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Neutrality Act of 1937
A NEUTRALITY ACT OF 1937 limited the trade of even non-munitions to belligerent nations to a "CASH AND CARRY BASIS." This meant that the nation in question would have to use its ships to transport goods to avoid American entanglements on the high seas. Isolationists in Congress felt reasonably confident that these measures would keep the United States out of another war. -
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Quarantine Speech
In October 1937, he delivered his famous QUARANTINE SPEECH in Chicago. For the first time, Roosevelt advocated collective action to stop the epidemic aggression. But his hopes of igniting American sensibilities failed. -
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Marco Polo Bridge Invasion
A skirmish between Chinese and Japanese troops broke out at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. The cause of the fracas is unknown, but the Japanese government used it as a pretext to launch a full-scale invasion of China. Hoping to deliver a quick knockout punch, the Japanese furiously bombed Chinese cities and advanced with their better-equipped army. Despite enduring heavy losses, the Chinese regrouped in the interior of their vast land and mounted an entrenched resistance. -
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World War II Begins
Finally, on September 3, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. World War II had begun. -
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Japanese Bomb the USS Panay
Even when a Japanese plane bombed the USS PANAY on December 12, there was no cry for a response. The Panay had been stationed in China on the Yangtze River. Japan apologized and paid an indemnity and the incident was soon forgotten, despite the loss of three American lives. -
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Annex Austria
Emboldened by western inaction, Hitler's troops marched into Austria in 1938 and annexed the country. -
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Neutrality Acts
In May 1939, Roosevelt urged Congressional leaders to repeal the arms embargo of the earlier Neutrality Acts. Senators from both parties refused the request. -
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Embargo on Neutrality Acts
In May 1939, Roosevelt urged Congressional leaders to repeal the arms embargo of the earlier Neutrality Acts. Senators from both parties refused the request. Another bombshell crossed the Atlantic on August 24. -
Germany invades Poland
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, War of Poland of 1939, and Polish Defensive War of 1939, was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union; which marked the beginning of World War II. -
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US Stops Trade with Japan
By the end of 1940, the United States had ended shipments of scrap metal, steel, and iron ore to Japan. Simultaneously, the United States began to send military hardware to CHIANG KAI-SHEK, the nominal leader of the Chinese forces resisting Japanese takeover. -
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US Attempts Negotiation with Japan
Negotiations between Japan and the U.S. began in early 1941, but there was little movement. By midsummer, FDR made the fateful step of freezing all Japanese assets in the United States and ending shipments of oil to the island nation. Negotiations went nowhere. The United States was as unwilling to accept Japanese expansion and Japan was unwilling to end its conquests. -
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is why the U.S. got involved. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, just before 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941.