HIS CH 16-4A AMERICA PREPARES

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Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

The United States Musters Its Forces

As German tanks thundered across Poland, Roosevelt issued an official proclamation of neutrality as required by the Neutrality Acts. At the same time, he began to prepare the nation for the struggle he feared lay just ahead.

MOVING CAUTIOUSLY AWAY FROM NEUTRALITY

On September 8, 1939, Roosevelt announced that he was calling a special session of Congress to revise the Neutrality Acts. When Congress met two weeks later, the president asked for a "cash-and-carry" provision, which would permit nations to buy American arms as long as they paid cash and carried the goods home in their own ships. Providing the arms that would help France and Britain defeat Hitler, Roosevelt argued, was the best way to keep America out of the war.

Isolationists in Congress, such as Senator Arthur Vandenberg, argued just the opposite, however. "I do not believe that we can become an arsenal for one belligerent without becoming a target for another," Vandenberg said. After six weeks of heated debate, Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1939, and cash and- carry went into effect .

Why did Roosevelt ask Congress to revise the Neutrality Act?

a.	so the U.S. could profit from increased arms sales	c.	so he could remain neutral but restricting sales of arms to European countries
b.	so he could help France and England with military weapons	d.	so he could help the Soviet Union with weapons

What did the “Cash and Carry provision of the Lend Lease act say?

a.	if nations that bought arms did not have cash to pay the U.S. would carry them until they could pay	c.	nations had to pay cash for the arms and carry them in United States ships so the U.S. could make additional profit.
b.	nations had to pay cash for the arms and carry them to Europe in their own ships	d.	Cash and carry did not mean any of these things

THE AXIS THREAT

Over the next few months, America's cash-and-carry policy began to look like too little, too late. By the summer of 1940, France had fallen and Britain was under siege by the German Luftwaffe. Then, in September, Americans were jolted by the news that Japan, Germany, and Italy had signed a mutual defense treaty, the Tripartite Pact. The three nations became known as the Axis powers.

The Tripartite Pact was clearly aimed at keeping the United States out of the war. Under the treaty, each Axis nation agreed to come to the defense of the others in case of attack. This meant that if the United States were to declare war on any one of the Axis powers, it would face its worst military nightmare-a two-ocean war, with fighting in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Hoping to avoid this situation, Roosevelt scrambled to provide the British with "all aid short of war." In June 1940, he sent Britain 500,000 rifles and 80,000 machine guns to help replace those lost at Dunkirk. In September, the United States traded 50 old destroyers for leases on British military bases in the Caribbean and Newfoundland. Even British prime minister Winston Churchill later called this deal "a decidedly unneutral act."

Which countries were part of the Tripartite (Axis) powers?

a.	Germany, Russia, and Italy	c.	Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan
b.	Germany, Russia and Turkey	d.	Japan, Germany and Italy

In 1940 England was he only country left in Europe that Germany had not conquered. Roosevelt wanted to help England but had to be careful not to provoke Germany. Why was Roosevelt being so cautious?

a.	There were many German voters in the United States and he did not want to loose their votes in the upcoming elections	c.	Roosevelt agreed with the approach that Neville Chamberlain took toward Germany, rather than the Churchill approach
b.	If the U.S. went to war with Germany it would also have to fight Russia and Roosevelt did not think we were strong enough to fight a war against the armies of both nations	d.	If the U.S. went to war with Germany it would also have to fight Japan and Roosevelt did not think we were strong enough to fight a war in the Atlantic and the Pacific

Because Roosevelt was so concerned about Germany he did nothing at all to help England in 1940

true

false

"The Great Arsenal of Democracy"

Not long after the election, President Roosevelt held another of his fireside chats on the radio. There was no hope of negotiating a peace with Hitler, he told the nation . "No man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it." He also warned that if Britain fell, the Axis powers would be left unchallenged to conquer the world, at which point, he said, "all of us in all the Americas would be living at the point of a gun." To prevent such a situation, the United States had to help defeat the Axis threat by turning itself into "the great arsenal of democracy."

THE LEND-LEASE PLAN

By late 1940, however, Britain had no more cash to spend in the arsenal of democracy. Consequently, Roosevelt suggested replacing cash-and-carry with a new plan that he called lend-lease . Under this plan, the president would lend or lease arms and other supplies to "any country whose defense was vital to the United States ."

Even though the isolationists were losing the support of the American public, they argued bitterly against lend-lease. Congress finally passed the Lend-Lease Act in 1941 and supported it with $7 billion. In all, the United States eventually spent $50 billion under the act .

Britain was not the only nation to receive lend-lease aid . On June 22, 1941, Hitler ignored his peace treaty with Stalin and invaded the Soviet Union with 3 million troops. The Fuehrer confidently predicted victory within six weeks . But the Soviets resisted fiercely. As they pulled back from the Nazi advance, they employed a scorched-earth policy, destroying everything that might be of use to the invaders . Six weeks stretched into six months. Then, as the bitter Russian winter set in, the German invasion ground to a halt.

Meanwhile, Roosevelt began sending lend-lease supplies to the Soviet Union. Some Americans opposed providing aid to Stalin . They even argued that Hitler was doing the United States a favor by attacking the Communists. But Roosevelt agreed with Winston Churchill, who once remarked that "if Hitler invaded Hell," the British would be prepared to work with the devil himself.

When Roosevelt said that the U.S. would become the Arsenal of Democracy, what did he mean?

a.	the U.S. would try to promote democracy in Germany and Japan so as to ease tensions.	c.	since the U.S. could not get involved in the war directly, we would supply the arms necessary to fight Hitler
b.	the U.S, would not take any military action because we were a democracy	d.	it meant none of these

How was Lend Lease different from Cash and Carry

a.	With Lend Lease we would lend the arms to friendly nations if they could no pay for them	c.	With Lend Lease the allies had to pay cash and carry the supplies in their own ships
b.	With Lend Lease only England would be permitted to buy arms	d.	Lend Lease and Cash and Carry were exactly the same

What did the United States do in response to the German attack on the Soviet Union?

a.	We sent supplies to the Soviet Union	c.	We sent troops to help the Soviets
b.	We ignored the German attack	d.	We sent American ships to guard the Soviet coast

Which statement is true.

a.	The Germans planned for a long war in Russia and prepared for the Russian winter.	c.	The Germans knew that the war in Russia would be a long one
b.	After initial successes, the German army got stuck and were unprepared for the Russian winter.	d.	The Germans thought it would only take them six weeks to defeat the Soviets but it took them six months

GERMAN WOLF PACKS

For lend-lease aid to be of any use to Britain and the Soviet Union, supply lines had to be kept open across the Atlantic Ocean. To prevent delivery of lend-lease shipments, Hitler deployed hundreds of German submarines-or U-boats-in the North Atlantic. There, groups of 15 to 20 submarines, known as wolf packs, searched shipping lanes for cargo ships.

During five weeks in April and May 1941, the Germans sank 1.2 million tons of British shipping. They were sinking ships faster than the British could replace them. Something had to be done to protect cargo ships, supporters of lend-lease argued. Otherwise, the United States might just as well dump its lendlease shipments into the ocean.

In June 1941, Roosevelt ordered the U.S . Navy to protect lend-lease shipments as far east as Iceland . He also gave American warships permission to attack German Uboats in self-defense.

10.

How did Roosevelt respond to attacks by the German wolf packs

a.	We sent the U.S. Navy out to attack the Germans	c.	He sent the navy to protect ships as far as Iceland and gave permission for our navy to protect itself
b.	He sent bombers to attack German ports	d.	He did nothing

THE SHOOTING BEGINS

"How near is the United States to war?" That was the question Churchill asked after his August 1941 meeting with Roosevelt. For the moment, the answer still seemed to be "not very." Then, on September 4, a German U-boat fired two torpedoes at the U.S. destroyer Greer. President Roosevelt responded with the announcement that the U.S. Navy had been ordered to fire on German ships on sight. "When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike," the president explained, "you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him. These Nazi submarines and raiders are the rattlesnakes of the Atlantic ."

Two weeks later, the Pink Star, an American merchant ship, was sunk off Greenland. Its lost cargo included machine tools, evaporated milk, and enough cheddar cheese to feed more than 3 .5 million British laborers for a week. In mid-October, the U.S . destroyer Kearny was torpedoed near Iceland and 11 lives were lost. "America has been attacked," Roosevelt announced grimly. "The shooting has started . And history has recorded who fired the first shot." A few days later, German U-boats sank the U.S . destroyer Reuben James in the same waters, killing at least 100 sailors.

As the death toll mounted, the Senate finally repealed the ban against arming merchant ships. The vote was so close, however, that Roosevelt knew that something far more dramatic than German attacks on U.S. ships would be needed to persuade Congress to declare war. Churchill knew this as well, advising his impatient war cabinet to "have patience and trust to the tide which is flowing our way, and to events."

11.

Why did the German U boats attack American cargo ships and destroyers?

a.	The Germans attacked American ships by mistake	c.	American ships were helping to supply England who was at war with Germany
b.	The Germans did not like Americans	d.	The Germans wanted to hijack the supplies being sent to Europe for their own use

12.

Which statement is true?

a.	Roosevelt was convinced that he could negotiate with the Axis power to bring peace to Europe and Asia	c.	Roosevelt wanted war with the Axis while the isolationists wanted America to become allies of the Axis
b.	Roosevelt and the isolationists were in agreement on what America should do about the Axis aggression	d.	Roosevelt was convinced that the U.S. needed to go to war with the Axis but couldn’t act because of the isolationists in Congress

13.

Who was the leader of Great Britain in the Summer of 1941?

a.	Franklin Roosevelt	c.	Winston Churchill
b.	Neville Chamberlain	d.	Sir Reinem James