The war in Europe and Asia started several years before the United States supposedly joined the war. In Europe Germany was advancing in its conquest for world domination. Germany took Austria in 1938, Poland in 1939, and France in 1940. Meanwhile in Asia, Japan took parts of China and Vietnam. While all this war was breaking out, the United States was coming up with ways to make it seem as if they were neutral (Neutrality Acts of 1935 and “Cash and Carry”). The United States tried to disguise itself as neutral, but in reality it was supporting the allies all throughout the war.

The United states claimed to be neutral, but even some of their own propaganda posters went against that claim. In document 5, there are two propaganda posters that are related to the war. The first poster was one from 1937; it is Uncle Sam (the U.S.) shaking hands with China. The poster said “China- the First of our Allies to fight Japan…” and “ HELP HER TO FIGHT BRAVELY ON!” These are two strong remarks, made by the United States, that clearly states they were involved in the war. China is said to have been allied already with the United States, and together they were fighting Japan. The second poster is from 1940; it is a Nazi boot coming down on America. This poster said “HELP BRITAIN DEFEND AMERICA” and “Commit to defend America aiding the allies.” The United States was not neutral if they were siding with and aiding one side of the war. Another document is document 7; this document is President Franklin D. Roosevelt giving a Fireside Chat, in 1940, about the war. In the chat President Roosevelt said; “Democracy’s fight against world conquest is being greatly aided, and must be more greatly aided, by the rearmament of the United States and by sending every ounce and every ton of munitions and supplies that we can possibly spare to help the defenders who are in the front lines…” President Roosevelt is saying here that the United States is going to send supplies to defenders. This means that the United states is involved and supporting the allies in the fight for democracy. America tried to convince people that it was neutral but also tried to get the same people to support it for the war.

There are more documents showing the United States’ involvement in World War two, prior to Pearl Harbor. In document 11, it is Hideki Tojo (the leader of Japan) talking -in November 5, 1941- about the United States. He said: “The United States has not conceded a single point a single point; it simply makes strong demands on Japan.” What Tojo means by this is that the United States is insisting that Japan removes its men from China. Staying neutral would not consist of one country telling another country what to do with their military. He also said: “When I think about the strengthening of American defenses in the Southwest Pacific, the expansion of the American fleet…” The United States was already advancing their military in the Southwest Pacific, before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Document 4 also shows the involvement of the United States by showing the U.S. imports, over time, to Japan. Before the war started, in 1937, the United states exported: 3,800,000 tons of petroleum, 409,000 tons of steel, and 178,000 tons of scrap iron to Japan. When the United States declared war on Japan in 1941, the United States exported: 880,000 tons of petroleum, 6,000 tons of steel, and 11,000 tons of scrap iron. The U.S. imports kept on decreasing even before the United States officially joined the war. If the United States remained neutral they would have had the same number of exports to Japan. The United States did and said a lot of actions that made it involved in the war the entire time.

The only aspect the United States stayed neutral in, was with sending troops. They never sent troops until after Pearl Harbor. Troops are not the only factor of war, there are also supplies, weapons, vehicles, and equipment that can drastically change a war. The United States never was involved by sending troops, but were huge in the involvement of sending munitions and supplies. After the war broke out for the United States, they went Island Hopping in the Pacific and helped push Germany out of France. The allies eventually pushed the Nazi’s back into Germany and the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan to put an end to the war. The United States was part of a poker game with all the other countries in the war and it was bluffing saying that it was neutral, when it actually was involved in supporting the allies.