QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION (WEEK 7)

What was the Atlantic Charter? What were its limitations? How did the discussions at the 1943 Tehran conference conflict with the Atlantic Charter?

The years immediately preceding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor included fierce debates between isolationists and interventionists. In what ways did the American commitment to the European war escalate from 1939 to 1941? What did FDR mean by the United States becoming “the great arsenal of democracy”?

In what ways did the United States try to contain Japanese expansionism before December 1941? Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? What was its effect on the question of American intervention?

How did the American need to fight a multi-front war (i.e., with theaters in Europe and in Asia) affect the British-American alliance and the military strategy against Germany? What was the status of France during the war? What sort of assistance did the Soviet Union begin requesting of the United States in 1942? What was the result?

How did the internal dynamics of the Chinese civil war affect World War II? How did the United States respond strategically to the Chinese situation?