Examine the effects of U.S. Neutrality Acts on pre-World War II international relations
Examine the effects of U.S. Neutrality Acts on pre-World War II international relations
Simply by having to amend its own Neutrality Acts of 1935–37, the United States began to recognize the inevitability of involvement in the war.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Simply by having to amend its own Neutrality Acts of 1935–37, the United States began to recognize the inevitability of involvement in the war.
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From the film My Knees Were Jumping: Remembering the Kindertransports (1996), directed by Melissa Hacker (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Excerpts from the documentary film My Knees Were Jumping: Remembering the Kindertransports (1996), directed by Melissa Hacker.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.U.S. Pres. Woodrow Wilson was among the statesmen who gathered in France in June 1919 to sign the Treaty of Versailles, an agreement that did little to heal the wounds of World War I and instead set the stage for World War II. From “The Second World War: Prelude to Conflict” (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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© Behind the News (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Learn about the February 19, 1942, Japanese bombing of the Australian city of Darwin, Northern Territory, and Australia's involvement in World War II.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.In September 1940 Imperial Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. Why?
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.The Royal Air Force fending off German bombers during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzOverview of the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, 1940.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn more about V-J Day, the Potsdam Conference, and the end of World War II in this interview with Jeff Wallenfeldt, Senior Editor of Geography & History at Encyclopædia Britannica, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of V-J Day.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about Operation Barbarossa, the German-led invasion of the Soviet Union that began in June 1941. From The Second World War: Triumph of the Axis (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
Transcript
NARRATOR: Hoping to insure neutrality, Congress passed a series of so-called neutrality acts from 1935 to 1937.
[Music in]
VOICE: No loans or credits to nations at war. No shipments of war materials to nations at war. No United States citizens as passengers on ships of nations at war. American merchant ships to sail unarmed.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: But there were growing doubts as to whether such policies could insure neutrality or peace. In 1937, President Roosevelt announced his administration's intention of taking a more active but still cautious role in affairs outside our own country. It was the first of several stages in the formulation of American policy aimed at curbing the spread of Nazism and Fascism.
This first stage was diplomatic pressure. When the European powers met in Munich to decide the fate of Czechoslovakia, a formal message from the United States urged negotiation.
Later, in view of Hitler's promise at Munich, the United States asked Germany to guarantee not to attack some twenty little countries. Hitler's reply: defiance. Our diplomatic advances were rebuffed.
[Hitler's voice]
NARRATOR: Congress reluctantly amended the neutrality law in November, of 1939, to make war materials available . . . but only on a cash and carry basis, in their own ships.
Britain and France immediately placed huge orders. Some could be shipped at once, but most would take months to fill.
They caused American industry to gear up for war.
[Music in]
VOICE: No loans or credits to nations at war. No shipments of war materials to nations at war. No United States citizens as passengers on ships of nations at war. American merchant ships to sail unarmed.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: But there were growing doubts as to whether such policies could insure neutrality or peace. In 1937, President Roosevelt announced his administration's intention of taking a more active but still cautious role in affairs outside our own country. It was the first of several stages in the formulation of American policy aimed at curbing the spread of Nazism and Fascism.
This first stage was diplomatic pressure. When the European powers met in Munich to decide the fate of Czechoslovakia, a formal message from the United States urged negotiation.
Later, in view of Hitler's promise at Munich, the United States asked Germany to guarantee not to attack some twenty little countries. Hitler's reply: defiance. Our diplomatic advances were rebuffed.
[Hitler's voice]
NARRATOR: Congress reluctantly amended the neutrality law in November, of 1939, to make war materials available . . . but only on a cash and carry basis, in their own ships.
Britain and France immediately placed huge orders. Some could be shipped at once, but most would take months to fill.
They caused American industry to gear up for war.