American History II Exam 2
General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing
; The Americans demanded action but the Mexican gov't couldn't do anything so Wilson sent 12000 troops into Mexico under the command of General John J. Pershing; Many of his men were African American so he was given the nickname "black jack"
Miracle at Midway
A Japanese attempt to take Midway Island in the North Pacific in 1942 was turned back; American carriers launched attacks on their Japanese counterparts; miraculously, an air squadron that was headed the wrong way spotted the wake of a Japanese destroyer; they turned 90 degrees and followed the destroyer all the way back and bombed the task force
Battle of Coral Sea
A clash between Japanese carrier-based aircraft and American and Australian naval units became known as the Battle of the Coral Sea; the Japanese were attempting to land troops in Moresby, New Guinea; was the first naval battle in history in which neither fleet sighted the other
Russian Revolution
A few weeks later came the first Russian Revolution ; Czar Nicholas II was removed from power and executed; Russia was an ally of France; Now Russia was a democratic country; Made it much easier for Wilson
"Irreconcilables"
A group of 14 Republican and 4 Democratic senators who would oppose the League of Nations under any circumstances
Jeannette Rankin
A leading suffragette who was the only woman member of Congress, voted against war with Germany famously
Prohibition
A reaction to the development of mass culture; the issue of prohibition became a point of contention; you couldn't buy alcohol legally, so the only options was either to make your own or buy it illegally; people brewed it in their bathtubs and basements; there were speakeasies, which were bars that sold alcohol during this time; odds were you had to be recommended to buy it; these bars got smuggled alcohol; there was a lot of money to be had in smuggling; Joseph Kennedy (father of John Kennedy) made a lot of money smuggling alcohol; era of gangsters, such as Al Capone (arrested for evading taxes); alcohol consumption did go down
Germans in America
According to the Census of 1910, more than 10,000,000 of America's 92,000,000 people had emigrated from Germany or had parents from there; German-Americans were greatly offended as the anti-German propaganda took on a more racial cast
Lend Lease
When England ran out of money, Roosevelt came up with the Lend Lease Agreement; America would give Britain airplanes, ships, and munitions in exchange for leases for military bases in British territory; This Agreement kept England afloat
CCC
Civilian Conservation Corps; was an agency to help young men to get a job; they would take the men to camps where they would perform work; many of the state and national parks' trails were done by these young men; idea was to give young men an opportunity to work in a wholesome environment
Jimmy Doolittle
Colonel Jimmy Doolittle led sixteen USAAF B-25 bombers from the deck of the USS Hornet; never before or after have bombers been launched from an aircraft carrier
"There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime."
Coolidge had caught the country's imagination when he put down a police strike in Boston and said this
What kept Churchill from joining the D
Day invasion?- Churchill was afraid that the cross-Channel invasion would fail and would give the enemy an opportunity to concentrate
"Normalcy"
When Harding promised Americans "normalcy", they knew what he meant; Americans had been exhausted by years of tumult, years of reform at home and war abroad
The Bonus Army
When Hoover vetoed a bill to pay out early the bonus promised to veterans of WWI, a "bonus army" descended on Washington in 1932; the president quietly ordered tens & medical units to be made available
". . .the forgotten man at the bottom of the pyramid"
When Roosevelt called for policies that appealed to these people, Al Smith was alarmed; he saw in the statement a demagogic appeal, a declaration of class warfare
Overlord
This was the codename for the planned invasion of France concocted by Roosevelt and Churchill
Allied powers
Those allied against the Axis Powers; The US- led by FDR, Great Britain- led by Winston Churchill, France- minor player, led by Charles Dagall, Soviet Union/Russia- led by Joseph Stalin, BE ABLE TO TELL LEADER OF EACH COUNTRY
Total war
To fight something like this, every single person must be involved; This is why this was the first total war; It was crucial for the war that every element of society: every person, industry, and politician had to be for the war because the war itself could have been won or lost on the homefront
US Office of War Information
To help maintain this alliance, the United States Office of War Information was created; Propaganda Agency; Portrayed Russia as a true ally with Stalin being referred to as "Uncle Joe"; Tried to convince the American people that the war was just
"Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now . . . . [W]hen they told me yesterday what had happened, I felt like the Moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me."
Truman heard about the death of FDR drinking in Capitol Hill; said this later when he met with the press
Harry Truman and Adolf Hitler at the time of the armistice
Truman was serving in an artillery battery of the Missouri National Guard; Hitler received the news in a military hospital, because he had been temporarily blinded by poison gas
WOW
As a Woman Ordinance Worker, women were told, they were freeing a man for the fight; encouraged women to be involved in the war
Appeasement
"Give Hitler what he wants and he'll leave everybody else alone"; But when you appease a bully, the bully wants more and the bully respects you less; Hitler took over Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia
"Thank Heaven for Hoover"
"Thank Heaven for Hoover" read the headlines in the foreign press; they were welcoming Hoover's disarmament initiative of 1932
-Why did the Klan fail
- Politics: they were so successful that there were a lot of divisions; also there was the reaction of the citizens; people rejected the ideas put forth; the second clan died in the late 1920s
Lend-Lease
- allowed Britain to borrow material during the war; FDR supported it strongly
Sacco and Vanzetti
1927 also saw execution by electrocution of Sacco and Vanzetti in Massachusetts; the two Italian-born anarchists had been arrested and charged with murder and robbery
Chapter 4: America's Rendezvous with Destiny (1939
1941)
The Great Depression & its causes
5 causes: 1. Overexpansion of credit; 2. Money was used for speculation (people were putting money into the stock market), 3. There was a great maldistribution of wealth; there was a tremendous gap between the wealthy and the poor, 4. Durable goods; people did not buy some of the basic goods because they repaired what they had, and they made do, 5. International economy; Europe was so devastated by the war, they didn't have money to buy American goods
Bennett's assessment of Wilson
55)- Wilson called for a war to make the world safe for democracy; he had a duty to make democracies like France and Britain safe; his failure was as much a failure of character as anything else
Fundamentalism
A second reaction to mass culture development was religious fundamentalism; religion was undergoing changes; there were scholars using higher criticism of Scripture, questioning parts of the Bible; in a time of change, it's good to have something to hold onto; some began to question the questions, so they decided to hold on to the "fundamentals of the faith"; going back to the fundamentals of the Bible; many fundamentalists said it was important to take the book of Genesis literally; the state of Tennessee passed the Butler Act, which made it illegal to teach evolution in schools; the ACLU was seeking someone to come up with a challenge to this law; was tested in Dayton, Tennessee by John Thomas Scopes
Schenck v. the United States
A series of court cases came about; In 1918, the Supreme Court Justice Oliver Holmes came up with the Clear and Present Danger Doctrine; "Do not have the freedom to shout fire in a theater"; Congress said that if there is a clear and present danger, your freedom of speech can be limited
1939 Time magazine "Man of the Year"
Adolf Hitler was named Man of the Year in 1938-1939
AAA
Agricultural Adjustment Act (or Administration); Designed to help farmers; problem was that farmers were growing too many crops; the 1920s was not prosperity for the farmers; time of the dust bowl; wanted to limit the production of farm products, would go in and pay farmers to slaughter their cattle and bury them; was painful but was necessary for long term recovery
The New Deal & the 3 Rs (Relief, Recovery, and Reform)
All the agencies passed by Congress were based on these three Rs: Relief, Recovery, and Reform (REMEMBER); Relief means short-term fixes (people need to eat now); Recovery meant long-term fixes; Reform was meant to reform the economic system so another economic depression would not occur (KNOW WHAT THE LETTERS STAND FOR IN AGENCIES); used agencies that worked, not that stuck to his ideology, this called the New Deal, that the people were to work again, which would get the economy going again
Joseph Tumulty / Louis D. Brandeis / "Colonel" Edward M. House
All three were part of Wilson's "inner circle" and helped Wilson combat prejudice; House was not really a colonel but liked the honorary title
Office of Price Administration (OPA)
Also in 1943, there was the establishment of the OPA, which exercised a great deal of control over wages and prices and economic matters
US policy toward war in Europe
America watched what was going on; Nothing that they chose to do; There was a very strong anti-war feeling; Roosevelt was not able to convince the American people or Congress to do much; America did adopt a policy of protecting England
Economic sanctions led directly to war
America's relations with Japan had been strained for decades; the Roosevelt administration hoped to prevent Japan from attacking the Dutch East Indies
"Over there, over there!. . . ."
Americans sang Irving Berlin's catchy tune and eagerly read stories of battlefield heroism "over there"
Reaction to the sinking of the Lusitania
Americans were repelled by the sinking of the ship, thinking it horrible, calling for war against Germany
Internment of Japanese
Americans- In early 1942, there were 100,000 Japanese-Americans; in WWI there was a hostility towards Japanese-Americans; but Japanese were visibly different than Europeans; there was a race hatred and Japanese-Americans got singled out; the federal government relocated the Japanese-Americans in places like Wyoming and Arkansas, instead of California; Congress gave authority for this to be done; Japanese-Americans were not allowed to fight against the Japs but instead against the Italians; the relocation was done out of fear, to keep America safe
US policy toward Dominican Republic
An example of this was the Dominican Republic; A revolution had toppled the corrupt government, and the new government didn't prove much better; The country owed 22 million dollars in debts to European nations; Both France and Italy were threatening to intervene to recover their losses; So the leaders of the DR turned to the US for help; So the US took over the DR at their request, put them into receivership, and distributed the revenue in order to pay off the debts
Huey Long & Father Charles Coughlin
An open breach between the New Deal supporters and radio host Father Charles Coughlin and Senator Long when, in March 1935, the NRA publicly ridiculed Coughlin; Long was shot by Carl Weiss
Food Administration & Herbert Hoover
Another successful agency (possibly the best) was the Food Administration, led by Herbert Hoover; Faced with the task of feeding not only American civilians and military forces, but a large number of allied civilians and soldiers; One of Hoover's best tools was his appeal to public opinion; As a result of his efforts, he produced much more than before; Hoover was spectacularly successful, because not only did we feed our men, but also many in Europe
War Industries Board & Bernard Baruch
Another successful agency was the War Industries Board, led by Bernard Baruch; Baruch was a well-known Wall Street financier; The war industries board became the most powerful agency ever created up to that point; Baruch imposed standardization and production
"It is a good thing that you weren't born a girl . . ."
As Harding himself once confessed in a speech, his father had told him this, because he just couldn't say no
The Church of England and the London Blitz
As people saw the government-subsidized clergy of the Church of England failing, church attendance fell off; although they had the opportunity to, the church did not help with the victims of the bombings in the Blitz
The division of Germany
At Potsdam, occupation plans for Germany were finalized, but Truman refused to allow Stalin to collect reparations from Western zones in Germany; this created the divisions
US policy toward World War I
At first, President Wilson tried to keep the US out of the war, wanted to have a neutral position, but eventually Wilson found neutrality increasingly difficult to maintain; But eventually people began to swing towards pro-ally because of the US heritage (British) and economics (trade was greater from the allies); the neutrality became a double standard as the US treated the allies better
Dwight D. Eisenhower
At this time, they named Dwight Eisenhower as the Supreme Commander in the Mediterranean; Didn't have combat experience, but was a great administrator; later became the president
ARBEIT MACHT FREI
Auschwitz was the most horrible extermination camp; above the entrance gate was a sign that said this, and it means "work makes you free"
Appeasement
Based on the idea that the Treaty of Versailles had been too harsh and that better relations w/ Germany could be had by appeasing Hitler
Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance
Because of their concentration and numbers, black Americans could assert themselves freely, without fear, in Harlem; the result was a literary, musical, and social "Renaissance"
According to Bennett, did FDR know about Pearl Harbor in advance?
Bennett says that that way of thinking does not withstand careful inspection
"The great questions of the day are not to be settled by majority resolutions but by blood and iron."
Bismarck was also shrewd, careful, and deeply aware of his country's strengths and weaknesses; Bismarck said this and was known as the "Iron Chancellor", no lover of peace
Bismark
Bismark was Hitler's new battleship, one that he was proud of; there was a rallying cry to sink the Bismark, so Hitler would lose supplies; sank the Hood, but was sunk itself by British Royal navy
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
British Prime Minister
"until the pips squeak"
British Prime Minister David Lloyd George had gone to the British people in a snap election; he won a huge victory by vowing to squeeze Germany for war reparations
Development of mass culture & its implications
By 1929, 40% of Americans owned radios, but you didn't have to own a radio to be influenced by it because if you didn't own one, your neighbor did; you could listen to the same programs, became a mass culture; there was a development of national standards, like the development of live sports on the radio; baseball became the nation's pastime; the music of the 1920s was ragtime, blues, and jazz; divorce increased, more women were unwilling to remain in an unhappy marriage; people were more influenced by ads and radio than people; in the 1920s there was a time of great reaction: examples: 1. Prohibition, 2. Religious Fundamentalism, 3. The rise of the KKK
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
By 1932, Hoover ended up supporting the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which was the most far-reaching use of government power in times of peace; capitalized at two billion dollars; empowered to provide loans to deal with problems of relief; gave loans to large corporations (trickle down economics: you give money to people who can give jobs, like businesses); eventually expanded the corporation; but even though it was an expensive and new idea, it was still grossly inadequate to handle the Depression
Trench warfare
By mid-September the exhausted Germans were extremely worn out; Had to find cover; The Germans began to dig trenches; These were elaborate systems to where you could walk in them and have structures inside them; The French and British tried to copy this as well; Meant that the defensive positions were far stronger than the offensive positions; Began to spread barbed wire in "no man's land"
"He kept us out of war"
By the fall of 1916, year of presidential election; Wilson's campaign slogan was "He kept us out of war"
The Great Contraction
Caused by a disastrous decline in the money supply; was the recession that preceded the Depression
"peace in our time"
Chamberlain told an enthusiastic airport crowd this after he gave Hitler Sudetenland
Churchill's Statement
Churchill said that it was Providence that brought the allies the victory in WWII
"Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few."
Churchill said this in a tribute to the young men who face death daily
James M. Cox and Franklin D. Roosevelt / Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge
Democrats nominated James Cox and FDR, while the Republicans nominated Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge
Casablanca
Despite America's efforts, Stalin never quite trusted America; Roosevelt wanted to discuss the principles of the Atlantic Charter, requesting a meeting at the island of Casablanca; Wanted to be able to see Stalin and Churchill eye to eye; So in January 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill met at Casablanca, Stalin refused to attend; Agreed that the time was not right for a Western front in France; But did agree to invade Sicily and Italy; Took off pressure that the Germans were putting on the Soviets
Wernher von Braun
Developed the V-1 and V-2 rockets for use for the Germans; not only was he not charged with war crimes, but was welcomed into America
Thomas Dewey and Magic
Dewey was pleaded with to not divulge information about Magic, which were decryptions of Japanese communications; Dewey never revealed the secrets
Stalin
Dictator of the Soviet Union, at first allied with Hitler but then when Hitler turned on him he allied with the US and the Allied Powers
Death of FDR
Died while posing for a portrait; the country was shocked by the president's death; the funeral ceremonies were very simple
Gen. William Donovan's evidence of Hitler's plan for Christian churches
Donovan assembled evidence of Hitler's plans to destroy Christian churches and organizations; said that Hitler and the Nazis were "at war with God"
Stock Market Crash
During this time, thousands of banks failed; people lost their money that they had put in the banks; unemployment went from 9% to 25%; stock market crashed because of greed; on October 29, 1929, the bottom fell out of the market; people had to sell their stock, and the value of stock went down
Axis powers
Earth "centered" around them; Germany, Italy, and Japan; Germany leader was Hitler; Leader of Italy was Mussolini; Leader of Japan- Emperor was Hirohito and military person was Tojo, BE ABLE TO TELL LEADER OF EACH COUNTRY
Repeal of Prohibition amendment
Easily passed by the new Congress; became the first and only constitutional amendment ever repealed
Eleanor Roosevelt and race relations
Eleanor was particularly sympathetic to the concerns of black Americans; invited black people to come to the White House
Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, and her views on segregation and sterilization
Embraced eugenics; said that she would advocate a national plan to give people who supposedly have bad genes the choice to segregate or sterilize
Hirohito
Emperor of Japan during the war
"If Hitler invaded Hell, I would at least make favorable reference to the Devil."
Even at such a perilous moment (invasion of the Soviet Union), Churchill still made this quip
Conference at Tehran
FDR agreed to meet Churchill and Stalin in Teheran, for the first summit meeting of "The Big Three"
"the great arsenal of democracy"
FDR called on America to become this in his fireside chats
Court packing
FDR came up with the idea of court packing; according to the Constitution, there are no requirements for justices of the Supreme Court; FDR said that when they reached 70, he could appoint another member to sit alongside them; some of the justices began to change their positions, so court packing was not needed; "a switch in time saves nine"; what ended the depression was America's entry into WWII
Bank holiday
FDR moved to immediately declare a bank holiday, closing down the nation's savings institutions for a week
FDR thought that this was the surest way to end the mass murder of Jews
FDR thought that his demand for unconditional surrender was the best way to end the murders
FDR and the Supreme Court
FDR was angry that much of his New Deal legislation was being considered unconstitutional, so he tried to get the Americans on board with him with his second inaugural address
Election of 1944 and the selection of a VP candidate
FDR was trailing in the polls going into the campaign; he waited until later to enter the campaign
Albert Bacon Fall and the Teapot Dome Scandal
Fall had allowed the great oil reserves at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, to go to private interests in a non-bid contract; Fall was tried for corruption, and packed off to prison
Yalta
February 1945, as the war was winding down, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt met in the city of Yalta; Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt were also called the "Big Three"; Stalin was determined to drive a hard bargain; Roosevelt agreed to let Stalin take over some territory in the west; Decided to temporarily divide Germany into four occupation zones, with the allies, including France, having one zone a piece; Germany would be forced to pay damages; On the positive side of Yalta, Roosevelt won support for the United Nations; Designed around the principles of the four freedoms and the Atlantic Charter
FDIC
Federal Depository Insurance Corporation; very important; guarantees deposits in banks; guarantees your money in the bank up to a certain amount
DW Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation"
First major motion picture, based on Dixon's novel; it lasted several hours, as opposed to the usual 15-20 minutes; first time a battle scene was filmed using reenactors; used new techniques such as fading in or out; the film was very controversial; but Woodrow Wilson, the President, said that the film was "history written with lightning", that everyone should see it; first motion picture shown in the White House; the movie inspired William Simmons to remake the KKK
Edith Bolling Galt (at this point and later in the chapter)
First woman in the capital to drive her own automobile; Soon Wilson and Galt were keeping discreet company; announced he would remarry
Sussex pledge
Followed an attack by a U-boat on the unarmed French channel steamer Sussex, in which 50 people, including Americans, were killed; in this agreement, the Germans pledged not to attack merchant vessels unless they were carrying war contraband and crew and passengers were allowed to get into lifeboats
Henry Ford and his views
Ford's tolerance did not extend to the Jewish community in particular; often published anti-Semitic articles
Four Freedoms
Four things that FDR pledged the United States to: speech, religion, no fear, and no want
French interests during the treaty negotiations
France did care about Germany's colonies, he only cared about security for France; demanded the return of Alsace-Lorraine
War Declarations in Europe
Franz Ferdinand dies, Austria declares war on Serbia, Russia declares war on Austria, Germany declares war on Russia, France declares war on Germany
Kaiser Wilhelm in exile
From his exile in Holland, Kaiser Wilhelm gave interviews blaming the Jews for Germany's defeat in WWI
Marcus Mosiah Garvey vs. W.E.B. DuBois
Garvey's challenge to the black civil rights establishment made him and W E B DuBois enemies; DuBois called him "fat, black, and ugly"
Four Chaplains
George Fox, Alexander Goode, Clark Poling, and John Washington gave up their life jackets to young soldiers and crewmen aboard the USS Dorchester as it went down due to a Nazi U-Boat
"Thus America from a military point of view means nothing, and again nothing, and for a third time [I say] nothing!"
German admiral Capelle promised this to Germany's parliament, saying that American would not even come because of German subs
Leningrad
Germans besieged Leningrad (now called St. Petersburg); in Leningrad alone, more than two million Russians died
Quinton Roosevelt
Had been shot down behind German lines in France; went after German forces viciously
William Howard Taft
Harding brought another reassuring Republican figure when he tapped the respected former President Taft to be chief justice of the US
Eugene V. Debs (again!)
Harding quickly pardoned Debs, whom Wilson had imprisoned for violating the Sedition Act
Warren G. Harding & the failures of his administration
Harding's great appeal was that he just kinda looked like a president and he promised that he would return America to normalcy; had a lot of appeal to the population; was a very troubling man; surrounded himself with people who were corrupt; died suddenly on his way back from a trip from Alaska
Hitler's declaration of war on the US
Hitler declared war on the US on 11 December 1941; it was an act of suicidal folly equaled only by the decision to attack Pearl Harbor
"Fate has removed the greatest war criminal of all time."
Hitler found out about FDR's death and believed it was the long-awaited turnabout in Germany's fortune
Hitler and the Berlin Olympics and Jesse Owens
Hitler planned to use the Games as a showcase for his regime; it was to be a propaganda blitz; Hitler refused to shake Jesse Owens' hand because he was black
Mein Kempf
Hitler published this book following his release from prison; he had been tried and jailed for his attempt to overthrow the government in Bavaria
Munich summit
Hitler said all he wanted was Sudetenland; This was called the Munich summit, and they gave it to him
Non-Aggression Pact-
Hitler took over Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia; No one did anything; So Hitler signed an agreement with Joseph Stalin called the Non-Aggression Pact: An agreement that Hitler and Stalin would not go to war with each other
Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
Hitler welcome the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem to Berlin at the outbreak of the war (Muslim leader Haj Amin al-Husseini); the mufti broadcasted militantly anti-Jewish messages to the Arab world
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler's plan of invasion of the Soviet Union; Stalin did not believe Churchill's warnings
"a noble experiment"
Hoover called prohibition a "noble experiment" but was willing to be honest about how it was going
Election of 1932
Hoover ran for reelection; Democrats turned to FDR; FDR campaigned against Hoover saying that Hoover had done too much, that he did not balance the budget, that he was spending future generations' money; Roosevelt easily won the election and then began to spend more money than anyone had spent before; the American people blamed themselves; people had a strong work ethic and a sense of individualism; the nation rejected Hoover because they wanted change; was a critical realigning election; the Republicans lost the presidency and house; Congress passed bills to make agency after agency
"The chief business of the American people is business and the chief ideal of the American people is idealism."
Hoover threw himself into projects like Belgian relief, Russian famine relief, and eight years as a commerce secretary during a time that Coolidge described as this
Herbert Hoover
Hoover was very optimistic about America during his presidency, and his optimism easily spread
Bataan Death March
Horror awaited the US and Filipino POWs; nearly 78,000 of them were force marched into a prison camp 65 miles away; they were clubbed, bayoneted, and shot to death if they fell out of line
Hoover's response to the Depression
How did Hoover deal with all this? There was the beginnings of some government involvement; in 1931, Hoover began to try to help people gain more confidence in gov't; tried to use public persuasion (patriotic thing to do); the role of government was to "encourage"
Second Russian Revolution
However, in November 1917, a Second Russian Revolution occurred; Communist revolution, led by Vladimir Lennon, quickly made peace with Germany
Social Security
Idea was to get a retirement income in the hands of those who are elderly; helps the economy; still exists today
US policy toward Haiti
In 1915, Wilson sent in the US marines to Haiti to stop an assassination; Troops stayed there until 1934
Use of poison gas
In 1915, in a futile effort to break through the allied lines, the Germans used for the first time poison gas; These burned the skin or the lungs; Caused many different things, from blindness to death
Pancho Villa
In January 1916, a bandit chief man, Pancho Villa's men murdered 16 Americans; The Americans demanded action but the Mexican gov't couldn't do anything so Wilson sent 12000 troops into Mexico under the command of General John J. Pershing Meanwhile, Pancho Villa's gang had burned New Mexico and murdered 19 more Americans; But he was not only able to escape, but he escaped to Texas; Wilson ordered 150,000 national guardsmen to find Villa, but they still couldn't find him
Fourteen Points
In January 1918, Wilson spoke before Congress and set forth the Statement of the Principles, a program for creating a lasting peace in the post war world; Called the 14 points; Generally followed 3 broad categories: 1. Self determination 2. Wanted to do away with secret treaties (Freedom of the seas and reducing the size of the armies and navies) 3. Idea of a league of nations
War Production Board
In January 1942, Congress created the War Production Board to allocate supplies, and to awards defense contracts, and to oversee the industrial war effort
Espionage & Sedition Acts
In June 1917, Congress passed the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act; This was the right to censor the mails; Also made it illegal to make false statements intending to obstruct the draft or military operations; But this potentially conflicts with the First Amendment
Smoot-Hawley Tarriff-
In June 1930, Congress left Hoover with an important decision: whether or not to sign this Bill; Hoover had never been identified with isolationism, yet he signed it; it was to prove to perhaps be his worst mistake
Lusitania
In May 1915, the British passenger ship, the Lusitania, was docked in New York; The German embassy put out ads telling people not to get on board the ship; On May 7, a German U-Boat torpedoed the Lusitania off the coast of England, killing 1,200 passengers; Wilson tried to force Germany to apologize
Panama Canal
In Nicaragua, However, Wilson had them sign a treaty so no one built a canal; US trying to protect the Panama canal
North Platte Canteen
In North Platte, Nebraska, the town offered itself as the North Platte Canteen, where, for 365 days a year, volunteers would provide hot coffee, donuts, sandwiches, and sympathy for young soldiers shipping out
Armistice Day
In November 1918, the German government sought an Armistice, a cease-fire; Wanted to negotiate a peace; On November 11, 1918, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the guns fell silent; This was after 4 of the bloodiest years in the history of the world; American participation proved to be the final factor that pushed German people to an Armistice
Meusse—Argonne
In September 1918 came the great Meusse-Argonne offensive; 48 day battle in which Americans got a lot of territory and prisoners; pushed the Germans back into their own territory
"I can take care of my enemies all right. But my . . . friends . . . ."
In White House meetins with Kansas editor William White, Harding burst this out
"I pledge you, I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people. . . ."
In a dramatic move, FDR flew from Albany to the Dem. Convention in Chicago, breaking with the tradition that said a candidate never appears before the convention that nominates him
"This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny."
In a more serious vein, FDR accepted his renomination in Philadelphia with this eloquent call
Sussex
In late March 1916, there was a U-boat attack on the French ship, the Sussex; Wilson demanded that Germany cease this or else we would break off diplomatic relations from Germany; Politicians still considered America's neutrality more important; So Germany agreed but said that the US had to treat the British the same way they were treating the Germans
Schlieffen Plan
In the early 1900s, fearing a joint attack by France and Russia, Germany began to plan for an attack; Done by Schlieffen; Idea was that in case there was a two front war, and the Germans were involved in a conflict with France and Russia simultaneously, they would put everything they had into defeating French first and then deal with Russia because they were not as industrialized; In 1914, the actions were put into place to cause the plan to be activated
Scopes Trial
John Scopes went up against William Jennings Bryan in response to Scopes' teaching of evolution
Franz Ferdinand
June 28, 1914, a young Serbian nationalist assassinated Franz Ferdinand; Ferdinand was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary; Assassinated while going through the street
Henry J. Kaiser and the Liberty ships
Kaiser gained lasting fame as the man who build the Liberty ships; 2,751 ships were built; they could build them suuuuper fast
Joseph P. Kennedy and "it takes a thief to catch a thief"
Kennedy had been Roosevelt's first chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission; On this theory, FDR named a man known for his sharp dealing to ride herd on the sharp dealers
"I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want to go to war to save the Czechs"
Kennedy said this to his friends after talking with the Czech diplomat in London
"If we fight, our countries will only lose their best men. We can gain nothing . . . It must not happen."
Lindbergh said this about the US interfering in WWII; he was against it
Henry Cabot Lodge's proposed amendments to the Treaty of Versailles
Lodge wanted the new League of Nations to formally acknowledge America's preeminence by recognizing the Monroe Doctrine, and he wanted to make sure the US could only be sent into a foreign war if Congress consented
Lever Food Control Act
Many laws were enacted by Congress in which Congress gave more power to the executive branch; One of the most far reaching was the Lever Food Control Act; Introduced in June 1917; Gave the president the power to license and control the manufacturing and distribution; Also gave the president the power to take over and operate certain war industries and mines (temporarily); Also gave the president the power to determine prices on any industry; Congress justified this on the basis of the President's war power; Although some fought it, Congress passed the bill
Treaty of Versailles
Many of Wilson's ideas fell through due to the anti-German sentiment; One of the first ideas to go was the idea of an open treaty; Another idea to go was the freedom of the seas; Britain and France demanded that Germany pay damages; The one thing that Wilson did win was the creation of a League of Nations; When Wilson returned to the US with the treaty of Versailles, he was optimistic; Many Americans were still isolationists and critical of Wilson's efforts; but Wilson refused to negotiate the contents of the treaty with the senate; When he realized that he was losing his fight, he resolved to take his battle to the people; In September 1919, he started a grueling speech campaign; But this did nothing to help; the Senate rejected the treaty of Versailles
The New Deal and the origins of many of today's political alignments
Many, many people today can trace the existence of their jobs or institutions to a federal program that was begun under FDR
"Democracy as we conceive it in the United States will not exist in England and France after the war"
Millions of Americans doubtless agreed with Joe Kennedy, who viewed the war as a disaster, and said this
NRA
National Recovery Administration; regulated prices, was controversial; goal was to eliminate "cut-throat competition" by bringing industry, labor, and government together to create codes of "fair practices" and set prices
Zimmermann telegram
On February 25, the British gov't delivered a telegram to Wilson; Made "peace" with Mexico, telling them to fight America with them; Convinced Wilson of German's hostile intentions, and promptly ordered Congress to arm merchant ships; Released Zimmerman note to the public
"Let us pray that peace may be now restored to the world, and that God will preserve it Always."
Nothing was done to humiliate the Japanese signatories to the instrument of surrender; General Douglas MacArthur said this to make sure of that
--Who were involved in the Klan-
Now, the KKK is primarily anti-black, primarily rural, and primarily southern, but that was not true of the 1920s; they were not exclusively black, they were strong in the cities, and was not exclusively southern
Pearl Harbor
On 7 December 1941, waves of Japanese Zeroes swept in on Oahu and struck it without warning at the Navy ships tied up along "battleship row"; America lost 2,403 people in the raid
"Make the world safe for democracy"
On April 2, 1917, Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany; The goal of the war was to "make the war safe for democracy"; Wilson wept because he knew that many American soldiers would die
US declares war
On April 6, 1917, the US declared war on Germany, and a new era in American history began
US policy toward Japan
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii; Thousands of Americans died; This marked the beginning of the war for Americans; The US declared war on Japan
December 7, 1941
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii; Thousands of Americans died; This marked the beginning of the war for Americans; The US declared war on Japan; Germany declared war on the US
Poland
On September 1, 1939, the German forces invaded Poland in the West; World War II in Europe began; Great Britain declared war, as well as France; But they couldn't save Poland; The Poles fought valiantly against Hitler's tanks
September 1, 1939
On September 1, 1939, the German forces invaded Poland in the West; World War II in Europe began; Great Britain declared war, as well as France; But they couldn't save Poland; The Poles fought valiantly against Hitler's tanks
Black Thursday
On the day that Hoover meant to reassure Americans, the Stock Market collapsed; it would forever be known as Black Thursday
United Nations
On the positive side of Yalta, Roosevelt won support for the United Nations; Designed around the principles of the four freedoms and the Atlantic Charter
Fire side chats
One of the most powerful means of communication was the radio; FDR had things called fire-side chats, would talk about problems in America; knew how to make his voice not sound artificial; his voice was soothing and he gave the people hope; did not talk about positive things and did not end the depression but still was soothing to America
Wilson and the League of Nations
Only with France's safety thus protected would Clemenceau agree to Wilson's proposals for the League of Nations
Fourteen Points and the Allies reaction to it
President Wilson went before Congress in January 1918 to lay out his war arms; the substance of his speech would become known as the Fourteen Points; desperate for unity, the Allies did not oppose Wilson publically, but they did not really agree with him
George Clemenceau
Prime Minister of France (KNOW NAME AND COUNTRY); tough cynical man who wanted to punish Germans
Vittorio Orlando
Prime Minister of Italy (KNOW NAME AND COUNTRY); tough cynical man who wanted to punish Germans
Neville Chamberlain
Prime minister Neville Chamberlain said they would do nothing if they attacked Sudetenland; Thought he had avoided war
Churchill
Prime minister and eventual leader of England
Prohibition
Prohibition was placing a great stress on law enforcement in the country; when it was passed during the war, it had seemed a great reform
"I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again; your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars."
Provoked by Willkie on the issue of war, FDR told a Boston audience this
The prosperity of the 1920s
Referred to as the "roaring 20s" because it was an era of optimism, an era of a changing way of life, in part because of the soldiers coming back from the great war (they had seen what life was like, devastation of war); economically it was a time of great hardship; during the war, the gov't basically ran the economy, but now the war was over; there was a sort of "retooling"; in this time of transition there was also major unrest among the races; soldiers who were black were forced back into their same situations; in 1919 there was a major race riot that occurred in Chicago; Between 1922 and 1928, production was up 70%, GNP up 40%, etc.; unemployment virtually ceased to exist; time period that showed the overwhelming success of capitalism; time of mass production and consumption; now they had time and money to spend during that time, so the prosperity meant that workers could buy products; average worker could buy an automobile; Ford produces his T-Model easily because he made it simple and they were alike; there was a great increase in consumer credit; GM became the largest corporation on earth
Churchill
Roosevelt Washington Conference- Hastening to Washington, Churchill spent a month in the White House, in close consultation with his friend, FDR
Roosevelt's critique of Hoover
Roosevelt complained about centralization and called Hoover a big spender; these were laughable charges however
"With confidence in our armed forces—with the unbounding determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God." (Note where this last phrase is not located today.)
Roosevelt concluded his call about Pearl Harbor with these words; the last phrase "so help us God" are inexplicably missing from the engraved quote on the WWII memorial
"Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Roosevelt intoned this famous phrase from the Inaugural platform
"Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."
Roosevelt issued this statement in a speech a few days after the Pearl Harbor attack
Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt pleaded to get in on the action; did not care if "the war killed him"; but in the end Wilson rejected TR's plea
Four Freedoms
Roosevelt said that America needed to support those people who were fighting for the four freedoms (MEMORIZE): 1. Freedom of Speech 2. Freedom of Religion 3. Freedom from fear 4. Freedom from want; This meant that the US was supposed to support Great Britain
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
Roosevelt warned the Germans in 1903 that the US had the navy nearby and ready, and they would act against any attempt to establish a permanent European presence in Venezuela; The Europeans withdrew. As a result, Roosevelt wrote an addition, or a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine; The Monroe Doctrine had been established eighty years before, in which the US told the European powers that the US was closed to European colonization, and in return the US would stay out of European affairs; Roosevelt added in a 1904 message to Congress that they had the right to not only oppose, but intervene themselves in the affairs of their neighbors
Results of the election of 1932
Roosevelt won in a landslide, 472-59 electoral votes, and 57.4% of the popular vote
Big Stick Diplomacy
Roosevelt's principle idea; style of diplomacy; Named after an African proverb: "speak softly and carry a big stick"; you were supposed to be careful what you say, and when you say something, be able to back it up and people will pay attention to you; Roosevelt believed the US should play its roles in the shaping of world affairs
"The terms of the treaty appear immeasurably harsh and humiliating, while many of them are incapable of performance."
Secretary Lansing tried to warn the president in a letter he wrote Wilson, but Wilson stiff-armed him
Why did Britain fail to put the Kaiser on notice with an unambiguous warning?
Several of the prominent industrialists were also religious pacifists; there was no chance Britain would abide such clear aggression
Calvin Coolidge
Sharp contrast to Harding, known as "Silent Cal", had become famous because he put a strike in Boston down; Coolidge was visiting his father when he found out Harding died; Coolidge's father, a justice of the peace, swore in Coolidge; but a second ceremony occurred where the oath of office was administered by another guy; Coolidge was a family man, deeply devoted to his faith, sons, and wife; his approach was "the less said, the better"; said that the business of America is business; began to cut taxes, balanced the federal budget, and tried to dismantle a lot of the gov't structures that had been put in place by the Wilson administration; but one of Coolidge's son died, and the joy of the presidency left Coolidge; he announced that he chose not to run for reelection
Soviets in Germany and the treatment of women
Some two million German women were raped in the final assault on Germany; as many as 130,000 German women were raped in the capture of Berlin; 10,000 of these committed suicide
Teheran
Stalin finally agreed to come to a meeting in Teheran; Here, Roosevelt promised Stalin that the allies would land in France within six months and Stalin offered a simultaneous Russian offensive in the east; At Teheran, Stalin agreed that Russia would join US with a war with Japan after the war with Germany was over; Also, Stalin agreed to Roosevelt's idea of a new world organization (ultimately the United Nations); Shows us several things: 1. Countries were still willing to make "concessions" 2. From this point on, England will become a lesser power
Stalin and the death of six or seven million in the Ukraine
Stalin intentionally starved to death people he called kulaks, blaming the famine that his policies caused on the kulaks
Stalin's reaction to the death of FDR
Stalin was absolutely certain that FDR had been poisoned by Churchill and his "gang"
SEC
Stands for Securities Exchange Commision; based on reform, still exists today, designed to regulate the stock market; limited buying margin; there were safeguards and stuff to stop the market; purpose was to not let a crash occur again
Battle of the Bulge
Taking advantage of the heavy snow and low visibility, German Panzer tanks came crashing through the forests; Americans were taken by surprise; was the Germans' last thrust in the West
TVA
Tennessee Valley Authority; a federal agency that was an experiment; tried to help people in the Tennessee River Valley; was relief (getting them jobs) and recovery (getting back what they had), was a couple Southern states; built dams and other facilities
Franklin D. Roosevelt: the early years
The 39 year old FDR found himself unable to move during a hike after a swim; had feeling in his arms but none in his legs
Arthur Garfield Hayes and the ACLU's view of Christianity
The ACLU needed the backing of Christians and although they doubted Christianity, they did not want to expose the radicalism of the ACLU
Liberty ships
The Liberty ships were ships that were old-fashioned, slow, and and cheap, so that they would be cheap to replace and repair; could be built with the greatest of speed; by 1940, new construction outpaced losses
Fuel Administration
The Fuel Administration evolved as an agency to allocate coal among the competing industries
Charles Evans Hughes
The Republicans backed this Supreme Court Justice, although he proved to be an inept campaigner
Eugenics
The anti-immigrant spirit was fueled by advocates of eugenics; Darwin's cousin had developed the idea of eugenics, that good health came from good genes
Warren G. Harding
The country held Harding in high regard, or at least had been taught that it ought to
Polio
The disease had blighted the lives of thousands; there was no known cure; at its worst, polio could leave a person paralyzed from the neck down, condemned as an "iron lung"
AEF
The government turned to conscription, or the draft; By the spring of 1915, the AEF (American Expeditionary Force, KNOW THIS) began to arrive in Europe under the command of John J Blackjack Pershing; With Wilson's backing, Pershing wanted a separate independent fighting force; For the most part, the allies allowed the AEF to fight
Influenza
The great pandemic of 1918-1919 swept across Europe and America, and then around the world; between 50 and 100 million died in a span of mere months
U-boats
The menace of the German submarines made neutrality more difficult; most effective submarine fleet was first developed by the Germans; When the sub was underwater, it was silent and hidden; By 1915, subs were beginning to take their toll; In February 1915, Germany announced that allied subs in a war zone around the coast of England and France would be sunk without warning, even neutral vessels were subject to being sunk; Wilson responded that he would hold Germany strictly accountable for any loss of American life
US policy toward Venezuela
The nation of Venezuela was not able to pay off European bankers; The naval forces of Britain and Italy and Germany put a blockade around Venezuela; Roosevelt warned the Germans in 1903 that the US had the navy nearby and ready, and they would act against any attempt to establish a permanent European presence in Venezuela; The Europeans withdrew
Dollar Diplomacy
The new President, William Howard Taft, had different policies; Had "dollar diplomacy"; Whatever was good for America's industry and economic interests, that is what the US would do; More self-centered than big stick diplomacy
Calvin Coolidge swearing in
The new president was sworn in at 2:45 am after Harding's unfortunate death
"I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and instilled in him a terrible resolve."
The planner of the Pearl Harbor attack immediately seemed to regret his action
Wilson's relationship with Colonel House
The president began to be influenced by the deep-seated hostility that his wife held for Colonel House; introduced a strain in the president's relationship with his most faithful and selfless subordinate
Malmedy Massacre
The second day of the Battle of the Bulge, 80 American POWs were murdered in cold blood outside the Belgian town of Malmedy; was the bloody work of the SS
Manhattan Project
The secret project to develop the atomic bomb; this would change everything
Flappers
The symbol of the age was the flapper; flappers were young ladies who wore dresses with the hem line going up; the emphasis was on a woman of freedom
Potsdam
The war ended in Europe in April 1945; Finally in 1945, Stalin, Truman, and Churchill meet in Potsdam; Very different situation; At Potsdam, occupation plans for Germany were finalized, but Truman refused to allow Stalin to collect reparations from Western zones in Germany
Czechoslovakia /Sudetenland
Then, there was an area in between; In the Western part of it was the Sudetenland; The people of Sudetenland were Germanic in origin; So Hitler wanted the Sudetenland to become a part of the greater Germany; The other powers in Europe, noticing what was happening, wanted to get Hitler in the same room so they could work out the problem; So the Prime Minister of England reached an agreement with Hitler; Hitler said all he wanted was Sudetenland; This was called the Munich summit, so they gave it to him
Atlantic Charter
This is a comprehensive statement of war aims; Quite a strong statement due to the fact that the US wasn't at war; Besides including the four freedoms, the Atlantic Charter stated that neither England nor the US wanted new territory; Basically a document that reflected ideas about America's foreign policies
US war production
US production went waaay up; however, income taxes skyrocketed because the annual federal budget went from $9 billion to $100 billion; this production however ended the great depression
James Weldon Johnson
Under the leadership of James Weldon Johnson, the NAACP boldly proclaimed its purpose: to give blacks rights
Railroad War Board & William McAdoo
Under these laws, Wilson began to create administrative agencies to oversee the war effort; things such as the Railroad War Board, which was run by William McAdoo; Designed to operate all the nation's railroads as if it were a single system
Otto von Bismarck
reformers hoped that King Frederick might check the power wielded by Otto von Bismarck; though he was nominally subordinate to the German kaiser, he created the German Empire and reaped the prestige; few dared to challenge his authority
Scopes Trial
Used Clarence Darrow as a lawyer, who also protected Debbs; William Jennings Bryan was the prosecutor; in 1926 we have the Scopes Trials, sometimes referred to as the Monkey Trials; many saw in it a conflict between the teachings of science and teachings of the Bible; was the trial of the century; Darrow was a very smart, tricky lawyer; called Jennings Bryan as a witness; Bryan said "I am more interested in the Rock of Ages than the age of rocks"; Bryan had no chance to speak; but the jury decided that Scopes was guilty; Darrow was a hero in the eyes of many, but Bryan was a wounded warrior
"I do not choose to run . . ."
Vacationing in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the president held one of his regular not-for-attribution press conferences; as the reporters filed into the high school gym, Coolidge handed each one a slip of paper on which was typed this curt message
V-E Day-
Victory in Europe Day; in London, with hundreds of thousands gathered in Trafalgar Square, Churchill appeared with the king, queen, and Princess Elizabeth; throughout the West, the peoples of the Allied and Liberated countries celebrated the end of the greatest threat to freedom the world had ever known
Wendell L. Willkie
Wall Street utility executive; was thought to be the only only who could beat FDR; was a big, bluff, outgoing man whose personal charm made him a rival to FDR
Warsaw
Warsaw did not have a happy fate; the Poles hoped to free themselves from German cruelty, but Stalin ordered his troops to halt just outside the city and the Germans ruthlessly destroyed it
"Rosie the Riveter"
Was like a poster like Uncle Sam that encouraged women to be involved; Rosie was the model WOW
Henry Wallace and "loose lips sink ships"
Was the best example of the WWII slogan "loose lips sink ships"; confided in his brother-in-law top secret information
Yalta
Was the next leaders' conference; was in the Crimea, a region of the Ukraine; FDR knew it would be difficult to deal with Stalin; Poland was the great issue
Practice of "Balance of Powers" in Europe
What happened in Europe was that Europe was ruled primarily by the Great Powers; Wanted to maintain a "balance of powers"; So when France, for instance, becomes too powerful, the other countries ally against France; One obvious tool for this was war
Ratification debate over the Treaty of Versailles
When Wilson returned to the US with the treaty of Versailles, he was optimistic; Many Americans were still isolationists and critical of Wilson's efforts; but Wilson refused to negotiate the contents of the treaty with the senate; When he realized that he was losing his fight, he resolved to take his battle to the people; In September 1919, he started a grueling speech campaign; But this did nothing to help; the Senate rejected the treaty of Versailles
Wilson's Moral Diplomacy
When Woodrow Wilson came to power, he saw the US as being a great moral force in the world, acting not out of self-interest, but a desire to set an example for the rest of the world; Peace and stability and democracy; Sense of idealism; Sometimes this idealism was challenged by the reality; Presided over a foreign policy that increased American intervention in Latin America
Karol Wojtyla
When teenager Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) and his ailing father joined millions of refugees, their flight was halted by the news of the Soviets invading Poland
Influence of The Influence of Sea Power Upon History
Wilhem had read this book; Mahan had deeply impressed not only the German ruler, but it was also devoured by power theorists like TR and Winston Churchill
The rebirth of the KKK
William Simmons, inspired by "The Birth of a Nation", gathered on Stone Mountain in 1915 and burned a cross, and the second KKK was born; operated on 3 levels: 1. Traditional men's club, 2. Local vigilante organization (enforce codes of behavior and conduct), 3. Resistance movement defending traditional values; By 1921, there were 100,000 members; was anti-whatever you wanted it to be, but it was sold as a fraternal organization; was 100% white, American, and Protestant; by 1924, there were 4-5 million members; anti-Catholic in Oregon; Ohio had 400,000 members; in Indiana, virtually every man was a member; were not just anti-black, were against anyone they thought was a threat to the moral order; seen as being the defenders of traditional values
War reparations
Wilson lost on the argument of small war reparations; This meant that the people involved in the conflicts had to pay for the damage, which Wilson didn't want; Britain and France demanded that Germany pay damages
"There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight."
Wilson said this about the outrage and demands for war against Germany; shocked TR and Taft
"peace without victory"
Wilson still sought peace; But in January 1917, he said that the goal should be "peace without victory", all nations observing the rule of international law and justice; Came to believe more and more that Germans were evil
Wilson's health and implications
Wilson was emotionally overwrought and physically spent; suffered a severe nervous collapse, and then a stroke; he was partially paralyzed and speech impaired
"He Kept Us Out of War"
Wilson's campaign in 1916 stressed this
To oppose Wilson was to oppose God
Wilson's opponents, he said, were not merely mistaken, but were disloyal
"This was their finest hour."
Winston Churchill said that people should say this about Britain later when they find out about it
Impact of war on women
Women were among the principal beneficiaries of the war; women moved out of their home settings and into war settings; many jobs opened up for women, like lumberjacking and steel production
The twin reforms that was to purify politics
Women's right to vote and prohibition
WPA
Works Progress Administration; Helped people in various walks of life to find jobs; did art projects; sent writers out to interview people who were former slaves, gave us a lot of what we know about slave life; "writers and artists need to eat and live like other people"; this agency was a way to do that
"The Pope? How many divisions has he got?"
Wouldn't the pope be upset if atheist Communist rule were imposed on Catholics? Stalin had this answer at the ready
John F. Kennedy and George H.W. Bush
Young Lieutenant John F. Kennedy found his Patrol Torpedo boat cut in half one dark night by a Japanese destroyer; Kennedy swam to a nearby island; another lieutenant, George HW Bush, dropped out of Yale to become the youngest naval aviator in history; when his plane was shot down, his two crewmen were lost; was rescued by the USS Skate
Bennett says that this may have been the greatest diplomatic blunder in history. What was it? Why does Bennett deem it the greatest?
Zimmermann admitted that the Zimmermann telegram was his, a mistake that changed America's outlook on the war; if they had known the British had uncovered it they would have just been made at Britain, but coming from Zimmermann, it changed their whole view
Daniel K. Inouye
a Hawaiian Nisei from the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, won the Congressional Medal of Honor; later was sworn in as the first Japanese-American member of Congress
Sir Oswald Mosley
a member of Parliament, visited Roosevelt; was a Socialist; didn't really like Roosevelt; became the leader of the British Union of Fascists, devoted to Hitler
Significance of Hindenburg
alerted Americans to the grim reality of the extent of Hitler's reach
C. S. Lewis
began a series of broadcasts for BBC; proved to be a dynamic speaker; a tribute to the importance the Churchill government place on citizen morale
Impact of war on Blacks
blacks benefitted as well; a large number of southern rural Africans moved to industrial centers, about 2 million in all; enlisted in armed services at a much higher rate than anyone else (Tuskegee Airmen)
Charles A. Lindbergh and his views on America's involvement in Europe
determined to keep America out of Europe's troubles; joined with others to form The Committee to Defend America First
Executive Order 9066
generally considered to be one of FDR's worst mistakes; provided for the internment of some 110,000 persons of Japanese descent
General John J. Pershing
given command of the American Expeditionary Force; resolute and determined leader; had quelled Pancho Villa; Wilson sent Pershing & 12,000 cavalry troopers to pursue the bandit leader 300 miles into Mexico
Calvin Coolidge, Jr.
got a blister that got infected and died; subdued Coolidge to even more silence
Japanese interests during the treaty negotiations
got territorial concessions on the Shantung Peninsula in China; unsuccessful in getting the Peace Conference to adopt a resolution on racial equality
Thomas Dixon's The Klansman
in 1905, Dixon wrote a novel called the Klansman, talking about the "glorious things" the KKK had done
Herbert Hoover
in 1928, the Republicans turned to Hoover, their hero; Hoover's approach was based on voluntarism; you would look to the community before you looked to government; as a result there would be higher wages; great dependence on the private sector; there was a change in philosophy; idea that government should have a different role; gov't should encourage activities, but not direct them; this could not handle the Great Depression
Members of America First included . . .
included Joe Kennedy Jr., Sargent Shriver, Kingman Brewster, Avery Brundage, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Gerald Ford, and Eddie Rickenbacker
Al Smith
joked about his humble origins; could not go to college; was a very bright radio host; was Catholic; first Catholic to be nominated for president
Hitler
leader of Germany, democratically elected to power; His party, the Nazis, did win elections; Stopped paying the war reparations; Since nothing was done about this, Hitler began to "look around"; He himself was Austrian; Put pressure on Austria to join with the "more powerful Germany"; The Austrians did, they didn't have much choice; wanted Sudetenland, got it, but wasn't satisfied
Mussolini
leader of Italy during the War
Tojo
military strategist for the Japanese, Japan had signed an agreement with Hitler and Mussolini that they would form an alliance; Germans would deal with rest of the world and Japan would deal with Asia
Washington Treaties
outlawed the use of poison gas in war; ruled "piratical" sub warfare against merchant ships, whether the ships were armed or not
Kaiser Wilhelm II
the "tinder in the box" had been amassing for years, thanks to this man; in many ways he was the most important figure in Europe in 1914; grandson of Britain's Queen Victoria; could and should have been Britain's best hope for peace on the continent; instead he was the greatest threat
Eighteenth Amendment & Ninteenth Amendment
the 18th amendment banned the sale of alcoholic beverages; was a noble experiment that would divide the country; the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote
Pearl Harbor
the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii; Thousands of Americans died; This marked the beginning of the war for Americans; The US declared war on Japan; Germany declared war on the US
David Lloyd George
the Prime Minister of England (KNOW NAME AND COUNTRY); tough cynical man who wanted to punish Germans
Role of communism during the time of the end of the war
the Specter of Communism haunted the deliberations of the three world leaders; Churchill explained that the threat of communism was why the statesman should make a moderate peace with Germany
Final Solution
the conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee planned the "Final Solution of the Jewish Problem in Europe", a "solution" that would be nothing less than the murder of eleven million European Jews
US policy toward Mexico
the greatest challenge was Mexico; From 1911-1914, Wilson's foreign policy was preoccupied with Mexico; Mexico was divided by a tiny elite of Mexican landowners; Wilson tried to promote good government there; In 1911, rebels overthrew the existing government that had been there for over 30 years; Early in 1913, Mexican troops loyal to the general Hutra overthrew the existing government and murdered the existing government; but Wilson would not recognize a government "of butchers"; Authorized the sale of ammunition to Hutra's rival, Carranza; Also blockaded a port; Wilson said that he wanted to teach the south Americans to vote in good men; US troops began to fight the Mexican armies; 65 Americans were killed or wounded; As a result, Carranza took power, and the US withdrew their troops; But local bandits and rebels challenged his authority; In January 1916, a bandit chief man, Pancho Villa's men murdered 16 Americans; The Americans demanded action but the Mexican gov't couldn't do anything so Wilson sent 12000 troops into Mexico under the command of General John J. Pershing Meanwhile, Pancho Villa's gang had burned New Mexico and murdered 19 more Americans; But he was not only able to escape, but he escaped to Texas; Wilson ordered 150,000 national guardsmen to find Villa, but they still couldn't find him
Wilson's responsibility for the ratification defeat of the Treaty of Versailles
the harsh treaty of Versailles was dangerous-- to the victors as well as the vanquished; Wilson had become impatient, intolerant of any criticism of the peacemakers' work
Causes of the Great War
the immediate cause was the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie
Impact of war on the economy
war production was greater than anywhere else; there was a greater income tax, but it ended the great depression
Kellogg-Briand and its impact
was a pact that ensured the two nations (France and US) would never go to war against each other; Provided the legal basis for the eventual war crimes tribunals for the makers of aggressive war; yet it also dangerously lulled the democracies into thinking they could rely on only it for security
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
was a pragmatist, was not isolated to one viewpoint; would try many different things; was an interesting man; born to great privilege; grew up in a mansion; had the best of everything; became governor of NY; developed polio in the 1920s, remained paralyzed the rest of his life; but when he was in politics, he was able to portray a dominant attitude; there are only 2 pictures of FDR in a wheelchair; could walk with the help of braces; when he campaigned, his idea was promoting positive things; during the Roosevelt years, they changed the inauguration to January; said that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself; knew how to connect with people
Charles Lindbergh and The Spirit of Saint Louis
was going to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean; became the greatest hero of the age when he made it to Paris in his plane, The Spirit of Saint Louis
Atlantic Charter
was unprecedented; not a treaty, and it was not the US Declaration of war Churchill wanted but it was a joint statement of goals the two leaders embraced; both asserted the right of all people to live under the gov't of their choosing