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