Mr. Raasch's Social Studies
Unit 9: WWII
American Isolationism/ Pearl Harbor
The United States took a similar stance toward the growing aggression and expansion of the Nazi and Japanese empire during the 1930s that it had during WWI. Isolationism had worked very well for the US economy and the boom that followed the Great War was one of the greatest in the history of the nation. Groups formed to support this point of view such as the America First Committee, which had famous members such as Charles Lindberg and Henry Ford. However, the era of isolationism was brought to a close with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which almost brought the United States navy to its knees and jump started the mobilization of American manufactoring for the war effort.
American's Involvement in WWII
The United States became involved in WWII after the attack on Pearl Harbor, beginning a 2 front war in both the Pacific and European campaigns. With the D-Day invasion, the Allies were able to get a extremely valuable foothold leading to the end the period of Nazi reign on the contenient.
The American strategy in the Pacific followed the idea of island hopping, or securing several islands on the way to Japan allowing the US to bomb the island. Through this strategy, the US was able to fight its way within bombing distance of the island of Japan. The combat in the Pacific was among the most brutal of the war, with POW's throughly abused by the Japanese capturers and suicide attacks on US ships.
End of WWII
The US strategy of island led ended with the only atomic bombs used in combat in the history of the world. The destruction of Hiroshima and later Nagasaki, proved the the leadership of the empire of Japan that the war was unwinable. With the formal surrender of Japan, the second world war had drawn to a close.
