Today in History: The U.S. Enters World War II

by M.C. Millman 

In 1941, on December 8, the United States entered World War II when Congress declared war against Japan a day after its attack on Pearl Harbor.

After World War I ended in 1918, Americans were tired of war after more than 200,000 American soldiers had been killed or wounded. While conflicts in Europe and Asia continued, America did not get involved. America had enough of its own domestic problems, including dealing with the millions who were out of work due to the Great Depression. 

"Our own troubles are so numerous and so difficult," said Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers at the time, "that we have neither the time or inclination to meddle in the affairs of others." 

Congress carried the desire not to get involved in future foreign wars one step further when it passed a series of Neutrality Acts banning American citizens from trading with nations at war, loaning them money, or traveling on their ships.

While the United States remained politically neutral at the beginning of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew that the involvement of the U.S. was inevitable. Therefore, he tried to assist the Allies without violating American neutrality. 

For instance, American manufacturers were able to sell arms and supplies to the British just so long as they paid upfront and shipped them to Britain in their own ships.       

Supporting Britain was critical because once France fell to the Germans in June 1940, that left Great Britain as the only remaining country in the world still at war with Hitler. In a nationwide radio broadcast, Roosevelt explained that the best policy for keeping the U.S. out of war was to become "the arsenal of democracy" by offering support to the Allies. 

The United States's official entry into World War II came the day after the bombing of the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. On that day, Japanese carrier planes knocked out over 200 planes and sunk or damaged eight battleships. The following day, Congress declared war on Japan. Japan's allies, Germany and Italy, responded by declaring war against the United States.

 Great Britain and the United States agreed that Nazi Germany was the more immediate threat to deal with. The two countries pursued a "Germany first" strategy while not completely ignoring what Japan had done. 

"I can't describe the feelings of relief with which I find . . . the United States and Britain standing side by side," Churchill said at a press conference after the U.S. entered the war. "It is incredible. Thank God."

It would take until August 15, 1945, nearly four more years, for the largest armed conflict in world history to be over. World War II was fought in six continents. It left 50 million people dead, including the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.