WORLD WAR II: The "Good War"

Benjamin Franklin said, There never was a good war or a bad peace,” and anyone who has ever been in combat or lived in a war-torn country will surely agree.

This has been the bloodiest century in the history of the world.  We have slaughtered at least 150 million of our fellow human beings since 1900.  America has become a formidable adversary on the battlefield, and has contributed heavily to the toll of those killed.  With out entry into World War I we moved to the center of the world stage and stayed there, more or less, ever since. On the other hand, Americans have long been accused of having our heads in the sand when it comes to the rest of the world.  We have also at times been accused of being incorrigible meddlers in the affairs of others—trying to act as “the world's policeman.”

World War II was the event that transformed the United States from a strong industrial nation into the world’s first superpower.  In the late 1930s as Americans still struggled to work their way out of the Depression, Europe and Asia began to feel the forces of fascist, militaristic and aggressive powers—the Axis of Germany, Italy and Japan.  Despite the growing dangers, many Americans, disillusioned by the outcome of World War I, convinced that wars in other parts of the world were none of their business, and fearful of losing what economic progress they were making, adhered to a strong isolationist position.   Groups like “America First” resisted every attempt by President Roosevelt to prepare the nation for war and assist our allies, even after Hitler’s Germany had conquered much of western Europe.

When war broke out in Europe in September 1939, Roosevelt began to walk a fine line between aiding Great Britain, which by the summer of 1940 stood virtually alone against the Nazis, and keeping his political adversaries at bay.  His position was complicated by his willingness to run for an unprecedented third term in 1940.  By the time the Japanese attacked Pearl harbor in December 1941, America was already virtually at war with Germany in the Atlantic.  The evils of Nazi Germany were beginning to show, and “fortress America” seemed vulnerable to growing German power.  Even as the Japanese fleet was crossing the Pacific to attack Pearl Harbor, American sailors were being killed while fighting German U-boats in the Atlantic.  Thus Pearl Harbor was seen by some as a release from tension, an earth-shaking event which clarified the picture and removed most doubts about America’s necessary course.  By the time the war was over, about 15 million Americans had served in the armed forces, including around 800,000 women.  Some 400,000 were killed, and tens of thousands more became prisoners or were wounded.

What conclusions can you draw from the World War II era?  We went from neutrality to involvement, back to a more aggressive neutrality, then became the first superpower and since have been called by some the “world’s policeman.”   What do you make of that?  How did we get there we are? Consider some of the following and then use the sources below to discuss World War II issues:

  • What foreign policy challenges did the U.S. face in the 1920s and 1930s?  How well did the United States respond?
  • How well did FDR respond to the outbreak of war in Europe?
  • Why might people claim that FDR secretly welcomed Pearl Harbor?
  • Why were anti-FDR commentators outraged by the Atlantic Charter agreement?  Were they correct?
  • World War II has been called the “good war.”  (Remember Franklin's comment, above.) What do you think?  In this context you might think of the Holocaust and the S.S.

Lecture Summaries:

World War II Sources

As more and more pages are added to the World Wide Web, a virtually unlimited amount of material will become available. Below—and above, on all these pages—you find but a small sample of what is out there. Caution is always advisable, however, as not all web sites are equally trustworthy. Choose with care.

Updated March 16, 2003