THE ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY: GATHERING STORM

Gathering Storm covers the historical events that preceded the outbreak of World War II. Ranging from the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and hopes that the League of Nations would establish a peaceful world, to the rise of fascism in the 1920s, the impact of the worldwide economic depression, the surging German and Japanese aggression in the 1930s, and the appeasement policies of the Western democracies, the gallery examines the mounting pressures that would engulf the world in war. Americans held tightly to isolationist policies against the growing global unrest, only to find themselves poorly prepared to confront the Axis powers as they routed other nations into 1940.

Additional support provided by Iron Mountain, The Voelker Family in Honor of Frank Voelker Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Q. Davis in Honor of James Matthew Davis