American History

The world was still grappling with the effects of World War 1, economic recession had hit hard in Europe and United States and the political leaders under pressure from their citizens were forced to focus on domestic policies rather than foreign interventions.  Despite the move of focusing on domestic problems to address the economic situation caused by great depression in United States, it also gave a chance to nationalist and right wing politicians in Europe to rise. Germany again took the centre stage of world politics as they elected Adolf Hitler who wanted to restore the dignity of the country after the loss of World War 1. Hitler with support from dictators like Mussolini breached treaties which were meant to maintain peace and started to strengthen their military and later invaded countries in Europe with the aim of colonizing them. Far East in Asia Japan invaded Manchurian region of china ignoring calls from international community to halt the military advances in china. European dictators and Japan move to attack china was generating tensions and military retaliations and United States being a key political and military power it was forced to intervene with military options.
Germany military aggression in Europe was gaining momentum as Hitler vowed to reclaim back their land which was lost during World War 1. Alliances started to develop between dictators particularly Hitler and Mussolini and the traditional United States allies Britain and France were opting to take on the diplomatic channel because of fear of  war while Germany was invading  Poland and Czech and on the other hand Mussolini  advancing to Ethiopia. Germany had an edge in military prowess and this made Britain and French to take a lot of time coming to a conclusion of retaliation. The policy of appeasement was favoring the Germans and turning a blind eye on its steps. European nations particularly Britain thought Germany was unfairly targeted by the sanctions imposed after World War 1 and the moves taken were somehow justifiable. United States was not convinced with the appeasement approach and denounced the dictators move and planned on ways to counter their aggressions.
Domestically United States was faced with the problem of making any military retaliation as the political environment was against any war. A group of isolationists led a powerful lobby group of Republican Party members were opposed to any intervention and instead wanted the focus to be on domestic matters only. Similarly the mood of the nation was supporting their options.  After much animated debate about whether this initiative would lead united states towards war ,congress passed the lend-lease act on march 11 1941( Northrup, 2003, p.171)  .  The act was somehow a victory against the isolationist who acted as a stumbling block to the president who thought it was necessary to assist the European allies to face the Germans strong military force. The aid given to the allies was from military assistance to logistics and funds. This boosted the allies in facing the enemy who seemed to be relentless in his aggression and ready to rule them.