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 want to happen,

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of 1937, which embargoed arms to belligerent nations, was repealed, and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.