Foreign policy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration

After the US declared war in December 1941, key decisions were made at the highest level by Roosevelt, Britain's Winston Churchill and the Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin, along with their top aides.

Margaret A. Rague, argues this reduced the strength of the Court, discredited America's image as a proponent of international law, and exemplified the problems created by vesting a reservation power in the Senate.

[38] Roosevelt was especially reluctant to clash with progressive Republican senators like George Norris, Robert La Follette, Hiram Johnson, and William Borah, all of whom provided support for his domestic programs, while demanding he follow isolationism.

[39] The isolationist movement dramatically publicized its conspiracy theories in 1934-1936 through hearings by the Nye Committee of Congress, which investigated the role of business interests in pushing the United States into World War I.

[53] The United States and the League of Nations both condemned the invasion, but none of the great powers made any move to evict Japan from the region, and the Japanese appeared poised to further expand their empire.

Charles Lindbergh was the hero of the hour, and was a strong spokesman for the notion that a powerful Air Force would always protect the United States, but the Atlantic was too wide for the bombers of the day.

[85][86] Paris made an enormous effort to catch up by expanding its military budget, giving priority to aviation, standardizing its models, building new factories, and making overseas purchases.

Overcoming the opposition of Charles Lindbergh and other isolationists, Roosevelt won passage of the Neutrality Act of 1939, which allowed belligerents to purchase aircraft and other combat material from the United States, albeit only on a cash and carry basis.

Reviewer Richard S. Faulkner paraphrases Lynne Olson in arguing that, "Lindbergh was far from the simple anti-Semite and pro-Nazi dupe that the Roosevelt administration and pro-intervention press often portrayed him to be, but was rather a man whose technical and clinical mind had him convinced that Britain could not win the war and America's lack of military preparedness meant that intervention was immoral, illogical, and suicidal.

Roosevelt maintained tight personal control of all major diplomatic and military decisions, working closely with his generals and admirals, the war and Navy departments, Churchill and the British, and even with the Soviet Union.

[130] He stated, "if Great Britain goes down, the Axis Powers will control the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia, and the high seas–and they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against this hemisphere.

A key part of this strategy was to ensure that Britain remained in the fight against Germany until the United States, potentially with the aid of other countries, could launch a land offensive into Europe.

The program planned to dramatically increase aid to the Allied nations and to prepare a force of ten million men in arms, half of whom would be ready for deployment abroad in 1943.

Hitler needed to devote all his military resources to his invasion of the Soviet Union, and Roosevelt wanted to build up public support for an aggressive policy to control the North Atlantic.

[153] Following the attack, Congress amended the Neutrality Act to allow American merchant ships to transport war supplies to Britain, effectively repealing the last provision of the cash and carry policy.

At Tojo's insistence, Japan moved to take control of lightly defended European colonies in Southeast Asia, which provided important resources as well as a conduit of supply to Chinese forces.

In July, Japan took control of southern French Indochina, which provided a potential staging ground for an attack on British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, with their rich oil fields.

No Japanese leader saw the total defeat of the United States as a feasible outcome, but many hoped that a decisive naval victory would convince the Americans to leave control of the Pacific to Japan.

In November, Nomura made a final offer, asking for reopened trade and acceptance of the Japanese campaign in China in return for Japan's pledge not to attack Southeast Asia.

[168] He and his military advisers implemented a war strategy with the objectives of halting the German advances in the Soviet Union and in North Africa; launching an invasion of western Europe with the aim of crushing Nazi Germany between two fronts; and saving China and defeating Japan.

The recipients provided bases and supplies to American forces on their own soil; this was referred informally as "Reverse Lend Lease," and the combined total of this aid came to approximately $7.8 billion overall.

[203] The cracking of the German Enigma code, along with the construction and deployment of American naval escorts and maritime patrol aircraft helped give the Allied Powers the upper hand in the Battle of the Atlantic after 1942.

[206] General Carl Andrew Spaatz re-directed U.S. strategic bombing efforts to focus on the German aircraft production facilities, and the Allies enjoyed air superiority in Europe after February 1944.

The cooperation with Darlan allowed the Allies to quickly gain control of much of North Africa, but it also alienated Free French leader Charles de Gaulle and other opponents of the Vichy regime.

Darlan was assassinated in December 1942, while Vichy France broke relations with the United States and requested that German forces prevent the Allies from gaining control of French Tunisia.

[224] The demand for unconditional surrender was calculated to reassure the Soviets, who were still insisting on an immediate attack on German-occupied France, that the United States would not seek a negotiated peace with Germany.

[238] After sweeping across Maritime Southeast Asia in the months following Pearl Harbor, Japan looked to further expand its territory, taking control of the Solomon Islands and parts of New Guinea.

[259] He did not push for the immediate evacuation of Soviet Red Army soldiers from Poland, but he did win the issuance of the Declaration on Liberated Europe, which promised free elections in countries that had been occupied by Germany.

[265] In a broad sense, Roosevelt believed that the UN could solve the minor problems and provide the chief mechanism to resolve any major Issues that arose among the great powers, all of whom had a veto.

The Big Four of the United States, Britain, Soviet Union and China would make the major decisions, with France added later to provide permanent members of the all-powerful Security Council.