Undeclared War in the Atlantic American History Thesis

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Undeclared War in the Atlantic

American History

America's move to escort convoys into the Atlantic meant America was ready to enter undeclared naval war with Germany during World War II, and yet these very actions have been subject of many criticisms. That is, many claimed it happened because during the time of this war, the Roosevelt administration did not establish clear defense tactics that would have defended the U.S. during war. The United States may have been a sitting duck until a time when it was attacked. Some claim the U.S. security was deeply influenced by what was going on elsewhere in the world. For example, if Britain were to crumble under the weight of war, then the Axis powers would essential control the resources of the entire Old World. The New World would then be living in war. This paper discusses more about the United States' undeclared war against the Atlantic. It analyses the undeclared war as the United States' defenses against the possible threat of war against Europe. It also reviews the possibility that many believe that it was an action the United States' purposefully to take the U.S. into war with the Axis powers, as a strategic tool toward defeating the Axis powers and Germany's U-boat strategy.

Overview

In September of 1939 President Roosevelt sought support from the Allies although constrained by the Neutrality acts from entering the war in the Atlantic (Kershaw, 2007). President Roosevelt initiated efforts to enter the war against the Nazis only after learning Britain would defy Germany; following this Roosevelt made plans to ship war material and prepared plans for what became the Lend Lease deal (Kershaw, 2007; Bailey & Ryan, 1979). This assisted in financing the British war effort. By the In April of 1941 what had previously been a 300-mile Western Hemisphere Security Zone was extended to include Greenland and the Azores (Kershaw, 2007). Thus, the U.S. navy became authorized to escort British convoys, essentially entering "undeclared war" with Germany in the North Atlantic (Bailey & Ryan, 1979; Kershaw, 2007).

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Because the Red-Sea was no longer on the list of forbidden combat zones, lend-lease supplies could now reach the British through this route via North Africa. By the end of 1940, America's defense program was well-established and supplies were going to Great Britain. However, by this time, the British were no longer able to pay cash for the war materials they needed. So, President Franklin Roosevelt presented a plan to Congress, wherein he proposed the Lend-Lease bill that would provide large-scale aid to the British and other Allies. In 1941 this bill passed and became a law. Congress funded it with seven billion dollars for materials to go to Allies (Peterson et al., 2009). This act was seen as almost an unofficial declaration of war against the Axis powers, and it strengthened the unwritten alliance between Britain and the United States. At the same time, the Nazi submarines heightened their attacks on British ships in the North Atlantic to stop American supplies from reaching Great Britain. Roosevelt ordered naval vessels to support the British with submarine patrols in the Atlantic.

Many incidents followed; these included the Niblank incident on April 11 when this U.S. destroyer fired charges on the German U-boat, considered the first action by a U.S. Navy vessel beginning the undeclared naval war (Kershaw, 2007). Following this the U.S. navy began observation patrols in the Security Zone. Next, a German U-boat sunk the U.S. freighter Robin Moor on May 21st (Bailey & Ryan, 1979; Kershaw, 2007). Hitler then ordered Donitz's U-boats to avoid U.S. warships; these orders were followed. U-boats were not able to attack their most dangerous enemies following this however, because British and Canadian vessels often intermingled with U.S. (Kershaw, 2007). warships. Thus, German U-boats were forced to endure attacks passively without the ability to….....

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