HIST 405 Week 6 Discussion; World War II - Treaty of Versailles, The Lend Lease Act, Japanese expansion

Answer There were some Americans who had favored the active engagement in Europe during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Most Americans were cautious with getting involved or accepting any commitment made with other nations that could restrict the ability for America to have its independence, keeping with the isolationist tradition (OpenStax, 2019). Isolationism was a political and foreign affair policy that was implemented by many countries, which prevented them from being involved with any happening of other countries and keep their affairs at a distance. (Office of the Historian, n.d). The recent events in the 1930’s had pushed the U.S. to take into consideration the isolationism policy due to the Great Depression and World War I defeat (OpenStax, 2019). Although the United States continued to intervene in affairs in the Western Hemisphere, generally America was trying to avoid becoming to0 involved in any crisis that would lead to another global conflict. “Despite its largely noninterventionist foreign policy, the United States did nevertheless take steps to try to lessen the chances of war and cut its defense spending at the same time” (OpenStax, 2019, SEC.27.1). I believe that no matter what the United States did, we were going to end up with World War II and it was nearly impossible for us to avoid this war. The Neutrality acts were passed in order to help ensure the U.S. did not get involved in another war. “The Neutrality Act of 1935 banned the sale of armaments to warring nations. The following year, another Neutrality Act prohibited loaning money to belligerent countries. The last piece of legislation, the Neutrality Act of 1937, forbade the transportation of weapons or passengers to belligerent nations on board American ships and also prohibited American citizens from traveling on board the ships of nations at war” (OpenStax, 2019, SEC.27.1). The neutrality acts that were passed created loopholes that allowed them to send aid without fighting the war. The United States then passed the Lend-Lease Act. Under this policy the United States was able to lend or lease war supplies to any nation that was deemed “vital to the defense of the United States.” (History editors, 2019, par.1). This allowed the United States to supply military defense to foreign allies while remaining neutral. “Most importantly, passage of the Lend-Lease Act enabled a struggling Great Britain to continue fighting against Germany virtually on its own until the United States entered World War II late in 1941” (History editors, 2019, par.1). The United States still declared neutrality to avoid war, but the Axis Powers were aware of the United States unofficial alliance to Britain. This created conflict for the United States and soon war would be declared. “By the second half of 1941, Japan was feeling the pressure of the American embargo.” (OpenStax, 2019, SEC.27.1). Japan was unable to buy strategic material from the United States. Determined to obtain a sufficient supply of oil, Japan planned to take control of the Dutch East Indies. They realized that this action might increase the