David Reynolds, From
Munish to Pearl Harbor NOTES
Beyond a narrative of events
between 1938 and 1941, the author is interested in:
1) how FDR got the
American people to think of the US within a global context
2) how policies associated with the early cold war years
had their origins during the lead up to WWII – imperial presidency; military
industrial complex
CHAPTER 2
Origins of WWII due to:
EMPIRE
Territorial rivalry – haves
(Britain) vs have much less/want more (Japan, Germany, Italy)
Brits want to preserve the
peace; Japanese see British peace as “imperialism”
What we have, we hold vs.
What you hold, we take
Why “waning imperialism”? –
China, Russia, Austria- Hungary; German Empires fall
IDEOLOGY
Anti-liberal –
fascist/communist
What characterized
fascism? Militarism, expansionism,
nationalism, pageantry
Stalin plays on ideology –
plays up external threat from the imperialists to justify collectivization;
once he needs the imperialists, he switches to popular front strategy
Stalin’s emphasis on anti-fascism
distracts from the “national socialism” of the Nazis, which sounds a lot like “socialism
in one nation” (Stalin’s plan)
Spanish Civil War –
ideological war fascism vs communism; liberal democracy is discredited (as it
is in Eastern Europe)
ECONOMICS
Anti-liberal – autarky
Liberal economic order is
discredited
Nations resort to trading
blocs or to self-sufficient autarky
Autarky and communism/central
planning appear more successful that liberal capitalism
US AS “EMPIRE OF LIBERTY”
How different than
Europe? Limited holdings; democratic
institutions precede industrialization; federal system of government limits
centralized power; lack of ideological diversity (no left); less class
tensions; relative security (US is protected by oceans and weak neighbors)
impedes power grab by the state
By the 1930s, the US had
turned in on itself; Still powerful, the US was “a country that had lost its
nerve”
Neutrality Acts try to keep
US from getting into the First World War
FDR – A Fusion of TR and
Wilson
FDR supports a strong navy
(like TR)
FDR parts ways with Wilson
1-- make sure you have public
opinion behind you
2-- recognize the role of
power in foreign affairs
3—recognize that the Great
Powers would rule the world
Yet FDR shares Wilson’s
suspicions of the Old Order – colonialism, etc.
CHAPTER 3
Significance of Nazi-Soviet
Pact? In Asia and Europe?
After Munich, what worries
FDR?
A NAZI AIR ATTACK in WESTERN
HEMISPHERE
He proposes unneutral
rearmament, but there is no political will
Cash and carry trade with
belligerents
Congress is wary of public
opinion; public is wary of war
IDEOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Krisallnacht – American
values cannot flourish in such an environment.
Nazi-Soviet Pact – image of
totalitarianism; red fascism
AMERICAN REACTION TO WAR IN
ASIA
Pro-Chinese due to Japanese
brutality;
Pro- tough policy; dismissive
of the Japanese
Balance of Power in Europe
affects US policy in Asia
American
fleet must replace British fleet in projecting power and containing the
Japanese
Nazi-Soviet
pact makes the Japanese rethink their policies; they had already lost a battle
with the Soviets and could no longer be pro-German if the Soviets were a German
ally
1939 Neutrality Act – end arms embargo, unneutral
support for allies; avoid war
“FDR wanted to have his cake
and eat it”
Chapter 4
November 1939 – US POLICY
Neutrality legislation keeps
US from being entangled in a European war
BUT it gives access to vast
US resources to Britain and France
Why was Britain initially
reluctant to pour money into buying goods from the US?
--long war, conserve
resources, woo Italy with orders
SIGNIFICANCE OF…
Dunkirk
British soldiers saved;
Churchill steels British resolve; Germans lose chance for quick victory; Brits
go all out – no more fiscal conservatism -- expend resources and rely on the US
for more resources
US has dual policy – supply
the allies and rearm itself. Debate arises over the priorities.
Impediments to rearmament?
New Dealers anti-business animus.
FDR throws
liberals under the bus; unleashes business, brings businessmen into government;
undoes regulations on business (they don’t own aviation designs previously; now
they do)
HOW DID 1940 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PLAY INTO FDR’s
POLICIES?
n
would he run? Why
wouldn’t he say?
CURTISS-WRIGHT CASE (p 85)
President can transfer
Destroyers on his own authority – no need to go through Congress
Important precedent;
implications in the COLD WAR; President’s power in foreign policy is expanded
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN ASIA?
Hitler’s victories inspire
Japanese militarists to continue developing a “New Order”
Brits can’t do much; US must
fill the vacuum; fleet to Pearl Harbor (improvisation and confusion – navy
opposes this move – what to do if Japanese attack European colonies?)
Trade embargo on the Japanese
– will this restrain or provoke the Japanese?
“Problem was not the absence
of a foreign policy, but too many policies within one administration”
IRONY of PERCEPTION vs REALITY à Despite
American fears, Tri-partite pact is hollow; American embargo is reluctant and
not as aggressive as the Japanese fear
HOME FRONT à Committee to Defend American by Aiding the Allies
(CDAAA) vs America First
What were their respective arguments?
CDAAA –
defend the Atlantic; be on the lookout for “fifth columnists”; war is between
totalitarian vs democratic values; democracy must triumph; national security
must be considered in expansive terms – not enough simply to fortify US borders
AMERICA FIRST
– a prepared America is not
vulnerable to attack; defend America first; aid short of war weakens defense at
home and threatens to pull US into war; American democracy can only be
preserved by staying out of war; less emotionally engaged – war is between
imperialists, haves vs have nots, negotiated peace is best.
HOW DID LONDON BOMBING (THE BLITZ) HELP THE CDAAA
Ideological conflict is
sharpened
Social revolution is
occurring in Britain – class system is crumbling