Expert: Anthony - 3/26/2010

Question
Anthony,
I saw that you are listed under different categorie but I was impressed by your answer that you gave another person on wwII.
What is your opinion on the real reason, that the USA would not get into the "war in Europe" until Pearl Harbor?  I read some Churchill history about how many times they were asked, but refused, for assistance to the French and British.

Your opinion would be welcomed.
thanks.

Answer
Leah,

Thank you for your kind comments on an earlier answer.  Being a keen student of history, I have enjoyed reading about Nazism and especially World War 2 ever since I was nine years old.  Although you have asked for an opinion, I am giving you the facts regarding American involvement in World War 2, as they are accurate and will eradicate any bias (that there might be!) in my answer.

Keeping in mind the growing turmoil across Europe (with Nazism and Fascism sweeping to power across Germany and Italy respectively) in the 1930s, the US Congress passed a series of laws termed as the Neutrality Acts.  After its costly involvement in World War 1, the US was wary of being drawn into another conflagration and wanted to avoid this scenario at all costs.  The Nye Committee hearings between 1934-36 had led to an increasing vindication of the theory that America's entry into WW1 had been at the behest of bankers and arms-dealers seeking major profits.  

Hence, they passed the Neutrality Act that treated both aggressor and victim as belligerent parties and therefore, limited US aid to the British Government against Nazi Germany.  The initial Act was passed on August 31st, 1935 for a term of 6-months with an embargo on trading in arms with all parties in a war.  In February 1936, the Act was extended by another 14 months.  The Neutrality Act of May 1937, included the provisions of the earlier acts without any expiration date and was extended to cover civil wars as well.  

As a concession to Roosevelt, the Act also ensured that the President could permit the sale of arms and supplies to belligerents in Europe as long as the recipients arranged for the transport and paid immediately in cash.  Termed as the "Cash and Carry" clause, Roosevelt believed that this method would aid France and Great Britain in the event of a war with Germany as they were the only countries that controlled the seas.  The cash and carry clause was set to expire after two years and aimed at preventing American intervention in the war as it required the buyers to send their own ships to American ports and assume all risk during transportation. US shipping interests were also barred from entering into conflict zones.

With German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939, Roosevelt lobbied Congress to have the cash and carry provision renewed. The clause lapsed since he was rebuffed and the mandatory arms embargo remained in force.  After declaration of WW2 in September 1939 (with Great Britain and France declaring war on Germany), Roosevelt argued with the Congress that the Neutrality Act could be deemed to provide passive aid to the aggressor by not aiding the victims of the aggression.  His arguments led to the passing of the Neutrality Act of November 1939 that allowed the US to trade with belligerent nations on a cash and carry basis, thereby ending the arms embargo.  Further, the earlier Acts of 1935 and 1937 were repealed too.  

Until this time, although it remained neutral, the US assisted the Allied powers and China.  When Japan invaded Indochina, the US barred its shipments of iron, steel and other arms to Japan.  In September 1940, the US sent destroyers to British bases.  In September 1940, Japan, Italy and Germany signed the Tripartite Act.  This Act had the provision that if any country (not in the War at the time) attacked any Axis power, it would be forced to wage war against all three nations.  With the US supporting Great Britain and protecting British convoys in the Atlantic, the Germans and the Americans engaged in sustained naval warfare by October 1941.

The Lend-Lease Act of March 1941, allowed the US to sell, lend or give arms to allied nations.  Following repeated attacks by German submarines on US vessels, Roosevelt ordered the US Navy to attack German/Italian ships in case US vessels were threatened by the Germans/Italians.  Once the US destroyer Reuben James was torpedoed in October 1941 by enemy submarines (leading to the loss of 115 of the 159 crew on board), merchant vessels were allowed to be armed and to carry cargo to belligerent nations.  With the US supporting Great Britain and protecting British convoys in the Atlantic, the Germans and the Americans engaged in sustained naval warfare by October 1941, even though formally, the US remained neutral.

In the meantime, Japan planned to seize European colonies in Asia to create a large defensive perimeter stretching into the Central Pacific.  By doing this, the Japanese could exploit the resources of Southeast Asia while exhausting the over-stretched Allies by fighting a defensive war. In order to neutralize the Americans, the Japanese decided to attack the US Pacific Fleet.   On December 7th 1941, they attacked British and American holdings with near-simultaneous offensives against Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific.  These included an attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor and landings in Thailand and Malaya.  With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the US formally declared war on Japan on 08th December 1941.  On 11th December 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the US leading to the US reciprocation of the same day.

In the long run, this proved to be as great a turning point of WW2 as El-Alamein and Stalingrad.  If El-Alamein and Stalingrad showed that the Germans could be beaten and driven back, the US entry ensured major supplies of armaments to the Allied powers that eventually proved to be too much to cope with for the German arms industry.  While the Allies could rely on supplies from the US and Soviet Union, the Germans found themselves outnumbered and fighting on all fronts.  Eventually, it remained a matter of time before the Allies emerged victorious.

Regards,


Japan