USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -From the outbreak of World War II on September 1, 1939, to December 8, 1941, the United States was officially neutral, as it was bound by the Neutrality Acts not to get involved in the conflicts raging in Europe and Asia. Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, public opinion in the United States had not been unanimous.

Detailed explanation-2: -But the U.S. remained stubbornly neutral, bound by Congress not to lend aid or assistance to any “belligerents” in the European conflict. President Franklin D. Roosevelt understood, though, that the best way to keep American troops out of World War II was to help the British and French defeat Hitler without us.

Detailed explanation-3: -The United States remained neutral during the first two years of World War II. As the Axis forces conquered countries throughout Europe and Asia, Americans debated whether to aid the Allied powers economically and militarily. The United States joined the war in December 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Detailed explanation-4: -The United States remained officially neutral until 8 December 1941, a day following the attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor. The Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Vatican, signed in 1929, required that the Pope maintain “perpetual neutrality in international relations"-making the Vatican City a neutral state.

Detailed explanation-5: -From our 21st-century point of view, it is hard to imagine World War II without the United States as a major participant. Before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, however, Americans were seriously divided over what the role of the United States in the war should be, or if it should even have a role at all.