188: World War II in Europe & The American Response (1939–40): Isolationism vs. Arsenal of Democracy

“I have said not once but many times that I have seen war and that I hate war. … I hope the United States will keep out of this war. I believe that it will.” This is the story of the first year of WWII in the European theater and the United States’ response.  Since the days of President George Washington, the United States has largely held to George Washington’s and Thomas Jefferson’s counsel to avoid “interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe,” and to have “entangling alliances with none.” The nation has dismantled its military built up during the Great War, and many regret ever being a part of it. Then Adolf Hitler invades Poland. Britain and France, realizing the Führer will never stop, declare war and brace for impact. President FDR reassures Americans: the US remains neutral.  That said, the “cash-and-carry” policy soon expands to allow the Allies to purchase US munitions, and as the brief pause known as the “Phoney War” gives way to Nazi Germany’s overr...