Holowicki
US History
Name _______________________________
Hour _______
WWII: America Enters the War
Notes Part I
Directions: Complete the following notes along with the Power Point on the events leading up to
the U.S. entrance into WWII.
Neutrality
 President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared U.S. neutral two days after France and Britain
declared war on Germany

 U.S. supported Britain and France

Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill asked FDR for American destroyers
(battleships)
 Britain had lost ½ of its own destroyers by 1940
 Britain needed destroyers to:

 Protect Great Britain from German invasion

 Newfoundland
 Bermuda
 Caribbean Islands
American Isolationism

 Debate:
 Isolation
 Stay out of war in Europe
 Intervention
 Enter War


 Fight Dictators
FDR Defends the Four Freedoms
 Four Freedoms U.S. and Britain stood for:

 Freedom of Worship
 Freedom from Want

Lend-Lease Act
 Allowed U.S. to lend or lease arms to any country considered “vital to the defense of the
United States”

 FDR feared the fall of Britain
 Germany, Japan, and Italy would conquer the world

 Keep the British fighting so U.S. doesn’t have to

Holowicki
US History
Name _______________________________
Hour _______
WWII: America Enters the War
Notes Part II
Directions: Complete the following notes along with the Power Point on the events leading up to
the U.S. entrance into WWII. Add these notes to your notes from Part I.
Nazi-Soviet Pact
 Hitler violates the Nazi-Soviet Pact


 Britain vows to aid any country willing to fight against Nazism
Hemispheric Defense Zone
 British Navy did not have enough ships to stop German U-Boats from patrolling the
Atlantic Ocean
 Hemispheric Defense Zone
 Western half of the Atlantic Ocean was part of the Western Hemisphere = Neutral


Atlantic Charter
 Agreement between America and Britain to post-war relationship

 Non-aggression

 Economic Advancement
 Freedom of the Seas
 15 anti-Axis (Germany, Italy) nations signed Atlantic Charter
 FDR pledged to force an “incident” which would justify him opening hostilities
 U-Boats and American destroyers face-off in the Atlantic

Embargoes on Japan
 Britain needed all ships in Europe

 FDR helps Britain by hindering Japanese ability to seize British colonies

 1940 FDR restricts the sale of strategic materials (materials important for fighting a war)
to Japan

 Steel
 Oil

 Japan signs alliance with Germany and Italy

 Wanted China to keep Japan from gaining territory in Asia
 Failed

 Threatened British colonies
 FDR response to Japanese aggression in Asia


 Sends General MacArthur to Philippines to build-up U.S. military presence
 Japan responds to U.S. military build-up in the Philippines and oil embargo
 Planned to attack:
 British Colonies
 Dutch Colonies

