WWII Without a Doubt, the Expansionist Policies

WWII

Without a doubt, the expansionist policies of Germany, Italy and Japan and a direct attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor necessitated the need for America to enter World War II. However, the real question is not whether America should have entered World War II, but could it have prevented it from happening. As the world's new super power following World War I, America should have done more to restore stability to Western Europe, particularly Germany, a country saddled with huge reparation payments. And, the United States could have taken a more active role in the League of Nations to discourage aggression. Instead, America enjoyed the spoils of World War I and became isolationist in response to the Great Depression. Economic and political instability caused by World War I led the rise of fascism. The Nazi goals of reversing the Versailles Treaty and the establishment of a German Empire by means of war and conquest had to be stopped.

On the home front, Franklin D. Roosevelt conveyed the message that the efforts of civilians to support the war through personal sacrifice was as critical to winning the war as the efforts of the soldiers themselves, and that the civilian populace constituted an additional front at home. As a result, women joined the workforce in jobs that men had traditionally filled, families grew their own food and accepted the rationing of goods such as sugar, coffee, silk and gasoline.