On the other side of the Atlantic, Hitler’s aggression against Poland sent shock waves through American public opinion. Within weeks of the outbreak of war, the isolationists lost the argument in Congress.26 On 3 November 1939 President Roosevelt signed into law the ‘cash and carry’ bill that lifted the strict American neutrality provisions banning the sale of weapons to foreigners. So long as France and Britain paid in cash and shipped their American cargo in their own vessels, they could take their pick amongst the immense industrial capacity of the
