Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928) 15 nations dedicated to outlawing aggression and war as tools of foreign policy. 62 nations signed. However, they had no means of actual enforcement and gave Americans a false sense of security.
- FDR persuades Congress in special session to allow the US to aid European democracies in a limited way
- The US could sell weapons to the European democracies on a “cash-and-carry” basis
- FDR was authorized to proclaim danger zones which US ships and citizens could not enter
- America became the arsenal of democracy
The “Arsenal of Democracy”
- Lend-Lease Act (March 1941)
- Seven billion dollars to Britain, extended to USSR after German invasion in June 1941
- Battle of Atlantic (1941)
- German U-Boats sank millions of tons of shipping; secret meetings between US and Britain decided that if the US entered the war - the defeat of German would take precedence
- Atlantic Charter
- Joint statement with Great Britain of their war aims that called for self-determination, free trade, and freedom of the seas, equal access to raw materials, and a new system of collective security.