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{{Short description|Slogan of Roosevelt in World War II}}
{{inuse|for=|until 12:00 PM 4/21/06 for RFC on ]}}
{{About|the speech|the video game|Arsenal of Democracy (video game)}}
] of December 29, 1940, is carved into the stone of the ].]]


"'''Arsenal of Democracy'''" was the central phrase used by U.S. President ] in a ] on the threat to national security, delivered on December 29, 1940—nearly a year before the United States entered the ] (1939–1945). Roosevelt promised to help the ] fight ] by selling them military supplies while the United States stayed out of the actual fighting. The president announced that intent a year before the ] (7 December 1941), at a time when Germany had ] and ].
<!-------- Assert while invited people have a chance to get around - this is a holiday weekend in the US FREEZED until 4/21/06 --->
<!--- ---- see ongoing RFC on Talk if this is news -- no determination has been made to even keep this article!!! user:fabartus --->
{{wikisource|Roosevelt's Fireside Chat, 29 December 1940}}
] giving an address.]]
The "'''Arsenal of Democracy'''" is one of the most famous of 30 "]" broadcast on the ] by ] ]. It was read on ], ].


Nazi Germany was allied with ] and the ] (the ]). At the time, Germany and the ] had signed a non-aggression treaty under the ], and had jointly effected the ], a '']'' deal that remained effective until ], the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, in 1941.
The ] was a disguised ] of the U.S. population as well as the obvious topic, "a call to arm and support" both ] and to a lesser extent ]'s ] in their respective struggles against the ]s. At the time it was broadcast the ] were busily waging successful war on less capable ]s as the last days of the ] era came to a close, and that scaring experience still preoccupied the ] despite ''Foreign News''.


Roosevelt's address was a call to arms for supporting the ] in Europe, and, to a lesser extent, the ], in total war against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. "The great arsenal of democracy" came to specifically refer to the industry of the U.S., as the primary supplier of material for the Allied war effort.
In terms of ], the speech is frequently seen as the "next step" in a several stage process in awakening a somnolent, inward-looking country that had been ] and self-absorbed ] for the preceding two decades. While the ] seemed strong and was widely percieved to guarantee the ] safe from Axis aggressions&ndash; the ] numbered barely two hundred and fifty thousand ]s and ] men as the ] came to a close &ndash; the ''foreign wars'' off in ], ], and ] (]) seemed of little importance to the average American still reeling from the horrors of the depression.


"Arsenal of democracy" refers to the collective efforts of American industry in supporting the Allies, which efforts tended to be concentrated in the established industrial centers of the U.S., such as ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ], among other cities.<ref name=":0">Hooks, Gregory and Leonard E. Bloomquist. "The Legacy of World War II for Regional Growth and Decline: The Cumulative Effects of Wartime Investments on U.S. Manufacturing, 1947–1972". ''Social Forces'', Vol. 71, No. 2 (Dec.,1992), pp. 303–337. Note: See especially the discussion surrounding the table on page 308.</ref>
This was one of several speeches and measures given by Roosevelt to awaken and mobilize America to the very real dangers of being too inward focused.


==Origins of the phrase==
==Time line of key preceding international events==
In 1918, ] executive Herbert S. Houston analyzed ] with an article titled "Blocking New Wars". He wrote that American business was the "Protector of Democracy" while the American ] was "one of the most effective weapons in the arsenal of democracy."<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LWkoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA364 |page=364 |title=Blocking New Wars |last=Houston |first=Herbert S. |journal=The Furniture Worker |date=October 1918}}</ref>
This timeline presents the key saliant news experienced by those who later heard the call to arms of this speech by ]. The shear speed of the events and the large number of them is necessary to properly appreciate the climate of the times, and the historiocity of the speech to a generally dis-engaged, ], and isolationist leaning nation that was galvanized by it's occurrence into the performances in ] and ] that unquestionably reshaped the world events thereafter.


Writing in German, ] used the expression "arsenal of democracy" on April 30, 1928, in his newspaper ] (The Attack) to refer to using democratic institutions against themselves: "We enter the Reichstag to use the arsenal of democracy in order to assault it with its own weapons."<ref>{{cite book |last=Ryback |first=Timothy W. |author-link= |date=2024 |title=Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power |url= |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |page=114 |isbn=}}</ref>
===1938 events===
*] &mdash; ] creates the ] (High Command of the Armed Forces), giving him direct control of the German military.
*] &mdash; ] takes dictatorial powers
*] &mdash; Chancellor ] of ] meets ] at ] and, under threat of invasion, is forced to yield to German demands for greater ] participation in the Austrian government.
*] ] &mdash; Sudeten German leader ] offered the ''Sudeten-German Party'' (SdP) as the agent for Hitler's campaign to annex 'more-German' parts of ] during a meeting with ] in ], and was instructed to raise demands unacceptable to the Czechoslovak government lead by president ].
*] &mdash; the ] recognizes ]'s government in ]
*] &mdash; bombing of ], ], in the ], with 313 dead.
*]&ndash;] &mdash; ] (better known as Gypsies) in ] and ] are rounded up, beaten up and jailed. Similar ] arrests are also made in the ] over a long period.
*] &mdash; the ] is signed into law, forming the ] in the ]. This lead to a rapid expansion of numbers of US ]s and better organized airports&mdash; both would be of great aid in the war to come.
*July &mdash; building began of the ] ].
*General key event in September to October &mdash; Hitler's plans to gather the German race bear fruit in Czechoslovakia creating a ]wide crisis over German demands for annexation of ], a provincial border region of newly formed ].
*]
**] declared in ]
**Italian mathematician ] disappears.
*September
**construction begun on the ] ] near ].
**] is named as ]'s "Man of the Year" (as most influential during the course of the year, not as best man of the year).
*] &mdash; ] of German, Italian, British, and French leaders agree to German demands regarding annexation of ], Churchill scorns the action calling it shameful <!--- Check Need better cite than memory user: fabartus ---> to avoid war with Germany.
*] &mdash; German troops march into ], invading ].
*] &mdash; ], president of ], resigns leaving the burgeoning Nazi empire with another coup.
*] &mdash; ]'s puppet government begins in Czechoslovakia establishing the ] and for a time ending ]. See Main article: ].
*] &mdash; event seen in retrospect as the end the ]: In an effort to try restore investor confidence, the ] unveils a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public.
*] &mdash; in ], ]&ndash; the "night of broken glass" &ndash; begins as ] troops and sympathizers loot and burn ]ish businesses (the all-night affair saw 7,500 Jewish businesses destroyed, 267 ]s burned, 91 Jews killed, and at least 25,000 Jewish men arrested).
*] &mdash; ] members elect ] as the first president of the ], the ] of the influential evolutionary ].
*] &mdash; the Czech parliament elects ] as the new president of Czechoslovakia.


The concept of America as an actual arsenal came from the American playwright ], who was quoted in the May 12, 1940 '']'' as saying "this country is already, in effect, an arsenal for the democratic Allies."<ref name=NYT>Gould, Jack (May 12, 1940). The Broadway Stage Has Its First War Play. ''The New York Times''. Quoting Robert Emmet Sherwood, "this country is already, in effect, an arsenal for the democratic Allies."</ref> Although the French economist ] had used the phrase later in 1940, he was urged by ] not to use it again so Roosevelt could make use of it in his speeches.<ref name=Time>Robinson, Charles K. (October 13, 1961) . Retrieved on June 6, 2008.</ref><ref>Jean Monnet, ''Memoirs'' (London: Collins, 1978), p. 160.</ref> Franklin Roosevelt has since been credited with the phrase.<ref>Barnett, Richard. 1983. ''The Alliance: America, Europe, Japan, Makers of the Postwar World''.</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2018}} The phrase was suggested by top Roosevelt advisor ]. Yet another account has it that Roosevelt borrowed the phrase from Detroit auto executive ], who was tapped by Roosevelt to lead the United States' war material production efforts.<ref>Herman, Arthur. "The Arsenal of Democracy: How Detroit turned industrial might into military power during World War II." ''The Detroit News''. 3 Jan 2013. {{cite web|url=http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130103/OPINION01/301030336 |title=The Arsenal of Democracy &#124; the Detroit News |access-date=2013-08-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828141002/http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130103/OPINION01/301030336 |archive-date=2013-08-28 }}</ref>
===1939 events===


==Synopsis==
Ongoing events:
{{listen
*] (1936&ndash;1939)
|title=Fireside Chat on National Security.
*] (]&ndash;])
|filename=Franklin D. Roosevelt - December 29, 1940 - On the "Arsenal of Democracy".ogg
*] in the ] (started 1936)
|description =]'s December 29, 1940 speech on the "Arsenal of Democracy".
|image=]
}}


Much of the ending of the speech attempted to dispel complacency. Roosevelt laid out the situation, and then pointed out the flaws in ]. He mentioned that "Some of us like to believe that even if Britain falls, we are still safe, because of the broad expanse of the ] and of the ]."
*] &mdash; ]: troops loyal to ] and aided by ] take ].


]
*] &mdash; ] joins ] against the communists.


He refuted this by saying that modern technology had effectively reduced the distances across those oceans, allowing even for "planes that could fly from the ] to ] and back again without refueling."
*] &mdash; troops of the ], an authoritarian political party, take ] helping Franco to a position of control in most of ].
*] &mdash; ] and ] recognize Franco's government.


After establishing the danger, the president then proceeded to request action from the people. He acknowledged a telegram he had received. He refuted its message, which he summarized as "Please, Mr. President, don't frighten us by telling us the facts." The central fact he felt Americans must grasp was the geopolitical ]: "If Great Britain goes down, the Axis powers will control the continents of Europe, Asia, ], ], and the ]—and they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against this hemisphere."
*] &mdash; ] becomes ]


He then continued to describe the situation in Europe, punctuating his remarks with warnings of how the Nazis would use the same tactics in the Western Hemisphere, and giving vivid imagery such as "The fate of these nations tells us what it means to live at the point of a Nazi gun." Roosevelt attacked the British prewar policy of "]," calling it ineffective. Listing prior examples given by European countries, he said it was futile.
*] &mdash; ] provincial assembly proclaims independence - Monsignor ] becomes the president of independent Slovak government, a Nazi puppet state.


The only solution was to assist Britain ("the spearhead of resistance to world conquest") while it was still possible.
*] &mdash; German troops occupy the remaining part of ] and ]; ] ceases to exist; beginning hostilities leading to ]


While not explicitly pledging to stay out of the war, he stated that "our national policy is not directed toward war," and argued that helping Britain now would save Americans from having to fight. "You can, therefore, nail–nail any talk about sending armies to Europe as deliberate untruth." Europe does "not ask us to do their fighting. They ask us for the implements of war, the planes, the tanks, the guns, the freighters which will enable them to fight for their liberty and for our security. Emphatically we must get these weapons to them, get them to them in sufficient volume and quickly enough, so that we and our children will be saved the agony and suffering of war which others have had to endure."
*] &mdash; Germany takes port of ] from ].


He urged this to change, all the while stressing that open war would not hurt the country: "the strength of this nation shall not be diluted by the failure of the Government to protect the economic well-being of its citizens." He focused on that theme of "splendid cooperation between the Government and ]" for several paragraphs, cited how American labor would make an impact in the combat zones, and noted how important the ] of ]s and ]s is to being strong, as a nation.
*] &mdash; Franco conquers ], ending the Spanish Civil War, and marking another victory in the ascendancy of authoritarian regimes.


He warned against ]s, saying, "The nation expects our defense industries to continue operation without interruption by ] or ]. It expects and insists that management and workers will reconcile their differences by voluntary or legal means."
*March &mdash; end of the ] in the ] (started 1936)


Roosevelt stressed that it was not the American government but the American people who had the power to turn the tide of the war. It was here that he used the phrase "arsenal of democracy": "We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war." Finally he reassured the American people: "I believe that the Axis powers are not going to win this war."
*] &mdash; ] Italy invades ] on the Adriatic coast of the Balkans; ] flees.


==Impact==
*] &mdash; ] leaves the ].
]]]


The speech reflected the American approach to entry into World War II. It marked the decline of the ] and ] doctrine that had dominated ] ] since the United States' involvement in ]. At the time, while the ] appeared strong and was widely thought to guarantee the ] would be safe from invasion, there were only 458,365 non-] ] personnel on ]—259,028 in the ], 160,997 in the Navy, and 28,345 in the ]. By the next year, that number had nearly quadrupled, with 1,801,101 total military personnel—1,462,315 in the Army, 284,437 in the Navy, and 54,359 in the Marine Corps.<ref>"." ''Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, Part 2'' (Bicentennial Edition). September 1975. ].</ref>
*] &mdash; Spain leaves the League of Nations.


Previous policies such as the ] had already begun to be replaced by intensified assistance to the Allies, including the ] in 1939 and ] in September 1940. The ] program began in March 1941, several months after the Arsenal of Democracy address. After the ] in December 1941—less than a year after the Arsenal of Democracy address—the United States entered the war.
*] &mdash; Germany and Italy sign the ].


==United States armament manufacturers==
*] &mdash; ] annexes ] (Syria)
The spending on military production was distributed 32% for aircraft, 14.8% for ships, 25.6% for ordnance (guns, ammunition and military vehicles), 4.9% for electronics, and the remaining 22.7% for fuels, clothing, construction materials, and food. Note that production costs fell steadily—the same item cost much less to produce in 1945 than in 1942. The largest United States military prime contractors are listed below in order of the total value of munitions produced from June 1940 through September 1944.<ref>] & ] ''The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis'' (1962) ] pp.108–109 & 619–620</ref> These large firms produced many different items; the aircraft companies assembled parts made by thousands of firms.
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
# ], trucks, tanks, aircraft parts
# ], aircraft engines
# ], trucks, aircraft
# ], aircraft
# ], aircraft
# ], aircraft parts
# ], ships
# ], tanks, electronics, trucks
# ], electrical parts, engines
# ], aircraft
# ], aircraft
# ], aircraft
# ], telephones
# ], aircraft
# ], chemicals, ammunition, atomic bomb parts
# ], steel
# ], aircraft parts
# ], aircraft engines
# ], electronics
# ], ships
# ], parts
# ], aircraft
# ], ships
# ], aircraft
# ], aircraft
# ], ships
# ], parts
# ], trucks
# ], warships
# ], tires
# ], gasoline & oil
# ], aircraft parts
# ], trucks
# ], tanks
# ], ammunition
# ], tanks
# ], rubber parts
# ], aircraft parts
# ], gasoline & oil
# ], tanks
# ], tanks
# ], ships, incendiary bombs
# ], radios
# ], tanks
# ], parts
{{div col end}}


== See also ==
]]]


* ]
*] &mdash; he ] at ], a forced slave-labor enterprise devoted to producing bricks, becomes autonomous from the ].


==Notes==
*] &mdash; the last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed.
{{Reflist|2}}


==References and further reading==
*] &mdash; ] writes to President Roosevelt about developing the ] using ]. This led to the creation of the ].
* (2013)


* Hyde, Charles K. ''Arsenal of Democracy: The American Automobile Industry in World War II''. (Wayne State UP, 2013). {{ISBN|978-0-81-433951-0}}
*] &mdash; the ] planning occurs, wherein Hitler and Stalin divide eastern Europe between themselves in a summit meeting. ], the ] and eastern ] to the ]. Western Poland to Germany (See the: ])
* Jordan, Jonathan W. ''American Warlords: How Roosevelt's High Command Led America to Victory in World War II'' (NAL/Caliber 2015).
* Kennedy, David M. ''Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945''. 1999. pp 468–69. {{ISBN|978-0-19-514403-1}}
* Klein, Maury. ''A call to arms: Mobilizing America for World War II'' (Bloomsbury, 2013).


*
*] &mdash; an ] bomb explodes in the centre of ], ], killing five people.
* ]


==External links==
*] &mdash; Poland begins ] after finally heeding intellegence of the massing of troops on the German border.
{{commons}}
{{wiktionary|arsenal of democracy}}
* ; comprehensive summary, by company
{{Franklin D. Roosevelt}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Arsenal Of Democracy}}
*] &mdash; World War II begins, with the ]; Nazi Germany attacks Poland, unveiling for the first time the ] techniques of "lightning war" &mdash; the '']''. This was the beginning the war which would spread to include all quadrants of the planet.
]

]
*] &mdash; following the invasion of Poland, ] (now ], Poland) is annexed to Germany.
]

]
*] &mdash; France, the United Kingdom, and Australia declare war on Germany.
]

]
*] &mdash; Roosevelt's fireside chat "On the European War".
]

*] &mdash; the United States declares its neutrality in the war.

*] &mdash; ], one of the ], declares war on Germany.

*] &mdash; ], one of the Commonwealth realms, declares war on Germany.

*] &mdash; cease-fire ending the undeclared ] between the ] (and its ]n allies) and ].

*] &mdash; the Soviet Union invades Poland, and occupies eastern Polish territories.

*] &mdash; ] surrenders to Germany; ] surrenders a day later; the last Polish large operational unit surrenders near ] eight days later.

*] &mdash; Germany annexes Western Poland.

*] &mdash; U.S. President Roosevelt is presented with a letter signed by Albert Einstein urging the United States to develop the atomic bomb quickly.

*] &mdash; Roosevelt orders the ] to implement the ], allowing cash-and-carry purchases of ]s by belligerents.

*] &mdash; ], the codename for a German action against scientists from the ] and other ] universities at the beginning of ].

*] &mdash; in ], Hitler narrowly escapes an assassination attempt while celebrating the sixteenth anniversary of the ].

*] &mdash; the ] begins: Soviet forces attack Finland and reach the ], starting the war.

*] &mdash; the League of Nations expels the USSR because of its attack on Finland.

===1940 events===
The year began with Hitler's Nazi Regime and Stalin's USSR seemingly allies and both nations in conflicts of expansion against weaker neighboring ]. Britain and it's Empire stood along side France against the Nazi aggression, and it was widely believed that once the allies were prepared, they'd knock Germany's armed forces into disarray and force ] to renounce his aquisitions. This prelude to unprecedented international shocks is now known as the ]. The term has cognates in many other languages, notably the ] ''Sitzkrieg'' ("sitting war," a ] on '']''), the ] ''drôle de guerre'' (''funny war'' or ''strange war'') and the ] ''dziwna wojna'' ("strange war"). In Britain the period was even referred to as the ''Bore War'' (a pun on '']'').

===1940 ongoing events===
*] (]-])
*] (] - ]).

*] - ]: ] - ] assumes control of all war industries in ].

*] - ]: ] - General ] takes command of all Russian forces.

*] - ]: ] - Russian 44th Assault Division destroyed by Finnish forces in ].
*] - ] - Parliament dissolved and election called for ].

*] - ]: ] - Russian forces launch major assault on Finnish troops on the ].

*] - ] - ] destroyer ''Cossack'' pursues ] freighter ''Altmark'' into ] in southwestern ], resulting in freedom for 290 ] sailors and seamen held as prisoners.

*] - In Sweden, a ] destroys the office of '']'' newspaper of ] ] - 5 dead

*]- Members of Soviet politburo: ], ], ], ], ] and ], signed an order, prepared by Beria, for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs. The action is known as the ].

*] - ] and ] sign a peace treaty in ] ending the ]. Finns, and world opinion, shocked by the harsh terms.

*] - ]: ] - ] and ] meet at ] in the ] and agree to form an alliance against ] and the ].

*] ] resigns as prime minister of France. He is replaced by ].

*] - fireside chat on National Defense
*] - Prime minister of ], ], shoots himself - initial official explanation is "]"

*] - ] becomes the first ] to be depicted on a ] ].

*] - ]: ] invades ] and ] in operation ''].'' The ] is simultaneously commenced.

*] - The ] were occupied by British troops following the invasion of ] by ]. This action was taken to avert a possible German occupation of the islands, which would have had very grave consequences for the course of the ].

*] - Opening day at Jamaica Racetrack features the use of pari-mutuel betting equipment, a departure from bookmaking heretofore used exclusively throughout New York state. Other NY tracks follow suit later in 1940.

*] - ] with the ] &mdash; ] forces invaded ] and ] proving the superior operational docterine of ] in its first real test against an enemy that was both numerically superior and better equipped. The rapid advance of the German forces leaves the allied forces reeling in disarray and within days, the government falls in the ].

*May 10 - ]: ] invaded by the ] to protect it from Nazi occupation. Also, with the resignation of ], ] becomes ].

*] - ], in his first address as Prime Minister, tells the ], "I have nothing to offer you but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."

*] - ]: German armies open 60-mile wide breach in ] at ].

*] - ] of the ] and her government flee to ]; ] subjected to savage terror bombing by the ] - 980 killed, 20,000 buildings destroyed.

*] - ]: Recruitment begins in ] for a home defense force (]) - the ], later known as the ], a non-traditional approach from the time of ].

*] - ]: ] surrenders.

*] - U.S. President ], addressing a joint session of ], asks for an extraordinary credit of approximately $900 million to finance construction of at least 50,000 airplanes per year.

*] - Marshal ] named vice-premier of ].

*] - General ] replaces ] as commander-in-chief of all ] forces.

*] - ]: ] forces, under General ], reach the ]. ]: concentration and death camp, ] opens in ].
*] - ] - British Parliament passes Emergency Powers Act giving the government full control over all persons and property.
*] - ]: ] of ] starts.
*] - ]: ] surrenders.
*] - ] warns the ] to, "...prepare itself for hard and heavy tidings."

*] - ]: ] ends - ] forces complete evacuating 300,000 troops from ] in ].

In ], heavy fighting took place around Dunkirk during the German invasion in ], but a lull in the action unexpectedly allowed a large number of French and British soldiers to escape to England. 338,226 men were evacuated amidst constant bombing (the ''miracle of Dunkirk'', as ] called it). The British evacuation of Dunkirk through the English Canal was codenamed ]. During the war, Dunkirk was largely destroyed by bombing.
] far to the north where the forces were surrounded, as opposed to the later and more relaxed ] area of operation June 17-24th.]]

*] - World War II: The ] are created.
*] - World War II: ] declares ] on ] and the ].
*June 10 - World War II: U.S. President ] denounces Italy's actions with speech from the graduation ceremonies of the ].
*June 10 - World War II: ] declares war on ].
*June 10 - World War II: ] surrenders to ] forces.
*] - ]: French government flees to ].
*] - World War II: 13,000 ] and ] troops surrender to ] ] at ].
*] - ]: ] is declared an ].
*] - ]: French government flees to ].
*] - World War II: ] falls under ] occupation.

*June 14 - World War II: U.S. President ] signs the ] into law which aims to increase the ]'s tonnage by 11 %.

*June 14 - ]: A group of 728 ] political prisoners from ] become the first residents of the ].

*] - ]: ] falls to ] forces.

*] - ] becomes ] of ] and immediately asks ] for peace terms.

*] - The three ]s of ], ] and ] fall under the occupation of the ].

].]]
* ]&mdash;] - ]: ] evacuates the balance of ] troops from tottering ], following ]'s takeover of ] and most of the nation.

*June 17 - ]: ] ] bomber sinks British ship '']'', that was evacuating troops from near ], ]. Death toll is over 2500. Wartime censorship prevents the story going public.

*] - ] speaks to the ]: "...the ] is over. The ] is about to begin."

*] - General ] broadcasts from ], calling on all French people to continue the fight against ] ]: "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war."

*] - ]: ] and ] sign armistice at ] in the same wagon-lit railroad car used by Marshal ] to accept the surrender of ] in ].

*] - World War II: ] leader ] surveys newly defeated ] in now occupied ].

*] - ]: ] signs armistice terms with ].

*] - General ] is officially recognized by ] as "Leader of all ]men, wherever they may be".

*] - ]: ] forces land in ] marking the start of the 5-year ], a British possession.

*] - ]: ], generally considered a puppet regime of the Nazis', officially begins operations with a constitutional law where only ] voted against.

*] - U.S. politics: ] begins its national convention in ] and nominates ] for an unprecedented third term as president.

*] - ]: ] makes peace appeal to ] in an address to the ].

*] in a reply on broadcast radio, ], British foreign minister, flatly rejects peace terms, citing the abysmal record of the Nazi regime at keeping international agreements.

*], 1940 Soviet Union annexes Baltic country ].
*], 1940 Soviet Union annexes Baltic country ].
*], 1940 Soviet Union annexes Baltic country ].

*] - ] pays tribute in the ] to the ] for work in the ]. Speech Key words: ''"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."''

*] - ] (previously a National Guard Division in ], ], ], and ]), activated and ordered into federal service for one year to engage in a training program in Ft. Sill and Louisiana prior to serving in ].

*] - ]: Historic ] agreement between ] and ] announced, virtually giving fifty U.S. destroyers to the ] much needed for ] escort work during the earliest desperate days of the years-long ]. In return, the ] gains ''99-year leases'' on various British bases in and around the ], including in the ] and ]. These would be useful when the ] overtly joined the '']'', prior to actual war with Germany, and thereafter.

*] - ]: ] loses Southern ] to ].

*September 7 - ]: Beginning of ] a cultural landmark in the ] when ] begins to rain bombs on ] in an attempt to bomb the UK into submission. This will be the first of 57 consecutive nights of ] as Hitler was preoccupied with his warplans against the ], and desired to make peace with Britain, as he had hoped and planned since the ].

*] - ]: ] signed into law by ], creating the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.

*] - ]: ], ] and ] sign secret ] forming the ] driving world events during the balance of the war.
*] - AA World War II: Battle of Britain - During a nighttime air raid by the ] ], ] is pierced by a bomb; Musician ] is born during an air-raid in ], ].
*] - ]: Draft registration of approximately 16 million men begins in the ].

*] - World War II: ] invades ].

*] - ]: ] lottery held in ].
*] - World War II: ] ends - The ] prevents ] from invading ] in this epic air battle, and Germany turns military efforts to the east to the hated ] abandoning plans for a cross-channel invasion of the ].
*] - ]: ] incumbent ] defeats ] challenger ] and becomes the ]' first and only three-term president, which he later bettered with a fourth elective term in the presidential elections of ].

*] - ]: ] - The ] launches the first ] strike in history, on the ] fleet at ]. This serves as the planning feasibility study for the more famous later attack by the ] on ].

*November 11 - World War II: The ] ] (cruiser) '']'' captures ] ] mail, and sends it to ]
*] - ]: In ], the city of ] is destroyed by 500 ] ] bombers (150,000 ]s, 503 tons of high explosives, 130 parachute mines leveled 60,000 of the city's 75,000 buildings; 568 people were killed).

*] - World War II: In response to ] leveling ] two days before, the ] begins to bomb ] (by war's end, 50,000 Hamburg residents died from ] attacks).

*] - World War II: ] leader ] and ] Foreign Minister ] meet to discuss ]'s disastrous invasion of ].

*] - World War II: ], ] and ] join the ].

*] - In ], coup leader General ]'s Iron Guard arrests and executes over 60 of exiled king ]'s aides. Among the dead is former minister and acclaimed historian ].

*November 27 - World War II: ] and ] fight the ].

*] & ] - World War II: The "]". The ] is badly damaged by German air-raids.
*] - ], in a ] to the nation, declares that the ] must become "...the great arsenal of Democracy."

==The Speech, 29 December 1940==
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{{wikisource|Roosevelt's Fireside Chat, 29 December 1940}}

==Before America enters the war==
This is the resulting time line of key events up to the entry of the ] into what then became known as ] in December ].
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Latest revision as of 17:28, 9 December 2024

Slogan of Roosevelt in World War II This article is about the speech. For the video game, see Arsenal of Democracy (video game).
The "Arsenal of Democracy" quotation from Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chat of December 29, 1940, is carved into the stone of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.

"Arsenal of Democracy" was the central phrase used by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a radio broadcast on the threat to national security, delivered on December 29, 1940—nearly a year before the United States entered the Second World War (1939–1945). Roosevelt promised to help the United Kingdom fight Nazi Germany by selling them military supplies while the United States stayed out of the actual fighting. The president announced that intent a year before the Attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941), at a time when Germany had occupied much of Europe and threatened Britain.

Nazi Germany was allied with Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan (the Axis powers). At the time, Germany and the Soviet Union had signed a non-aggression treaty under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and had jointly effected the Invasion of Poland (1939), a Realpolitik deal that remained effective until Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, in 1941.

Roosevelt's address was a call to arms for supporting the Allies in Europe, and, to a lesser extent, the Republic of China, in total war against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. "The great arsenal of democracy" came to specifically refer to the industry of the U.S., as the primary supplier of material for the Allied war effort.

"Arsenal of democracy" refers to the collective efforts of American industry in supporting the Allies, which efforts tended to be concentrated in the established industrial centers of the U.S., such as Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Rochester, Chicago, New York, and Pittsburgh, among other cities.

Origins of the phrase

In 1918, Doubleday executive Herbert S. Houston analyzed World War I with an article titled "Blocking New Wars". He wrote that American business was the "Protector of Democracy" while the American free press was "one of the most effective weapons in the arsenal of democracy."

Writing in German, Joseph Goebbels used the expression "arsenal of democracy" on April 30, 1928, in his newspaper Der Angriff (The Attack) to refer to using democratic institutions against themselves: "We enter the Reichstag to use the arsenal of democracy in order to assault it with its own weapons."

The concept of America as an actual arsenal came from the American playwright Robert E. Sherwood, who was quoted in the May 12, 1940 New York Times as saying "this country is already, in effect, an arsenal for the democratic Allies." Although the French economist Jean Monnet had used the phrase later in 1940, he was urged by Felix Frankfurter not to use it again so Roosevelt could make use of it in his speeches. Franklin Roosevelt has since been credited with the phrase. The phrase was suggested by top Roosevelt advisor Harry Hopkins. Yet another account has it that Roosevelt borrowed the phrase from Detroit auto executive William S. Knudsen, who was tapped by Roosevelt to lead the United States' war material production efforts.

Synopsis

Fireside Chat on National Security. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's December 29, 1940 speech on the "Arsenal of Democracy".
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Much of the ending of the speech attempted to dispel complacency. Roosevelt laid out the situation, and then pointed out the flaws in United States isolationism. He mentioned that "Some of us like to believe that even if Britain falls, we are still safe, because of the broad expanse of the Atlantic and of the Pacific."

"Some of us like to believe that even if Britain falls, we are still safe, because of the broad expanse of the Atlantic and of the Pacific..."

He refuted this by saying that modern technology had effectively reduced the distances across those oceans, allowing even for "planes that could fly from the British Isles to New England and back again without refueling."

After establishing the danger, the president then proceeded to request action from the people. He acknowledged a telegram he had received. He refuted its message, which he summarized as "Please, Mr. President, don't frighten us by telling us the facts." The central fact he felt Americans must grasp was the geopolitical Heartland theory: "If Great Britain goes down, the Axis powers will control the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia, and the high seas—and they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against this hemisphere."

He then continued to describe the situation in Europe, punctuating his remarks with warnings of how the Nazis would use the same tactics in the Western Hemisphere, and giving vivid imagery such as "The fate of these nations tells us what it means to live at the point of a Nazi gun." Roosevelt attacked the British prewar policy of "appeasement," calling it ineffective. Listing prior examples given by European countries, he said it was futile.

The only solution was to assist Britain ("the spearhead of resistance to world conquest") while it was still possible.

While not explicitly pledging to stay out of the war, he stated that "our national policy is not directed toward war," and argued that helping Britain now would save Americans from having to fight. "You can, therefore, nail–nail any talk about sending armies to Europe as deliberate untruth." Europe does "not ask us to do their fighting. They ask us for the implements of war, the planes, the tanks, the guns, the freighters which will enable them to fight for their liberty and for our security. Emphatically we must get these weapons to them, get them to them in sufficient volume and quickly enough, so that we and our children will be saved the agony and suffering of war which others have had to endure."

He urged this to change, all the while stressing that open war would not hurt the country: "the strength of this nation shall not be diluted by the failure of the Government to protect the economic well-being of its citizens." He focused on that theme of "splendid cooperation between the Government and industry and labor" for several paragraphs, cited how American labor would make an impact in the combat zones, and noted how important the manufacture of weapons and vehicles is to being strong, as a nation.

He warned against labor disputes, saying, "The nation expects our defense industries to continue operation without interruption by strikes or lockouts. It expects and insists that management and workers will reconcile their differences by voluntary or legal means."

Roosevelt stressed that it was not the American government but the American people who had the power to turn the tide of the war. It was here that he used the phrase "arsenal of democracy": "We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war." Finally he reassured the American people: "I believe that the Axis powers are not going to win this war."

Impact

The Arsenal of Democracy exhibit at the Michigan History Museum

The speech reflected the American approach to entry into World War II. It marked the decline of the isolationist and non-interventionist doctrine that had dominated interwar U.S. foreign policy since the United States' involvement in World War I. At the time, while the United States Navy appeared strong and was widely thought to guarantee the Western Hemisphere would be safe from invasion, there were only 458,365 non-Coast Guard military personnel on active duty—259,028 in the Army, 160,997 in the Navy, and 28,345 in the Marine Corps. By the next year, that number had nearly quadrupled, with 1,801,101 total military personnel—1,462,315 in the Army, 284,437 in the Navy, and 54,359 in the Marine Corps.

Previous policies such as the Neutrality Acts had already begun to be replaced by intensified assistance to the Allies, including the cash and carry policy in 1939 and Destroyers for Bases Agreement in September 1940. The Lend-Lease program began in March 1941, several months after the Arsenal of Democracy address. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941—less than a year after the Arsenal of Democracy address—the United States entered the war.

United States armament manufacturers

The spending on military production was distributed 32% for aircraft, 14.8% for ships, 25.6% for ordnance (guns, ammunition and military vehicles), 4.9% for electronics, and the remaining 22.7% for fuels, clothing, construction materials, and food. Note that production costs fell steadily—the same item cost much less to produce in 1945 than in 1942. The largest United States military prime contractors are listed below in order of the total value of munitions produced from June 1940 through September 1944. These large firms produced many different items; the aircraft companies assembled parts made by thousands of firms.

  1. General Motors, trucks, tanks, aircraft parts
  2. Curtiss-Wright, aircraft engines
  3. Ford Motor Company, trucks, aircraft
  4. Convair, aircraft
  5. Douglas Aircraft Company, aircraft
  6. United Aircraft, aircraft parts
  7. Bethlehem Steel, ships
  8. Chrysler, tanks, electronics, trucks
  9. General Electric, electrical parts, engines
  10. Lockheed Corporation, aircraft
  11. North American Aviation, aircraft
  12. Boeing, aircraft
  13. AT&T Corporation, telephones
  14. Glenn L. Martin Company, aircraft
  15. DuPont, chemicals, ammunition, atomic bomb parts
  16. U.S. Steel, steel
  17. Bendix Aviation, aircraft parts
  18. Packard, aircraft engines
  19. Sperry Corporation, electronics
  20. Kaiser Shipyards, ships
  21. Westinghouse Electric Company, parts
  22. Grumman, aircraft
  23. Newport News Shipbuilding, ships
  24. Republic Aviation, aircraft
  25. Bell Aircraft, aircraft
  26. Todd Shipyards, ships
  27. Nash-Kelvinator, parts
  28. Studebaker, trucks
  29. Consolidated Steel Corporation, warships
  30. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, tires
  31. Esso, gasoline & oil
  32. Avco, aircraft parts
  33. International Harvester, trucks
  34. American Locomotive Company, tanks
  35. Western Cartridge Company, ammunition
  36. American Car and Foundry Company, tanks
  37. United States Rubber Company, rubber parts
  38. Continental Motors, Inc., aircraft parts
  39. Sunoco, gasoline & oil
  40. Baldwin Locomotive Works, tanks
  41. Pressed Steel Car Company, tanks
  42. Permanente Metals, ships, incendiary bombs
  43. RCA, radios
  44. Caterpillar Inc., tanks
  45. Allis-Chalmers, parts

See also

Notes

  1. Hooks, Gregory and Leonard E. Bloomquist. "The Legacy of World War II for Regional Growth and Decline: The Cumulative Effects of Wartime Investments on U.S. Manufacturing, 1947–1972". Social Forces, Vol. 71, No. 2 (Dec.,1992), pp. 303–337. Note: See especially the discussion surrounding the table on page 308.
  2. Houston, Herbert S. (October 1918). "Blocking New Wars". The Furniture Worker: 364.
  3. Ryback, Timothy W. (2024). Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 114.
  4. Gould, Jack (May 12, 1940). The Broadway Stage Has Its First War Play. The New York Times. Quoting Robert Emmet Sherwood, "this country is already, in effect, an arsenal for the democratic Allies."
  5. Robinson, Charles K. (October 13, 1961) Time. Retrieved on June 6, 2008.
  6. Jean Monnet, Memoirs (London: Collins, 1978), p. 160.
  7. Barnett, Richard. 1983. The Alliance: America, Europe, Japan, Makers of the Postwar World.
  8. Herman, Arthur. "The Arsenal of Democracy: How Detroit turned industrial might into military power during World War II." The Detroit News. 3 Jan 2013. "The Arsenal of Democracy | the Detroit News". Archived from the original on 2013-08-28. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  9. "Series Y 904-916: Military Personnel on Active Duty: 1789 to 1970." Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, Part 2 (Bicentennial Edition). September 1975. United States Census Bureau.
  10. Peck, Merton J. & Scherer, Frederic M. The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis (1962) Harvard Business School pp.108–109 & 619–620

References and further reading

  • Hyde, Charles K. Arsenal of Democracy: The American Automobile Industry in World War II. (Wayne State UP, 2013). ISBN 978-0-81-433951-0
  • Jordan, Jonathan W. American Warlords: How Roosevelt's High Command Led America to Victory in World War II (NAL/Caliber 2015).
  • Kennedy, David M. Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945. 1999. pp 468–69. ISBN 978-0-19-514403-1
  • Klein, Maury. A call to arms: Mobilizing America for World War II (Bloomsbury, 2013).

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