Threshold of War : Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Entry Into World War II

Often historians focus on what happened once the war began. While a reasonable and understandable approach, such an effort fails to analyze in a significant way the root causes of conflict. Only be understanding the slow walk from peace to war can one have any hope to identify the root causes of war, the informational, diplomatic, and economic tools necessary to avert war or at least make the war as small as possible. Waldo Heinrichs, if this reviewer is not confused, was a fighter pilot in WWI and a squadron intelligence officer in WWII. Therefore, he is not one of those academics who postulate about war and its causes without any insight into how terrible war truly can be. His biases are fairly well spelled out in the books introduction of the book, but he has written a book that is readable and useful in understanding the slow drift toward war. Indeed, I found many tidbits of information in this book that I have never seen or read in other document. There are only two negative things that I can say about this book. First, I would have liked to have seen more information on the domestic side. Exactly, how President Roosevelt communicated his ideas and direction to the American people is, perhaps, one of the greatest unanswered questions in historical research. However, this book does have very interesting poll results that show the American people were much more concerned about and will to risk war to address the issues of both Europe and Asia. In this reviewer's humble opinion, most academics fail to understand the close religious (via the evangelical movement), economic (both in terms of big business and itinerant workers - white and Asian), and moral issues that closely tied the average American to pre-WWII Asia. Second, the organization of the book is chronological. This makes it difficult to track themes from the narrative and the reader is forced to keep up with Heinrichs intellect and insight vice having those themes more clearly and repetitively spelled out. It is a shame the Heinrichs has passed away. It would be interesting to see him expand his book to support his theory that the great depression was the first unalterable step toward WWII. This is a superb book for both serious historians and those of us who read for pleasure.

As the first comprehensive treatment of the American entry into World War II to appear in over thirty-five years, Waldo Heinrichs' volume places American policy in a global context, covering both the European and Asian diplomatic and military scenes, with Roosevelt at the center.
Telling a tale of ever-broadening conflict, this vivid narrative weaves back and forth from the battlefields in the Soviet Union, to the intense policy debates within Roosevelt's administration, to the sinking of the battleship Bismarck, to the precarious and delicate negotiations with Japan. Refuting the popular portrayal of Roosevelt as a vacillating, impulsive man who displayed no organizational skills in his decision-making during this period, Heinrichs presents him as a leader who acted with extreme caution and deliberation, who always kept his options open, and who, once Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union stalled in July, 1941, acted rapidly and with great determination. This masterful account of a key moment in American history captures the tension faced by Roosevelt, Churchill, Stimson, Hull, and numerous others as they struggled to shape American policy in the climactic nine months before Pearl Harbor.

Publishers Weekly

In this scholarly study, Heinrichs, professor of history at Temple University in Pennsylvania, places American foreign policy in its global context from March 1941, when Lend-Lease began, to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor nine months later. This was a period during which President Roosevelt sought and found ways to adjust U.S. policy to the growing threat of German and Japanese military expansion while, at the same time, overseeing the buildup of the ``arsenal for democracy.'' That arsenal was still very slender, and part of FDR's complex task was to decide how much of it went to the beleaguered British and Russians in Lend-Lease and how much was retained by the increasingly insistent U.S. armed forces. The author traces the dynamics of the prolonged and deliberately dilatory negotiations with Japan (The Hull-Nomura talks) while FDR directed the application of maximum economic pressure against the burgeoning Empire. The book is a solidly researched counterweight to revisionist studies suggesting that Roosevelt's foreign policy was characterized by indecisiveness. Uncertain of German and Japanese intentions, the president was nevertheless ``an active and purposeful maker of foreign policy'' during the period in question. (September)

For Franklin D. Roosevelt, the spring of 1941 was a time of uncertainty and fear. Hitler's armies were poised to strike, but no one was sure where the next attack would come. The United States had begun its military build-up, but as yet the Army and Navy were ill-prepared for war with Germany and Japan. And though the American public was not ready to support an unprovoked declaration of war, Churchill and members of Roosevelt's administration were urging him to intervene before it was too late.
___In Threshold of War, the first comprehensive treatment of the American entry into World War II to appear in over thirty-five years, eminent historian Waldo Heinrichs places American policy in a global context, covering both the European and Asian diplomatic and military scene, with Roosevelt (the only figure with all the threads in his hands) at the center. In a tale of ever-broadening conflict, this vivid narrative weaves back and forth from the battlefields in the Soviet Union, to the intense policy debates within Roosevelt's administration, to the sinking of the battleship Bismarck, to the precarious and delicate negotiations with Japan. Of particular interest is Heinrichs' portrait of Roosevelt. Roosevelt has often been portrayed as vacillating, impulsive, and disorganized in his decision-making during this period. But here he emerges as a leader who acted with extreme caution and deliberation, who always kept his options open, and who, once Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union stalled in July, 1941, acted rapidly and with great determination, sending supplies to Stalin, placing an oil embargo on Japan, and ordering armed escorts of vital supplies to Europe.
___A masterful account of a key moment in American history, Threshold of War is both a distinguished work of scholarship and a moving narrative that captures the tension as Roosevelt, Churchill, Stimson, Hull, and numerous others struggled to shape American policy in the climactic nine months before Pearl Harbor.

Heinrichs brilliantly demonstrates the interrelationship of policies toward both Germany and Japan....--Frank Friedel

Annotation As the first comprehensive treatment of the American entry into World War II to appear in over thirty-five years, Waldo Heinrichs' volume places American policy in a global context, covering both the European and Asian diplomatic and military scenes, with Roosevelt at the center. Telling a tale of ever-broadening conflict, this vivid narrative weaves back and forth from the battlefields in the Soviet Union, to the intense policy debates within Roosevelt's administration, to the sinking of the battleship Bismarck, to the precarious and delicate negotiations with Japan. Refuting the popular portrayal of Roosevelt as a vacillating, impulsive man who displayed no organizational skills in his decision-making during this period, Heinrichs presents him as a leader who acted with extreme caution and deliberation, who always kept his options open, and who, once Hitler'sinvasion of the Soviet Union stalled in July, 1941, acted rapidly and with great determination. This masterful account of a key moment in American history captures the tension faced by Roosevelt, Churchill, Stimson, Hull, and numerous others as they struggled to shape American policy in theclimactic nine months before Pearl Harbor Contents......Page 12 Prologue......Page 18 1 March 1941: The Aura of German Power......Page 28 2 April: Balancing Risks......Page 47 3 May: Guarding the Atlantic Line......Page 72 4 June: The Russian Factor......Page 107 5 July: Containment of Japan......Page 133 6 August–September: Crossing the Threshold......Page 161 7 October–November: Race Against Time......Page 195 Epilogue: Japan Attacks......Page 230 Notes......Page 236 Bibliography......Page 276 B......Page 284 C......Page 285 G......Page 286 H......Page 287 J......Page 288 M......Page 289 P......Page 290 R......Page 291 S......Page 292 V......Page 293 Z......Page 294 Contents 12 Prologue 18 1 March 1941: The Aura of German Power 28 2 April: Balancing Risks 47 3 May: Guarding the Atlantic Line 72 4 June: The Russian Factor 107 5 July: Containment of Japan 133 6 August–September: Crossing the Threshold 161 7 October–November: Race Against Time 195 Epilogue: Japan Attacks 230 Notes 236 Bibliography 276 Index 284 A 284 B 284 C 285 D 286 E 286 F 286 G 286 H 287 I 288 J 288 K 289 L 289 M 289 N 290 O 290 P 290 R 291 S 292 T 293 U 293 V 293 W 294 Y 294 Z 294 On March 1, 1941, leading elements of the German Twelfth Army crossed the Danube from Raumania to Bulgaria on pontoon bridges.