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September 1940
Germany, Italy, and Japan had signed a mutual defense treaty and became known as the Axis Powers. This meant each nation would come to defend if any one of the three were attacked by another country. -
1940 Predential Election
Roosevelt was elected president and to serve his 3rd term in office. Promised to keep the US out of war but were eventually drawn into the war with the axis powers. -
March 1941
Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act in March, 1941. Roosevelt had compared the Lend-Lease Act to lending a garden hose to a neighbor whose house was on fire. So this could be the same as lending weapons to allies that need them. -
June 1941
In June, 1941, Hitler broke his agreement with Stalin not to go to war and invade the Soviet Union. Roosevelt and the U.S. began sending supplies to the Soviet Union through the Lend-Lease Act. -
August 1941
In August, 1941, The Atlantic Charter was created and focused on the goals for the U.S. after the war. -
September 1941
On September 4, 1941, a German submarine fired on the U.S. destroyer "Greer" and many more ships were fired on and sunk by German U-boats. This started the attacks on the U.S. by Germany. -
December
In December, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and killed many Americans and destroyed many ships. There were over 2,000 deaths at Pearl Harbor. Japenese attacked because of an oil embargo and eastern dominance. Three days after this event, Germany and Italy also declared war on the U.S.
