Do you think the US would have become involved in WWII if not for pearl harbor?

Question

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Answer 1

It's hard to say. If Pearl Harbor hadn't occured, they could have been another direct attack on American soil that prompted the U.S to get in on the war. Although America wanted to say out of it due to econmic reasons, the oil embargo placed on Japan pretty much garunteed retaliation from the Japanese, which would pull us into the war.

Yes, I think a war of such magnitude is hard to stay out of. America, ever since it was founded as an independent country, has felt it was necessary to go out and "guide the world" to become dominated by "good, democratic countries". The U.S has this strange need to liberate/drastically change (sometimes for the worse) other countries "in need" of it.

Answer 2

WHYJapan attacked Pearl Harbor? Japan had been aggressive towards China and so the US halted any trade with Japan in November 1940. Japan saw this as a hostile act towards them. About a year later, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. This was only part of there reason for going to war against the Germany, Japan and Italy. In March 1940, the Lend-Lease act was passed stating Roosevelt could direct aid to whoever he wanted. This meant that the US was no longer neutral. The US ended up contributing 42 billion dollars to the war effort by 1945. With Hitler taking over Europe, FDR saw fit to aid the British and French troops with arms, etc.

Nazi Germany was sinking American supply ships because the US was providing financial and military support to the Allied troops (England, France, China and Russia).


The US stayed neutral in WWII until the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was bombed by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. The Japanese were then enemies of the United States.

FDR wanted USA in the war. He made very public statements, not one, not two, but three separate attacks that Germans made on US vessels carrying civilians, no less.


Obviously the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan triggered a declaration of war and the 'official' entry of the USA into the war December 1941. However, the USA was already unofficially at war with Germany since USA naval forces were shooting to kill German naval units in the Atlantic.

The real reason USA entered WW2 was because Japan did not like the fact that US stoped selling oil and scrap metal to them which they needed. So on December 7, 1941 that attacked USA. The next day US declared war on them and in return Germany and Italy decalred war on USA.

Answer 3

I think the United States would still be involved in WWII if not for the Pearl Harbour bombing.

At that point in history, the US was already an industrialized nation looking for cheap raw materials, cheap labor and great, huge markets to sustain its ever increasing industrialization. Wittingly or unwittingly, the US has nametagged herself as an imperialist nation, out to conquer the world, particulary Asia, in order to make headways in the vastness of its industries and economy. If the United States didn't involve herself in WWII, she would surely lose her economic power and lag behind an emerging Japan, which also had the ambition to control the world economy.

The US economy of today, and the people of the US for that matter, have a lot to thank for to the architects of the US aggression and involvement in WWII. Otherwise, they may never have achieved what they are enjoying right now.

Answer 4

It's not probable.
There was a lot of oppositon to entering the war because one third of the US population at that time was of German descent.
The USA was trading with both sides until Pearl Harbor
In 1940 Standard Oil of America gave the Nazis the process for making synthetic rubber because the German were unable to import natural rubber. This probably prolonged the war by some momths.

Answer 5

Yes.

Germany had been sinking US shipping since 1940, including sinking warships (such as the Reuben James- DD-245). The US had already begun a rapid mobilization and modernization of the military in preparation for the inevitable entry.

Pearl Harbor just accelerated the plans.

Answer 6

Eventually we would've been drug into the war. Our merchant marine and escort ships in the Atlantic were beginning to go down at a higher rate prior to the attack on Pearl. At some point, a critical mass would've been reached to sway the isolationist feelings currently in the country.

Answer 7

Yup. We just didn't think they were ready to attack so soon! It was assumed they Japan would not strike until the Spring of 1942. That's why the reinforcements we were sending to the Philippines were still in transit (the "Pensacola convoy" in the Pacific and the Fourth Marines in China).

Answer 8

Yes, they were itching for a fight. They just had to overcome the inertia of isolationism.