232 a short history of the united states
on September 28 , 1938 , and agreed to the dismemberment of Czecho-
slo vakia. Chamberlain returned to Britain believing he had a guarantee
of “peace in our time.”
It is interesting but useless to contemplate what might have hap-
pened had Britain and France together stood up to Hitler and chal-
lenged his foreign adventures. But they feared provoking another world
war, so they remained silent, which only encouraged further assaults on
the peace and stability of Europe.
In the United States there was a feeling that this country should re-
main aloof from any involvement in European affairs. America’s prior-
ity was achieving economic recovery, not “seeking monsters in the
world to destroy.” There were organized peace efforts around the coun-
try, reminding the nation’s leaders that the electorate opposed war and
any entanglement with Europe. The spirit of isolationism still per-
sisted, and the message was clearly understood in Washington.
Then the situation suddenly changed. Hitler invaded Poland on Sep-
tember 1 , 1939 , and Britain and France declared war against Germany
two days later. Stalin attacked Poland on September 17 as part of his
agreement with Hitler, and on September 29 these two vultures parti-
tioned that hapless country. Stalin then invaded Finland on November
30. To everyone’s surprise, the Soviet Union could not defeat and absorb
Finland, and so a peace treaty was signed between the two countries on
March 12 , 1940. Meanwhile Roo sevelt called Congress into special ses-
sion on September 21 , 1939 , and asked that the arms embargo of the
Neutrality Act of 1937 , which forbade the sale of U.S. armaments to bel-
ligerent nations, be repealed so that Britain and France could purchase
military equipment from America. The danger of this spreading confl a-
gration in Europe had become so acute that Congress acceded to FDR’s
request and passed the Neutrality Act of 1939 , by which it authorized
“cash and carry” purchases of arms and munitions to belligerents.
A quiet period in the European war followed, as Hitler prepared for
a spring offensive. Newspapers called it the “phony war.” Then, suddenly,
on April 10 , 1940 , fighting burst out in explosive violence as Germany
launched a blitzkrieg, or lightning war, in which tanks, dive-bombers,
airborne troops, and motorized infantry raced across neutral countries
and overran Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and
France. British troops in France were hurriedly evacuated from the port