Brinkley (1992) argues that the Second World War was the largest conflict in human history as it ranged across six continents and cost the lives of fifty million civilians and soldiers (p.774). This essay will identify the reasons why America joined the Second World War. There will be a major analysis of the major American campaigns during the Second World War which includes: the North African campaign, the results of these campaigns, and the overall success for the Allies as a result of these campaigns. The American position in each campaign will be emphasised.
Chambers (1999) suggests that even though the Second World War started on September 3rd 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany due to Germany’s invasion of Poland two days before, the main reason why the United States got involved in the Second World War was because the Japanese fleet bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7th 1941 (p.821). Nonetheless, as Goodwin (1994) highlights, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been preparing America for war prior to these two events (p.627). Goodwin (1994) explains that the fall of France in June 1940 was key to persuading Congress to provide Lend Lease in the form of aid to Britain who now stood alone in the conflict against Nazi Germany (p.628). Goodwin (1994) praises American success in helping to provide the Allies with tanks, planes and ships as it was crucial to Allied success, but another core reason as to why the United States eventually joined, and even aided Britain prior to their involvement, was because Roosevelt believed that America must become the ‘great arsenal of democracy’ in the world (p.628). This demonstrates why the Americans eventually got involved in the Second World War.
One of the most successful operations that the Americans participated in during the Second World War was the North African campaign. Middleton (1982) argues that the objective of the landings in North Africa, codenamed Operation Torch, was to bring the North African territories under Allied control, and it was hoped that by controlling these territories that French military resources could be deployed on the African continent. Middleton (1982) suggests that another key objective of this campaign was to encircle German forces and prevent them from controlling the significant Mediterranean region. Middleton (1982) stresses that Winston Churchill was key to persuading the Americans to intervene in North Africa because Churchill had long advocated that landings in Morocco and Algeria would successfully discredit the Vichy government in the south of France and persuade many French colonials in the north of Africa to join the Allied side. According to Middleton, Roosevelt was eventually persuaded by the idea because he was under pressure from the American public to see more ground efforts to fight the Germans and because he was persuaded by Churchill’s argument that the landings in North Africa would ensure that the Allies could later advance into Tunisia.
Middleton (1982) emphasises that the Americans and the British played a crucial role in this campaign because by April 1943, the Allies together had 300,000 combatant and support troops. According to Middleton (1982), the Americans, under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, were key to ensuring the British Eighth Army would deliver a decisive blow at Tunis. Middleton (1982) stresses that the objective was Hill 609. The results of the campaign, according to Middleton (1982), were significant because the Americans drove the Germans off the hills guarding the road to Bizerte. Middleton (1982) suggests that this battle was finally won on May 13th 1943 and that a total of 238,243 Axis prisoners were taken at this point.
The long-term success of this strategy in North Africa, according to Middleton (1982), was that the Allies, both the Americans and the British, were committed to a Mediterranean strategy, which involved invasions of Sicily and Italy next. As Middleton (1982) argues, the campaign contained results that have a wider implication on the Second World War; success meant that if the Germans were driven out of the Mediterranean, then the Germans had no forces to fall back on as the Russians fought back in Eastern Europe. Also, Middleton (1982) implies that the Allies learnt two other crucial lessons from this victory; they had learned that sea power could project large forces over great distances, and that a combination of air and ground power, directed in a competent fashion, could eventually break even the most stubborn defences.
During the North African campaign, the Allies met at Casablanca on January 14th 1943 and agreed to use their resources to launch an invasion of Italy, which Churchill commonly referred to as ‘the soft underbelly of Europe’ (History.com Staff, 2009). The objectives of this campaign were to remove Italy from World War Two completely, secure the Mediterranean Sea and force the Germans to divert their troops from Eastern Europe where they were fighting the Russians, and northern France (History.com Staff, 2009). This would then enable the Allies to start preparing for an invasion of northern France, or D-Day (History.com Staff, 2009).
On July 10th 1943, Operation Husky, the code name for the invasion of Sicily, began with airborne and landings on the southern shores of Sicily (History.com Staff, 2009). The impact that this invasion would have on the Italian regime soon proved to be significant; less than a month after the invasion, on July 24th 1943, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, who had ruled Italy since the 1920s, was deposed and arrested (History.com Staff, 2009). This paved the way for a new provisional government that was established under Marshal Pietro Badoglio, who intended to cooperate with the Allies and had been an ardent opponent of Mussolini’s regime (History.com Staff, 2009).
The role that the Americans played in this campaign was significant. On September 9th 1943, American troops landed on the coast of Salerno, where the German Army was quickly overwhelming the Americans (History.com Staff, 2009). Nevertheless, the Allies soon broke through at Monte Cassino in January 1944, and later in Anzio in May 1944 (History.com Staff, 2009). Even though the Allies had air superiority, German Commander Kesselring was crucial in preventing the Allies from taking Monte Cassino due to his establishment of defensive lines along the Gustav Line (History.com Staff, 2009). The Americans were key to this campaign because it was U.S. General Mark Clark’s decision to capture Rome on June 5th 1944 that allowed large German forces to retreat (History.com Staff, 2009). The results of this campaign resulted in an overall slowdown of the war effort in Italy as it resulted in the deaths of 300,000 British and American troops (History.com Staff, 2009). German casualties mounted to 434,000 (History.com Staff, 2009). Because the fighting continued, it was only until the Second World War ended in 1945 that the Italian campaign ended altogether due to the Allies turning their attention to D-Day (History.com Staff, 2009).
In conclusion, it is clear that the Americans joined the Second World War because of the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor and because President Roosevelt believed that America should be responsible for ensuring that democracy is spread across the globe. The North African campaign was an overall success for the Allies. The North African campaign dealt a decisive blow to the Germans in Russia because they had lost all control of the Mediterranean to the Allies, which prevented the Russians from falling back on forces in the Mediterranean. The Americans were crucial for victory in the Mediterranean to be possible due to Roosevelt’s willingness to be persuaded by Churchill that North Africa would help ensure that southern France was liberated from the Vichy regime. Though the Allies did struggle in Italy, without Allied air superiority, of which the Americans contributed towards, the campaign in Italy would have been more of a struggle. However, the campaign in Italy did result in the collapse of Mussolini’s regime and the liberation of Rome on June 5th 1944. Both events eventually contributed towards the liberation of Italy from Mussolini and then Hitler.
Reference List:
Brinkley, Alan (1992). The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Chambers, John Whiteclay II (1999). The Oxford Companion to American Military History. New York: Oxford University Press.
Goodwin, Doris Kearns (1994). No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. New York: Touchstone Books.
History.com Staff (2009). Italian Campaign. Retrieved from: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/italian-campaign.
Middleton, Drew (1982, November 7). The Battle for North Africa. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/07/magazine/the-battle-for-north-africa.html?pagewanted=all.
