This is question : 1. What steps led to American participation in World War II?
ID: 433770 • Letter: T
Question
This is question :
1. What steps led to American participation in World War II?
The official answer by the US government for this question is the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. While that is the trigger point, there has been a build up to that point.
The main reason for USA to avoid the war till then was the economic crisis in the country. America just experienced great depression that saw a massive impact on their economy. Naturally the country was eager to recover and was looking at every possible avenues to revive the finances.
At this point, participating in the war would have harmed the recovery process all the more. As a result, the USA, decided not to actively participate in the war but to take advantage of the situation to boost their economy.
USA had economic interest from Indochina area and Great Britain at that time. However, the country was also dealing with Japan closely when it comes to trade. Since Britain had to participate in the war, USA began to provide Britain with armaments supply. In addition, USA had also asked Japan not to invade the Indochina region during the war. Japan did that anyway and USA began economic warfare with Japan. The levied sanctions on trade with Japan while USA continued supply and sale of arms to Great Britain. This obviously appeared as an indirect involvement of war to the Axis power.
This triggered the Japanese forces to attack Pearl Harbor which made USA enter the war as an active participant.
these are my wirting but that is really short so i want to need more information
Explanation / Answer
Initially, the US stayed isolated from the issues dominating Europe all due to Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. President Roosevelt felt it was necessary to go along with England and France and "appease" Hitler even though he was becoming aggressive. The US remained isolated in hopes of avoiding foreign affairs and staying neutral. Once Germany invaded Poland and England and France was threatened, Roosevelt opted to authorize military support to Britain, China, and even the Soviet Union. The eventual downfall that led to participating in WWII was when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, killing thousands of American servicemen. Soon after, Roosevelt declared war with Japan and entered WWII.
Neutrality Acts: 1935 - 1937 - banned travel on belligerents ships and the sale of arms to countries at war because Germany sunk trading ships in England- Congress hoped that this would allow the US to avoid the conflicts over freedom of the seas that had contributed to involvement in WWI - but the US pulling out contributions only made Germany's victories more inevitable
*Hitler is not concerned with the US because it pulled out of Europe
Axis Powers: in 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan created a military alliance known as the Axis
Lend-Lease Act: - (1941) - The US became more and more closely allied with those fighting Germany and Japan. at Roosevelt's urging, Congress authorized military aid so long as countries promised somehow to return it all after the war. The US funnelled billions of dollars worth of arms to Britain and China, as well as the Soviet Union after Hitler renounced his nonaggression pact and invaded that country - FDR also froze Japanese assets in the US, halting virtually all trade between the countries, including the sale of oil vital to Japan.
*FDR also froze Japanese assets in the US, halting virtually all trade between the countries, including the sale of oil vital to Japan
* hence Pearl Harbor
D-Day: - The major involvement of American troops in Europe did not begin until June 6, 1944 ( D-Day) - nearly 200,000 American, British, and Canadian soldiers under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower landed in Normandy in northwestern France
Related Questions
drjack9650@gmail.com
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.