America's involvement in World War Two When war broke out, there was no
way the world could possibly know the severity of this guerre. Fortunately one
country saw and understood that Germany and its allies would have to be stopped.
America's Involvement in World War two not only contributed in the eventual
downfall of the insane Adolph Hitler and his Third Reich, but also came at the
precise time and moment. Had the United States entered the war any earlier the
consequences might have been worse. Over the years it has been an often heated
and debated issue on whether the United States could have entered the war sooner
and thus have saved many lives. To try to understand this we must look both at
the people's and government's point of view. Just after war broke out in Europe,
President Roosevelt hurriedly called his cabinet and military advisors together.
There it was agreed that the United States stay neutral in these affairs. One of
the reasons given was that unless America was directly threatened they had no
reason to be involved. This reason was a valid one because it was the American
policy to stay neutral in any affairs not having to with them unless American
soil was threatened directly. Thus the provisional neutrality act passed the
senate by seventy-nine votes to two in 1935. On August 31, Roosevelt signed it
into law. In 1936 the law was renewed, and in 1937 a "comprehensive and
permanent" neutrality act was passed (Overy 259). The desire to avoid
"foreign entanglements" of all kinds had been an American foreign
policy for more than a century. A very real "geographical Isolation"
permitted the United States to "fill up the empty lands of North America
free from the threat of foreign conflict"(Churchill 563). Even if Roosevelt
had wanted to do more in this European crisis (which he did not), there was a
factor too often ignored by critics of American policy-American military
weakness. When asked to evaluate how many troops were available if and when the
United States would get involved, the army could only gather a mere one hundred
thousand, when the French, Russian and Japanese armies numbered in millions. Its
weapons dated from the first World War and were no match compared to the new
artillery that Germany and its allies had. "American soldiers were more at
home with the horse than with the tank" (Overy 273). The air force was just
as bad if not worse. In September 1939 the Air Corps had only 800 combat
aircrafts again compared with Germany's 3600 and Russia's 10,000 . American
military Aviation (AMA) in 1938 was able to produce only 1,800, 300 less than
Germany, and 1,400 less than Japan. Major Eisenhower, who was later Supreme
commander of the Allied forces in the second World War, complained that America
was left with "only a shell of military establishment" (Chapman 234 ).
As was evident to Roosevelt the United states military was in no way prepared to
enter this European crisis. Another aspect that we have to consider is the
people's views and thought's regarding the United States going to war. After all
let us not forget that the American government is there "for the people and
by the people" and therefore the people's view did play a major role in
this declaration of Neutrality. In one of Roosevelt's fireside chats he said
"We shun political commitments which might entangle us In foreign wars...If
we face the choice of profits or peace-this nation must answer, the nation will
answer 'we choose peace' ",in which they did. A poll taken in 1939 revealed
that ninety-four per cent of the citizens did not want the united states to
enter the war. The shock of World War one had still not left ,and entering a new
war, they felt, would be foolish. In the early stages of the war American
Ambassador to London was quoted saying "It's the end of the world, the end
of everything" ( Overy 261). As Richard Overy notes in The Road To War,
this growing "estrangement" from Europe was not mere selfishness. They
were the values expressed by secretary of state, Cordel Hull: "a primary
interest in peace with justice, in economic well-being with stability, and
conditions of order under the law". These were principles here on which
most Americans (ninety-four percent as of 1939) agreed on. To promote these
principles the United States would have to avoid all "foreign
entanglements", or as Overy puts it "any kind of alliance or
association outside the western hemisphere". Instead the United States
should act as an arbitre in world affairs, "encouraging peaceful change
where necessary" and most and for all discouraging aggression (Overy 263).
Why risk going to war, when it is contrary to American policy which most if not
all Americans were in agreement with and not mentioning the fact that the
American military was in shambles. Yet another factor that led to this decision
of Neutrality by President Roosevelt was the American Economy. The health of the
American economy could not be jeopardized, whatever was happening elsewhere. It
was Roosevelt's view that the United States would fare well (economically
speaking) whether Europe went to war or not. "Gold was flowing in from
Europe's capitals; orders were mounting daily for equipment and supplies of all
kinds; America was building a battleship for Stalin, aero-engines for
France" (Overy 277). For most of the 1930's the United States traded as
openly with Germany and Japan, as it did with any other country. Japan relied on
fuel oil and scrap iron until 1941. Germany was one of the United States'
"most important markets" during the 1930's. American investments in
Germany increased by forty per cent between 1936 and 1940 (Wilson 291). America
was steadily regaining the prosperity that had diminished during World War 1.
The real concern of American business was not "the rights or wrongs of
trading with fascism" but the fear that commercial rivals such as Japan and
Germany would exclude American goods from Europe and Asia altogether (273). It
is very easy to point and accuse the united states of being selfish, but one has
to understand that any negative actions made would have resulted in the United
States being almost if not completely out of the economic race. Would the United
States have been as prosperous as it is today had they intervened any earlier?
They probably would have not because at that time in history America needed a
boost to return to its earlier status of being economically stable which Germany
and its allies so adequately provided. Therefore President Roosevelt was not
about to go to war with all axis powers thereby jeopardizing not only the safety
of the American people but also the American economy which was so essential to a
large and complex country that the United States was at the time. Unless
American interests were directly threatened, Roosevelt hesitated to "push
the button" (Churchill 542). On December 6, 1941 the Japanese Airforce led
a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, completely eradicating the port. Finally
President Roosevelt could wait no longer. America was now involved and not going
to war would only endanger the United States more than it already was. On the
following day Roosevelt argued that the attack "had given us an
opportunity". Congress approved the declaration of war with only one
dissenting voice. Eleanor Roosevelt noted that the effect of the Japanese attack
was "to release my husband from months and pent-up tension and
anxiety". Andrew Wheatcroft says in his book The Road To War, " It is
tempting to see Pearl Harbor as the crisis that Roosevelt was waiting for and
did nothing to prevent". America's most vital interest, defense of American
soil, had been challenged. At last America had to go to war and eventually bring
an end to the rule of nazi Germany. The Americans upon declaring its Neutrality,
gave additional encouragement to Japan and Germany to in a way "take over
the world", and to Nazify it. Hitler had convinced himself that America had
declined in the 1930's because of social crisis. This misconception also led
Japan to confront the United States in 1941. Had the United States entered the
war any earlier or later the consequences could have been much worse (If
possible). Towards the end of the war Walter Lippmann reporter for the Herald
Tribune recalled his experience: When I attempt to compare the America in which
I was reared with the America of today, I am struck by how unconcerned I was as
a young man with the hard questions which are the subject matter of history. I
did not think about the security of the republic and how to defend it (Overy
341). Franklin Delano Roosevelt did think about the security of the republic and
defended it magnificently. Leading the United States every step of the way
President Roosevelt did a superior job in bringing America into war when he did.
Evidently America entered World War 2 at the precise time and moment to once and
for all take down Adolph Hitler and the third Reich.