Why did the USA become involved in the Second World War

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Why did the USA become involved in the Second
World War? How did the Second World War affect
the USA?
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How isolationist was the U.S.A between 1929
1941?
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In the 1930s the USA followed a policy of
isolationism. They believed they could withdraw
from the rest of the world and focus on their own
affairs. In the 1930s the USAs priority was
to haul itself out of an economic depression.
As war loomed in Europe, Congress passed a
series of Neutrality Acts, which put restrictions
on U.S. ships carrying U.S.-made weapons to
countries at war. Britain and France were
allowed to buy weapons when war was declared in
1939 under the cash and carry scheme, but had
to pay cash and carry the goods on their own
ships.
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The attack on Pearl Harbor At dawn on 7th
December 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack on
the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Eight battleships were sunk, aircraft and other
ships were destroyed and 2403 people killed. The
shock of Pearl Harbor abruptly ended
isolationism. Americans now realised they could
not live in peace whilst the rest of the world
went up in flames. The next day the USA declared
war on Japan. There was nothing to make the USA
declare war on Germany. Instead Hitler declared
war on America on 11th December 1941.
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The Allies desperately needed ships to transport
food and war materials. The problem needed to be
solved quickly because German U-boats sank so
many Allied ships. Liberty ships were mass
produced to transport supplies of food and war
materials. They could be built in 4 days and
enough of them were built to keep the Allied war
effort supplied. Roosevelt thought that the way
to win a modern war was to have far more of
everything than your opponents. As one American
put it For America, war meant a mass production
war. You design something on a production line,
you lay it on and there it is.
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Poster from Texaco, 1943. It was posted in their
factories.
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When the USA joined the Second World War
President Roosevelt promised the Allies that he
would supply 60,000 war planes a year. Goering,
Head of the German Air Force said that it could
not be done. He told Hitler The Americans
cannot built airplanes. They are very good at
refrigerators and razor blades. New factories
were built and mass production methods became so
successful that raw materials would go in one end
of the room and finished planes would come out of
the other end an hour later. Planes then went
straight to a runway to be tested. Large numbers
of women were recruited to work in the factories
while men were away fighting in the armed forces.
In 1943 American factories surpassed
Roosevelt's target by producing 86,000 planes.
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Women perform a mass inspection of propellers,
1942
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War in the Pacific
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Following the attack on Pearl Harbour Japanese
forces swept over south Asia and the islands of
the western Pacific. By March 1942 the British
colonies of Hong Kong and Singapore were forced
to surrender. By mid 1942 the Japanese had
conquered over 2.5 million square kilometres of
land, much of it rich in raw materials. In the
war in the Pacific, control of the sea and air
spaces was vital. The naval war was fought from
aircraft carriers protected by warships. Much of
the Pacific war was also fought in jungle areas.
This was unfamiliar territory for most Allied
troops and the Japanese were far better equipped
and trained to fight than their opponents. They
wore light clothes, carried little equipment and
used bicycles and river boats to move swiftly
through the jungle. Japanese soldiers were
totally dedicated and prepared to die for their
emperor. As fighting men they lived up to ideals
of bushido. This was a code which demanded
absolute loyalty and courage.
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The U.S. also sent troops to fight on the western
front in Europe with British and Canadian forces.
The 6th June 1944 saw D-Day, where Allied troops
landed on the Normandy coast, catching the
Germans by surprise. Germany put up strong
resistance, but the superiority of the Allies in
terms of men and resources was overwhelming.
Germany surrendered on 8th May 1945. The war in
Europe was over.
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By the summer of 1945 almost all Japanese
conquests in the Pacific had been recaptured and
the Japanese forces were retreating. However,
the Allies faced the prospect of an invasion of
Japan itself, which, it was believed, would
result in massive casualties. U.S. President
Truman therefore decided to use the atomic bomb
as a means of bringing an end to the war as
quickly as possible. On 6th and 9th August 1945
atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over 70,000 people
were killed instantly. On 15th August Emperor
Hirohito announced the unconditional surrender of
Japan. How did the U.S.A justify the use of
atomic bombs on these cities? Controversy still
surrounds this question today.
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