler Comes To Power

Dec 7, 1933

In Germany as the head of a National Socialist Nazi movement, a shrewd charasmatic leader, capitalized on the bitterness over WW1, and blamed the Jews for all of Germany's ills.

Anti-War Rallies

Dec 7, 1934

Many college campuses were anti-war. At Princeton, there was a creation of the veterans of future wars which was a parody on veteran's groups to demand a bonus of $1000 apiece before they marched off to a foreign war. Many students and professors walked out of class to attend massive anti-war rallies.

Axis Powers

Dec 7, 1937

comprised the countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II.[1] The three major Axis powers—Germany, Japan, and Italy—were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers. At their zenith, the Axis powers ruled empires that dominated large parts of Europe, Africa, East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, but World War II ended with their total defeat and dissolution

FDR Block War Vote

Dec 7, 1938

In January, FDR used his influence to block a proposal by Indiana Congressman Louis Ludlow to require a nationwide referendum before congress could declare war

Warsaw Bombing

Dec 7, 1939

the German Luftwaffe bombed Warsaw in September 1939, destroying the city and forcing its inhabitants to surrender

Blitzkrieg (Lightning War)

Dec 7, 1940

Using tanks, armored columns, and dive bombers in close coordination, the German army cut deep into the Allied lines dividing the British and French forces.

Election

Dec 7, 1940

was fought in the shadow of World War II (in Europe) as the United States was emerging from the Great Depression. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), a Democrat, broke with tradition and ran for a third term, which became a major issue. The surprise Republican candidate was maverick businessman Wendell Willkie, a dark horse who crusaded against Roosevelt's perceived failure to end the Depression and his supposed eagerness for war. Roosevelt, acutely aware of strong isolationist sent

Sinking of US Ships

Dec 7, 1941

During undeclared naval war, a German submarine damaged the US destroyer Kearney and ten days later, another U-boat san the Reuben James; killing more than 100 American soldiers

Pearl Harbor

Dec 7, 1941

Squadrons of Japanese carrier-based planes caught the American fleet at Pearl Harbor totally by surprise. In little more than 1 hour, they crippled the American Pacific fleet and its major base, sinking 8 battleships and killing more than 2400 American sailors

Move Japanese

Dec 7, 1942

FDR approved an army order to move all Japanese Americans on the West Coast to concentration camps in the interior. They were forced to sell their farms and businesses at distressed prices; they lost not only their liberty, but also most of their worldly goods.

Government/Labor Agreement

Dec 7, 1943

Held wage rates to a 15% increase, but the long hours of overtime resulted in doubling and sometimes tripling the weekly paychecks of factory workers

Unconditional Surrender

Dec 7, 1943

At a meeting at Casablanca Morocco, FDR and Churchill decalred that the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers would be the only acceptable basis for ending the war

Yalta Conference

Dec 7, 1945

was the February 4–11, 1945 wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union—President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and General Secretary Joseph Stalin, respectively—for the purpose of discussing Europe's postwar reorganization. Mainly, it was intended to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. The conference convened in the Livadia Palace near Yalta, the Crimea.

Missouri

Dec 7, 1945

Japan signed a formal capitulation agreement on the decks of the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay to bring WW2 to its official close