American Neutrality During World War II and Its Subsequent Involvement in Europe and Asia

Authors Avatar

American Neutrality During World War II and Its Subsequent Involvement in Europe and Asia

        Marked by many historical and significant events, World War II is perhaps the most famous war in the history of the world. This war was the first and, to date, only ware to feature nuclear warfare and it was also the deadliest war in history. This conflict featured two main alliances: the Allies and the Axis Powers. Virtually every country on Earth at the time was involved with this war in some way, shape, or form. The United States was still attempting to dig itself out of the deep hole it fell into as a result of the Great Depression. While this was going on, there was an increase in tension among many European nations, particular the western nations such as Germany, France, Britain, and Italy. Italy and Germany were adopting fascist ideals under the reigns of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, respectively. With this, Hitler and Mussolini formed an alliance, which also included the Japanese, under the leadership of Hideki Tojo. The nations in this alliance became known as the Axis powers and would wage a brutal war against the Allies, which included France, Britain, the USSR, and the USA later into the war. Although the USA is not in Europe, ware was declared against them by Germany and Italy after the Japanese attack against the USA at Pearl Harbor, which leads to ask whether or not the United States would have joined World War II had it not been attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor.

        With conflict raging in Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to stay as

neutral as possible regarding the war in Europe. The first act stated, “The President, by proclamation, shall  definitely enumerate the arms, ammunition, or implements of war, the export of which is prohibited by this Act.” It also stated, “The President is hereby authorized to proclaim upon recommendation of the Board from time to time a list of articles which shall be considered arms, ammunition, and implements of war for the purposes of this section.” This was the first attempt by the United States to maintain a neutral standpoint regarding the war in Europe. This neutrality act was the first of three to be proposed, each one getting less neutral as a new one was proposed. The first act was criticized for giving President Roosevelt too much power because it would allow him to personally decide which nations would not receive American aid. Each neutrality act following the first would become increasingly less neutral because of the nature of the war in Europe and the feeling that the USA should help its allies.

        In an attempt to keep the feuding European nations from warfare, President Roosevelt sent a message to the governments of Germany, Czechoslovakia, Britain, and France that pleaded for no conflict. Roosevelt writes, “The supreme desire of the American people is to live in peace. But in the event of a general war they face the fact that no nation can escape some measure of the consequences of such a world catastrophe,” which shows that Roosevelt is primarily concerned with the possible intervention by the United States in the inevitable European conflict. He also underestimates the nature of the European conflict by stating that, “there is no problem so difficult or so pressing for solution that it cannot be justly solved by the resort to reason rather than by the resort to force,” which shows that he is advocating for peace

Join now!

and the underlying issue of keeping the USA out of the war.

        Roosevelt's continued push for peace and neutrality continued through late 1939. Roosevelt sent both Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini a message that warned them of the dangers and results that waging a war would cause. He used Hitler's own statements by telling him, “You have repeatedly asserted that you and the German people have no desire for war. If this is true there need be no war.” It appeared that Roosevelt was trying as hard as he could to keep, not only the USA, but the entire world out ...

This is a preview of the whole essay