The World Takes Advantage of American Isolationism | BETWEEN 2 WARS | 1933 part 3 of 3 - YouTube (2)
back by the non-interventionists. He can only issue a public condemnation of the Japanese.
But this is a turning point. The Japanese are not playing games and Roosevelt knows
it. A second Vinson-Trammel act in 1938 aims to beef up the army by 20%, and the Two-Ocean
Navy act creates plans that could increase the US Navy by 70% by 1940.
Yet at this time it still seems unlikely that they will ever be used. The US remain fiercely
isolationist. In August 1935, the Congress passes its first neutrality act, banning all
export of arms and munitions to belligerent nations. Roosevelt is not in favor of this.
See, this restricts him so he cannot aid friendly countries like France and Britain if they're
in need, and he even considers vetoing it. But when Mussolini invades Abyssinia, FDR
wants to prevent Italy from getting American arms, which prompts him to sign the act after
all. The law also specifies that US citizens who
are traveling to belligerent nations do so at their own risk and that they cannot expect
the US to intervene on their behalf. In early 1936, the act is renewed for another 14 months
and expanded by banning loans and credit lines to belligerent nations. Later amendments even
ban all American citizens from traveling on belligerent ships and forbid US ships from
transporting any arms at all. There are some backdoors though, through which allied nations
can be supported. Belligerent nations are allowed to buy American materials "not considered
to be an implement of war", like food and oil, provided they are exclusively using their
own ships and paying with cash on location. This is clearly meant for Britain and France,
who have the money and can safely cross the Atlantic at will. This is the' cash-and-carry'
system that I talked about on our World War Two channel, and at least gives Roosevelt
some cards to play with.
With a clever maneuver, Roosevelt prevents Japan from using the 'Cash and Carry' provision
in the Second Sino-Japanese War. This is considered partisan by FDR's political enemies, who fear
that Roosevelt is taking sides in a foreign conflict with god knows what agenda. When
the cash-and-carry provision's term expires in early 1939, Congress blocks its renewal, even after
the German annexation of Czechoslovakia and the outbreak of war in September. It isn't
until November 1939, when US public opinion begins to sway towards the Allies, that FDR
can renew and expand the cash-and-carry provision. From then on, the cash-and-carry provision
will include all materials, including the 'war materials' that weren't allowed under
the Neutrality Acts of 1935 and Cash and Carry act of 1937.
You could argue that US neutrality ended for all practical purposes in 1937, when the cash-and-carry
provision was introduced, designed by Roosevelt specifically to aid France and the UK. Roosevelt
is starting to pave the way for a US intervention on the Allied side in case of war. However,
years of pacifism, isolationism and non-interventionism had caused the US Navy and Army to lag behind.
Japan, Germany and Italy already start remilitarizing in the early 1930s, and after Japan begins
to wage war in 1931 and again in 1937, they find themselves virtually unopposed by other
major powers. The Japanese horizon gradually expands, and new lands in the pacific seem
up for grabs. Who would even dare to stop them? The US? Well, the US is not ready for
that, and it will have to make a considerable effort if it will ever stand a chance to maintain
dominion of its Pacific Interest. But in 1933, pretty much everyone feels that Japan is land
far, far away form any US harbor, right?
If you'd like to know more about how the US turned away from the world right after
the First World War, check out our first episode about US isolationism right here. Our Patron
of the week is Torstein Fjukstad. Do like Torstein and join the TimeGhost army at patreon.com
or timeghost.tv. Subscribe, click the bell…
And as conservative pundit Stephen Colbert once said: ‘If our Founding Fathers wanted
us to care about the rest of the world, they wouldn't have declared their independence
from it.'
