Arguments for the US involvement in World War II
| Subject: | 🏺 History |
| Type: | Argumentative Essay |
| Pages: | 3 |
| Word count: | 625 |
| Topics: | 💣 World War 2, American Imperialism, International Relations, 🏳️ Government |
essay ASAP?
World War II was one of the worst periods of time for human existence. It is estimated that 60 to 80 million people died during the war. The war began in Europe and many in the United States thought that the war would be contained in Europe, but a new enemy brought the war right to the American doorstep. At the same time, the situation in Europe increasingly became dire and the US began to slowly edge towards total involvement in the war. The breakpoint came with the unprecedented attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor. However, when we look back, the attack may not have been such an expected event after all. Several years before the attack tensions between US and Japan had been growing out of control. So one of the reasons the US got into the war is to avenge for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (Document 11, Chapter 5).
At the same time, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor; they were involved in aggression with the Chinese over territory in Manchuria which was already controlled by China. Japan sought to control this important raw material rich territory in an attempt to strengthen their economy and bolster their military. Japan joined two other nations, namely German and Italy in what came to be known as the “Tripartite treaty” as part of their plan to put in places a new world order. Germany and Italy were already carrying out serious atrocities in Europe and one way of bringing an end to the humanitarian crisis in Europe was by the US joining the war in an attempt to bring peace to Europe (Document 5, Chapter 5).
Due to the war against China already being carried out by the Japanese over territory in Manchuria, the US had already made a choice not to directly engage Japan in direct military combat. Their way of supporting China was through the funneling of funds and other forms of aid to help fend off the Japanese attacks. In retaliation for the US choosing to support China, the two other nations of the Tripartite act, namely, Germany and Italy declared total war on the US. The US had no option but to join the war rather than sit back and wait to be attacked, considering that American blood had already been spilt on American soil following the attack on Pearl Harbor (Document 10, Chapter 5).
After World War 1, Tensions between US and Germany had been growing steadily. Adolf Hitler the leader of the Nazi party viewed the US as being an already weakened nation, yet one that constantly continued to be overbearing by meddling in the affairs of other nations. In essence, Hitler saw the US being as being an ideological enemy due to the racial mixing that existed in the US which according to him made the US inferior. In addition, he assumed that the US would be busy with the war on Japan giving him the chance to take over the Soviet Union. After finishing of the Soviets, he would then be free to decimate Britain with little interference from the US. In an attempt to stop Hitler from carrying out all these, the US had little option but join World War 2. All the above arguments were very effective in bringing the US on-board to the War. All these reasons for the US entering the war seem justified and it does not take much convincing to see that clearly there is no way the US could afford to stay away from the war.
- America’s History in the Making. (1942, April 11). America’s History in the Making.
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (1992). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Offered for reference purposes only.