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Shrestha 1 “The Relationship between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill during WWII” Prime minister of Great Britain “Winston Churchill” and President of The United States “Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR)” carried the weight of these two countries during the time of violence and uncertainty. These both men were the great leaders of free world and their friendship helped protecting the world from tyranny. The relationship between these nations have moved from enmity to a firm alliance in more than two hundred years. The dispute aroused between two nations during Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) inflamed the hostility between two nations. Their main issue was forced recruitment of U.S seaman into the Royal Navy. They also had disputes regarding Indian policy, commerce and boundaries. These disputes led two countries to the “War of 1812” which lasted from 1812 to 1815. This was the first time that the United States had declared war on another nation, and was approved by the Congressional vote. The war was fought in four theaters : on the oceans, along the Atlantic coast of U.S, on the long frontier which runs along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River and finally along the coast of Gulf of Mexico. The war ended in 1814 by the Treaty of Ghent which created a framework for future friendly relations between the United States and Great Britain. Relationship between U.S. And Great Britain have been improving ever since U.S. fought at Britain's side during World War I. In 1917, The United States joined the Allies also known as Entente Powers. United Kingdom, France and the Russian Empire were the influential members of Entente. American Expeditionary Forces helped defeat Central Powers which included Germany, Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. After the war, U.S. senate did not ratify the treaty which let to the formation of the League of Nations (LON). It was an Intergovernmental Organization and the first permanent International Organization whose primary Shrestha 2 mission was to maintain world peace. U.S. pursued the path of unilateralism based on diplomatic policy called non-interventionism. Constitutional amendment granting woman’s suffrage was made in 1920. The Roaring Twenties, an era of sustained economic prosperity ended with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 which sets in a new era known as The Great Depression. It marks the beginning of decade of poverty, deflation, high unemployment and is spread worldwide. After the election in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the thirty second president of United States and led the country during the time of depression and world war. He is the only American President elected to more than two terms. Roosevelt responded to the New Deal, policies increasing government intervention in the economy designed to produce relief, recovery and reform, including the establishment of Social Security system. The Dust Bowl caused major agricultural damage to American prairie lands from 1930 to 1936 which impulsed a wave of western migration. World War II began with the German invasion of Poland which started on 1st September, 1939. The Soviet Union invaded Poland at the same time responding to the deal they made with Nazi Germany. The United States officially remained neutral during the early stages of World War II. Britain declared war against Nazi Germany as they had promised Poland that they would come to their aid if they were invaded . After the resignation from British Prime Minister on 10th May, 1940, Winston Churchill became the new Prime Minister. Churchill refused to make peace with Germany and contributed to continuing the war against them. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, The son of Lord Randolph Churchill, was the a British politician who served twice as Prime Minister (1940-1945 and 1951-1955) and is the only British prime minister who has been awarded with the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was appointed as First Lord of the Admiralty before World War I. He was discredited due to failures during wartime but Shrestha 3 remained politically active. He got reappointed to Post of First Lord of the Admiralty with the breaking of World War II. Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain after the forceful resignation of Neville Chamberlain. Roosevelt and Churchill had many things in common for example both were sons of elite, studied history,savored power and believed in democracy. During their lifetime, both men were underestimated, portrayed as arrogant, and faced criticism in their own nations but yet both of them rose magnificently towards the central challenge of twentieth century. Winston Churchill distrusted Nazi Germany and led his nation in its darkest hour, standing alone in Europe against Adolf Hitler, and was always worried about his position in Roosevelt's affection. Churchill was the president of Great Britain's colonial empire where as FDR was against colonialism. Despite these differences they had the same common interest of protecting their country and confronting Axis powers formed by German, Italian and Japanese forces also known as Axis alliance. Both Roosevelt and Churchill realized that Nazi's could bot be trusted and were under the leadership of dictator who had different views of society and political system than both of them. Roosevelt and Churchill built an alliance amid the turmoils of World War II with war goals and post war vision. The Battle of Britain in 1940 made it impossible for German to launch cross channel invasion. Nazi Germany however dominated virtually all of Western and Central Europe. Britain had a very little chance of holding out against Hitler's command. By the end of 1940 the British were not prepared and unable to continue the fight. And it came to the point were Britain could not afford to continue purchasing military equipments and supplies from United States. Churchill wrote to Roosevelt on December of 1940 describing Britain's position and losses as a result of the Blitz and U-boat attacks. He warned the President that Unites States might not have enough time to prepare a defensive mechanism to face against Nazi Germans unless Great Britain is able to hold them long enough. Then Churchill came to the conclusion that Great Britain no longer had economic ability to be able to pay Shrestha 4 cash for shipping and other supplies. United States agreed to supply goods under the program called Lend-Lease. In August 1941, Churchill met Roosevelt for the first time requesting for help, after Britain had lost 11 destroyers over a 10-day period war with Germans. The meeting lasted four days on a ship anchored off the coast of Newfoundland at Argentina Bay and was aimed towards an agreement on war goals and a vision for future. They agreed upon unofficial charter also known as the Atlantic Charter. Under that charter they agreed upon different objectives including opposition to territorial changes made against the wishes of people concerned,easy access to raw materials for all nations of the world ,easing of trade restriction. These both leaders driven by a vision of post war world came together during the time when the world needed them the most. This shows the similarities between these two great leaders in regards to facing critical situations. Roosevelt promised to keep America out of the war in 1940 presidential election campaign. He wanted to support Britain and proposed a new military aid bill to congress. Roosevelt agreed to exchange 50 destroyers for 99-year lease on British bases in the Caribbean and Newfoundland. Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 which led to direct involvement of United States in World War II. In December 1941, Churchill met with Roosevelt in Washington, which was known as the First Washington Conference, code name “Arcadia”. On a Christmas greetings, addressed to the nation and the world, jointly by Roosevelt and Churchill on December 24, 1941, FDR closes his short message with the following passage, “ And so I am asking my associate, [and] my old and good friend, to say a word to the people of America, old and young, tonight, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain." These words are the clear indicators of starting of relationship between two leaders. Their friendship began with FDR's correspondence with Winston Churchill in early 1940 when Churchill was still first lord of the admiralty. Their early interaction was focused to encourage a neutral America and Shrestha 5 to take more active role against Axis nations. The success of allied forces in Normandy beach contributed to the growing relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt. As of early 1942, The American Army was ready for cross- channel invasion. The Army were not threatened by German strength and effectiveness of German armor which was proven in war. Allies did not have complete air superiority in 1942 and 43. It was a close fight between allied forces and the axis forces and was highly questionable if America and Britain could have been successful in that war. As everything was dependent on invasion, Churchill wise advise and his ability to persuade Roosevelt to help Great Britain was of great importance. United States was the only among the major combatants who became richer after World War II. Participation in the war helped to generate capital investment and developed industrial capacity. Yalta conference and allied conference at Bretton Woods made U.S. and Soviet Union the center of world affairs. The two countries developed atomic weapons side by side under the Quebec Agreement of 1943. United States used its first nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August. As a result, Japan surrendered on September 2, which marks the end of World War II. Churchill and Roosevelt were not just an official and political friends. Two men were personal friends and spent considerable time with each other. They spent 113 days with each other during the period of World War II, exchanging nearly two thousand messages. They often met secretly in places like Washington, Hyde Park Casablanca and Teheran, talking about their personal lives amid political talks.“A special relationship” started by the friendship between two great leaders of their time brought together two big western nations during the time of crisis, uncertainty and terror which helped carve the outcomes of World War II. These two great leaders were brought together by their common vision and hunger for democracy and the urge to fight against tyranny. The relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt which began after the return of Churchill to the Admiralty was remarkable and continued throughout World War II. The friendship between two men played key roles in saving Western Shrestha 6 Civilization. Both Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt took the weight of two countries in their hands during the time of crisis and terror with confidence and served as a role model for their citizens for whom they served. Both leaders were visionary and did not hesitate to face any critical situations. Instead, they remained focused and faced the situation and remained as positive role models with confident moral. The most prominent similarity between Churchill and Roosevelt is their ability appeal to the public opinion and use it in their own terms. Winston Churchill was an amazing orator and one of the most influential public speakers of his time. On April 12, 1945 Roosevelt dies before the end of the war due to a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia. British agents started obliterating his policies and postwar plans almost immediately after his death. Orders that were being prepared for U.S. ships and marines to take them to Hon Kong and turn it over to the Chinese were aborted. Other plans that included preventing the French from retaking Indochina were canceled. American troops were then told to stand aside. As Churchill had been demanding all over the world, the imperial flags backs up. At a conference in San Francisco, The American delegation to the United Nations conference voted against proposals that were aimed towards placing the British and French colonial possessions under international supervision with a definite timetable for independence. British agents including Julian Huxley took over the United Nations which later became a tool for British imperial interests. In August, President Truman, manipulated by the British agent Henry Simpson, dropped atomic bombs that was against Roosevelt plan. He never planned to use the bomb on a nation already prepared to surrender. They claimed their act as an effort to save American lives in an invasion of Japan. But FDR and his top military commanders believed that it was unnecessary. The economic development projects proposed by Roosevelt were set aside during their planning stages. Roosevelt failed to develop a back up plan despite his weak health conditions that would help Shrestha 7 carry country without him during the crucial period. This was the result of his own leadership style which centralized the most important decision making in himself, which included manipulation of even his closest aides against each other. He ended up with aides like Hurley who was incapable to generate new ideas and policy. He groomed no political successor with the same patriotic faction which forced them to follow his leadership . He was a great leader, a patriot with great instincts and compassion but was unable to understand the history of the conflict that he found himself in the middle of the battle between the American republican tradition and British oligarchism. Others closest to him, infected themselves with the disease of anglophilia, failed to understand this fight and without his presence, they were easy pickings for skilled British operatives. FDR was the greatest American President of this century, who understood and maintained balance between the responsibility and power they were bestowed like no one has ever done before or since. He was well known for his best organization of the American citizen behind a program. Although during World War II he stood with the British Empire, he never engaged American citizens fully into the battle. His disagreements with Churchill were never been told as he said he was waiting to do this after the end of the war which never happened. Harry Truman, handled for the British by Simpson and Jimmy Byrnes reversed the direction of Roosevelt’s policies leading to fatal error of Roosevelt's judgments. During his later days, Roosevelt was working on a plan called “Food for Peace”, which evoked the American agriculture to feed the world using American technology to help make the hungry nations food self-sufficient. Preoccupied with attempts to prevent any provocations staged by Churchill that would split United States from Russia He was also preoccupied with trying to prevent the British, in particular Churchill, from staging provocations that would split the United States from Russia, using territorial disputes in Europe as a pretext. The common goal of Anglo-American-Soviet alliance during the war was to defeat Nazi Shrestha 8 Germany, Japanese military and fascist Italy. The Axix power provoked a conflict that brought together Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt who shared the same vision for their respective countries. Their great political leadership and intellectual military skills help to survive and flourish alliance. The goal of Churchill and Great Britain was to defeat the Nazis and to assure arrangements in postwar Europe that prevented Germany from attacking it's neighbors again which had happened twice within the period of forty years. The main objective of the war for Stalin was to eliminate German dominance and its capacity to invade Russia. The main goal of United States was to destroy the totalitarian regimes in Italy, Japan and Germany and the rise of democracy. However, The Allies had incompatible postwar national aims. Churchill believed in the reestablishment of Britain's worldwide empire but Roosevelt was against this plan. Stalin wanted complete domination of the European continent which could make it possible to create Communist governments around the globe. Churchill and Roosevelt both opposed Stalin's views for Soviet controlled Communist regimes in eastern Europe. They believed the defeat of Nazi Germany should bring self determination. Roosevelt was criticized for his inability to limit Soviet power in Europe and Asia. The Cold War was the result of fundamental ideological differences between two nations. The Legendary friendship between two Great Nations during World War II is a story of two exceptional men whose shared similar views towards the Hitler's Nazi German and assured their government and nations survival by their confident leadership. Despite their differences, they shared the same vision, they both believed that democracy was the best form of government and they both were equally effective in facing critical situation. Shrestha 9 Work Cited "Biographies: Winston S. Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt World War II." Historic Clothing: Expanded Site. 21 Oct. 2002. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. . "Documents Related to FDR and Churchill." National Archives and Records Administration. William Morrow & Co, 1997. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. . "From Enemy to Ally (John Bull and Uncle Sam)." Library of Congress Home. Library of Congress, 22 July 2010. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. . Meacham, Jon. Franklin and Winston an Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2004. Print. WWII Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, the Nazis and the West . In Depth . Uneasy Allies | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. Grimsley, Mark. "What If Franklin D. Roosevelt Had Disliked Churchill'" History Net: Where History Comes Alive - World & US History Online. Weider History Group, 1 June 2010. Web. 02 Nov. 2011. . Student's Name : Romas Shrestha Professor's Name: Shana Powell Subject: History 1302 Research Paper Topic: “Relationship between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill during WWII” Date: 2nd November, 2011