USA and international relations: extent of isolationism; FDR and end of isolationism and Second World War
After the First World War, the USA deliberately stayed out of world affairs. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gradually reversed this, pulling the USA into the Second World War by 1941.
Real World
Roosevelt's Lend-Lease Act of March 1941 sent $50 billion worth of war materials to Britain and the USSR — effectively ending neutrality nine months before Pearl Harbor officially brought the USA into the war.
Exam Focus
Trace isolationism's decline in stages: Neutrality Acts (1935–37) → Lend-Lease (1941) → Pearl Harbor — this chronological precision earns marks on causation questions.
Essay Framework
Use PEEL to structure every paragraph. Tap each step for guidance and an example.
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