Against immediate evil : American internationalists and the four freedoms on the eve of World War II / / Andrew Johnstone

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910820751603321
• Autore: Johnstone Andrew (Andrew E.)
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Ithaca : , : Cornell University Press, , 2014
• ISBN: 0-8014-5472-7; 0-8014-5473-5
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (240 p.)
• Disciplina: 327.73009/04
• Soggetti: Internationalism - History - 20th century; Neutrality - United States - History - 20th century; Public opinion - United States - History - 20th century; United States Foreign relations 1933-1945 Public opinion
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: The Sino-Japanese War and the American Committee for Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression -- The coming of war and the American Union for Concerted Peace Efforts -- The phony war and the Non-Partisan Committee for Peace through Revision of the Neutrality Law -- Blitzkrieg and the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies -- The destroyer bases agreement and the Century group -- Maximum aid and the battle for Lend-Lease -- Deliver the goods and Fight for Freedom -- The Battle of the Atlantic from Barbarossa to Pearl Harbor.
• Sommario/riassunto: In Against Immediate Evil, Andrew Johnstone tells the story of how internationalist Americans worked between 1938 and 1941 to convince the U.S. government and the American public of the need to stem the rising global tide of fascist aggression. As war approached, the internationalist movement attempted to arouse the nation in order to defeat noninterventionism at home and fascism overseas. Johnstone's examination of this movement undermines the common belief that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor wrenched an isolationist United States into global armed conflict and the struggle for international power.Johnstone focuses on three organizations-the American Committee for ; Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression, the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, and Fight For Freedom-that actively promoted a more global role for the United States based on a conception of the "four freedoms" later made famous by FDR. The desire to be free from fear was seen in concerns regarding America's immediate national security. The desire to be free from want was expressed in anxieties over the nation's future economic prosperity. The need for freedom of speech was represented in concerns over the potential loss of political freedoms. Finally, the need for freedom of worship was seen in the emphasis on religious freedoms and broader fears about the future of Western civilization. These groups and their supporters among the public and within the government characterized the growing global conflict as one between two distinct worlds and in doing so, set the tone of American foreign policy for decades to come.