Allied Leaders of World War Two/Roosevelt, Part 3
"FDR As War Leader/Part 1"
By the late 1930s, with America still suffering from the Great Depression, Roosevelt, in tune with the sentiments of many Americans, was not inclined to get the country directly involved in overseas military actions, although the Japanese had shown aggressiveness in Asia since the days of Herbert Hoover's presidency, and China and Japan were at war in 1937. Several nations, including America, helped China by providing loans to buy war goods, and the "American Volunteer Group," known more famously as "the Flying Tigers," provided China with air support, while gaining valuable combat experience, although the unit did not actually see combat until Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. The U.S. and other nations also implemented an escalating embargo against Japan beginning in 1940, with the U.S. and Britain cutting off trade by mid 1941. It is important to remember that at that time, Hitler occupied much of Europe and had invaded the Soviet Union, and Japan had developed increasingly close ties to Hitler and Mussolini. The trade embargo heightened tensions between the United States and Japan, although negotiations between the two countries continued up until the surprise Japanese attack on American naval forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (then an American territory, not a state). The attack brought Roosevelt to Congress the next day to ask for a declaration of war against Japan; something Congress passed, with only one "No" vote, cast by a Republican congresswoman from Montana.
WORD HISTORY:
Meal-English has two words "meal," this is the one meaning "ground grain." It traces back to Indo European "mele," which meant "to grind." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "melwan," which meant "to grind," and the derived noun form "melwa," which meant "meal" (the result of grinding grain). This gave Old English "melu," which then became "mele," before the modern spelling. Common in the other Germaic languages: German and Low German Saxon have "Mehl," some Low German dialects have "Mäl," West Frisian has "moal," Dutch has "meel," Swedish has "mjöl" (Icelandic uses this same word, but now only in compounds), Danish and Norwegian have "mel."
By the late 1930s, with America still suffering from the Great Depression, Roosevelt, in tune with the sentiments of many Americans, was not inclined to get the country directly involved in overseas military actions, although the Japanese had shown aggressiveness in Asia since the days of Herbert Hoover's presidency, and China and Japan were at war in 1937. Several nations, including America, helped China by providing loans to buy war goods, and the "American Volunteer Group," known more famously as "the Flying Tigers," provided China with air support, while gaining valuable combat experience, although the unit did not actually see combat until Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. The U.S. and other nations also implemented an escalating embargo against Japan beginning in 1940, with the U.S. and Britain cutting off trade by mid 1941. It is important to remember that at that time, Hitler occupied much of Europe and had invaded the Soviet Union, and Japan had developed increasingly close ties to Hitler and Mussolini. The trade embargo heightened tensions between the United States and Japan, although negotiations between the two countries continued up until the surprise Japanese attack on American naval forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (then an American territory, not a state). The attack brought Roosevelt to Congress the next day to ask for a declaration of war against Japan; something Congress passed, with only one "No" vote, cast by a Republican congresswoman from Montana.
WORD HISTORY:
Meal-English has two words "meal," this is the one meaning "ground grain." It traces back to Indo European "mele," which meant "to grind." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "melwan," which meant "to grind," and the derived noun form "melwa," which meant "meal" (the result of grinding grain). This gave Old English "melu," which then became "mele," before the modern spelling. Common in the other Germaic languages: German and Low German Saxon have "Mehl," some Low German dialects have "Mäl," West Frisian has "moal," Dutch has "meel," Swedish has "mjöl" (Icelandic uses this same word, but now only in compounds), Danish and Norwegian have "mel."
Labels: China, English, etymology, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Germanic languages, Japan, Stalin, World War Two
posted by Randy at 1:24 AM
2 Comments:
I have to admit, I only know Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. I had no idea what led up to the attack.
That's really what I knew too, Seth.
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