Why did the U.S. avoid involvement in WWII until December 1941? Why was the Pearl Harbor attack such a shock to the U.S.?
1 Answer
The U.S. avoided involvement in WWII before December 1941 because the Congress and the President wanted to believe that the war did not affect the U.S. This was called "isolationism" -- the idea that a country could isolate itself from others.
Explanation:
President Franklin Roosevelt was in his third term as President when the Japanese attacked the U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. The U.S. was just coming out of the economic downturn that Americans call "The Great Depression" -- a time when millions of people were unemployed, lost their homes, lost their businesses, lost their savings, or some combination of these difficulties.
The Great Depression lasted from 1929 to 1939. People often went without food. During this decade, extreme weather ruined crops and killed livestock, making people's lives even worse. Families sometimes took turns eating or sleeping because there was not enough food for everyone, or enough bedding for everyone to sleep at the same time.
Because of this long period of hard times, many people's lives were scarred. They were fearful and afraid of the future.
President Roosevelt and his advisors designed a program called The New Deal to provide employment, food, and hope to people and end The Great Depression. Many people found work in government programs that built roads, campgrounds, national park buildings, libraries, and other projects during the 1930s.
Because of the Great Depression, Americans saw the actions of Adolph Hitler in Europe as terrible, but far away. Many believed that what Hitler was doing would not affect the U.S. because of its geographic position between two oceans. Americans thought they were safe from European wars. But they were wrong.
Some of the isolationists in Congress were so influential that they stopped America from honoring the agreement it had with Poland to help defend Poland if she were attacked. This is why the U.S. did nothing when Hitler's army invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. The Poles begged for help, but none came.
Because America felt safe and invulnerable, many of its leaders ignored the military buildup that was also occurring in Japan at the same time that Hitler was building up the military of Germany. Some of their beliefs were due to racial prejudice against Japanese and Chinese people.
A few Americans tried to tell the President and Congress that the Japanese had the capability to attack Hawaii and the mainland of the U.S., but these people were ignored until Dec. 7, 1941. That is why the attack was such a shock.
