The involvement of the United States in the First World War was triggered by the German’s announcement of the lifting of the restriction on submarine warfare. The lift of the ban authorized the German U-boats to sink all ships supplying arms to the allies (Dwyer, “The United States, and World War I”). This led to the sinking of the American Cargo ship, Housatonic, on February 3, 1917 killing 128 Americans. This provocation led to the US Congress declaring War. On the other hand, The US got involved in the Second World War II after the attack on their fleet in Pearl Harbor by the Japanese and the aggression by the German leader, Adolf Hitler. On December 8 1941, the United States approved the country’s involvement in the Second World War.
There is a similarity between the events that led to the US involvement in both the First and the Second World War. The provocation of Germany and Japan in the First and the Second World War respectively resulted in the US Congress declaring a direct involvement in both wars. However, there was no debate during the Second congress approval in 1941 compared to the first declaration in 1917 when President Woodrow Wilson made a request to the congress (The New York Times,” US Declares War, Pacific Battle Widens”).
During the start of Woodrow Wilson’s term, America embraced a policy of neutrality, but this changed in 1917 after US got involved in the First World War. The presence of divided loyalties concerning the conflict among the Immigrants played a key role in maintaining neutrality. After the end of the First World War, the US maintained its policy of non-interventionism (One History learning, “America and World War”). The Neutrality Acts were passed by the Congress between 1936 and 1937. The World War II divided the American Citizens Into two, Interventionists, and non-interventionists and President Roosevelt gave an assurance that the US will keep out of war. However, the actions of Roosevelt’s administration gave a clear indication that US was on a course of going into war. The Involvement of the United State in the World War II brought changes to the country’s foreign policy concerning war (Eyewitness to History, “America in the Great War").
The First World War had a positive impact on the industries in the US because production had to be increased to the pace requisite to sustain the war and this boosted its economy. However, the war had negative effects including the loss of lives. Both wars resulted in loss of many lives including many American soldiers. About 117,000 US soldiers lost their lives during the war, and this made congress reject the Call by President Wilson to participate in the League of Nations. The Involvement of the United States played a critical role in ending both wars. The bombing Japan’s Nagasaki and Hiroshima by the US in 1945 bought the Second World War to an end. However, many Japanese lost their lives during the atomic bomb attack (Kelly, “Overview of World War II: The origins of World War II”).
Works Cited
Dwyer, John. The United States and World War I. LewRockwell Website, 2004. Web, 8 Nov
2012. <http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/dwyer3.html>
Eyewitness to History. “America in the Great War" Eyewitness to History Website, 2000. 8 Nov
2012. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snpwwi1.htm>
Kelly, Martin. Overview of World War II: The origins of World War II. About website, 2012. 8
Nov 2012. <http://americanhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/wwiioverview.htm>
One History learning. America and World War. One History learning website, 2012. 8 Nov
2012. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/america_and_world_war_one.htm>
The New York Times. US Declares War, Pacific Battle Widens. The New York Times website,
2012. 8 Nov 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1208.html#article>
