The United States Position on the Military Assistance to Great Britain at the Beginning of the World War II (1939 – 1941)

Abstract

The article examines the problem of relations between the two leading countries of the world – Great Britain and the United States, which had a significant impact on the international political situation in the world in 1939–1941, and still have nowadays. As a vector of research, the author used the factor of American military aid to the British governments of N. Chamberlain and W. Churchill to fight against Nazi Germany. According to this, the author aimed to conduct a comprehensive analysis and his own assessment of the United States’ position on providing Britain with the necessary weapons and ammunition at the beginning of World War II. During the research the author used a comparative-historical method to analyze various factors influencing the US position on military assistance to London, a problem-chronological method to present the material in chronological order, and a statistical – to analyze the attitude of ordinary Americans on important decisions of the Roosevelt administration. That allowed the author to analyze and rethink the evolution of the United States’ position on Britain in the problem of providing military aid regarding the current geopolitical situation. The author works out that under the necessity of supporting London with various types of weapons, armament and ammunition to fight against Hitler’s regime the United States significantly changed the principles of its foreign policy – from “isolationism” in 1939 to its cancellation in the late 1941. At the same time, according to the author, this process was caused by a number of factors, including both the “isolationist” opposition in Congress and the Roosevelt administration’s gradual understanding of the Nazi regime threat to the security of the United States.