WW2

• On the outbreak of the First World War, President Woodrow Wilson declared a policy of strict neutrality
• After the sinking of the Lusitania (British liner) by the Germans, he increased the armed forces before declaring war in April 1917
• After the First World War, the US brought back home the money they lent to European countries, progressively withdrew from the international stage, and started a policy of isolationism (= non-intervention in foreign affairs) throughout the 1920s, which was a period of prosperity, both economically and culturally
• The economic crisis, initiated by the Stock Market Crash in 1929, spread worldwide with the bankruptcy of Western banks and the collapse of the whole financial system
• Many countries, like the US, decided to protect their industries by increasing protectionism (taxes on foreign goods) so people would buy national products, but it led to a slump of the international trade, increasing the global crisis by slowing international exchanges and profits
• Thanks to President Roosevelt's New Deal measures, the US economy started to grow again and so did the international trade
• Roosevelt thus progressively ended isolationism (which he did not advocate, as opposed to the general public and Congress)
• The progress of German and Japanese troops in Europe and the Pacific helped FDR's ideas to gain ground
• In his 1941 State of the Union Address before Congress, FDR gave an overview of the situation with the escalating conflicts on both the European and Pacific fronts
• FDR warned Congress and the US population of the threats looming ahead ("I find it, unhappily, necessary to report that the future and the safety of our country and of our democracy are overwhelmingly involved in events far beyond our borders")
• FDR prepared them for the US entry into the war as what was happening on the other side of the ocean(s) started to have an impact on their own safety
• FDR explained that the US would have to get involved in the conflict so as to defend themselves before being under attack ("As long as the aggressor nations maintain the offensive, they-not we-will choose the time and the place and the method of their attack. That is why the future of all the American republic is today in serious danger"; it would be "a war of necessity, not choice" as P. Beinart said)
• In March 1941, Congress passed the Lend-Lease legislation to materially support the United Kingdom's resistance to the Germans
• The Lend-Lease Act gave FDR unlimited authority to provide material aid such as ammunition, tanks, airplanes, trucks, and food for the war effort in Europe without violating the nation's official position of neutrality
• FDR took the reins of the US foreign policy through executive agreements, even before the US entry into the war, and his involvement in the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences (February / July-August 1945)
• For FDR, the US involvement in the Second World War was unavoidable even though one side of the American political spectrum wanted to carry on with the policy of isolationism, while others hoped they would be able to change, or Americanise, the world
• FDR had to convince the public opinion that the threat was real ("He feared that unless he somehow showed Americans that the Axis powers were a threat not just to the UK and France-and not even just to American ships but also to Americans themselves - they would come to see World War II as philanthropy, not self-defense")
• It was then Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941 that triggered the US entry into the war alongside the UK and the Soviet Union ("On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan solved FDR's problem by turning Pearl Harbor into an inferno")
• After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he encouraged American people to participate in the war effort by buying war bonds to finance the war ("FDR's task was to persuade his people to put their money and blood on the line")
• He was also well-aware that postwar peace would be hard, if not impossible, to achieve: he still needed Stalin's help against Japan, while Stalin's agenda was, most of all, to control Eastern Europe
• On December 7th 194a, following Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US declared war on Japan. 3 days later, after Germany and Italy declared war, the US became fully involved in the Second World War.
• American involvement in the Second World War

  1. Massive mobilisation effort

  2. Women took jobs in aircraft manufacturing, munitions plants, military uniform production factories

  3. Citizens participated in rationing programs, recycling and scrap metal drives
• During World War II scrap drives were a popular way for everyone to contribute to the war effort
• By recycling unused or unwanted metal, the government could build ships, airplanes and other equipment needed
• The US entry into the war helped to get the nation's economy back on its feet following the depression
• There were now jobs for nearly everyone who wanted one
• 17 million new jobs were created during the war
• Workers were afforded the opportunity to pay off old debts, as well as to begin saving some of their earnings