Questionable Neutrality

American involvement in The Second World War prior to Pearl Harbor.

The major focus of this paper is on American-European relations during the period 1939-1941 and any actions and/or incidents that arose from these relations in this period. American Japanese relations are briefly examined but are generally beyond the scope of this paper. The paper shows the hostile warlike actions of the United States towards Germany prior to a formal declaration of war. Directly related to this, and also examined, is the support for and alliance with Britain by the United States in this period.
“On December 7, 1941, elements of the Imperial Japanese military attacked the United States military bases at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The next day the United States declared war on Japan. Three days later Germany and Italy supporting their Japanese ally, declared war on the United States. The Americans now began their involvement in the Second World War. Or was this in fact the beginning of American involvement in the war? The purpose of this paper is to prove that the United States was actively involved in the war long before the incident at Pearl Harbor. American involvement began in earnest at the outbreak of the war in 1939 coinciding with its declaration of neutrality on September 5th 1939. From neutrality the United States moved to undeclared war and then to war itself (1).”