Europe faces something the Germans call blitzkrieg. It means "lightning war." They speed German troops, tanks, and artillery across nations, obliterating them almost before they know what is happening. In 1940, first Norway and then Denmark and finally France are overwhelmed . Now almost the only European democracy left is Britain, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill is fearful that it may be the next to go. He says, "If we are conquered, all will be enslaved and the United States will be left single-handed to guard the rights of man ."

In America President Roosevelt finds a way to arm England without violating this country's official neutrality: he lets the allies borrow supplies and pay for them later. It is called lend-lease. To his critics he explains: "This nation will remain a neutral nation, but I cannot ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well. Even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or his conscience ."

By 1941 much of the world is at war . The Germans are attacking Britain and Russia in Europe, and in Asia, Japan has occupied parts of China and French Indochina and is threatening many places in the Pacific in August. Franklin Roosevelt tells Americans they must be willing to "defend freedom against forces which would enslave the world." But he still holds back from entering the war, saying, "I am not willing to fire the first shot. I am waiting to be pushed into the situation."