Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

164 • LONDON NAVAL CONFERENCE
United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt in December 1940
received a letter from Prime Minister Winston Churchill explaining
that Britain required vast amounts of aid if it were to carry on the
fight against Germany. Roosevelt responded by telling his constituents
on 17 December that America should lease Britain those materials
necessary to win its struggle for survival against Germany. As
he explained, “they would be more useful to the defense of the
United States if they were used in Great Britain than if they were kept
in storage here.” Then, in one of his famed “fireside chats,” Roosevelt
on 29 December denounced the “unholy alliance” of Germany,
Italy, and Japan, on the grounds that it sought to “dominate and enslave
the entire human race.” Maintaining that the United States was
the “arsenal of democracy,” he called on the American people to
“support the nations defending themselves against the Axis.” Then,
on 10 January 1941, the Roosevelt administration officially made the
proposal that resulted in the Lend Lease Act of 11 March 1941.
Much as Roosevelt had anticipated, it sparked intensive debate. Domestic
critics of Lend Lease charged that it paved the way to American
involvement in war—and added that Roosevelt sought nothing
less than dictatorial powers—while proponents countered that it offered
the best protection so long as the United States remained a nonbelligerent.
Opponents forced the administration to make several
changes to the proposal, although in its final form the Lend Lease Act
empowered the president to make available to “any country whose defense
the president deems vital to the defense of the United States”
any “defense article,” any service, or any “defense information.”
The Roosevelt administration decided in early July 1941 to establish
in China a military advisory corps, whose principal duty was
overseeing the implementation of the lend-lease program. The message
to Tokyo was clear: the United States was acting as China’s de
facto ally in that nation’s war against Japan.
LONDON NAVAL CONFERENCE (1930). The London Naval Conference
convened from 21 January to 22 April 1930, with delegates
from the United States, Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy in attendance.
The conference’s principal aim was to reach an agreement
limiting auxiliary naval vessels, an aim that had informed the failed
Geneva Naval Conference of 1927.