Bolton 1

Lindsay Bolton
1A
1/7/16
Essay Exam 3
2) Discuss the three events you consider most important in drawing the United States
into World War II.
At first, the United States seemed to want to stay out of the developing war.
However, their allies had something different in mind. They were depending on the help
of the U.S. in winning WW II. For example, in December 1941 Winston Churchill asked
for the United States assistance. It was stated that all they need was tools and weapons
from the U.S. This is likely one reason for the United States entry into the war. They
could not simply abandon their allies. Although, it was a difficult situation. Remembering
back to WW I and all the horror that caused made the
There were two well-known sides spoken of in many history books and other
historical documents describing WW II. One of these is called the Allies. This includes
Britain, France, Australia, Poland, Belgium, Canada, Norway, China, Denmark,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Brazil, USSR, South Africa, Greece, Yugoslavia, and, of
course, the United States. This coalition opposed what is known as the Axis powers
which consisted of Japan, Romania, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Both
alliances were somewhat fragile and have changed throughout history. However, as the
common saying goes, 'an enemy of my enemy is my freind' likely perfectly explains one
of the reasons for these coalitions.
Each of these places played a different part in this war. Some more than others,
but the United States has a very interesting story of being pulled into this war. This is
why discussing three events that may have been the most important cause for the U.S.
entering the war can become a very compelling argument. There are many different
opinions as to what actually set America off and made them become a part of this

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bloody war, but it is hard to say which is actually the 'true' reason for the United States
entrance. One argument that seems quite valid is the United States allies pulling them
into the war. One possible definition for allies is found at Dictionary.com, stating "a
person, group, or nation that is associated with another or others for some common
cause or purpose". This being said, the allies had a common goal. Therefore, this could
be considered a main reason the U.S. got into this war.
Another reason could possibly be Hitler's ominous growing influence in Germany.
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was a powerful and extremely influential Nazi during this time.
His cruelty and absolute hate for Jews is still spoken about today, even outside of
history class. He is the main cause of the deaths of six million people in what is known
as The Holocaust. After the attack on Poland led by him in 1939 which is said to be a
start of WW II, the U.S. enters the war.
Although the United States was not the first place Hitler hit, it is said it was deep
in his plans to attack the U.S., preparing long term weapons with that intent. At one
point, it looked as though the war was over. This was the perfect time for Hitler and his
military begin for war against the U.S. and Soviet Union, and this is exactly what they
did. Hitler even was willing to join forces with Japan in their fight against the U.S., with
hopes this would mean they had enough troops for an attack on the U.S. However,
Germany began to face difficulties in this plan. The plan was to defeat the British, at
which point they would be able to fight the United States. Although, Britain did not seem
to want to give up.
They continued fighting against these forces, but they needed help. The United
States help. If this attack on Britain with such force had not occurred, then they might
not have needed the United States assistance. However, since this was the case, they
did. That is why this could be another possible reason for the U.S. involvement in the
war. Especially since these two reasons mentioned tie together in a way. Hitler attacked
Britain until they started to reach their breaking point, involving the U.S. As well as the
actual requests of different multiple allies needing their assistance were two important
reasons.

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However, one of the possibly most compelling reasons can be stated in two
words: Pearl Harbor. This is one of the most taught, most talked about, most horrid
reasons for the United States involvement in WW II. Pearl Harbor was a United States
navy base during this time, in the United States territory of Hawaii. It existed on the
island of Oahu, near Honolulu. This is where Japanese troops decided to attack with a
surprise military strike, which caused an angered retaliation toward Japan by the U.S.
It all began on a calm sunday morning around 8 in the morning. There were a
few different reasons why such an attack was so infuriating to the U.S. For one, it was
simply unexpected. That navy base had no prior information of such an attack, and
were in every sense of the word, unprepared for such an attack. Now, war is something
that leads to many deaths, broken families, and bloody battles between countries.
However, even in something like war, there are rules. One of which being the fact that a
country must literally declare war on another country. Since Japan had not actually
declared war on the U.S., they were not expecting such an attack from Japan.
Secondly, this was not an attack that only affected the American troops, but
everyone there. This involved the deaths of innocent men, women, and children. Any
person that resided on that base was being attacked. And third, it was a sunday
morning. This may seem off subject, or even just plain odd, but this is yet another
reason that the U.S. was so enraged. However, an attack on a sunday was very
significant and a very low thing to do. Since there was no reason to believe such an
attack would occur, the troops were allowed to attend church and have an overall calm
attitude on that day. So this air assault came as a great surprise to the naval base and
therefore, no one was prepared.
Over 2,400 people died that day, and about 1,178 were injured. It almost seems
like this could have been thought of as the perfect time to attack in the Japanese point
of view. However, in the American point of view, it is undoubtedly the very worst time for
the Japanese to attack. Everyone was either attending church or just laying back, but
either way, there was no way for them to prepare for what would happen at about 8 a.m.
December 7, 1941. It was definitely a devastating day in America's history which took
time to rebuild. Although the United States did retaliate, the damage had been done.

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The U.S. did declare war on Japan and attacked soon after, but this entered the U.S.
into yet another devastating world war. After the U.S. declared war on Japan, declared
war on the U.S. Which then led the U.S. to declare war on those two. countries. This is
another possible, and final reason in this essay for the reason why the United States
entered WW II.