1. …we didn’t think we were fighting
to save the world…
A NECESSARY WAR
Essential Questions:
• How did the U.S. enter World War II?
• What was the Lend-Lease Act?
• How did the events of Pearl Harbor impact the
nation?
2. Neutrality Reconsidered
After the attack on Poland
Roosevelt revised the
Neutrality Acts of 1935
He began to prepare the
nation for the war he saw
coming
He convinced Congress to
pass a “cash-and-carry”
provision that allowed warring
nations to buy U.S. arms as
long as they paid cash and
transported them in their own
ships
Isolationists attacked
Roosevelt for his actions
3. Too Little, Too Late
The “cash-and-carry” policy was
too late
By 1940 France had fallen and
Britain was under siege
Americans were stunned to hear
that Germany, Italy, and Japan
had signed a mutual defense
treaty, known as the Tripartite
Pact
They became known as the Axis
Powers
The Pact was aimed at keeping
the U.S. out of the war
If the U.S. declared war on any
nation it would face its worst
military nightmare
A war in both the Atlantic and
Pacific
4. A Storm on the Horizon
Nazi victories
convinced Congress to
boost military spending
Congress passed the
first peacetime military
draft
Known as the Selective
Training and Service
Act
16 million men ages 21
to 35 were registered
5. FDR is Reelected
In 1940 Roosevelt broke
precedent and ran for a third
term
His opponent was Wendell
Willkie
The two men both agreed on
aiding Britain and promised to
keep the U.S. out of the war
The voters re-elected
Roosevelt with 55% of the
vote
6. The Arsenal of Democracy
After the election
Roosevelt told his
radio audience during
a fireside chat that it
would not be possible
to negotiate peace
with Hitler
He warned if Britain
fell that the “Americas
would be living at the
point of a gun”
7. Lend-Lease Act
Britain was broke
Roosevelt proposed
that the U.S. lend or
lease arms to “any
country whose
defense was vital to
the United States”
Isolationists hated it
but the American
public supported it
8. Supporting Stalin
In June 1941 Hitler
broke his agreement
with Stalin and
invaded the Soviet
Union
Roosevelt began
sending lend-lease
supplies to the Soviet
Union
“the enemy of my
enemy is my friend”
9. FDR Plans For War
Atlantic Charter
Roosevelt and Churchill met
secretly aboard the USS
Augusta
Both pledged similar war aims
Collective security,
disarmament, self-
determination, economic
cooperation, and freedom of
the seas
The Atlantic Charter became
the basis of a new document
called “A Declaration of the
United Nations”
It was signed by 26 nations…
“four-fifths of the human race”
10. Pearl Harbor
Shortly after Hideki Tojo became
Prime Minister of Japan he met with
the Emperor, Hirohito
Promised to protect the Japanese
Empire
The U.S. had broke the Japanese
communication codes and knew an
attack was coming
They didn’t know where or when
On December 6, 1941 Roosevelt
receives decoded Japanese
message that instructed Japan’s
peace envoy to the U.S. to reject all
American proposals
Roosevelt knew “this means war”
11. The Attack
The next morning Pearl Harbor
was attacked
The largest naval base in the
Pacific
180 Japanese aircraft launched
from 6 aircraft carries attacked
The Japanese killed 2,403
Americans
21 ships were sunk
300 aircraft were damaged or
destroyed
Only 3 aircraft carries out at sea
survived
12. The Reaction
The next day Roosevelt
addressed Congress
Congress quickly approved
Roosevelt’s request for a
declaration of war
Three days later Germany and
Italy declared war on the United
States
More than anything else Pearl
Harbor destroyed the
cause/policy of Isolationism
An all out American effort against
the Axis powers was now nearly
universally supported
