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The Kellogg Briand Pact-1928
This treaty, which the US signed, made war illegal, and illustrated the intensity of American isolationism during the interwar period. -
Manchurian Invasion-1931
Ignoring the protests of more moderate Japanese officials, the militarists launched a suprise attack and seized control of the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. W/in several months, Japanese troops controlled the entire province. -
Neutrality Acts-1935-1937
In an effort to keep the United States out of future wars, beggining in 1935, Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts. The first two outlawed arms sales or loans to nations at war. The third was passed in response to the fighting in Spain. This acte extended the ban on arms sales and loans to nations engaged in civil wars. -
Invasion of Mainland China-1937
China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany, the Soviet Union and the United States . After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. The Second Sino-Japanese War was the largest Asian war in the 20th century.[8] It also made up more than 50% of the casualties in the Pacific W -
Panay Incident-1937
the USS Panay was attacked and sunk by Japanese aircraft while at anchor in the Yangtze River near Nanking, China. While this attack did not directly lead to war between Japan and the United States, it did much to damage relations between the two nations and was one of the first steps in the long road which led to Pearl Harbor. -
Cash and Carry Act-1939
Cash and carry was a policy requested by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a special session of the United States Congress on September 21, 1939. It replaced the Neutrality Acts of 1939. The revision allowed the sale of materiel to belligerents, as long as the recipients arranged for the transport using their own ships and paid immediately in cash, assuming all risk in transportation -
BUilding Up Defenses- 1940
Roosevelt asks Congress to increase speniding for national defense. Nazi victories in 1940 had changed U.S thinking and Congress increase defense spending. Congress passes nations first peacetime military draft- the Selective Training and Aervice Act. -
Fall of France-1940
n the Second World War, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the successful German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, defeating primarily French forces. -
Battle of Britain-Summer 1940
In the summer and fall of 1940, German and British air forces clashed in the skies over the United Kingdom, locked in the largest sustained bombing campaign to that date. A significant turning point of World War II, the Battle of Britain ended when Germany’s Luftwaffe failed to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force despite months of targeting Britain’s air bases, military posts and, ultimately, its civilian population. -
Destroyer Deal-July 1940
The US "Loaned" Great Britan some old (WW I vintage) destroyers "Four Stackers" and in return the US "Leased" bases on British lands. -
Selective Service Act-Sept.1940
Nations first peacetime military draft. Under this law 16 million men b/w ages of 21 and 35 were registered. Of these, 1 million were to be drafted for one year but were only allowed to serve in the western Hemisphere. -
Arsenal of Democracy Speech-Nov.1940
The "Arsenal of Democracy" was a slogan used by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a radio broadcast delivered on December 29, 1940. Roosevelt promised to help the United Kingdom fight Nazi Germany by giving them military supplies while the United States stayed out of the actual fighting. The announcement was made a year before the Attack on Pearl Harbor, at a time when Germany had occupied much of Europe and threatened Britain. -
U-Boat Wolf Packs-Spring 1941
To prevent delivery of lend-lease shipments, Hitler deployed hundreds of German submarines-U boats- to attack supply ships. Indivvidual surface attacks by individual U-boats gave away to what becam known as the wollf pack attack. At night, groups of 40 submarines patrolled areas in the North Atlantic where convoys could be expected. They were succesful in sinking as much as 350,000 tons of shipments in a single month. -
Lend-Lease Act-March 1941
Britain had no more cash to spend in arsenal of democracy. Roosevvelt comes up with a lend-lease policy. Under this plan, th pres would lend or lease arms and other supplies to "any country whose defense was vital to the U.S" Most Americans favorted it, and Congress passed it. -
Supporting Stalin-June 1941
Hitler broke the agreement he had made in 1939 w/ Stalin not to go to war and invaded the Soviet Union. Acting on " The enemy of my enemy is my friend" Roosevelt began sending lend-lease supplies to the Soviet unnion. -
Inv. Fr. Indochina-July 1941
Only U.S and its Pacific islands remained in Japans way. They began their southward push by taking over French military bases in indochina. U.S protested this act of aggression by cutting off trade w/ Japan. This would mean war. -
US Embargo-July 1941
Japanese military leaders warned that w/out oil, Japan could be defeated w/out its enemies ever striking a blow. The leaders declared that Japan must either persuade the U.S to end its oil embargo or seize the oil fields in the dutch east indies. Meaning War. -
Atlantic Charter-August 1941
Roosevelt and Churchill met secretly at a summit abroad the battleship USS Augusta. Churchill settled for a joint declaration of war aims. Both countries pledged the following: collective security, disarmament, self-determination, economic cooperation, and freedom of the seas. -
Shoot on Sight-Sept.1941
After a German submarine fired on the U.S destroyer Greer, roosevvelt ordered navy commanders to respond. "when you see a rattlesnake poised strike" FDR explained, "you crush him" Ordering the navy to shoot the German submarines on sight. -
Tripartite Pact-Sept.1941
the Axis powers are formed as Germany, Italy, and Japan become allies with the signing of the Tripartite Pact in Berlin. The Pact provided for mutual assistance should any of the signatories suffer attack by any nation not already involved in the war. This formalizing of the alliance was aimed directly at "neutral" America--designed to force the United States to think twice before venturing in on the side of the Allies. -
Pearl Harbor Attack-Dec.7, 1941
A japanese dive-bomber swooped low over Pearl Harbor. The bomber was followed by more than 180 japanese warplanes launched from 6 aircraft carriers. for an hour and a half, the japanese planes were barely disturbed by U.S antiaircraft guns and blasted target after target.
