Fascism Essay, Research Paper
?President Roosevelt recognized the dangers
of fascism early and did all that he could, under the circumstances, to
lead the nation away form a policy of isolationism.? When the war
broke out, there was no way that the world could possibly know the severity
of it. Fortunately, one country saw and understood that Germany and
its allies would have to be stopped. America?s involvement in World
War II not only contributed to the eventual downfall of the insane Adolph
Hitler and his Third Reich, but it also came that the precise time and
moment. Had the United States entered the war any earlier, the consequences
could have been worse. There are several different incidents where
President Roosevelt showed this philosophy through some of his actions.
The Munich agreement is the first of many
instances where Roosevelt and the issue of isolationism are tested.
It started as a conference on September 29, with Eduard Daladier from France,
Neville Chamberlain from England, Mussolini from Italy, and Hitler in attendance.
The agreement that was eventually signed by France, Germany, Great Britain,
and Germany ?stipulated that the evacuation of the Sutedenland will begin
on October 1st and be completed by October 10th.? (Lipson, 408) Chamberlain
thought that he had achieved peace, ?but the Agreement quickly became a
symbol of the western powers? appeasement to Hitler.? (Internet)
?Hitler gained all that he had asked for, and Chamberlain went home deluded
into believing he had purchased peace.? (Sulzberger, 50) The British
people didn?t like this agreement too much, feeling that they had ?surrendered
to the threat of force.? (Lipson, 408) Hitler said at that conference
that Rhineland would be the last place that he would invade. This
was, in fact, a complete lie. It was his eventual invasion of Poland
in 1939 that brought upon the full-scale war.
As the problems increased in Europe, people
were afraid that the whole problem would wind up spreading over to the
United States. This was the last thing that we would
having just come out of the depression and all. The Neutrality Act
of 1937, which embargoed arms to belligerent nations, was repealed, and
?arms exports were put on a ?cash and carry? basis, to the advantage of
the Allies, who controlled the seas.? (Sulzberger, 134) This was
declared by the Neutrality Act of 1939. It basically said European
democracies could purchase American materials, only on the account that
they pay cash and transport them on their own ships. This act basically
removed us from the neutral position, and put us in on the side of the
Allies.
The Destroyers for Bases Deal was another
way that Roosevelt removed the United States from neutrality. The
U.S. took the initiative to help the British out on September 3, 1939,
?when fifty overage destroyers were transferred to England, in return for
American rights to build bases in British possessions in the Caribbean
and the western Atlantic.? (Sulzberger, 134) The destroyers that
were traded to the British were old World War I types, ?but still able
to fight Nazi U-boats.? (Sulzberger, 134) The U.S. was back into
a corner when Churchill told Roosevelt ?the perilous position which the
United States would occupy if British resistance collapsed and Hitler became
master of Europe, with all its dockyards and navies.? (Churchill,
107) With that thought in mind, Roosevelt basically had no choice
but to aid the Allies in their time of war. If Hitler gained control
of Europe, his power would eventually spread to all other parts of the
world.
Roosevelt was backed into a corner with
all of these conditions, and he really had no choice but to initially aid
the Allies, and eventually fight on their side. Hitler in control
would have caused many problems, and it was the last thing that the world
needed. He was an insane person that had no place in control of anything,
let alone a country. He managed to condition the people that he led
into doing what he wanted them to do, and they did it without questioning
him, for fear of death.