Historical Question: Was the United States truly a neutral nation in 1939? 1940? 1941?
Examine how Great Britain and the United States delt with Hitler differently...
Examine how the United States became the "Arsenal of Democracy"...
Examine how WWII transformed from 1939 to 1941...
Examine how the United States transformed from isolationism to neutrality to the Lend-Lease Act...
Follow the next steps to complete the WebQuest & Exit-Slip with your group...
Step 1: Everyone needs their own sheet of notebook paper to answer the questions. You may work with your group, but you must turn in your own assignment.
Step 2: Complete the Process Page of the WebQuest
Read the document with your group (Neville Chamberlain's Declaration of War, 1939) & listen to the audio portion at the bottom of the web page. Answer the questions with your group about the document and the speech on the WebQuest
Step 3: Complete the Evaluation Page of the WebQuest
As a class listen to video of "The King's Speech Movie" on the SMARTBOARD then wih your group watch the king's war speech. Answer the question with your group about the document.
Step 4: Complete the Conclusion Page of the WebQuest
Individually listen and watch FDR's Speech to Congress to End the Embargo of Arms (1939) = plug in head phones. Read document with your group (Lend-Lease Act)
Step 5: Listen to the video on FDR and the Lend-Lease Act on the SMARTBOARD as a class
Step 6: Answer the Exit-Slip on the Teacher's Page of the WebQuest
The British Declaration of War, Chamberlain 1939
The British declaration of war against Nazi Germany came at 11.15 on September 3rd 1939. Neville Chamberlain spoke to the nation via radio. Britain had given Hitler an ultimatum to withdraw from Poland after the Germans invaded Poland on September 1st.
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"I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room at 10, Downing Street. This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government a final note stating that unless we heard from them by 11.00 a.m. that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany. You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace has failed. Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything different I could have done and that would have been more successful. Up to the very last it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful and honourable settlement between Germany and Poland, but Hitler would not have it. He had evidently made up his mind to attack Poland whatever happened; and although he now says he has put forward reasonable proposals which were rejected by the Poles, that is not a true statement.The proposals were never shown to the Poles nor to us; and although they were announced in a German broadcast on Thursday night, Hitler did not wait to make comment on them, but ordered his troops to cross the Polish frontier. His actions show convincingly that there is no chance of expecting that this man will ever give up his practice of using force to gain his will. He can only be stopped by force. We and France are today, in fulfilment of our obligations, going to the aid of Poland, who is so bravely resisting this wicked and unprovoked attack on her people. We have a clear conscience. We have done all that any country could do to establish peace. The situation in which no word given to Germany’s ruler could be trusted and no people or country could feel themselves safe has become intolerable. And now that we have resolved to finish it, I know that you will play your part with calmness and courage. At such a moment as this the assurances of support that we have received from the Empire are a source of profound encouragement to us. When I have finished speaking certain detailed announcements will be made on behalf of the Government. Give these your closest attention. The Government have made plans under which it will be possible to carry on the work of the nation in the days of stress and strain that may be ahead. But these plans need your help. You may be taking part in the fighting Services or as a volunteer in one of the branches of civil defence. If so you will report for duty in accordance with the instructions you have received. You may be engaged in work essential to the prosecution of war for the maintenance of the life of the people – in factories, in transport, in public utility concerns or in the supply of other necessaries of life. If so, it is of vital importance that you should carry on with your jobs. Now may God bless you all. May He defend the right. It is the evil things that we shall be fighting against – brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution – and against them I am certain that the right will prevail." |
QUESTIONS:
1) Neville Chamberlain is often blamed for his policy of appeasement and allowing Hitler to grow stronger rather than stand up to him. Who does Chamberlain blame in this speech?
2) What must Britain and the rest of Europe now do?
Rather than Chamberlain, Great Britain and the world turned to stronger leadership in the form of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Prince Albert who will become King Edward VI. Interestingly, Prince Albert overcame a speech impediment to deliver one of the most important speeches ever and a speecht that marks the beginning of WWII and fight against the Nazis.
As a class watch the movie trailer of "The King's Speech" and then as a group watch the film's version of his war speech...
3) How was king's speech on the war different than Chamberlain's announcement of war?
Although the United States was isolationist and had passed the Neutrality Acts, President FDR believed that the United States should aid their ally of Great Britain against Hitler and the Nazis.
With your group watch the following video clip and than answer...
4) How was FDR trying to help Great Britain by 1939?
With your group, read the modified primary document of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941...
Lend Lease Act = Section 3, Article A
Date: 1941
Background/Annotation: The Lend Lease Act of 1941.
As early as 1935, Roosevelt had come to realize that Hitler represented a threat to Western civilization. Yet the American public was strongly isolationist. Over the next six years, Roosevelt schemed to supply aid to the British and French. Many of his most influential advisers were against him. They argued that arms for the Europeans meant fewer arms for Americans.
Roosevelt responded to the European war by issuing a proclamation of neutrality. At the same time, he took a number of steps designed to help Britain. He pushed a fourth Neutrality Act through Congress, which permitted belligerents to purchase war materials, provided that they paid cash and carried the goods away in their own ships. This act aided the British because Britain controlled the Atlantic's sea lanes. In September 1940, he persuaded Congress to pass the first peacetime draft in American history and signed an executive agreement with Great Britain, transferring 50 destroyers in exchange for 99-year leases on eight British bases in the Western Hemisphere.
The European war dominated the election of 1940. During the campaign, Republican candidate Wendell Willkie charged Roosevelt with maneuvering the United States into the European war. Roosevelt was called a warmonger by Charles Lindbergh and the powerful labor leader John L. Lewis. On the eve of the election, Roosevelt responded, offering these reassuring words to American parents: "I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars." Running for an unprecedented third term, Roosevelt easily defeated Willkie, receiving 449 electoral votes to the Republican candidate's 82 votes.
After the election, Churchill informed Roosevelt that Britain could no longer afford to purchase war supplies. The president responded by persuading Congress to replace "cash-and-carry" with "Lend-Lease," which gave the president authority to sell, exchange, lend, or lease war materiel to any country whose defense was vital to U.S. security. In November 1941, President Roosevelt offered lend-lease aid to the Soviet Union, which had been invaded by Germany in June 1941. Meanwhile, the American navy began to signal the location of German submarines to British destroyers.
Document: Lend Lease Act 11 March 1941
Sec. 3. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the President may, from time to time. when he deems it in the interest of national defense, authorize the Secretary Of War, the Secretary of the Navy, or the bead of any other department or agency of the Government -
(1) To manufacture in arsenals, factories, and shipyards under their jurisdiction, or otherwise procure, to the extent to which funds are made available therefore, or contracts are authorized from time to time by the Congress, or both, any defense article for the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States.
(2) To sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government any defense article, but no defense article not manufactured or procured under paragraph (1) shall in any way be disposed of under this paragraph, except after consultation with the Chief of Staff of the Army or the Chief of Naval Operations of the Navy, or both. The value of defense articles disposed of in any way under authority of this paragraph, and procured from funds heretofore appropriated, shall not exceed $1,300,000,000. The value of such defense articles shall be determined by the head of the department or agency concerned or such other department, agency or officer as shall be designated in the manner provided in the rules and regulations issued hereunder. Defense articles procured from funds hereafter appropriated to any department or agency of the Government, other than from funds authorized to he appropriated under this Act. shall not be disposed of in any way under authority of this paragraph except to the extent hereafter authorized by the Congress in the Acts appropriating such funds or otherwise.
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EXIT-SLIP =
How did Great Britain and the United States both evolve in 1939-1941? (Consider their positions before the beginning of WWII). Did Britain deserve the name "Fighters of Freedom" and the United States the name the "Arsenal of Democracy"?