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Interwar Foreign Policy
The policy three parts, the International policy shift, Select military intervention, and War with Japan. This was used to promote international peace and order even though the US stayed in isolationism. -
International Policy Shift
In 1935, the Neutrality Act set up an embargo on selling weapons to warring countries and declared that Americans traveling on the ships of the warring nations did it at there own risk. -
Military Intervention
America took its stand to try and stay out of the war at all cost and tried to practice isolationism through the creation of Americas First Committee (AFC) in 1940. This committee was created after Roosevelt changed the neutrality laws in congress. This worried isolationists and led to the creation of the AFC which consisted of respected figures which urged the nation to stay out of the war. Although Roosevelt didn't want war, he cautiously moved the US into involvement in the war. -
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Mobilization
As the US prepared for war on a global scale, production shifted from civilian to military production. As well as started focusing on raising on army and expanding government authority to meet the necessary workforce. The US became focused on war efforts. -
War with Japan
In 1941, Japan executed a one year planned attack on the US that was unannounced and came after the US was in the middle of negotiating peace talks with Japan which shocked the nation. On this day, Japanese's bombers bombed Pearl harbor in Hawaii which took out 8 US battleship and caused 2,400 American casualties. This attack came after the US froze Japan's assets in the US after the Japanese invaded Indochina. As a result, this caused the US to go to war against Japan. -
Government Programs
In order to finance and coordinate the war effort, the US government had to cooperate with private businesses to allocate scare resources through defense contracts with private business'. This was accomplished through The War Production Board (WAP) which made businesses convert into military production for resources for goods such as rubber, copper, and oil. These contracts employed nearly 4x the amount of Americans when compared to the New Deal. -
Executive Order 9066
An executive order was created by Franklin D. Roosevelt during WWII. This gave the Secretary of War the power to deem certain areas as military zones. This led to the Japanese internment camps as it gave them the power to deport Japanese Americans. -
Propaganda
One of the most recognizable figures in propaganda was Dr.Suess who used rhythms to promote patriotism. -
Opportunities/Economy
During the war, the government hired private businesses to focus their efforts on military production which ended up creating 17 million new jobs. -
American Motivations for War
Americans viewed the war as a fight for freedom from fascist and militarist ideologies. The US also joined the war to prevent the Axis powers from dominating most of the world which would have restricted American power to the Western Hemisphere. -
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Military
Roosevelt took the US to war in order to prevent the Axis powers from dominating most of the world which would have crippled democracy in Europe and restricted American power to the Western Hemisphere. -
D-Day
Along the beaches of Normandy, France allied armies invaded the beaches in order to gain ground in France which was Nazi-occupied at the time, so they could push inwards towards central Europe. -
Island Hopping
A military strategy started by the allies where they took control of small islands in the pacific in order to move closer to Japan and take control of the surrounding islands. This strategy was successful in allowing the US to make an invasion of the mainland on Japan, however, this was a very costly operation. -
Manhattan Project
A research program that was very secretive and developed the first atomic bomb which led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.