Why Did America Enter World War 2?

52

52 Answers

Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
When germany invaded poland on september 1st, Britain and france who are the allies declared war on germany several days after the invasion. America (is a part of the allies) was in a state of isolationism. America didnt want to go to war we just got out of a terrible drought and then the depression hit and we already went to war. America chose not to send any supplies to any countries who were at war so all trades were cut off immediately. A year before the bombing on pearl harbor, japan invaded north east china, which made them enter ww2. America cut off all trade to japan, which meant no scrap iron, no steel, and no aviation fuel. Japan was outraged and viewed pearl harbor and the us navy as a significant threat to thier navy so japan sent multiple warnings to washington which arrived too late. They first attacked at 7:55 am and a second wave at 8:55 am. They killed over 2300 soldiers and injured /killed 55 civilians they sunk and damaged 18 battleships/carriers and destroyed over 300 planes. America then entered ww2. 3 days after pearl harbor germany and italy declared war on america.
Penny Kay Profile
Penny Kay answered
The obvious and direct cause was the attack on Pearl Harbor Hawaii on December 7 1941, by the Japanese which were one nation involved in what we called the axis powers, by declaring war on the Japanese, the ally conventions would automatically put us at war with the rest of the axis powers including Germany. As odd as it may seem Russia was allied with the Ally powers and played a huge part in winning the world war. If you find this answer to your liking please be sweet and click on a star next to RATE THIS ANSWER, it would be a great favor to me, Nice Question BTW...*p
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
It was under political pressure from the allies of Europe, particularly england, and finally goaded into action by the Japanese when they attacked pearl harbor- there's a reason they got nuked.

but probably one of the biggest reasons they entered world war two was the financial gain- the US, at that time, was under the incredible strain of the great depression. Entering the war gave them the chance to modernize the entire country essentially overnight- it allowed them to borrow money from europe so that they could mobilize the industries and develop new armaments and production capabilities, and this mobilization has only shifted, it has never really stopped- America, as a nation, still has one of the highest potential outputs of industrial product of any country.

the economic impact of this means that because america entered world war two, it became a world power: It had the means and the ability to produce anything, it had the very best of every type of technology (after the war, when it had imported German scientists), and on top of this, it still had the production capabilities it had created- essentially from nothing- during the beginning of the war. The GI bill that the soldiers got meant that it had a college-educated workforce after that, which is the beginning of any nations economic climb- look at Korea, for instance, or Vietnam, or china, or India, or Singapore, or any nation.

world war 2 was probably one of the smartest moves by American leaders, ever. They had two distinct bad guys, a propaganda- hungry population, free foreign money, a chance to earn money on their own because of all of this, and all the moral justification you could hope for, entering a war. There was no cry of "they're people too", there were only cries of "those bastards!"

There are many more sides to it than this, and I'm simplifying a bit. But I think it gives a good overall picture of the biggest influences to go to war.
Girija Naiksatam Profile
The United States of American joined in the World War II after 7th of December, 1941; the day on which it's Pearl Harbor was attacked. Prior to this America had stayed away from the war and wasn't a part of either the Allied or the Axis powers. However, when Japan destroyed almost the entire American navy with a surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor which was of its primary naval bases, the U.S joined in fighting along side France and Britain. In the January of 1942, the United Nations Declaration listed out the 26 other countries that would be a part of the Allied Powers. Incidentally, this declaration also became the founding declaration for the United Nations. In the latter half of World War II, the United States along with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom became the 'Big 3'; the crux of the Allies Powers who eventually defeated their Axis rivals.
bhagat singh Profile
bhagat singh answered
America did not want to get involved in the war before Japanese attacked .After Japanese bombing which killed 2,300 Americans , congress declared war . A few days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the united states. The Japanese bombed pearl harbour and the united states declared war on them.This brings the country into world war II.
thanked the writer.
View all 4 Comments
Anonymous
Anonymous commented
Wrong... Typical american answer though. Roosevelt succesfully provoked the Japanese into attacking Pearl Harbour. You Americans new it was going to happen but ignored the warnings. Roosevelt used Pearl Harbour as a triger for the American public to get behind the war, whereas in actual fact Roosevelt had been at war with the axis powers for a lot longer.

Roosevelt let 2300 Americans die so he could go to war. (this is the facts.. Dont agree, u dont agree with history then.)
Anonymous
Anonymous commented
I agree with Thescholar and its harbor..but america denied the inevitable by ignoring creditabale information that the intercepted from their intelligence. We provoked japan by cutting of their oil supply from us. In a way FDR wanted war but not to kill our men but to stop hitler(my futher) and hitlerism.he didnt want him to take over the world.
Anonymous
Anonymous commented
Thescholar your wrong he didnt let them die, the message of japan actually attacking came within 2hrs of the attack not enough time to mobilize an entire fleet and at the time it was impossible for a torpedo to be able to be fired in such shallow water. And he other information FDR got wasnt creditable to do anything he promised he wouldnt send any men in to foriegn waters.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Whether the states new Japan was going to attack Pearl Harbor doesn't matter. What matters is all those soldiers that  died because of it. It was a tragedy. And than remembering that whether Japan had attacked or not the U.S.A would have been dragged into the war anyways. If Japan hadn't attacked us another country would have.  It was impossible to avoid Its a good thing we did join the war. If we hadn't  fought against Hitler than who knows what would have happened and how many more soldiers would have been killed, Who knows how much longer the war would have dragged on. It was because of us and all our allies (every single soldier) that war was won. Thats what really matters. So how about showing some maturity and ending the name calling.
thanked the writer.
Anonymous
Anonymous commented
Good Call....The allies won the war....EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. No matter what country, dead or alive. British, French, American etc.....not one of theose powers could have won the war alone....The world united and fought for what was right, and came out victorius.
Anna (bella) Profile
Anna (bella) answered
They weren't going to enter WW2 at all until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
America had made a blockade around Japan because was attacking China and other Asian countries.
America felt threatened by this expansion which led to their blockade. Japan then surprise attacked Pearl Harbor and killed over 2,000 Americans and 8 battle ships.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
The better answer is Franklin D Roosevelt wanted to go to war but the people didn't so he chose to wait until something happened to America and then everyone would want to go to war. The other answer is all about his opinion
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Because japan bombed pearl harbor and many other islands on the way back. So Roosevelt convinced the congress to sign the Lend-Lease Bill
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
I hope interested readers are able to sort the biased, ill-written, poorly constructed views in this thread from the more reasonable ones. In fact I'm tempted to use these submissions as an English exercise for students about how not to write if they want to be taken seriously.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Because in 1941 Japan had attacked on the U.S.A. But the U.S.A. Was not involved in the second world war. And hence we can say that Japan has indirectly given the welcome notice to the U.S.A. For joining the second world war and hence to save the country and to take the revenge of the war of Japan the U.S.A. Ultimately officially joined the second world war
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
On December 7th, 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The Japanese wanted to knock out the U.S. Fleet as a significant fighting force so we could not oppose their conquest or take over of South East Asia and the Pacific islands. Once the Japanese had taken over all of their territory they thought even if we did rebuild our ships we still could not stop them. So later on we fought the Japanese and still won the war by dropping the two atomic bombs: Little Boy and Fat Man on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
They waited because they didnt want to be in war with germany, they finally decided to declare war after the japanese attacked pearl harbor.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
The us didnt want to be part of the war nd they were not going to support japan for attacking other countries nd working with italy nd the nazi
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
The U.S. Entered WWII because the Japanese bombed pearl harbor not knowing that the U.S. Controlled Pearl Harbor.The U.S. Got pissed and entered WWII. Then after reconquering some islands they used the nuke, on Hiroshima and another city. Only TWICE did America use the nuke.Japan knew the Americans were strong, but attacked the wrong place by accident.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
You people are all idiots. Kapor's answer is the only thing that is remotely close. Hey "TheScholar" where did you get your information? You all should be ashamed of yourselves. This site is one of the most disturbing things I have ever read. It is proof-positive that freedom of speech may have been a bad idea. You all bring shame to the founding fathers, the United States, and to me as an American. I trust that "TheScholar" will share his sources so that he can prove me wrong.
Please if you are under the age of 20 do not read this stuff. It is poison to your mind.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
The us entered WW2 because the Japanese bombed pearl harbor after Roosevelt provoked them.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
For money at the end of WW2 america was twice as rich as it started. While Britain at the end of WW2 was as poor as germany was, The only Thing Britain profited from was nothing but a morale victory.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Interesting to read almost every answer was "because they attacked pearl harbour" jsut imagine how fast it could have been over if the US didnt sit on thier ass for 2 years?? Its called a world war for a reason...it involves the world, not just europe
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
America knew about the attack but desided to let it hapend to profit from a very popular war.
And it did!!!! Wake up people
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
I think america entered in ww2 becoz it wanted 2 becom more powerful and wanted other countries to surrender
Alan Profile
Alan answered
Near the end. They wanted to join in but the american people did not want to get involved. So the president annoyed the Emperor Of Japan until he decided to attack Pearl Harbour. The Australians warned USA two weeks before it happened but the President let it happen so that the people of USA would want to go to war. Which happened. So all the weapon producers could make loads of money selling weapons to both sides. Its a win win situation.
Same as today in iraq and afganistan. They told us Iraq had weapons of mass distruction ready to fire at USA so they had to invade. But errr. There were no weapons to be found. But for some reason our troops are still fighting there. Afganistan was to catch Bin Laden they told us. 2 weeks later BBC news team found him, but USA are still looking. And still getting killed. Next will be Iran. You can check these facts on utube yourself. I was surprised too.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
-The Lend-Lease Bill passed to aid Britain and France officially ended the neutrality of the US in the eyes of Germany, which led to the beginning of their naval attacks of US ships, and
-The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
At first, America did not want to enter the war. But after the horrible and wrong attack on Pearl Harbor, they entered because they felt it a good time to maybe take revenge on Japan.  But also they might have just wanted to get in, and after the bombing, it seamed like a good time.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Guest who answered 2 days ago,
you are right they are being ignorant, name calling and all that is nonsense. Somebody needs to read there history or go back to school to learn a little more.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Well...in world at war the game already started in a war so th ts how I look at it!:D
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
America joined WW2 early.   It was Canada who first joined on 1939, then the US in 1941, when it suited their needs.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Ok but another point would probably be the fact that America also wanted to wait for Russia (USSR) to be weakened, so after the World War, they wouldn't be able to fight another war and spread communism. Cold war? Thats probably why there wasn't any physical fighting...
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
All wrong - the officially entered into the war because of the Lend-Lease act - look it up and stop being ignorant.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
The united states enterd the war because there were to many niggers and thay had to get rid of then thats why

Answer Question

Anonymous