Isolation after World War I

Twenty years later World War I ended, 70% of Americans polled believed that American participation in the war had been a fault. The Us was simply involved in the final nineteen months of the bloody conflict, between April 1917 and November 1918, only the state of war (and the influenza epidemic that immediately followed) resulted in the deaths of more than 116,000 American soldiers.

After the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, President Woodrow Wilson lobbied extensively for U.s.a. support for the League of Nations, believing that an international representative body would preclude future wars. The United states of america Senate, however, refused to corroborate participation in the League. The United states of america never joined the League of Nations, nor ratified the Treaty of Versailles .

In the 1920s, the U.s. government took measures to reduce the threat of foreign conflict. The US signed treaties limiting naval construction, and signed the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact, outlawing aggressive war. The U.s. also sought to lessen foreign influence by reducing immigration. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 limited overall immigration and gear up country-specific quotas, privileging immigrants from northern and western Europe. These laws, which reflected a widespread belief in eugenics and securely held antisemitic prejudices, marked the stop of a period of mass immigration to the U.s.a.. The number of arrivals immediately fell to less than twenty% of the pre-Earth War I totals.

Neutrality

International unrest in the 1930s, including Nihon's occupation of Manchuria, Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, Nazi Deutschland's remilitarization and territorial seizures, and the outbreak of the Castilian Ceremonious State of war, threatened US isolationism. In response to these conflicts, the US Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts, designed to prevent American involvement in these conflicts. Longstanding diplomatic exercise held that countries unwilling to become involved in a conflict had to maintain strict neutrality; even economic sanctions, or selling arms to one belligerent but not the other, could be considered acts of state of war. The Neutrality Acts, therefore, defined the terms of American neutrality to the world.

The Neutrality Act of 1935 prohibited exporting arms and ammunition to any foreign nation at war. In 1937, a new neutrality act prohibited Americans from traveling on ships endemic past any belligerent nation, and alleged that American-owned ships could not acquit any artillery intended for war zones. At Roosevelt'south request, however, the Neutrality Act of 1937 removed impartiality, allowing the President to distinguish among nations at war when enforcing neutrality. Favored nations could purchase non-armed services products in the Usa, provided they paid with cash and transported the goods on their own ships, an arrangement known as "greenbacks and bear."

Cordell Hull signs neutrality proclamationOn September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, leading Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany. Americans who were polled immediately after the war began overwhelmingly hoped for the defeat of Federal republic of germany, but more ninety percent opposed getting involved in the war. A majority did not desire to join the fight even if Nazi Germany defeated Bully Britain and France.

In November 1939, two months after the beginning of World War Two, Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1939, which lifted the 1935 arms embargo and placed all sales to argumentative nations on a "cash and comport" ground.

The America Outset Committee and other Non-Interventionist Groups

Numerous groups advocated against American involvement in Earth War Two. Some, similar the National Council for the Prevention of War (founded in 1921 to promote neutrality) and Proceed America Out of State of war Congress (founded in 1938 to oppose Roosevelt'southward foreign policy), predated the war. Others united multiple constituencies after the war began to anteroom more than finer. Mothers who did not wish to send their sons to war, Americans of German or Italian descent, Americans of Irish descent (who opposed helping Great britain), socialists, students, pacifists, and a host of prominent businessmen, intellectuals, and average citizens took action to prevent US intervention. Though more than Republicans than Democrats advocated non-intervention, these groups were not split along partisan lines. Many antiwar advocates did not appreciate the term "isolationist" unremarkably used to describe them. They oft argued for a strong national defense and wide economic spheres of influence, even every bit they tried to persuade felt the United States to stay out of war.

The largest and near influential non-interventionist group was the America Start Committee, founded in the summer of 1940 by a grouping of Yale University police students. By September 1940, the students, led by R. Douglas Stuart Jr., had gathered prominent Americans to serve on the organization's lath, including the president of the American Olympic Commission Avery Brundage, Hormel Foods main executive Jay Hormel, Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford, tardily President Theodore Roosevelt'southward daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth, and General Hugh Johnson, who had been the director of the National Recovery Act, one of President Franklin Roosevelt'south early on New Deal programs. Democratic senator Burton Wheeler (Montana), and Republican senators Gerald Nye (North Dakota) and Robert Taft (Ohio) besides served as important spokesmen for the organization.

The America Beginning Committee (AFC), which may have had some 800,000 members and at to the lowest degree 450 local chapters, encouraged borough engagement, such every bit letter of the alphabet-writing campaigns to elected officials, and sponsored rallies and speeches throughout the land. Charles Lindbergh, who accomplished international fame in 1927 for piloting the first solo nonstop flying across the Atlantic Bounding main, became the committee's most prominent speaker. Fifty-fifty before AFC's founding, Lindbergh had given radio speeches opposing US involvement in the war and warning of Federal republic of germany'southward armed forces superiority. During a September xi, 1941, speech in Des Moines, Iowa, Lindbergh warned listeners that "the Jewish people" had too much influence on American media and regime and were "war agitators." Newspapers throughout the country denounced Lindbergh'due south speech every bit antisemitic. Even though the America First Committee did not officially promote antisemitism, the organization tolerated these sentiments among its members.

Interventionist Groups

In dissimilarity to non-interventionist or isolationist groups, interventionist groups often advocated a diverseness of unlike policies, simply more often than not agreed that the United States should actively back up the Allied war effort economically and militarily.

The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies was founded in May 1940 past William Allen White, a prominent Republican publisher in Kansas, and was directed by Clark Eichelberger, the head of the League of Nations Clan. The CDAAA, which ultimately boasted 750 local chapters and an estimated membership of 750,000, staged rallies and performances, took out full-page newspaper ads, and handed out flyers in an effort to gain support for aiding Great Great britain. Afterward Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the committee dropped "past Aiding the Allies" from its proper noun since many members opposed communism.

Fight for Liberty, founded in April 1941 and headed by journalist Ulric Bong, aggressively advocated entering World State of war II to defend both Great Britain and democratic values. Fight for Freedom had many prominent supporters, including journalists, writers, moving-picture show stars, and politicians. Walt Disney Studios produced a program cover for a FFF rally featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy.

The Committee to Defend America and Fight For Freedom frequently worked together, and often coordinated with Roosevelt'south aides or British propagandists to rally public support. These organizations besides informed Americans that the Axis powers were murdering civilians in the countries they occupied. In November 1941, for example, the CDAAA sponsored rallies throughout the country, protesting the Nazi regime's mass murder.

Destroyers for Bases

On May fifteen, 1940, five days after becoming Bully United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland'southward prime minister, Winston Churchill cabled President Franklin D. Roosevelt to explicate that the British military was in serious trouble. Churchill asked the United states of america to back up Corking Britain with all help brusk of declaring war, including providing older naval destroyers, new shipping, and anti-aircraft equipment. After several months of negotiations, Roosevelt announced the "destroyers for bases" deal on September 2, 1940, exchanging fifty old destroyers for a 99-year lease to identify American armed services bases on British-controlled territory in Canada and the Caribbean. This deal was ane in a serial of important measures that helped tilt the U.s. from a policy of isolation from world affairs to intervention in the state of war confronting the Axis powers.

The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies produced and distributed flyers proclaiming that "Destroyers Today or Destruction Tomorrow." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch , published by non-interventionist Joseph Pulitzer, called Roosevelt a dictator committing a war criminal offence: "If this secret deal goes through...we all may besides get ready for a full-dress participation in the European state of war."

Peacetime War machine Draft

Four days after Roosevelt announced the "destroyers for bases" deal, Congress approved the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. The act, which instituted the first peacetime military typhoon in US history, required men betwixt the ages of ages of 21 and 36 to  register for the draft. The number of selected draftees was capped at 900,000 men, who would be enlisted for i twelvemonth of training and service, and could only serve in the Western Hemisphere or in U.s.a. territories.

Though there were anti-draft protests on college campuses nationwide, in December 1940, 78% of Americans polled favored the war machine typhoon.

1940 Presidential Election

In July 1940, the Democratic Party nominated President Franklin Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term in part. His opponent, Republican nominee Wendell Willkie, agreed with Roosevelt that the United States should lend active help to Nifty Great britain. Equally the election drew closer, Willkie began to give speeches warning Americans that a vote for Roosevelt was a vote for inbound the war. As the polls narrowed in the weeks prior to the election, Roosevelt told voters that, "Nosotros will not participate in foreign wars and we will not send our ground forces, naval or air forces to fight in foreign lands exterior of the Americas except in case of attack." Ultimately, Roosevelt won reelection with l-v percent of the popular vote and an balloter college victory of 449-82. With the ballot behind him, FDR was able to have more decisive deportment during his third term to prepare the Usa for war.

Lend-Lease

In December 1940, Churchill informed Roosevelt that soon Britain soon would run out of cash to pay for transporting necessary war supplies. In response, Roosevelt told Americans during a fireside chat on Dec 29 that the Us "must be the great armory of commonwealth," putting every effort towards manufacturing planes, ships, guns, and armament for Cracking U.k.. "The sole purpose" of supplying U.k., he reassured them, "is to keep war abroad from our land and our people." Merely by the fourth dimension FDR began his third term in 1941, fewer Americans believed the U.s.a. would be able to keep out of state of war.

In January 1941, Roosevelt'due south Congressional allies introduced 60 minutes 1776, a nib which granted the president the power to "sell, transfer championship to, substitution, lend, lease, or otherwise dispose of...any defense article" to another country. America First Committee members referred to Hr 1776 as the "State of war Dictatorship Bill," but most Americans knew information technology as "Lend-Lease" for short. Polls showed that 68% of Americans approved of the lend-charter proposal. Nevertheless, the Chicago affiliate of the America Starting time Committee claimed to have nerveless 700,000 signatures and 328,000 protest telephone calls in opposition of "the dictator pecker." Despite the efforts of non-interventionists, the pecker passed hands, and Roosevelt signed Lend-Lease into constabulary on March 11, 1941.

Convoys

After Lend-Charter passed and American factories began to convert their operations to war-related manufacturing, interventionist and non-interventionist groups argued over the US role in transporting war supplies to Europe. After President Roosevelt declared an American-controlled security zone around the East Declension, non-interventionists charged him with baiting German language submarines and secretly hoping for an attack that would force the United States into state of war.

Public opinion polls betwixt 1939-1941 consistently showed that Americans did not favor declaring preemptive war on Federal republic of germany, but they too revealed that Americans changed their priorities over time. In May 1940, 60% of Americans believed that keeping out of war was more important than aiding United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, but by November 1941, 68% said that aid to Britain was more of import. In essence, the American public understood by late 1941 that it would have to go to war to help defend Uk against Nazi Germany. Yet information technology was ultimately an attack by Japan, an Centrality power like Nazi Deutschland, that concluded Americans' contend about whether to intervene in state of war.

America Attacked

Japan attacks Pearl Harbor On Dec vii, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise aerial assail on the United states Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, destroying eight battleships, numerous other boats and planes, and killing 2,400 Americans. The adjacent solar day, the United States declared state of war on Japan merely not on Germany. Three more than days passed earlier Nazi Germany declared war on the Usa on December 11. President Roosevelt was able then to portray state of war against both Japan and Germany as defensive measures against Centrality powers who declared state of war on the United States offset.

The vast majority of Americans rallied to defeat the Axis powers as soon equally the United States entered World War 2. Virtually of the student-founders of the America Showtime Committee and its armed services-age supporters joined the U.s. military; the organization formally voted to disband on Dec 10, 1941. Simply days after the United States entered Globe State of war II, no mainstream isolationist movement remained. Equally President Roosevelt told Americans 2 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor:

"We are now in this war. We are all in it—all the way."

Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC