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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

No middle way: Franklin D. Roosevelt and limited war, 1940-1942

Abstract

dc:description

From March, 1941, until the attack on Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt pursued a policy of de facto undeclared war on Germany--a policy clearly designed to contain German expansion by limited means--while fully expecting that this essentially defensive policy could persist indefinitely. But meanwhile his public discourse depicted the Nazi threat to America as overwhelming, and he demanded the total defeat of Hitler's regime. To continue with this limited/unlimited dual-track policy would in time likely have risked his political prestige both at home and abroad. Pearl Harbor and Hitler's subsequent declaration of war led the President to resolve his mounting predicament by discarding the policy of limited means and endorsing total war in Europe.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Ph.D.
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
History, United States
Grantor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Year dc:date
2011

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Bunch, Stephen G.
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Widenor, William C.

Subjects

dc:subject × 2

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Copyright 1994 Bunch, Stephen G.
Language dc:language
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Identifier
AAI9522083
(UMI)AAI9522083
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/23807

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Base URL
www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Bunch, Stephen G.. No middle way: Franklin D. Roosevelt and limited war, 1940-1942. Dissertation thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/23807