us_ch8_webquest2_Battle-of-Britain

=**Battle of Britain**=

Operation Sea Lion was Hitler's plan to take Britain. His plan was for the Luftwaffe to bomb the coast to allow invasion troops to land. The Luftwaffe under Hermann Goering began to heavily bomb Britain in July of 1940. The British RAF (Royal Air Force) was able to fight back and hold off the Luftwaffe. The British used barrage balloons, which forced the Luftwaffe to fly higher and therefore were less accurate. Furthermore, the development of radar helped to save Britain as they were able to be prepared for Luftwaffe attacks. Make sure to mark this information on your map.

In September of 1940, Winston Churchill was able to convince FDR to provide aid to the British. The U.S. and Britain agreed to the **Destroyers for Bases Deal** in which the British got old U.S. destroyers and the U.S. got 99 year leases on British bases. Two weeks later, the U.S. began its first peacetime draft.

In October 1940, Hitler saw he was not going to be able to carry out his invasion by winter so he turned his attention to southern Europe. Nazi Germany expanded by taking Yugoslavia, Greece, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Mark these nations on your map.

FDR was elected to an unprecedented third term in November of 1940. By December of 1940, Britain had run out of war funds. FDR allowed the U.S. to sell weapons to Britain they could pay later (same with the other Allies). This would be the **Lend-Lease Act** saying that the U.S. would lend-lease to any nation whose defense "is vital to the defense of the United States." FDR also declared the western half of the Atlantic to be in the western hemisphere and not part of the war zone, which allowed the U.S. Navy to protect British merchant ships in part of the Atlantic. This was the Hemispheric Defense Zone.

The major problem for the U.S. was that since FDR decided not to rebuild the military in order to not risk losing re-election, which ensured that the U.S. military forces would take a beating somwwhere at some point. You'll find out next chapter when and where!

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