Thursday, March 13th

What did Mussolini do before ww2 breaking out?

He was an ardent socialist, but was expelled by the party for his support of World War I. In 1919, he created the Fascist Party, making himself dictator and holding all the power in Italy

Was part of PSI(Italian Socialist Party) and was expelled from it because he didn’t want to be neutral in WW1.

Organized a para-military unit known as the "Black Shirts" which was a fascist armed squad in Italy during WW1 and throughout WW2.. March 23rd, 1923

Mussolini allied with Hitler. Mussolini needed Hitler to get out of bad situations and help him when he was losing war.

Was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party.

The first Neutrality Act.

Events in Europe and Asia indicated that a new world war might erupt.
U.S. Congress took action to enforce U.S. neutrality.
August 31, 1935 congress passed the first Neutrality Act. This act prohibited the exports of ‘’Arms,ammunition, and implements of war’’ from the United Stated to foreign nations at war.
This required arms manufacturers in the U.S. to apply for an export license.
American citizens traveling in war zones were also advised that they traveled at their own risk.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt originally opposed the legislation, but in the face of strong Congressional and public opinion relented.
February 29,1936 congress renewed the Act until May of 1937, they prohibited Americans from extending any loans to belligerent nations.

Neutrality Act of 1937
Belligerent-Hostile or aggressive

Embargo-an official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular country.

With the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and the rising of fascism in Europe increased support for extending and expanding the Neutrality Act of 1937.
U.S. citizens were forbidden from traveling on belligerent ships, and American merchant ships were prevented from transporting arms to belligerents even if those arms were produced outside of the U.S. under this law.
The act gave the President the authority to bar all belligerent ships from the U.S. waters.
The act also gave the President the authority to extend and export embargo to any additional ‘articles or materials’.
Civil wars would also fall under the terms of the Act.
One important concession to Roosevelt was Belligerent nations were allowed,
At the discretion of the President to acquire any items except arms from the United States as long as they paid for them immediately.
Once they were paid for they had to be carried on non-american ships(‘’Cash-and-carry’’)
Roosevelt had engineered it’s inclusion as a deliberate way to assist Great Britain and France in any war against the Axis Powers(they were the only countries that had both the hard currency and ships to make use of the ‘’cash-and-carry.’’
The rest of the Act which was permanent. but this provision was set to expire after two years.

Neutrality Act of 1939

Congress rebuffed Roosevelt's attempt to renew ‘’cash-and-carry’’ and expand it to include arms sales.
The war was spreading into Europe and Roosevelts chances of expanding’’Cash-and-Carry’’ increased
In November of 1939 Congress passed the final Neutrality Act.
The act lifted the arms embargo, and put all trade with belligerent nations under the terms of ‘’cash-and-carry’’
The ban on loans stayed in effect and American ships were barred from transporting goods.

End of Neutrality Policy:

The end of neutrality policy came with the Lend-Lease Act of March 1941, which allowed the U.S. to sell, lend or give war materials to nations the administration wanted to support.
After repeated attacks by German submarines on U.S. ships, Roosevelt announced on 11 September 1941 that he had ordered the U.S. Navy to attack German and Italian war vessels in the "waters which we deem necessary for our defense".

Things the United States did that got us closer to war prior to Pearl Harbor:

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