Why did American public opinion move away from isolationism in 1940-41?
Upvote:0
By 1940 and 1941 a couple of important fireside chats (e.g. explanation of land-lease) by FDR and speeches by Winston Churchill (e.g. give us the tools) probably had made some impact. In any case, by December of 1941 Pearl Harbor was the key event which perhaps would have turned the tide under any circumstances (see also wars following 9/11).
Upvote:7
Americans turned away from isolationism as events brought the war "home" to Americans. The bombing of Pearl Harbor (followed by Hitler's declaration of war) were the last steps in removing the isolationism.
Until the fall of France, the war was seen as another "European" war, not a world war. Washington (and others) had warned against American entanglements in such wars. Germany seemed to be on the wrong end of the three-cornered fight with England and France that seemed sure (based on the World War I experience), to last a long time. This taught America that it could get in late in the war (if necessary).
When France fell, America started to wake up, because there was some chance that Germany could walk away with all the marbles. For instance, if the British fleet surrendered intact, it would be as powerful as the American fleet because of the 5-5-3 ratio of the Washington naval conference. And the combined fleets of Germany (35% of Britain's or 1.70), plus Japan (who had overbuilt her "3" would be a second fleet the equal of America's. Americans were somewhat relieved when Germany lost the Battle of Britain, and a chance for a monopoly of airpower in Europe.
During 1941, naval actions in the Atlantic reminded Americans of much the Monroe Doctrine had implicitly relied on the British Fleet. This included the sinking of the Bismarck, Germany's super-battleship in May. In the fall, a torpedo attack by a submarine on the American destroyer Greer, brought about President Roosevelt's "shoot on sight" order http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Greer_(DD-145) This was followed by the sinking of the destroyer Reuben James by German submarines, which escalated tensions further (The German navy undertook these actions against the express orders of Hitler.)
By the end of 1941, the American people had gotten "used" to the idea of their involvement in a war that had basically been forced upon them.
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