History 475: The Second World War as a Seminal Event in US History

This essay examines the Second World War as a seminal event in United States history, analyzing whether it truly represents a watershed moment. It begins by discussing the US policy of neutralism following World War I and the subsequent shift away from isolationism after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The essay explores the reasons behind America's initial reluctance to engage in international conflicts and the factors that ultimately led to its involvement in World War II. It further discusses the consequences of the war, including the formation of the United Nations and the development of a stronger military presence. The essay concludes by arguing that World War II taught the United States valuable lessons that continue to influence its foreign policy and military preparedness to this day.

Running head: WORLD WAR II HISTORY
World War II History
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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World War II History
Selected Case Study:
Following the First World War, the United States retreated into isolationism rejecting
the Treaty of Versailles and electing Warren G. Harding president in 1920 who pledged to
put “America First.” However, events during World War II convinced a sizeable number of
Americans that they should abandon isolationism in favour of creating a new world order.
Introduction
The first world war taught the United States numerous lessons. It is said that wise
people do not repeat their own mistakes. After world war 1, the United States of America
decided to isolate itself from international wars (Hook and Spanier, 2018). They concluded
that it was best to leave the Europeans fight their own battles without involving the United
States. Most citizens agreed with this position and did not want the country to support any
war as it had done in the first world war (Lyons, 2016). To make sure that this was ensured,
the congress made the neutralism law which made the United Sates a neutral party in
international wars. Both the political class and the citizens were convinced neutralism was the
best position to take as a country.
Things do not always turn out exactly as we may want them too. Sometimes, certain
things might happen and lead us to change our stands. This is what happened to the United
States. Although they had made a decision to be neutral and not to be involved in any
international way, they could not keep quiet any more after Japan attacked the pearl harbour
killing thousand of United States’ military personnel (Russett, 2018). After this attack, the
congress met and unanimously agreed to declare war on Japan. The second world war is
therefore a seminal event in the United States history (Tanaka, 2017). This war played a great

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role in influencing the policies that the US had concerning foreign war. This paper is going to
focus on the second world war and why it was a seminal event in the history of the United
States.
Neutralism after the Second World War
After the first world war, most Americans concluded that participation of the US in
the first world war had been one of the greatest mistakes that the US had ever made. They
decided that the best way to establish worthwhile and long-lasting peace was to isolate
themselves from international war. Throughout the 1920s, the United States employed a
policy of neutralism where they decided to distant themselves from any international wars
(Tsurumi, 2015). As a result, the US established a very good relationship with Latin America.
Latin America was under Hoover, who was an antiimperialist. Therefore, Roosevelt, the then
president of America, developed what was called the good neighbour policy with Latin
America. The policy stated that the America region would altogether not be involved in any
international war. To show his commitment towards this endeavour, Roosevelt withdrew all
the American forces from the Caribbean. This led to establishment of a very good
relationship between the United States and Latin America.
At around the same time, the state of the Europe countries especially Britain and
France became tenser. Even with this, the United States continued to hold on to its
isolationist policy. Most of the American population believed that it was best for America to
stay neutral. Many of the polls conducted on the issue revealed that American citizens would
not digest the idea of their country being involved in an international war again. To ensure
that the US fully adopted the neutralism policy, a series of laws were enacted towards the
same. With laws in place, it was evident that the US was determined to remain neutral. The

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issue of isolation was so important in the US that it played a significant role in shaping the
elections of 1940. Roosevelt was elected president. His opponent in the election was trying to
convince the voters not to vote for him claiming that he had started supporting American
involvement with international war. In retaliation, Roosevelt assured the citizens that he
would not send any military personnel to international war.
Giving Up the Isolationist Policy
The events of December 7 1941 played a great role in change of policy in the United
States (Gruhl, 2017). On the said date, Japan made a surprise attack to the United States. A
Japanese aircraft carrying ammunition was used to bomb the pearl of harbour. At this
harbour, there were 18 ships belonging to America’s navy. All the ships and 347 planes were
destroyed (Jackson, 2018). 1178 persons were also wounded. On the following day, the
congress had a sitting. All the members of the senate apart from one voted for a war against
Japan. Just 72 hours later, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States (Lewenstein,
2016). It is obvious that the isolationist policies could not work at that pint in time. It is worth
noting that the isolationism died at the pearl of harbour. The United States found itself
unprepared for a war of such magnitude. Therefore, president Roosevelt moved quickly to
ensure that they had a prepared army, personnel and armoury. Due to the neutralism policy,
the United States was not well prepared to go for war. Due to this, Roosevelt dedicated
himself to ensure that neutralism was eradicated. In 1945, a total of 26 countries including the
United States came together and formed the United Nations (Geiger, 2017). This meant that
all these would support fight against Germany, Italy and Japan. On April the same year,
Roosevelt died. He was succeeded Truman. The United States dropped two atomic bombs at
Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Feis, 2015). The attack was too much for Japan. They surrendered

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and this marked the end of the second world war. This time however, the United States of
America did not adopt the neutralism policies. They continued doing more research on better
ammunition and better ways of fighting. This kind of preparedness is very important. To the
current day, the US has one of the best prepared armies in the world. It has also employed
modern and sophisticated methods of war. It is clear from the above discussion that the
World war II was a decisive moment for America. She learnt lessons that have helped her to
date.
Conclusion
The United States made a very important decision after the world war 1. This was that
they would not be involved again in an international war. Their participation in the first world
war had taught them that participating/facilitating war had more disadvantages than
advantages. For this reason, some legislation was made to ensure that the US remained
neutral. As a result of this neutral approach, a good relationship was established between the
US and Latin America. This decision was made in 1920s when Roosevelt was the president
of the United States. Most American citizens were happy with the neutralism approach.
In life, some events may hit us in a way that we never expected. This is what
happened to the United States. A japan aircraft attacked the pearl harbour destroying ships,
people and planes. This came as a bad surprise to the United states as they had not expected
that something of the sort would happen. Due to the event, the senate met the following day
and declared war on Japan. Three days German and Italy declared war on the United States.
There was one main event that led to the end of the war, that is the bombing of Hiroshima ns
Nagasaki. After the end of the war, America was careful to ensure that future decisions
ensure mechanisms.

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References
Feis, H. (2015). The atomic bomb and the end of World War II. Princeton University Press.
Geiger, R. L. (2017). Research and relevant knowledge: American research universities
since World War II. Routledge.
Gruhl, W. (2017). Imperial Japan's World War Two: 1931-1945. Routledge.
Hook, S. W., & Spanier, J. (2018). American foreign policy since World War II. Cq Press.
Jackson, R. (2018). Writing the war on terrorism: Language, politics and counter-terrorism.
Routledge.
Lewenstein, B. V. (2016). The meaning of public understanding of science ‘in the United
States after World War II. Public Understanding of science.
Lyons, M. J. (2016). Total War and the Home Fronts: World War II (pp. 240-255).
Routledge.
Russett, B. M. (2018). No clear and present danger: a sceptical view of the United States
entry into World War II. Routledge.
Tanaka, Y. (2017). Hidden horrors: Japanese war crimes in World War II. Rowman &
Littlefield.
Tsurumi, K. (2015). Social change and the individual: Japan before and after defeat in
World War II. Princeton University Press.

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