Following World War I, many Americans had very strong feelings about joining another European war. The first war had caused many Americans to lose their lives and had cost a huge amount of money for the US Government. So, overall, the American opinion was a desire to stay neutral.
At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, World War 2 was just over 2 years old. The Nazi Empire had expanded to almost all of Europe, as seen in the map included below. American opinion about the war began to shift as the fear of an ever-expanding Nazi Germany grew. Simultaneously, Japan began smaller attacks (at first accidental, America just happened to get in the way) on American ships.
Although Americans feared entering WWII, the government thought that it was necessary to enter because of the power that the Nazi's were rapidly gaining. It is thought that the American government knew that the Japanese wanted to attack, but they were not prepared for the attack to come on Pearl Harbor. While WWII was a tragic event for all countries, it was necessary that the US entered the war.
ReplyDeleteAnother example before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that shows how American intention was not to maintain neutral was the Atlantic Charter, a joint declaration released by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. This charter, signed in August 1941 - four months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, mentions the "final destruction of the Nazi tyranny," strongly proving America was anti-Axis before officially declaring the end to their neutrality.
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