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neutrality act of 1935
prohibited the shipping of arms to nations at war, including the victims of aggressions. This would reduce the possibility of maritime attacks on American vessels. -
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neutrality act of 1936
renewed the law of the previous year with the additional restrictions — no loans could be made to belligerent nations. Nor were any Americans permitted to travel on the ships of nations at war. There would be no more LUSITANIA incidents. -
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neutrality act of 1937
limited the trade of even non-munitions to belligerent nations to a "CASH AND CARRY BASIS." This meant that the nation in question would have to use its ships to transport goods to avoid American entanglements on the high seas. -
Marco Polo Bridge Invasion
a skirmish between Chinese and Japanese troops broke out at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. The cause of the fracas is unknown, but the Japanese government used it as a pretext to launch a full-scale invasion of China -
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world war II begins
Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany -
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quarantine speech
he delivered his famous QUARANTINE SPEECH in Chicago. For the first time, Roosevelt advocated collective action to stop the epidemic aggression. But his hopes of igniting American sensibilities failed -
Bombing of the USS Panay
USS Panay (PR-5) was evacuating American citizens when it came under attack from Japanese aircraft, killing three men and wounding 43 sailors and five civilians. The Japanese claimed the attack was unintentional. -
Germany invades Poland
The 1939 invasion of Poland by both Germany from the west and the Soviet Union from the east led to the beginning of World War II. -
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Nazi troops cross into Poland
Hitler was now free to seize the territory Germany had lost to Poland as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. On September 1, 1939, Nazi troops crossed into Poland from the west. -
Pearl Harbor
the site of the unprovoked aerial attack on the United States by Japan on December 7, 1941.