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American foreign policy (view source)
Revision as of 01:53, August 22, 2009
, 01:53, August 22, 2009→Coming of World War II
* [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]] Dec. 7, 1941
* [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]] Dec. 7, 1941
* [[World War II]], 1939-45
* [[World War II]], 1939-45
Starting in 1933 with the [[World Economic Conference]], American public opinion and national policy policy was to minimize the risk of entering another war by isolationist laws, such as the Neutrality Laws. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], started in late 1937 to reverse the isolationist policies. When [[World War I]] began in late 1939, the U.S. was officially neutral but gave significant military aid to Britain, France and China. It was only after the bombing of [[Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941 that the United States abandoned its isolationism and entered the war. See [[America First Committee]] for the 1940-41 debate on avoiding American entry into [[World War II]] in Europe.
In October 1937, Roosevelt gave the "Quarantine Speech" aiming to contain aggressor nations, that is, Japan, Germany and Italy. He proposed that warmongering states be treated as a public health menace and be "quarantined." See [http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/texts/fdrquarn.html for text]Meanwhile he secretly stepped up a program to build long range submarines that could blockade Japan. In the summer of 1938, sensing war would come, Roosevelt began preparations for hemispheric defense and arms production; he asked for far more airplanes than the Air Corps had envisioned.
In October 1937, Roosevelt gave the "Quarantine Speech" aiming to contain aggressor nations, that is, Japan, Germany and Italy. He proposed that warmongering states be treated as a public health menace and be "quarantined." See [http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/texts/fdrquarn.html for text]Meanwhile he secretly stepped up a program to build long range submarines that could blockade Japan. In the summer of 1938, sensing war would come, Roosevelt began preparations for hemispheric defense and arms production; he asked for far more airplanes than the Air Corps had envisioned.