World War II and the United States (Continued)

When World War II began in 1939, the United States had adopted a position of neutrality. Because President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to avoid the cost of American troops in the war, United States Congress did not respond to pleas from England to help abate Hitler's military conquests. However, in May 1941, as the United States watched Britain sustain numerous losses to Germany, President Roosevelt began to consider the Nazis as a threat to the US. On May 28, 1941, Roosevelt repealed the Neutrality Act.

In December, the war that had been contained overseas migrated to American territory. On December 7, 1941, at approximately 7:50 AM, Commander Fuchida of Japan ordered a surprise attack on Navy ships at Pearl Harbor, off the coast of Oahu. Five minutes later the attacking Japanese air fleet showered US battleships, repair ships, cruisers and destroyers with bombs, torpedoes and machine gun fire. During the next hour, the Helena, the Utah, the Nevada, the California, the Arizona, and the Vestal were covered with shrapnel and holes from torpedoes and the resulting explosions. Shipmates watched in horror as the Arizona disappeared in a cloud of fire and smoke. Almost an hour and a half later, the Honolulu Fire Department reported civilian injuries in Hickam Field, the second of Fuchida's targets. At 1:30 PM, the horror was over and the United States officially assumed its part in World War II.

The next day the United States and Britain declared war on Japan, followed days later by Germany's responding declaration of war on the United States. On January 1, 1942, 26 allied countries met in Washington, DC to form the first unofficial United Nations. Later that month, Germany's attack on the United States began, using U-boats to sink hundreds of US ships off the southern coast during Operation Drumbeat. Now drawing strength from Britain, France and other nations, the United States pressed into war with Japan and Germany.
During the next year, the US joined the European allies in battling German soldiers in Germany and the countries that they had infiltrated. U-boat forces had both major victories and losses, and US land troops sustained over 500,000 casualties. By July, Allied forces had overthrown Mussolini and the Fascist party from Sicily, but the Nazi party was still strong. By September Mussolini was back in power after being rescued by the Nazis.

June 6, 1944 brought another memorable event--D-Day. Determined to attack the enemy from the inside, General Dwight D. Eisenhower planned a combined campaign of battleships off the shores of Normandy, France and paratroopers who parachuted onto land. While the attack eventually proved successful, unforeseen treacheries of fog and rough terrain hampered and killed hundreds of soldiers. With several successive victories from July through October, and as the Soviets began to liberate concentration camps and cities that had been captured, Allied forces attained a temporary victory as German armies began to retreat from the Eastern Front in January 1945.

The Yalta Conference in February signaled the near end of the war against Germany as US President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin met to determine the terms of Germany's unconditional surrender. A little over 3 months later, after a heavy offense against Germany, and after Mussolini was captured once again and executed, the German forces surrendered on May 7. Victory in Europe Day (VE-Day) followed the next day.

While the US had already begun a campaign against Japan, including the bombing of Tokyo, the war against the Japanese forces continued after Germany surrendered. The US military, eager to end the war soon, sought a weapon that would be unmatched in force. They found one--the atomic bomb. Tested first in Los Alamos, New Mexico in July, the atomic bomb proved a powerful incentive for Japan's surrender. One week after the US dropped its first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6 and the second on Nagasaki on August 9, Japan surrendered. World War II, with its hundreds of thousands of casualties from several countries, had finally ended.

The alliance formed between the European countries and the US did not end with the war. In October 1945, 29 countries met to ratify an official United Nations. Today the UN serves as a protection and comfort, as well as a body of advisors for foreign policy.

Sources:
The History Place: World War II timeline
National Geographic: Remembering Pearl Harbor