US entry into World War II

[DavidS]

I wonder if anyone has any views why, more than sixty years later, many historians, especially those involved with producing TV documentaries, choose to distort the circumstances whereby the USA came into World War II against Germany? The false impression is always given that the US entered the war because of the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour. This is only partly true. The US came into the war because of that attack, but only against Japan. They did not enter the war against Germany until Adolf Hitler declared war on the US. There is no doubting the commitment of the US to the war against Germany once they came in, so the reasons for this historical distortion is unclear.

[Ace]

As you quite rightly stated David, the US announced war on Japan after Pearl Harbor. As Japan was an Ally country of Germany (Axis Powers) Germany felt duty bound to take on board the US as it waged war on their (Germany) Ally.
The US entered WW1 a good few years into it after Germany sunk the US passenger Liner, Lusitania, which many believed WAS carrying weapons to England undercover with a civilian passenger ship.

[mart]

Caractacus corrected my similar statement about the US entry into WWI, pointing out that it was 2 years after the sinking of the Lusitania.

Mart

[davewells]

They'll make a film about it one day and it will be just them versus Germany Japan & Italy. And I bet they'll win too !

[DavidS]

I assume you are talking about the way it is taught in the USA. It is to be welcomed that it is/was taught correctly there. It most certainly is not depicted correctly in the UK at the present time. As Ace correctly states, Germany declared war on the USA in support of their ally Japan. Japan did not however, declare war on Germany's other enemy, the USSR, which they should have done under the Axis agreement.

[Bob Singleton]

Even after Germany and Italy declared war on the USA it still took a while before the US decided to commit troops and other resources to the European/North African theatres.

Roosevelt, and the American people in general, were not concerned with what was going on in Europe and concentrated on the war with Japan. It was only after Churchill pointed out to Roosevelt what MIGHT happen if Germany declared war on the Soviet Union that Roosevelt convinced Congress of the need to deploy troops to Britain lest all of Europe become part of a communist empire.

The US entering the war in Europe had little to do with wanting to help "friends" out and everything to do with halting the potential spread of communism.

To watch some Holywood films you would think that the US fought a lone war against the Axis powers ;-(

[Pervert]

Over 25 years on, and it still rankles with me that I lost a mark in a test because some no-nothing teacher claimed the Lusitania sinking brought America into the first world war

[steve56]

tell yer what i got sick of watching john wayne/errol flynn war movies on ch 4 few yrs back.